Property Versatility and Copredication

Nearly all properties are, to a certain extent, versatile: there are many different ways to instantiate them. Consider a light-blue scarf and a dark-blue gemstone. They share the property of being blue, despite being different kinds of objects and differing in the way in which they are blue. The key insight explored in this book is that this apparently mundane observation should be extended: many properties are considerably more versatile than theorists typically take them to be. This insight turns out to be incredibly powerful in addressing a wide range of issues in the philosophy of language, metaphysics, and beyond. One such issue is the problem of copredication. Copredication sentences such as 'Lunch was delicious but took hours' are common yet puzzling. These sentences can be true despite seemingly ascribing incompatible properties: it appears that only the food eaten can be delicious, and only the event attended can take hours. This book offers a comprehensive discussion of the problem of copredication, including a critical evaluation of extant approaches to the problem and culminating with a defence of the Property Versatility approach to copredication. In addition, the book demonstrates how Property Versatility is a powerful tool in addressing a wide range of issues beyond copredication, including the semantics of generics, the metaphysics of establishments and repeatable artworks, fictional discourse, and the nature of ambiguity, as well as a host of others.

David Liebesman is Professor of Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Calgary. Ofra Magidor is Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at the University of Oxford.