Worldly Indeterminacy

Abstract

This monograph provides a framework to support and reinforce the recent shift in analytic philosophy toward recognizing indeterminacy—or more narrowly, vagueness—as a feature of the world itself. Having defended worldly or metaphysical indeterminacy against influential challenges and examined traditional and contemporary resources, the work develops a systematic theory, termed “ontic indeterminacy,” that analyzes the fundamental characteristics of this phenomenon through the complementary ideas of conclusive indeterminability and provisional determinability. This theory also addresses related semantic, logical, and applicational issues while demonstrating the potential for indeterminacy to permeate all aspects of reality. Analytic philosophers acknowledging worldly indeterminacy occasionally treat it as a defect of the world and often model it in terms of determinacies and precisifications. In contrast, the theory views the indeterminacy as an expression of the world’s constitutional plenitude and models it at the object level in a way consonant with its deep-rooted and intricate character. While set within the context of the analytic tradition, this work adopts a “fusion philosophy” approach by synthesizing Chinese Madhyamaka Buddhist thought with analytic metaphysics, positioning itself as both a cross-cultural philosophical exploration and a contribution to contemporary debates. By incorporating Buddhist perspectives, the work expands conceptual horizons for analytic philosophers, transcending certain presumptions and limitations of mainstream Western philosophy. It also reveals the contemporary implications of Madhyamaka thought and exemplifies the significance of cross-cultural philosophical engagement.