Download or read book Empiricism and the Problem of Metaphysics written by Paul Studtmann and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2010-10-11 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Empiricism and the Problem of Metaphysics develops and defends an empiricist solution to the problem of metaphysics, then examines the implications of such a solution for skeptical arguments and the is-ought gap. At the heart of the solution is an empirically verifiable empiricist view of the a priori.
Download or read book Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics written by Martin Heidegger and published by Newcomb Livraria Press. This book was released on 1962 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new 2024 translation of Heidegger's early work "Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics", originally published in 1910. This edition contains a new afterword by the translator, a timeline of Heidegger's life and works, a philosophic index of core Heideggerian concepts and a guide for Existentialist terminology across 19th and 20th century Existentialists. This translation is designed for readability and accessibility to Heidegger's enigmatic and dense philosophy. Complex and specific philosophic terms are translated as literally as possible and academic footnotes have been removed to ensure easy reading. Heidegger's analysis of Kant's Epistemology (specifically his three critiques) is rooted in the Heideggarian concept of "fundamental ontology," which he defines as the ontological analysis of finite human existence that prepares the ground for metaphysics. This idea is distinct from all forms of anthropology, including philosophical anthropology. Heidegger's aim is to show that the identified ontological analysis of Dasein (a term he famously uses to refer to human existence or being-there) is a necessary condition for understanding the fundamental question: "What is man?" Heidegger emphasizes the role of "transcendental imagination" in Kant's philosophy, which he sees as crucial for linking the categories of metaphysics with the phenomenon of time. This connection, according to Heidegger, is central to understanding Kant's approach to metaphysics. He argues that Kant's Critique of Pure Reason should be interpreted as a foundational text for metaphysics, suggesting that it presents the problem of metaphysics as that of a fundamental ontology. Heidegger emphasizes the importance of understanding what "foundation" means in this context, likening it to the design of a building plan that includes instructions on how and on what the building should be founded. In this analogy, metaphysics is not an existing building, but is inherent in all human beings as a "natural disposition. As with all of Heidegger's works, the concept of time and its relation to human cognition and understanding is the crux of his metaphysical project, and his criticism and praise of Kant. He proposes that Kant's work represents a shift in the traditional approach to metaphysics, from a focus on what is to a focus on how human beings understand and interact with the world. This shift, according to Heidegger, is indicative of a deeper, more fundamental level of inquiry into the nature of being and existence, which he believes is essential for a true understanding of metaphysics. In this sense, Kant is a critical nexus point in the history of Philosophy, representing a seismic shift.
Download or read book The Problem of Metaphysics written by D. M. MacKinnon and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1974-01-10 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor MacKinnon devotes this book to a study of metaphysics.
Download or read book Metaphysics written by Aristotle and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Laura Castelli presents a new translation of the tenth book (Iota) of Aristotle's Metaphysics, together with a comprehensive commentary. Castelli's commentary helps readers to understand Aristotle's most systematic account of what it is for something to be one, what it is for something to be a unit of measurement, and what contraries are.
Download or read book Metaphysical Emergence written by Jessica M. Wilson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-03-04 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Both the special sciences and ordinary experience suggest that there are metaphysically emergent entities and features: macroscopic goings-on (including mountains, trees, humans, and sculptures, and their characteristic properties) which depend on, yet are distinct from and distinctively efficacious with respect to, lower-level physical configurations and features. These appearances give rise to two key questions. First, what is metaphysical emergence, more precisely? Second, is there any metaphysical emergence, in principle and moreover in fact? Metaphysical Emergence provides clear and systematic answers to these questions. Wilson argues that there are two, and only two, forms of metaphysical emergence of the sort seemingly at issue in the target cases: 'Weak' emergence, whereby a dependent feature has a proper subset of the powers of the feature upon which it depends, and 'Strong' emergence, whereby a dependent feature has a power not had by the feature upon which it depends. Weak emergence unifies and illuminates seemingly diverse accounts of non-reductive physicalism; Strong emergence does the same as regards seemingly diverse anti-physicalist views positing fundamental novelty at higher levels of compositional complexity. After defending the in-principle viability of each form of emergence, Wilson considers whether complex systems, ordinary objects, consciousness, and free will are actually metaphysically emergent. She argues that Weak emergence is quite common, and that there is Strong emergence in the important case of free will.
