It is a pleasure to acknowledge the help, encouragement, and advice that we have received from a number of friends and colleagues in the course of preparing this volume. To begin, we want to thank three individuals who were especially helpful at the beginning stages of this project: the late Norman Kretzmann, who offered invaluable suggestions on an early draft of our prospectus; Eleonore Stump, who showed us how to improve it immensely; and Scott MacDonald, who has given us expert advice and support at every step of the way.
We are also very grateful for the encouragement and expert advice given to us by Susan Brower-Toland, Jean Field, Terry Foreman, Hilary Gaskin, Peter King, John Marenbon, Robert Pasnau, Paul Spade, and Thomas Williams. Without the help of these people, this volume would never have reached completion.
Finally, we want to thank the two people whose friendship and support we cherish the most – our wives, Janice and Margaret. It is to you that this volume is dedicated.