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Books > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Metaphysics & ontology
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the
1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly
expensive. Pomona Press are republishing these classic works in
affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text
and artwork.
Humanness supposes innate and profound reflexivity. This volume
approaches the concept of reflexivity on two different yet related
analytical planes. Whether implicitly or explicitly, both planes of
thought bear critically on reflexivity in relation to the nature of
selfhood and the very idea of the autonomous individual, ethics,
and humanness, science as such and social science, ontological
dualism and fundamental ambiguity. On the one plane, a collection
of original and innovative ethnographically based essays is
offered, each of which is devoted to ways in which reflexivity
plays a fundamental role in human social life and the study of it;
on the other-anthropo-philosophical and developed in the volume's
Preface, Introduction, and Postscript-it is argued that reflexivity
distinguishes-definitively, albeit relatively-the being and
becoming of the human.
This book discusses the influence of creative work on human life,
and the role it has played in shaping human civilization since
antiquity. To do so, it analyzes the history of thought on creative
work from three civilizations: Greek, Indian, and Chinese, as well
as contemporary neurological studies on consciousness. According to
the classical Greeks, humans are instinctively predisposed to use
creative work to gain truth, wisdom and happiness; the Indians
consider that Dharma (duty, morality, etc.) can be achieved only
through work (karma); and for the Chinese, creative work is needed
to attain the supreme wisdom (Dao). Modern studies on consciousness
show that our brain creates a personal self-model (ego tunnel) when
we learn things creatively, and developing such skills provides
lifelong protection for the brain. In the 21st century, human
involvement in creative work is declining as we use mechanized
systems to gain more and more profit, but the wealth falls into the
hands of the few superrich: the Plutonomy. As creative work is
taken over by AI systems, human work is reduced to operating those
machines, and this in turn leads to an exponential growth in the
number of part-time workers (Precariat). The declining value of
human life today is a consequence of this change in society.
Further, reducing creative work means we have no way to distribute
wealth, nor do we have any means to address problems like the lack
of enthusiasm in the young; the health crisis due to lack of
physical activity; or the environmental crisis due to the high
demand for energy to run mechanized systems. This book explores
these issues.
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the
1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly
expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable,
high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
This book is about our ordinary concept of matter in the form of
enduring continuants and the processes in which they are involved
in the macroscopic realm. It emphasises what science rather than
philosophical intuition tells us about the world, and chemistry
rather than the physics that is more usually encountered in
philosophical discussions. The central chapters dealing with the
nature of matter pursue key steps in the historical development of
scientific conceptions of chemical substance. Like many
contemporary discussions of material objects, it relies heavily on
mereology. The classical principles are applied to the mereological
structure of regions of space, intervals of time, processes and
quantities of matter. Quantities of matter, which don't gain or
lose parts over time, are distinguished from individuals, which are
typically constituted of different quantities of matter at
different times. The proper treatment of the temporal aspect of the
features of material objects is a central issue in this book, which
is addressed by investigating the conditions governing the
application of predicates relating time and other entities. Of
particular interest here are relations between quantities of matter
and times expressing substance kind, phase and mixture. Modal
aspects of these features are taken up in the final chapter.
The issues of the nature and existence of God, time and infinity,
respectively, and how they relate to each other, are some of the
most complicated problems of metaphysics.This volume presents
contributions of thirteen internationally renowned scholars who
deal with various aspects of these complex issues. The
contributions were presented and discussed during the international
conference: God, Time, Infinity held in Warsaw, September 22-24,
2015.
For thousands of years philosophers and theologians have grappled
with the problem of evil. Traditionally, evil has been seen as a
weakness of sorts: the evil person is either ignorant (does not
know the wrong being done), or weak-willed (is incapable of doing
the right thing). But in the most horrifying acts of evil (the
Holocaust, ethnic cleansing, terrorism, serial murder, etc.), the
perpetrators are resolute, deliberate, and well aware of the pain
they are causing. There has never been a better time to re-open
this most difficult of questions, and to inquire whether any
helpful resources exist within our intellectual legacy. David
Roberts has done just this. In taking up the problem of evil as it
is uniquely found in the work of the Danish philosopher, Soren
Kierkegaard, Roberts has uncovered a framework that at last allows
the notion of radical evil to be properly articulated. His book
traces the sources of Kierkegaard's conception from its background
in the work of Kant and Schelling, and painstakingly details the
matrix of issues that evolved into Kierkegaard's own solution.
