Plotinus and the Artistic Imagination John S
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1 Unit 1 Metaphysical Method of Aristotle and Aquinas
UNIT 1 METAPHYSICAL METHOD OF ARISTOTLE AND AQUINAS Contents 1.0 Objectives 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Aristotelian Method of Metaphysics 1.3 Metaphysical Method of St Thomas Aquinas 1.4 Metaphysics and Epistemology 1.5 Let us Sum up 1.6 Key Words 1.7 Further Readings and References 1.8 Answers to Check Your Progress 1.0 OBJECTIVES Aristotle’s thirst for knowledge pushes him beyond the phenomenal world. He does not just contemplate on them but arrives at them through causes. At the beginning of metaphysics which he called ‘first philosophy’ Aristotle had raised the problem of knowledge and wisdom. Aquinas devoted much of his thought to the question ‘what does it mean to be’? Many Thomists think that his greatest philosophical ability was shown in the area of metaphysics. In this Unit you are expected to understand: • The metaphysical method of Aristotle • The metaphysical method of Aquinas • The inseparable relation between metaphysics and epistemology 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 The term metaphysics is not of Aristotle, it was of his disciple Andronicus of Rhodes (40 BC) who edited his works. The texts on ‘first philosophy’ were grouped after those of physics and were called meta ta physika. Aristotle defines metaphysics or first philosophy as “a science which investigates being as being”. It is the science that studies being as being. Other sciences touch only a portion of the things. They touch on a particular sphere of being and analyse the attributes of being in that particular sphere. Metaphysics, on the contrary, considers being as such, entity as such in the universal manner and in its highest and most general determinations, thus seeking the ultimate causes. -
Curriculum Vitae
Timothy Williamson: Publications in reverse chronological order In preparation [a] ‘Knowledge, credence, and strength of belief’, invited for Amy Flowerree and Baron Reed (eds.), The Epistemic. [b] ‘Blackburn against moral realism’, for Paul Bloomfield and David Copp (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Moral Realism, Oxford University Press. [c] ‘Non-modal normativity and norms of belief’, for Ilkka Niiniluoto and Sami Pihlstrom (eds.), volume on normativity, Acta Philosophica Fennica (2020). [d] ‘The KK principle and rotational symmetry’, invited for Analytic Philosophy. [e] ‘Chakrabarti and the Nyāya on knowability’. To appear [a] Suppose and Tell: The Semantics and Heuristics of Conditionals. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020. [b] (with Paul Boghossian) Debating the A Priori. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020. [c] ‘Edgington on possible knowledge of unknown truth’, in J. Hawthorne and L. Walters (eds.), Conditionals, Probability, and Paradox: Themes from the Philosophy of Dorothy Edgington, Oxford: Oxford University Press. [d] ‘Justifications, excuses, and skeptical scenarios’, in J. Dutant and F. Dorsch (eds.), The New Evil Demon, Oxford University Press. [e] ‘The counterfactual-based approach to modal epistemology’, in Otávio Bueno and Scott Shalkowski (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Modality, London: Routledge. [f] ‘More Oxonian scepticism about the a priori’, in Dylan Dodd and Elia Zardini (eds.), The A Priori: Its Significance, Grounds, and Extent, Oxford University Press. [g] ‘Reply to Casullo’s defence of the significance of the a priori – a posteriori distinction’, in Dylan Dodd and Elia Zardini (eds.), The A Priori: Its Significance, Grounds, and Extent, Oxford University Press. [h] ‘Introduction’ to Khaled Qutb, Summary of The Philosophy of Philosophy (in Arabic), Cairo: Academic Bookshop. -
On Matter: Schelling's Anti-Platonic Reading of the Timaeus Tyler Tritten
