ISSN 2291-5079 Vol 4 | Issue 4 2017 COSMOS + TAXIS Studies in Emergent Order and Organization Barry Smith an sich A Festschrift in Honor of Barry Smith On the Occasion of his 65th Birthday PHOTOS: COVER & PAGE 4 COSMOS + TAXIS Courtesy of Sandra G. Smith Studies in Emergent Order and Organization VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 4 2017 IN THIS ISSUE Social Orders: A Foreword from the Editors...............1 Barry Smith and His Influence On Gloria Zúñiga y Postigo and Gerald J. Erion (Not Only, But Mainly My) Philosophy.................. 38 Biography of Barry Smith ..............................4 Peter Simons Sandra Smith The Liar, the Truth-Teller, and Barry Smith..............42 Briefly, on Brevity .....................................6 Wojciech Żełaniec Gerald J. Erion Necessity and Truth Makers . 49 What Is It Like to Be Barry Smith? ......................9 Jan Woleński Wolfgang Grassl The Church of Sunk Costs............................54 BFO and DOLCE: So Far, So Close........................10 Gloria Zúñiga y Postigo Nicola Guarino Trouble Up at t’Ontological Mill: An Inconclusive Dialog Logic and Ontology...................................19 A Whimsical Postscript in Ontological Folklore ...........62 John T. Kearns Peter Simons On Not Being Influenced by Barry Smith’s Ontologism...25 Appendix (online only): Publications by Barry Smith ..... 67 Rudolf Lüthe Minimal Aristotelian Ontology......................... 27 Editorial Information .................... inside back cover Luc Schneider EDITORIAL BOARDS HONORARY FOUNDING EDITORS EDITORS Joaquin Fuster David Emanuel Andersson* (editor-in-chief) assistant managing editors: University of California, Los Angeles Nottingham University Business School, China Thomas Cheeseman David F. Hardwick* Laurent Dobuzinskis* (deputy editor) Dean Woodley Ball University of British Columbia Simon Fraser University Alexander Hamilton Institute Lawrence Wai-Chung Lai Leslie Marsh* (managing editor) Mary Burns University of Hong Kong University of British Columbia Simon Fraser University Frederick Turner University of Texas at Dallas CONSULTING EDITORS Corey Abel Gus diZerega* Peter G. Klein Christian Onof Denver Taos, NM Baylor University Imperial College London Thierry Aimar Péter Érdi Paul Lewis Mark Pennington Sciences Po Paris Kalamazoo College King’s College London King’s College London Nurit Alfasi Evelyn Lechner Gick Ted G. Lewis Jason Potts Ben Gurion University Dartmouth College Technology Assessment Royal Melbourne Institute of the Negev Peter Gordon Group, Salinas, CA of Technology Theodore Burczak University of Southern California Joseph Isaac Lifshitz Don Ross Denison University Lauren K. Hall* The Shalem College University of Cape Town and Per Bylund Rochester Institute of Technology Jacky Mallett Georgia State University Oklahoma State University Sanford Ikeda Reykjavik University Virgil Storr Gene Callahan Purchase College, State University Alberto Mingardi George Mason University Purchase College, State of New York Istituto Bruno Leoni Stephen Turner University of New York Andrew Irvine Stefano Moroni University of South Florida Chor-Yung Cheung University of British Columbia Milan Polytechnic Gloria Zúñiga y Postigo City University of Hong Kong Byron Kaldis Edmund Neill Ashford University Francesco Di Iorio The Hellenic Open University New College of the Nankai University, China Humanities *Executive committee http://cosmosandtaxis.org COSMOS + TAXIS Social Orders: A Foreword from the Editors GLORIA ZÚÑIGA Y POSTIGO AND GERALD J. ERION This collection of essays is dedicated to Barry Smith by his Festschrift, we have enjoyed recalling fond memories of our friends, some of whom are former students, and all of whom time as graduate students at the University at Buffalo. We are admiring colleagues.1 The goal of our Festschift is to cel- thought that in sharing some of these stories we could offer ebrate Barry Smith, an outstanding man who also happens a glimpse of what it is like to be a student of Barry’s for those to be a philosopher, a mathematician, and a scientist in bio- who do not know his teaching. And we hope that as other medical informatics. It thus assembles contributions that are students of Barry’s read this—those who studied with him both personal in nature and intertwined with the deep ideas in the United Kingdom, Liechtenstein, and Germany, as well that Barry inspired or provoked in our respective lives. as former and present students of his in Buffalo—they will Barry’s extraordinarily creative and productive scholar- smile as they recognize situations that ring similar to ours. ship record (detailed in the bibliography at the end of this Our Barryesque education began when we both registered volume) marks an exemplary career that few scholars can for Barry’s Cognitive Metaphysics course at the University match. Indeed, to learn of the full breadth of his work, one at Buffalo in New York. As first-year graduate students, we must search under such subject headings as Austrian philos- privately wondered what the title of the course could even ophy, Austrian