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METAPHYSICS. LECTURE 1 “WHAT IS METAPHYSICS?”. PETER VAN INWAGEN (1942- ). VAN INWAGEN’S CHARACTERIZATION OF METAPHYSICS. “THE STUDY OF ULTIMATE REALITY”. G. E. MOORE (1873-1958). G. E. MOORE’S CHARACTERIZATION OF WHAT PHILOSOPHERS HAVE TRIED TO DO:
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METAPHYSICS LECTURE 1 “WHAT IS METAPHYSICS?”
VAN INWAGEN’S CHARACTERIZATION OF METAPHYSICS • “THE STUDY OF ULTIMATE REALITY”
G. E. MOORE’S CHARACTERIZATION OF WHAT PHILOSOPHERS HAVE TRIED TO DO: • “TO GIVE A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WHOLE OF THE UNIVERSE, MENTIONING ALL THE MOST IMPORTANT KINDS OF THINGS WHICH WE KNOW TO BE IN IT, CONSIDERING HOW FAR IT IS LIKELY THAT THERE ARE IN IT IMPORTANT KINDS OF THINGS WHICH WE DO NOT ABSOLUTELY KNOW TO BE IN IT, AND ALSO CONSIDERING THE MOST IMPORTANT WAYS IN WHICH THESE VARIOUS KINDS OF THINGS ARE RELATED TO ONE ANOTHER” (p. 13, SOME MAIN PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY)
VAN INWAGEN’S QUESTIONSOF METAPHYSICS • 1. “WHAT ARE THE MOST GENERAL FEATURES OF THE WORLD, AND WHAT SORT OF THINGS DOES IT CONTAIN? WHAT IS THE WORLD LIKE?”
2. WHY DOES A WORLD EXIST – AND, MORE SPECIFICALLY, WHY IS THERE A WORLD HAVING THE FEATURES AND CONTENT DESCRIBED IN THE ANSWER TO QUESTION 1?
3. WHAT IS OUR PLACE IN THE WORLD? HOW DO WE HUMAN BEINGS FIT INTO IT?