Philosophy 331-A: Metaphysics
Dr. James Luchte
Britt Hall 214
E-mail Dr. James Luchte
Office Hours: MWF 11:00AM-12:00PM, MW 3:30-5:15PM, F 2:00-3:30PM
540-365-4324
Philosophy 331-A: Metaphysics
MW 2 - 3:15PM
GBK 202
Course Description
This course will explore the primal questions of philosophy: the question of
the nature, character, and significance (meaning) of existence.
We will begin with the edifice of topics which ultimately became to define metaphysics
in the Modern era. These topics consisted of such questions as that of the nature of reality,
space and time, identity, causality, and God. These questions in turn served as the building
blocks for problems such as the relation between the mind and the body and the compatibility
of the notion of determinism with human freedom.
After this introduction to the Modern formulation of metaphysics, we will broaden and
deepen our approach to metaphysics through an excavation of this edifice of topics and problems.
Our goal will be to retrieve the original perplexity and wonder which was and is the impetus for
any metaphysical questioning in the first place.
Such an excavation will challenge each student to get beyond the usual formulations of the
problems of philosophy and to awaken for her or himself the sense of wonder and urgency in a
questioning which seeks explore that which transcends or goes beyond the merely "physical".
While the ultimate answer to these questions will rest upon the existential decision of
each questioner, we will unearth a few of the many attempts to enter into this questioning.
There are many place-names in this excavation: the Pre-socratics, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus,
Lao Tse, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Aldous Huxley - to name only a few.
Each of these place-names (topoi) will serve as a title for a reading and a discussion.
Rough sketch of Metaphysics
An Introduction to Metaphysics (Dr. James Luchte)
Aristotle
Aristotle's Metaphysics: Book I, Parts 1-2
Pre-socratics
Thales Fragments and Commentary
Anaxagoras Fragments and Commentary
Anaximander Fragments and Commentary
Anaximenes Fragments and Commentary
Empedocles Fragments and Commentary
Democritus
Pythagoras Fragments and Commentary
Plato
Plato: The Divided Line and the Allegory of the Cave
Neo-Platonism
Plotinus: On the Kinds of Being
Plotinus, "The Descent of the Soul into the Body (Ennead IV, Eigth Tractate)
Lao Tse
Lao Tse: Tao Te Ching
Nietzsche
The Will to Power
Heidegger
Existence and Being
Aldous Huxley
The Doors of Perception (HTML)
The Doors of Perception (PDF)
Evaluation Criteria:
This course will be evaluated in two ways:
(1) a ten page paper on Metaphysics.
(2) rotating short papers on readings.
Your interpretation of Metaphysics
Resources and Further Reading
"Metaphysics" by Aristotle
Aristotle's "Metaphysics"
Philosophers
Pre-Socratics
Plotinus: Enneads
Metaphysics: Multiple Meanings
Schopenhauer: The Metaphysics of the Love of the Sexes
A.J. Ayer and Metaphysics
Cal State - Hayward
Social and Cultural Anthropology
Carlos Castenada and New Age Shamanism
The Philosopher's Stone
Everything you always wanted to know about Philosophy, but were afraid to ask
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