economics, phenomenology, Gestalt psychol- mean. We did not yet know to expect the unexpected, but we 1 ogy, mereology, truth makers, states of affairs, apriorism, soon began an intellectual adventure with Barry that would realism, social ontology, formal ontology, and applied ontol- last for the next five years. During this time, we enrolled ogies, to name just a few. But those privileged to know Barry in his seminars and tutorials on Cognitive Metaphysics closely believe that his professional work, impressive as it (whatever that was), Austrian Philosophy, Husserl, Social is, pales in comparison to the personal impact he has had Ontology, Philosophy of Social Science, Philosophy of COSMOS + TAXIS + TAXIS COSMOS in our lives. This is the seed idea for our Festschrift, and we Economics, Value Theory, Law and Ontology, Research hope to provide here some significant testimony on Barry’s Ethics, and Social Objects (from Meinong to Searle). We impact as a colleague, mentor, teacher, and friend. thus examined such a wide range of fascinating subjects that This does not mean, of course, that his impact has always we were often tempted to change our dissertation topics, or produced a conversion to his ideas. Above all, Barry pro- even to remain students permanently. motes and respects independent thought, and he encourages With so much ground to cover, this was a time when both students and colleagues alike to pursue the distinct in- sleep was reserved for semester breaks. Luckily, our gradu- tellectual directions that motivate each of us. To be sure, his ate seminars were typically scheduled in the afternoon, per- encouragement will include a vigorous argument supporting fect for the night-owl writing schedules that most students his own views, always with humor and often in a venue with kept. One such afternoon, in a very warm classroom, Barry good food, good wine, and sometimes even good music, too. arrived in a stylish turtleneck and blazer. As he taught he This is the man we wish to celebrate here. In doing so, we will seemed to be the only one in the room unaffected by the share personal insights about Barry that we hope will pres- heat. One student, wiping sweat from her brow, asked him ent a fuller picture of the man revealed only in part by his “Aren’t you hot?” He replied, “No, I’m English.” scholarly writings. Beneath this cool English appearance, however, lay the Our motivation to organize and edit this Festschrift for passionate heart of a philosopher with the unrelenting goal Barry is also very personal. We are among those privileged to of directing us in a quest for truth, whatever the object of be former graduate students of his, and we forged our friend- our examination. Students were drawn to his lectures in part ship around the profound delight of his seminars, which set because of his animated discussions with hilarious or shock- our minds ablaze with questions and ideas. Not surpris- ing examples. For example, to explain the Husserlian notion ingly, we both chose Barry to direct our respective disserta- of unfulfilled intentionality, Barry suggested the following. tion projects. After reuniting again last year to organize this Suppose that you have the expectation of an apple pie fresh SOCIAL ORDERS: A Foreword FROM THE Editors from the oven, an expectation fueled by the aroma of baking apples and cinnamon. But then you discover, upon remov- ing the pie from the oven, that it was instead: a dog pie! That is unfulfilled intentionality, explained in a way that cements the idea clearly in a student’s mind forever. An integral part of studying with Barry was his boot-camp training in clear and precise thought as papers were written and re-written. He returned drafts with comments such as “not English,” “sloppy,” “sounds confused,” and “muddled thought.” He also insisted that we “write in plain and simple language,” “avoid bulbous sentences,” and “do, not, use, too, many, commas.” And in the especially long-winded passages all-too-common in philosophical writing, we would find: “bla, bla, bla” or “eh?” Some students might have been un- settled by such comments, but we appreciated their role in our development, and we also understood the English hu- mor cleverly built into them to soften the blow. Even today, we both agree that we can hear his voice in our heads, still ghost editing as we write. This boot-camp training focused our efforts on articulating clearer arguments, transforming 2 us into better writers and better thinkers. It also prepared us COSMOS + TAXIS COSMOS to confront disagreement comfortably, even eagerly, but also charitably. And these, of course, are some of the key practical Photograph: Gloria Zúñiga y Postigo and Gerald J. Erion benefits of studying philosophy. Finally, we should remember that philosophy cannot be done in complete isolation, at least not all of the time. Indeed, it is fueled by conversation and dialogue with oth- ers. Barry recognizes this as well, and as evidence we offer the many wonderful parties to which Barry invited his stu- dents, former students, and colleagues at all stages of their lives and careers.