"This is a brilliant 'introduction' to metaphysics, beginning with the creation of a metaphysical system (Part I) and then defending it through a reading of the Western tradition (Part II). The writing is clear and persuasive throughout; it does not presuppose antecedent knowledge of the tradition, or of any present context defining 'metaphysics.' Rather, the book develops what it needs of those things as it goes along; hence it would be splendid as an undergraduate text. Nevertheless, there are subtle references throughout Part I and direct discussions in Part II of the metaphysical tradition; for those who already know, this is a profound and subtly argued defense of a particular metaphysical position relative to the competitors; hence it is intrinsically interesting for advanced scholars and will evoke commentary in the current discussion. The book is magisterial in both senses: a fine teaching tool and an embodiment of mastery."— Robert Cummings Neville<br /><br />"I like the sense of philosophical seriousness that comes through. The author displays a humanly insightful touch in relation to metaphysical problems that are often wrongly dismissed as abstract and irrelevant. He communicates the sense that philosophical thought is an adventure of mind. Another major asset of the book is that it shows a wide command of the major thinkers in the philosophical tradition." — William Desmond

List of Figures Preface Introduction PART ONE: HUMANNESS, METAPHYSICS, AND BEING 1. Secular Meditations Death Birth Embodiment Consciousness Self-Identity Space Time Interconnectedness 2. The Many Dimensions of Humanness Experience and Conceptualization Flatland: An Imaginative Model Imagination and Judgment Intentionality Sensing Conceptualization Reference to Being Implicit Features of Inwardness 3. Toward a Definition of Humanness Observational Differences The Proximate Inner Ground: Rationality The Ultimate Ground: Metaphysicality "Soul" as Center of Meaning The Human Being as the Sick Animal The Human Being as Religious Animal The Human Being as Historical 4. Metaphysics and Practicality The Meaning of Practicality Immanence Transcendence Relativity of Norms Levels of Transcendence Subjectivity and the Sacred Immanence and Transcendence Metaphysics and Practicality 5. Abstract and Concrete Identifying the Context of the Terms Bodiliness and Concreteness Concreteness and Universality Object, Subject, Praxis PART TWO: READING THE TRADITION Section A. The Ancient-Medieval Tradition 6. Parmenides "Heart" as Starting Point The Logic of Being Historical Aftermath Heidegger's Approach 7. Plato Metaphor and Allegory Dreaming in the Cave In the Light Geometry as Paradigm Eros and the Good Epilogue on Plotinus 8. Aristotle Empiricism and the Principles of Changing Being The Hierarchy of Changing Being Knowing and Being Revisiting the One and the Good 9. Aquinas Being and the Sensorily Given Essence-Esse and God Assimilation and Transformation of Aristotle "The Mystical" Analogy and the Transcendentals Presence to Being Section B. The Modern Tradition 10. Rene Descartes Methodic Doubt and the Cogito Being and God Cogito, World, God Response 11. Baruch Spinoza Being as a Single Substance Freedom Unity Response 12. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz The Monad Hierarchy First Principles Response 13. Immanuel Kant The Ground of Kant's Thought Sensibility Categories Reason The Moral Order Critique of Judgment Response 14. G.W.F. Hegel The Comprehension of Christian Revelation The Phenomenology of Spirit The Logic of the Logos Nature and Spirit Absolute Spirit Response 15. Alfred North Whitehead Whitehead and Modern Physics Whitehead and Plato Response 16. Martin Heidegger Situating Heidegger Being, Truth, and Being-in-the-World The Light of Being Historicity and Authenticity The Play of the Fourfold The History of Truth and the Return to Meditative Thinking Response Epilogue: The Metaphysical Basis of Dialogical Pluralism Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index
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"This is a brilliant 'introduction' to metaphysics, beginning with the creation of a metaphysical system (Part I) and then defending it through a reading of the Western tradition (Part II). The writing is clear and persuasive throughout; it does not presuppose antecedent knowledge of the tradition, or of any present context defining 'metaphysics.' Rather, the book develops what it needs of those things as it goes along; hence it would be splendid as an undergraduate text. Nevertheless, there are subtle references throughout Part I and direct discussions in Part II of the metaphysical tradition; for those who already know, this is a profound and subtly argued defense of a particular metaphysical position relative to the competitors; hence it is intrinsically interesting for advanced scholars and will evoke commentary in the current discussion. The book is magisterial in both senses: a fine teaching tool and an embodiment of mastery."— Robert Cummings Neville"I like the sense of philosophical seriousness that comes through. The author displays a humanly insightful touch in relation to metaphysical problems that are often wrongly dismissed as abstract and irrelevant. He communicates the sense that philosophical thought is an adventure of mind. Another major asset of the book is that it shows a wide command of the major thinkers in the philosophical tradition." — William Desmond
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780791403068
Publisert
1990-07-05
Utgiver
Vendor
State University of New York Press
Vekt
626 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Dybde
25 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
408

Forfatter

Om bidragsyterne

Robert E. Wood is Graduate Dean and Director of the Institute of Philosophical Studies at the University of Dallas. He is the author of Martin Buber's Ontology, and co-editor of the journal, The New Scholasticism.