Methods of Metaphysics

Methods of Metaphysics
Author: Alan White
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2019-03-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0429514271

Originally published in 1987. This book comprises a critical exposition of the thoughts on metaphysics of the major philosophers of the tradition. It introduces the ideas of these philosophers to students but is of interest to teachers as well. The author begins with a survey of the metaphysical writings of Plato, Aristotle, Berkeley, Leibniz and Bradley, clarifying throughout the relation of their methods and results to those of science. He follows this with a careful study of the critical attitudes to metaphysics espoused by Kant, Wittgenstein and the Logical Positivists. In the final section he scrutinizes the attempts by Collingwood, Wisdom and Lazerowitz to rehabilitate metaphysics.

Scientific Metaphysics

Scientific Metaphysics
Author: Don Ross
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2013-01-17
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199696497

Original essays by leading philosophers of science explore the question of whether metaphysics can and should be naturalised - conducted as part of natural science. They engage with a range of approaches and disciplines to argue that if metaphysics is to be capable of identifying objective truths, it must be continuous with and inspired by science.

Metaphysics: A Very Short Introduction

Metaphysics: A Very Short Introduction
Author: Stephen Mumford
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 129
Release: 2012-08-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199657122

An introduction to metaphysics offers questions and answers covering such issues as properties, changes, time, personal identity, nothingness, and consciousness.

Meta-metaphysics

Meta-metaphysics
Author: Jiri Benovsky
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 139
Release: 2016-03-22
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3319253344

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

Method and Metaphysics

Method and Metaphysics
Author: Jonathan Barnes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 634
Release: 2011-10-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 019957751X

This volume presents 26 essays on method and metaphysics in ancient philosophy by Jonathan Barnes, one of the most admired and influential philosophers of his generation. Several of the essays appear here in English for the first time; others are substantially revised. This will be a rich feast for students and scholars of ancient philosophy.

Nature and Understanding

Nature and Understanding
Author: Nicholas Rescher
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2003
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780199261826

Rescher explores the prospect of looking from a scientific point of view at such central ideas of traditional metaphysics as the simplicity of nature, its comprehensibility, or its systematic integrity.

Experimental Metaphysics

Experimental Metaphysics
Author: David Rose
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2017-06-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1474278612

Metaphysics, almost entirely neglected by experimental philosophers, is the central focus of Experimental Metaphysics. The volume brings together a range of views aimed at addressing the question of how cognitive science might be relevant to metaphysics. With contributions from cognitive scientists and philosophers, chapters focus on theoretical and empirical issues involving the potential role of cognitive science in metaphysics. Alongside topics such as free will, objects and causation, in which relevant empirical evidence is discussed and connected to relevant metaphysical issues, more programmatic papers explore theoretical issues centered on the connection between cognitive science and metaphysics. This balanced approach exposes metaphysicians to philosophically relevant work in cognitive science, while showing cognitive scientists the ways in which their work might be important for philosophers. Presenting cutting-edge empirical and theoretical research, Experimental Metaphysics pushes forward the discussion and encourages further engagement with issues at the intersection of cognitive science and metaphysics.

Metaphysical Techniques That Really Work

Metaphysical Techniques That Really Work
Author: Audrey Craft Davis
Publisher: Pelican Pond
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2004
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9781577331285

Aura reading, past-life regression, bi-location projection, and numerology are some of the many topics explored by the author, who describes each technique and offers true stories from her personal experience.

The Oxford Handbook of Metaphysics

The Oxford Handbook of Metaphysics
Author: Michael J. Loux
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 740
Release: 2005-09-08
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780199284221

Some of the world's specialists provide in this handbook essays about what kinds of things there are, in what ways they exist, and how they relate to each other. They give the word on such topics as identity, modality, time, causation, persons and minds, freedom, and vagueness.