93 The Official Journal of the North American Schelling Society Volume 1 (2018) On Matter: Schelling’s Anti-Platonic Reading of the Timaeus Tyler Tritten This essay1 contrasts the so-called emanationism of Neoplatonism, particularly Proclus’s, with the naturephilosophy2 of F.W.J. Schelling. The contention is that Schelling’s thought is Neo-Platonist because thoroughly Platonist (albeit not at all Platonic, that is, dualistic), except that his project stands Neoplatonism on its head by inverting the order of procession. Schelling agrees with Neoplatonism that matter is the lowest and most inferior of the hypostases—not even constituting a proper hypostasis itself, because incapable of self-reversion—but he differs in viewing matter as cosmologically prior to intellect, soul, the demiurge and so forth. The question concerns not the hierarchical but the ontological ordering of matter. For Schelling, procession is not a descent into being (and eventually non-being) from a one beyond being, but an elevation (Steigerung) and intensification of being, which precludes the need for return (έπιστροφή [epistrophē]). This is the trademark of Schelling’s late distinction between positive and negative philosophy. Positive philosophy is progressive, beginning with the inferior as the most original in order to ascend 1 This article is a slightly revised and shortened version of chapter three of my The Contingency of Necessity: Reason and God as Matters of Fact (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017). 2 In Philosophies of Nature After Schelling (London: Continuum, 2008) Ian Hamilton Grant speaks of Schelling not as a practitioner of the philosophy of nature, but as a naturephilosopher. -
Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Chemistry
Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Chemistry Jaap van Brakel Abstract: In this paper I assess the relation between philosophy of chemistry and (general) philosophy of science, focusing on those themes in the philoso- phy of chemistry that may bring about major revisions or extensions of cur- rent philosophy of science. Three themes can claim to make a unique contri- bution to philosophy of science: first, the variety of materials in the (natural and artificial) world; second, extending the world by making new stuff; and, third, specific features of the relations between chemistry and physics. Keywords : philosophy of science, philosophy of chemistry, interdiscourse relations, making stuff, variety of substances . 1. Introduction Chemistry is unique and distinguishes itself from all other sciences, with respect to three broad issues: • A (variety of) stuff perspective, requiring conceptual analysis of the notion of stuff or material (Sections 4 and 5). • A making stuff perspective: the transformation of stuff by chemical reaction or phase transition (Section 6). • The pivotal role of the relations between chemistry and physics in connection with the question how everything fits together (Section 7). All themes in the philosophy of chemistry can be classified in one of these three clusters or make contributions to general philosophy of science that, as yet , are not particularly different from similar contributions from other sci- ences (Section 3). I do not exclude the possibility of there being more than three clusters of philosophical issues unique to philosophy of chemistry, but I am not aware of any as yet. Moreover, highlighting the issues discussed in Sections 5-7 does not mean that issues reviewed in Section 3 are less im- portant in revising the philosophy of science. -
Gillian K. Russell
Gillian K. Russell Dianoia Institute of Philosophy (cell) +1 (858) 205{2834 Locked Bag 4115 MDC [email protected] Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 https://www.gillianrussell.net Australia Current Employment Professor of Philosophy Dianoia Institute at ACU in Melbourne 2020| 1 Arch´eProfessorial Fellow ( 5 th time) University of St Andrews, Scotland 2019{2023 Employment and Education History Alumni Distinguished Professor University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2019{2020 Professor of Philosophy University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2015{19 Associate Professor in Philosophy Washington University in St Louis 2011{2015 Assistant Professor in Philosophy Washington University in St Louis 2004{2011 Killam Postdoctoral Fellow University of Alberta 2005 Ph.D. in Philosophy Princeton University 2004 M.A. in Philosophy Princeton University 2002 M.A. in German and Philosophy University