Download or read book The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics written by A. W. Moore and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 691 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book charts the evolution of metaphysics since Descartes and provides a compelling case for why metaphysics matters.
Download or read book Metaphysics written by Michael Loux and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2006-09-27 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Metaphysics' is aimed at students of metaphysics who have already completed an introductory philosophy course. This third edition provides a fresh look at the key topics in metaphysics and includes new chapters on time and causation.
Download or read book Heidegger written by Richard Polt and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-16 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heidegger is a classic introduction to Heidegger's notoriously difficult work. Truly accessible, it combines clarity of exposition with an authoritative handling of the subject-matter. Richard Polt has written a work that will become the standard text for students looking to understand one of the century's greatest minds.
Download or read book Why Does the World Exist written by Jim Holt and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2012-07-17 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this astonishing and profound work, an irreverent sleuth traces the riddleof existence from the ancient world to modern times.
Download or read book Metaphysics and Natural Philosophy written by Peter Michael Harman and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Problem of Universals in Early Modern Philosophy written by Stefano Di Bella and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-06-29 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient topic of universals was central to scholastic philosophy, which raised the question of whether universals exist as Platonic forms, as instantiated Aristotelian forms, as concepts abstracted from singular things, or as words that have universal signification. It might be thought that this question lost its importance after the decline of scholasticism in the modern period. However, the fourteen contributions contained in The Problem of Univerals in Early Modern Philosophy indicate that the issue of universals retained its vitality in modern philosophy. Modern philosophers in fact were interested in 3 sets of issues concerning universals: (i) issues concerning the ontological status of universals, (ii) issues concerning the psychology of the formation of universal concepts or terms, and (iii) issues concerning the value and use of universal concepts or terms in the acquisition of knowledge. Chapters in this volume consider the various forms of "Platonism," "conceptualism" and "nominalism" (and distinctive combinations thereof) that emerged from the consideration of such issues in the work of modern philosophers. Furthermore, this volume covers not only the canonical modern figures, namely, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume and Kant, but also more neglected figures such as Pierre Gassendi, Pierre-Sylvain Regis, Nicolas Malebranche, Henry More, Ralph Cudworth and John Norris.
Download or read book Meta metaphysics written by Jiri Benovsky and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-03-22 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Metaphysical theories are beautiful. At the end of this book, Jiri Benovsky defends the view that metaphysical theories possess aesthetic properties and that these play a crucial role when it comes to theory evaluation and theory choice.Before we get there, the philosophical path the author proposes to follow starts with three discussions of metaphysical equivalence. Benovsky argues that there are cases of metaphysical equivalence, cases of partial metaphysical equivalence, as well as interesting cases of theories that are not equivalent. Thus, claims of metaphysical equivalence can only be raised locally. The slogan is: the best way to do meta-metaphysics is to do first-level metaphysics.To do this work, Benovsky focuses on the nature of primitives and on the role they play in each of the theories involved. He emphasizes the utmost importance of primitives in the construction of metaphysical theories and in the subsequent evaluation of them.He then raises the simple but complicated question: how to make a choice between competing metaphysical theories? If two theories are equivalent, then perhaps we do not need to make a choice. But what about all the other cases of non-equivalent "equally good" theories? Benovsky uses some of the theories discussed in the first part of the book as examples and examines some traditional meta-theoretical criteria for theory choice (various kinds of simplicity, compatibility with physics, compatibility with intuitions, explanatory power, internal consistency,...) only to show that they do not allow us to make a choice.But if the standard meta-theoretical criteria cannot help us in deciding between competing non-equivalent metaphysical theories, how then shall we make that choice? This is where Benovsky argues that metaphysical theories possess aesthetic properties – grounded in non-aesthetic properties – and that these play a crucial role in theory choice and evaluation. This view, as well as all the meta-metaphysical considerations discussed throughout the book, then naturally lead the author to a form of anti-realism, and at the end of the journey he offers reasons to think better of the kind of anti-realist view he proposes to embrace. www.jiribenovsky.org
Download or read book Modal Logic as Metaphysics written by Timothy Williamson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-28 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Timothy Williamson gives an original and provocative treatment of deep metaphysical questions about existence, contingency, and change, using the latest resources of quantified modal logic. Contrary to the widespread assumption that logic and metaphysics are disjoint, he argues that modal logic provides a structural core for metaphysics.
