Isawholesomethingmorethanthesumofitsparts?Aretherethingscomposedofthesameparts?Ifyoudivideanobjectintoparts,anddividethosepartsintosmallerparts,willthisprocessevercometoanend?Cansomethinglosepartsorgainnewoneswithoutceasingtobethethingitis?Doesanymultitudeofthings(includingdisparatethingssuchasyou,thisbook,andthetailofacat)composeawholeofsomesort?Questionssuchasthesehaveoccupiedusforatleastaslongasphilosophyhasexisted.Theydefinethefieldthathascometobeknownasmereology-thestudyofallrelationsofparttowholeandofparttopartwithinawhole-andhavedeepandfar-reachingramificationsinmetaphysicsaswellasinlogic,thefoundationsofmathematics,thephilosophyoflanguage,thephilosophyofscience,andbeyond.InMereology,A.J.CotnoirandAchilleC.Varzihavecompileddecadesofadvancedresearchintoacomprehensive,up-to-date,andformallyrigorouspicture.Theearlychapterscoverthemoreclassicalaspectsofmereology;therestofthebookdealswithvariantsandextensions.Whetheryouareanestablishedprofessionalphilosopher,aninterestedstudent,oranewcomer,insideyouwillfindallthetoolsyouneedtojointhisever-evolvingfieldofinquiryandtheorizeaboutallthingsmereological.