Kierkegaard's psychological understanding of evil is that it arises
out of despair - a despair that can become so vehement and
ferocious that it lashes out at existence itself. Starting from
this recognition, and drawing on Kierkegaard's view of the self,
Roberts shows how the despairing self can become strengthened and
intensified through a conscious and free choice against the Good.
This type of radical evil is neither ignorant nor weak.
This book applies phenomenological methodology to examine the
transformations of messages as they pass from the mind to the
linear world of human speech, and then back again. Rapid
development of linguistic science in the second half of the 20th
century, and cognitive science in the beginning of the 21st century
has brought us through various stages of natural human language
analysis and comprehension - from deep structures, transformational
grammar and behaviorism to cognitive linguistics, theory of
encapsulation, and mentalism. Thus, drawing upon new developments
in cognitive science, philosophy and hermeneutics, the author
reveals how to obtain the real vision of life lurking behind the
spoken word. Applying methodology introduced by Edmund Husserl and
developed by Martin Heidegger, the author examines how we can see
the 'living' and dynamic essence of speech hidden in the world of
linear linguistic strings and casual utterances. This uniquely
researched work will be a valuable resource for students and
scholars of cognitive stylistics, pragmatics and the psychology of
language.
This book explores the transition from the mind to the Supermind
within the scope of an evolutionary metaphysics. The idea of
Supermind has not been discussed so far in the mainstream
philosophy of mind and consciousness. This book will give a new
approach to the study of consciousness from the Indian vedantic
perspective which has introduced the idea of Supermind, especially
in the works of Sri Aurobindo. The book also undertakes a sustained
critique of the contemporary theories of mind which have promoted
mostly a mechanistic and naturalistic theory of mind and
consciousness. The book is meant for the researchers who are
engaged in the study of consciousness and for those who are
interested in the philosophy of mind in general. This book will
serve the purpose of the much-needed counter perspective to the
contemporary theories of mind working broadly within the
materialist traditions.
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Radical Apophasis
(Hardcover)
Todd Ohara; Foreword by Cyril O'Regan
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R1,327
R1,101
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David-Hillel Ruben mounts a defence of some unusual and original positions in the philosophy of action. Written from a point of view out of sympathy with the assumptions of much of contemporary philosophical action theory, his book draws its inspiration from philosophers as diverse as Aristotle, Berkeley, and Marx. Ruben's work is located in the tradition of the metaphysics of action, and will attract much attention from his peers and from students in the field.
Collected in this 3-in-one omnibus edition are Kant's ground
breaking critiques. The Critique of Pure Reason, The Critique of
Practical Reason, and The Critique of Judgement. The Critique of
Pure Reason is one of the most influential philosophy books of all
times. Kant's influence on modern perception of reason cannot be
over estimated. Here Kant redefines reason and gives us the tools
to understand reason on two levels: the empirical and the
metaphysical. The Critique of Practical Reason is the second of
Immanuel Kant's three critiques and it deals with Kant's own moral
philosophy and his views on free will. A masterpiece of
philosophical writing. In The Critique of Judgement Kant states
that "Philosophy may be said to contain the principles of the
rational cognition that concepts afford us of things (not merely,
as with logic, the principles of the form of thought in general
irrespective of the objects), and, thus interpreted, the course,
usually adopted, of dividing it into theoretical and practical is
perfectly sound."
This book argues for two claims: firstly, determinism in science
does not infringe upon human free will because it is descriptive,
not prescriptive, and secondly, the very formulation, testing and
justification of scientific theories presupposes human free will
and thereby persons as ontologically primitive. The argument
against predetermination is broadly Humean, or more precisely
'Super-Humean', whereas that against naturalist reduction is in
large Kantian, drawing from Sellars on the scientific and the
manifest image. Thus, whilst the book defends scientific realism
against the confusion between fact and fake, it also reveals why
scientific theories, laws and explanations cannot succeed in
imposing norms for our actions upon us, neither on the level of the
individual nor on that of society. Esfeld makes a strong case for
an ontology of science that is minimally sufficient to explain our
scientific and common sense knowledge, not only removing the
concern that the laws of nature are incompatible with human
freedom, but furthermore showing how our freedom is in fact a very
presupposition for science.
