First, I’ve finished a (much extended) draft of the reply I gave to Hugh Mellor’s paper “Microcomposition” at the Leeds RIP Being conference (the name still amuses: that’s the Royal Institute of Philosophy, folks, not a metametaphysical jibe). The paper’s called “Working parts” and presents some arguments against the view that mereological relations are metaphysical primitive. Hugh’s position is that they should be analyzed in terms of locational and causal relations, and I think there’s a lot to be said for that view. Comments, as ever, very welcome. The paper is available here.
Second, from the end of this month I’m going to be taking over as secretary of the Analysis Committee. The trust does all sorts of good things: from awarding Analysis studentships to giving out conference grants, and of course, and are the figures in the background of the fantastic journal Analysis. I’m really excited to be involved.
J Robert G Williams 