of St Andrews, Scotland 1999 Areas of Specialisation Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Logic, Epistemology Areas of Competence Logic, History of Analytic Philosophy, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Science and Mathematics Books { Truth in Virtue of Meaning: a defence of the analytic/synthetic distinction (Oxford, 2008) { The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Language, with Delia Graff Fara (eds.) (Routledge, 2011) { New Waves in Philosophical Logic, with Greg Restall (eds.) (Palgrave MacMillan, 2012) Accepted and Published Papers { \Social Spheres" forthcoming in Feminist Philosophy and Formal Logic Audrey Yap and Roy Cook (eds) { \Logic: A Feminist Approach" forthcoming in Philosophy for Girls: An invitation to the life of thought, M. Shew and K. Garchar (eds) (Oxford University Press, 2020) { \Waismann's Papers on the Analytic/Synthetic Distinction" in Friedrich Waismann: The Open Texture of Analytic Philosophy, D. -
Kant's Critique of Judgment and the Scientific Investigation of Matter
Kant’s Critique of Judgment and the Scientific Investigation of Matter Daniel Rothbart, Irmgard Scherer Abstract: Kant’s theory of judgment establishes the conceptual framework for understanding the subtle relationships between the experimental scientist, the modern instrument, and nature’s atomic particles. The principle of purposive- ness which governs judgment has also a role in implicitly guiding modern experimental science. In Part 1 we explore Kant’s philosophy of science as he shows how knowledge of material nature and unobservable entities is possible. In Part 2 we examine the way in which Kant’s treatment of judgment, with its operating principle of purposiveness, enters into his critical project and under- lies the possibility of rational science. In Part 3 we show that the centrality given to judgment in Kant’s conception of science provides philosophical in- sight into the investigation of atomic substances in modern chemistry. Keywords : Kant , judgment , purposiveness , experimentation , investigation of matter . Introduction Kant’s philosophy of science centers on the problem of how it is possible to acquire genuine knowledge of unobservable entities, such as atoms and molecules. “What and how much can the understanding and reason know apart from all experience?” ( CPuR , Axvii). This raises the question of the role of experiments in the knowability ( Erkennbarkeit ) and the experientiality (Erfahrbarkeit ) of nature. Kant’s insights into the character of scientific experimentation are not given the hearing they deserve. We argue that Kant’s theory of judgment establishes the conceptual framework for understanding the subtle inter- actions between the experimental chemist, the modern chemical instrument, and molecular substance. -
Aristotle on Thinking ( Noêsis )
Aristotle on Thinking ( Noêsis ) The Perception Model DA III.4-5. Aristotle gives an account of thinking (or intellect—noêsis ) that is modeled on his account of perception in Book II. Just as in perception, “that which perceives” ( to aisthêtikon ) takes on sensible form (without matter), so in thinking “that which thinks” ( to noêtikon ) takes on intelligible form (without matter). Similarly, just as in perception, the perceiver has the quality of the object potentially, but not actually, so, too, in understanding, the intellect is potentially (although not actually) each of its objects. Problem This leaves us with a problem analogous to the one we considered in the case of perception. There we wondered how the perceiver of a red tomato could be potentially (but not actually) red (prior to perceiving it), and yet become red (be actually red) in the process of perceiving it. Here the question is how the intellect that thinks about a tomato (or a horse) is potentially a tomato (or a horse), and then becomes a tomato (or a horse) in the process of thinking about it. The problem about thinking seems more severe: for although there is a sense in which the perceiver becomes red (the sense organ becomes colored red), there does not seem to be a comparable sense in which the intellect becomes a tomato (or a horse). (1) there is no organ involved, and (2) there does not seem to be room in there for a tomato (let alone a horse). The Differences from Perception As we will see, there are important differences between perceiving and understanding, beyond the fact the one involves taking on perceptible form and the other intelligible form. -