Plato’s Timaeus is unique in Greek Antiquity for presenting the
creation of the world as the work of a divine demiurge. The maker
bestows order on sensible things and imitates the world of the
intellect by using the Forms as models. While the creation-myth of
the Timaeus seems unparalleled, this book argues that it is not the
first of Plato’s dialogues to use artistic language to articulate
the relationship of the objects of the material world to the world
of the intellect. The book adopts an interpretative angle that is
sensitive to the visual and art-historical developments of
Classical Athens to argue that sculpture, revolutionized by the
advent of the lost-wax technique for the production of bronze
statues, lies at the heart of Plato’s conception of the relation
of the human soul and body to the Forms. It shows that, despite the
severe criticism of mimēsis in the Republic, Plato’s use of
artistic language rests on a positive model of mimēsis. Plato was
in fact engaged in a constructive dialogue with material culture
and he found in the technical processes and the cultural semantics
of sculpture and of the art of weaving a valuable way to
conceptualise and communicate complex ideas about humans’
relation to the Forms.
Sortal concepts are at the center of certain logical discussions
and have played a significant role in solutions to particular
problems in philosophy. Apart from logic and philosophy, the study
of sortal concepts has found its place in specific fields of
psychology, such as the theory of infant cognitive development and
the theory of human perception. In this monograph, different formal
logics for sortal concepts and sortal-related logical notions (such
as sortal identity and first-order sortal quantification) are
characterized. Most of these logics are intensional in nature and
possess, in addition, a bidimensional character. That is, they
simultaneously represent two different logical dimensions. In most
cases, the dimensions are those of time and natural necessity, and,
in other cases, those of time and epistemic necessity. Another
feature of the logics in question concerns second-order
quantification over sortal concepts, a logical notion that is also
represented in the logics. Some of the logics adopt a constant
domain interpretation, others a varying domain interpretation of
such quantification. Two of the above bidimensional logics are
philosophically grounded on predication sortalism, that is, on the
philosophical view that predication necessarily requires sortal
concepts. Another bidimensional logic constitutes a logic for
complex sortal predicates. These three sorts of logics are among
the important novelties of this work since logics with similar
features have not been developed up to now, and they might be
instrumental for the solution of philosophically significant
problems regarding sortal predicates. The book assumes a modern
variant of conceptualism as a philosophical background. For this
reason, the approach to sortal predicates is in terms of sortal
concepts. Concepts, in general, are here understood as
intersubjective realizable cognitive capacities. The proper
features of sortal concepts are determined by an analysis of the
main features of sortal predicates. Posterior to this analysis, the
sortal-related logical notions represented in the above logics are
discussed. There is also a discussion on the extent to which the
set-theoretic formal semantic systems of the book capture different
aspects of the conceptualist approach to sortals. These different
semantic frameworks are also related to realist and nominalist
approaches to sortal predicates, and possible modifications to them
are considered that might represent those alternative approaches.
This book gives the first complete, fully historicized account of
Emerson's metaphysics of cause and effect and its foundational
position in his philosophy as a whole. Urbas tells the story of the
making of a metaphysician and in so doing breaks with the
postmodern, anti-metaphysical readings that have dominated Emerson
scholarship since his philosophical rehabilitation began in late
1970s. This is an intellectual biography of Emerson the
metaphysician but also a chapter in the cultural life-story of a
concept synonymous, in the Transcendentalist period, with life
itself, the story of the principle at the origin of all being and
change. Emerson's Metaphysics proposes an account of Emerson's
metaphysical thought as it unfolds in his writings, as it informs
his philosophy as a whole, and as it reflects the intellectual and
religious culture in which he lived and moved and had his being.
This book will be of interest to philosophers, literary scholars,
and students of English, philosophy, and intellectual and religious
history who are interested in Emerson and the American
Transcendentalist movement.
F.W.J. Schelling (1775-1854) stands alongside J.G. Fichte and
G.W.F. Hegel as one of the great philosophers of the German
idealist tradition. The Schelling Reader introduces students to
Schelling's philosophy by guiding them through the first ever
English-language anthology of his key texts-an anthology which
showcases the vast array of his interests and concerns
(metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of nature, ethics,
aesthetics, philosophy of religion and mythology, and political
philosophy). The reader includes the most important passages from
all of Schelling's major works as well as lesser-known yet
illuminating lectures and essays, revealing a philosopher
rigorously and boldly grappling with some of the most difficult
philosophical problems for over six decades, and constantly
modifying and correcting his earlier thought in light of new
insights. Schelling's evolving philosophies have often presented
formidable challenges to the teaching of his thought. For the first
time, The Schelling Reader arranges readings from his work
thematically, so as to bring to the fore the basic continuity in
his trajectory, as well as the varied ways he tackles perennial
problems. Each of the twelve chapters includes sustained readings
that span the whole of Schelling's career, along with explanatory
notes and an editorial introduction that introduces the main
themes, arguments, and questions at stake in the text. The Editors'
Introduction to the volume as a whole also provides important
details on the context of Schelling's life and work to help
students effectively engage with the material.
