There is no ‘Is’ of constitution

Abstract

I defend the view that ordinary objects like statues are identical to the pieces of matter from which they are made. I argue that ordinary speakers assert sentences such as 'this statue is a molded piece of clay'. This suggests that speakers believe propositions which entail that ordinary objects such as statues are the pieces matter from which they are made, and therefore pluralism contradicts ordinary beliefs. The dominant response to this argument purports to find an ambiguity in the word 'is', such that 'is' in these sentences means the same as 'constitutes or is constituted by'. I will use standard tests for ambiguity to argue that this strategy fails. I then explore and reject other responses to the argument.

Ambiguity and Zeugma

“…17 Analogous considerations apply to the redundancy test and the ellipsis test, which are similar in structure to the contradiction test and the zeugma test, respectively. See Zwicky andSadock, 1975, andPickel, 2010 for discussion of these tests.…”

“…Many similar applications of the test are to be found in the literature. For example, Pickel (, pp. 202–204) uses the test to argue against the three‐way ambiguity Wiggins (, pp.…”

The CaML model of pantheism

“…Similar to supersubstantivalism, it's natural to think that if some x constitutes a region, x exactly occupies that region-in which case, REGION PRIORITY would be false. And this is what I say God does: He constitutes the regions He exactly occupies.9 One referee pointed out that if we eschewed the 'is' of constitution (see, e.g.,Pickel [2010]) then the CaML model would nevertheless seem to be a pantheistic theory even given that 'God is the cosmos' is false. For those who believe in constitution, but also eschew the 'is' of constitution, this is an open position.…”

To Have and to Hold*

“…17.17.Our methodology here is the same as the one employed by Pickel () in the context of his (negative) assessement of “Wiggins’ () claim” that the copula is ambiguous between the “is” of predication and the “is” of constitution.…”