Download or read book Substances and Universals in Aristotle s Metaphysics written by Theodore Scaltsas and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Theodore Scaltsas brings the insights of contemporary philosophy to bear on a classic problem in metaphysics that stems from Aristotle's theory of substance. Scaltsas provides an analysis of the enigmatic notions of potentiality and actuality, which he uses to explain Aristotle's substantial holism by showing how the concrete and the abstract parts of a substance form a dynamic, diachronic whole.
Download or read book The Logical Basis of Metaphysics written by Michael Dummett and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This performance of the Richard Strauss opera Arabella with the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera features vocalists such as Emily Magee, Genia Kuhmeier, and Tomasz Konieczny in the leading roles. ~ Cammila Collar, Rovi
Download or read book Controversies and the Metaphysics of Mind written by Yaron M. Senderowicz and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2010 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since ancient times, metaphysical theories have been shaped by the dialectical relations between metaphysical positions. The present book offers a new account of the role of controversies in the evolution of ideas in current metaphysics of mind. Part One develops a pragmatic theory of metaphysical controversies that combines Kantian themes and themes from current argumentation theory. The theory developed in this book underscores the role of a unique type of dialectical arguments which establish metaphysical positions as "controversial relevant alternatives "in the evolution of "chains of debates" in metaphysics. In Part Two and Part Three, this theory is applied to chains of debates in present day metaphysics of mind which address the problems of consciousness and personal identity. One of the contentions defended in this book is that the intellectual history of metaphysics is not a process in which positions are replaced by opposite positions, but rather, "a history of their status as relevant alternatives." The book analyzes in detail and demonstrates how "progress" in contemporary metaphysics of mind consists in a dialectical process through which challenges to extant positions lead to innovative alternatives that are intrinsically relevant to advancing the understanding of the issues under discussion.
Download or read book The Problem of Metaphysics and the Meaning of Metaphysical Explanation written by Hartley Burr Alexander and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-12-14 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Problem of Metaphysics and the Meaning of Metaphysical Explanation: An Essay in Definitions In this preface it may not be amiss explicitly to state cer tain convictions implied in the thinking here ont-wrought. 'first there is a conviction that metaphysic is not a science of things ultimate in the cosmos, but of things ultimate in human life and destiny and ultimate only for human in sight; that consequently, metaphysical solutions must change as the human outlook changes, and that the way of our thought must develop as our powers of intuition become enlarged. No final metaphysical solution is possible, because so long as human intelligence broadens metaphysical truth must alter. It is not independent nor static, but exists for knowledge alone. That there is need to-day oi' a new m'etaphysic, a new vision of man's destiny, a new and virile exaltation of his ideals, - this, too, is a conviction underlying these writings. But the time for the great work is not yet. First must be written, as unmistakably as the century past has written the body's genesis, the genesis and evolntion oi the mind. To this task the natural sciences and the science of history, the varied branches of anthropology, psychology, philosophy in its manifold nelds, all must contribute. And when the task is performed, or even in large part performed, forth shall arise the new synthesis, the new world-vision, and it shall be in evitable in its inspiration. But before that day we who hope for the advent must cleanse and order our house of thought, we must come to an understanding with ourselves and achieve some sane understanding of the metaphysic whereo with we were born. It is for the furthering of this humbler, but not unessential end, that this essay was written. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