This book addresses the philosophy of Kant and the poetry of
Shelley as historical starting points for a new way of thinking in
the modern age. Fusing together critical philosophy and visionary
poetry, Bassler develops the notion of visionary critique, or
paraphysics, as a model for future philosophical endeavor. This
philosophical practice is rooted in the concept of the indefinite
power associated with the sublime in both Kant and Shelley's work,
to which the notion of the parafinite or indefinitely large is
extended in this book.
Beatific Enjoyment in Medieval Scholastic Debates examines the
religious concept of enjoyment as discussed by scholastic
theologians in the Latin Middle Ages. Severin Kitanov argues that
central to the concept of beatific enjoyment (fruitio beatifica) is
the distinction between the terms enjoyment and use (frui et uti)
found in Saint Augustine's treatise On Christian Learning. Peter
Lombard, a twelfth-century Italian theologian, chose the enjoyment
of God to serve as an opening topic of his Sentences and thereby
set in motion an enduring scholastic discourse. Kitanov examines
the nature of volition and the relationship between volition and
cognition. He also explores theological debates on the definition
of enjoyment: whether there are different kinds and degrees of
enjoyment, whether natural reason unassisted by divine revelation
can demonstrate that beatific enjoyment is possible, whether
beatific enjoyment is the same as pleasure, whether it has an
intrinsic cognitive character, and whether the enjoyment of God in
heaven is a free or un-free act. Even though the concept of
beatific enjoyment is essentially religious and theological,
medieval scholastic authors discussed this concept by means of
Aristotle's logical and scientific apparatus and through the lens
of metaphysics, physics, psychology, and virtue ethics. Bringing
together Christian theological and Aristotelian scientific and
philosophical approaches to enjoyment, Kitanov exposes the
intricacy of the discourse and makes it intelligible for both
students and scholars.
Is everything just as it should be, or is the world spiraling out
of control and we must try to save it? Is life simple, once we
understand how it works, or is it so complicated only a nuclear
physicist could understand it? The authors claim that life is
simple, but only if we accept what we encounter with equanimity and
are willing to replace old ideas with new ones that make more
sense. Attachment, resistance, and emotional reactions are what
make life difficult. Is there a personal God? Does Satan exist? Do
politics have a role in the spiritual development of our world?
What part does sex play in our spiritual development? This is not a
"safe" book. The authors have answers for all these questions and
more, but not all readers will agree with them. And that is as it
should be, according to them. Their concepts of how life works,
based on Ancient Wisdom teachings, will make you analyze, ponder
over, and re-assess your entire belief system. The overall message
is one of assurance. As one reader said, "It gave me hope. I never
considered myself a spiritual person until I read this book." "This
book speaks in today's language to seekers of all ages. Whether a
seasoned student or a beginner, it opens new doors and fresh vistas
on the soul's journey to wisdom. It is indeed a practical guide, at
the same time surveying all the principles necessary for
understanding the wisdom-tradition we know as Theosophy. This book
brings the Ancient Wisdom into the 21st century " - Joy Mills,
author of Reflections on an Ancient Wisdom "Ancient Wisdom for a
New Age provides some very important advice for those who want to
live the spiritual life. The chapter on reincarnation is especially
well-done. Hunt and Benedict are to be commended for making a noble
effort to help spiritual pilgrims on their way. By far the most
practical chapter in the book is 'Your Spiritual Practice'." -
Quest Magazine
- Your true essence survives the physical death of your body -
Your soul is the true essence of who you are; not your body - In
all likelihood, you have lived before in a much different body -
All souls originated from the same God-sourced energy - As humans
living on Earth, we are "ONE" big, soul family This book combines
science and spirituality in a unique way. It contains carefully
documented descriptions by a trained research scientist of visions,
which I received as a result of prayers and requests for
information. Science of Prayer validates the usefulness of walking
a path of spiritual wholeness. The author describes his search for
answers to help explain his experiences. This journey takes us
through the study of consciousness, psychic development classes,
training in an energy healing modality, and much more. It describes
what the author did, and suggests exercises to help put you in the
best possible position to receive the guidance that you are given.
Richard Rominger "This remarkable story gives us all a glimpse into
what is possible when you allow your six sensory abilities to open
up to Spirit." --Sonia Choquette, New York Times bestselling
author
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