Metaphysics of Soul and Self in Plotinus Gwenaëlle Aubry
Metaphysics of soul and self in Plotinus Gwenaëlle Aubry To cite this version: Gwenaëlle Aubry. Metaphysics of soul and self in Plotinus. P. Remes; S. Slaveva-Griffin. The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism, pp.310-323, 2014. hal-02387195 HAL Id: hal-02387195 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02387195 Submitted on 29 Nov 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. 20 Metaphysics of soul and self in Plotinus Gwenaëlle Aubry One of the great singularities of the philosophy of Plotinus consists in thinking of the self1 for its own sake and, in particular, in producing a concept of it diff erent from that of soul.2 Th is philosophical breakthrough is inseparable from the discovery of immedi- ate refl exivity, that is, the subject’s ability to apprehend itself independently of its rela- tion to an object or to another subject.3 In Plotinus, however, this refl exivity occurs only in an interrogative form, which can be read, in particular, in Enn. I.1[53] and Enn. VI.4[22]. In other words, it does not, as in Descartes, assume the form of an intuition by means of which the subject, grasping itself as consciousness, would, at the same time, have an evident revelation of its essence. -
Summa Theologiae with Reference to Contemporary Psychological Studies
Concept of Happiness in Summa Theologiae with Reference to Contemporary Psychological Studies Von der Fakultät für Geisteswissenschaften der Universität Duisburg-Essen zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktor der Philosophie (Dr. phil.) genehmigte Dissertation von Jaison Ambadan Chacko Ambadan aus Areekamala, Kerala, Indien Erster Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Ralf Miggelbrink Zweiter Gutachter : Prof. Dr. Markus Tiwald Vorsitzender des Prüfungsausschusses: Prof. Dr. Neil Roughley Tag der Disputation: 02.07.2018 1 Concept of Happiness in Summa Theologiae with Reference to Contemporary Psychological Studies General Introduction 6 Chapter I The Ethical Perspective of Happiness in Aquinas´s Concept of Human Acts Introduction 27 1. Human Acts 31 1.1 Voluntary 52 1.2 Involuntary 53 1.3 Circumstances 54 1.3.1 Nature of Circumstance 55 1.3.2 Role Circumstances in Moral Evaluation 56 1.4 Cognitive Participation 57 1.4.1 Three Acts of the Speculative Intellect 58 1.4.2 Three Acts of the Practical Intellect 60 1.5 The Will 62 1.5.1 Cause of the Movement of the Will 62 1.5.2 Manner in which the Will Moves 63 1.5.3 Characteristics of the Act of the Will 64 1.5.3.1 Enjoyment 65 1.5.3.2 Intention 65 1.5.3.3 Choice 67 1.5.3.4 Counsel 68 1.5.3.5 Consent 68 1.5.3.6 Use 69 1.6 Human Acts Commanded by the Will 70 1.6.1 Good and Evil in Human Acts 71 1.6.2 Goodness and Malice in Human Acts 72 1.6.3 Impact of the Interior Act 75 1.6.4 Impact of the External Act 76 1.6.5 Impact of Disposition 77 Conclusion 79 2 Chapter II Thomas Aquinas´s Cognition of Passion and Happiness Introduction 82 2. -
An Anthology of Philosophical Studies
Introduction AN ANTHOLOGY OF PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES Edited by PATRICIA HANNA ADRIANNE L. MCEVOY PENELOPE VOUTSINA ATINER 2006 1 An Anthology of Philosophical Studies 2 Introduction Athens Institute for Education and Research 2006 An Anthology of Philosophical Studies Edited by Patricia Hanna Adrianne L. McEvoy Penelope Voutsina 3 An Anthology of Philosophical Studies PUBLISHED BY ATHENS INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION AND RESEARCH 14 Solomou Street, 10683 Athens, Greece Tel. +30 210 36.34.210 Fax +30 210.36.34.209 Email: [email protected] URL: www.atiner.gr This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of the Athens Institute for Education and Research. First Published: 2006 ISBN: 978-960-6672-11-8 Typeset, printed and binding by Theta Co. 4 Introduction Table of Contents List of Contributors i Introduction 1 Voutsina, P. PART I