Search results for "Metaphysics"
showing 10 items of 212 documents
Descartes on Corporeal Substances
2015
I defend in this paper the following two theses: first, that Descartes was a Pluralist as regards extended substances, that is, that for him the extended world includes a plurality of bodies, including ordinary objects, each of which may be adequately described as a substance; and that for him the notion of substance is a rather slim notion, making no specific requirements as regards individuation or persistence conditions, and determining therefore no strict constraints on the kind of material objects that may count as substances. In short, I will be arguing for a certain view concerning the extension of the phrase ‘extended substance’ by defending a specific view of what ‘substance’ means…
The Historical Background of Relativism
2020
Epistemological relativism has been defended and criticised since ancient philosophy (Baghramian M, Relativism. Routledge, London, 2004). At the beginning of this chapter, I create a short introduction to the history and development of epistemological relativism from Protagoras to today’s relativists. After this, I introduce a few philosophers who have been significant in the development of relativism. First, I introduce Kant’s understanding of knowledge and its construction. Then, I bring forth two notable perspectivists. G. W. Leibniz claimed in his book, Monadology (1898), that every monad has its own perspective of reality. The diversity of perspectives is one of the riches of the world…
Temporalization of the Body Within Phenomenology and the Metaphysics of Manifestation
2004
In this paper, I would like to discuss some problems concerning the question of manifestation of time, its Erscheinung, or its coming-to-be-experienced. Since Aristotle, philosophers have found themselves in paradoxical questioning about the nature of time. Indeed, a major obstacle found its clearest expression in Augustine’s famous dictum: “If you ask me what time is, then I do not know anything about it any more.” So, one would say with him that the whole task is to translate the experience of time into discourse, even if it has been set out as “simply” descriptive. Curiously enough, philosophers seem to have not been at ease with Aristotle’s rather straightforward decision to link time w…
Naturalism, Historism, and Phenomenology
2010
According to a generally accepted thesis, science and metaphysics are separate intellectual activities. The thesis is new and not generally accepted in the philosophical systems of Classical Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the first centuries in the development of the modern philosophy. The thesis presupposes the existence of sciences and their methodologies. Natural sciences in the modern sense exist since the sixteenth century, human sciences since the first half of the nineteenth century, and formal sciences since the end of the nineteenth century. Only the relation between the natural and the human sciences as empirical sciences are of interest for this investigation. Systematic reflect…
Building bridges within and across Husserlian phenomenology
2018
A book review of Dan Zahavi. Husserl’s Legacy. Phenomenology, Metaphysics & Transcendental Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 2017, 236 pp. nonPeerReviewed
Phenomenological Paths to Metaphysics
1991
Fifty years after Husserl’s death it is becoming more necessary than ever to give deep thought to the fundamental aspirations of his phenomenology: to lay the foundations of philosophy as opposed to that naturalist, positivist, and objectivist rationality which leads to relativism and skepticism. Husserl’s attempt to create a first philosophy as a framework for philosophical rationality, by itself enough with which to conduct human life, should be reconsidered, since yet again we are living in a cultural situation where the power of facts prevails over the force of reason.
Phenomenon
2020
The essay analyzes the notion of phenomenon referring to metaphysical, phenomenological and morphological tradition.
The Problem of Mind and Other Minds in William James’s Pragmatism
2008
The chapter explicates William James’s pragmatist conception of the human mind and his way of approaching the problem of other minds. James’s pragmatism is usually classified among empiricist and associationist philosophies of mind, but as is shown, it can also be understood according to its Kantian features. In James’s view, the mind is really an active and a purpose-oriented organizing principle which structures our lifeworld. The main difference between James’s pragmatism and Kant’s transcendental philosophy is that James does not make any explicit distinction between psychological and philosophical inquiries into the mind; he based his philosophy of mind on the same introspective method…
Normativity all the way down: from normative realism to pannormism
2017
In this paper, I will give an argument for what I call pannormism, the view according to which if x instantiates a metaphysically basic normative property F, then whatever grounds the being of x also instantiates F. In slogan form: if there is normativity, there is normativity all the way down. Such pannormism is in many ways analogous to panpsychism, and my discussion also contains an important lesson for panpsychism, a way to avoid its so-called combination problem. In Sect. 1, I present the argument; in Sect. 2, I discuss its conclusion.
Avicenna on Negative Judgement
2016
Avicenna’s logical theory of negative judgement can be seen as a systematic development of the insights Aristotle had laid out in the De interpretatione. However, in order to grasp the full extent of his theory one must extend the examination from the logical works to the metaphysical and psychological bases of negative judgement. Avicenna himself often refrains from the explicit treatment of the connections between logic and metaphysics or psychology, or treats them in a rather oblique fashion. Time and again he is satisfied with noting that this or that question is not proper for a logician and should be dealt with in metaphysics or psychology—without bothering to refer his reader to the …