EPISTEMOLOGY 1. Imagination in Descartes’ Skepticism 7 Scholl, A. 2. Descartes on Sensations and Ideas of Sensations 17 Cunning, D. 3. The Myth of Hume’s Compatibilism 33 Morris, E.W. 4. From Contextualism to Skepticism 43 Wilburn, R. 5. The Puzzle of Self-Knowledge 51 Voutsina, P. 6. Unconfined Rationality: A Normative yet Realistic Model of 59 Inference Morado, R. and Savion, L. PART II METAPHYSICS AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE 7. Language as Community Property: What’s Wrong with 75 Chomsky’s Individualism? Hanna, P. 8. What do Concepts Consist of? The Role of Geometric and 93 Proprioceptive Information in Categorization Dellantonio, S. and Pastore, L. -
Neoplatonism: the Last Ten Years
The International Journal The International Journal of the of the Platonic Tradition 9 (2015) 205-220 Platonic Tradition brill.com/jpt Critical Notice ∵ Neoplatonism: The Last Ten Years The past decade or so has been an exciting time for scholarship on Neo platonism. I ought to know, because during my stint as the author of the “Book Notes” on Neoplatonism for the journal Phronesis, I read most of what was published in the field during this time. Having just handed the Book Notes over to George BoysStones, I thought it might be worthwhile to set down my overall impressions of the state of research into Neoplatonism. I cannot claim to have read all the books published on this topic in the last ten years, and I am here going to talk about certain themes and developments in the field rather than trying to list everything that has appeared. So if you are an admirer, or indeed author, of a book that goes unmentioned, please do not be affronted by this silence—it does not necessarily imply a negative judgment on my part. I hope that the survey will nonetheless be wideranging and comprehensive enough to be useful. I’ll start with an observation made by Richard Goulet,1 which I have been repeating to students ever since I read it. Goulet conducted a statistical analy sis of the philosophical literature preserved in the original Greek, and discov ered that almost threequarters of it (71%) was written by Neoplatonists and commentators on Aristotle. In a sense this should come as no surprise. -
Transmission of Mystical Light from Greek Christian East to the West
TRANSMISSION OF MYSTICAL LIGHT FROM GREEK CHRISTIAN EAST TO THE WEST Seweryn Blandzi DOI: 10.17846/CL.2021.14.1.59-64 Abstract: BLANDZI, SEWERYN. Transmission of Mystical Light from Greek Christian East to the West. Plato’s and Aristotle’s investigations based on the very concept of wisdom and the relationship between sophia and saphia lead us to the metaphysics of light, developed later in Christian thought and neoplatonism, the beginnings of which we observe in the early Greek thinkers and authors and exegesis writers of books that are the foundation of various religions. The metaphor of light permeates the entire Mediterranean philosophical and mystery reflection from Parmenides and Plato to Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. First and foremost light was the essential element in the philosophy of Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagite who provided Christian thought with rich presuppositions and themes. His metaphysics of light contained imagery that inspired Abbot Suger, the builder of first French gothic cathedral in Saint Denys abbacy. Suger applied the Dionysian vision and transformed mystical wisdom into the real world. The main purpose of the article is to highlight the gnostic aspect of the reflection on the light in the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius. Keywords: Parmenides, Plato, neoplatonism, metaphysics of light, Ps. Dionysius the Areopagite, abbot Suger, St. Denis monastery a)gaqo\n ga\r ei]rhtai dia\ a]gan qe/ein e)p ) au)to\ pa/nta Elias, Prolegomena philosophiae One could say that symbolism of light permeates Greek philosophy from its very beginnings. See, for instance, Parmenides’ proemium where Eleatic poet and thinker describes his upwards journey to the gates of Night and Day to see the eternally luminous brightening realm of transcendent Truth-Being expressed in Plato’s language as u(peroura/niov to/pov of ou)si/a o]ntwv ou)=sa (Plato.