Metaphysics

Book Description
Chronologically-arranged, this anthology contains the essential primary readings on metaphysics, stretching from pre-socratic views of reality such as Heraclitus and Permenides up to Russell. This text includes many of the great classics such as: Aristotle's work from Metaphysics, Aquinas and Ockham on universals and nominalism, and Kant's work from the First Critique. Moving forward with the outstanding work of Russell and Heidegger, this volume also covers key non-western readings. The volume discusses metaphysics as Aristotle originally defined it and includes selections that represent different views on the fundamental nature of existence. The selections examine the study of realism, idealism, materialism and phenomenalism. Each selection begins with a substantial introduction to metaphysics and offers helpful discussions about the context, content and relationship to other writings.


About the Author
David E. Cooper is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Durham. He is the author of a number of books including Metaphor (1986), Existentialism (1990, second edition 1999) and World Philosophies: An Historical Introduction (1996). He is also editor of A Companion to Aesthetics (1992), and three previous volumes in the series Philosophy: The Classic Readings - Aesthetics (1997), Ethics (1997) and Epistemology (1999). All of the above are published by Blackwell.


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This volume is a collection of the most influential attempts to depict the fundamental nature of reality or beingfrom Spinoza's doctrine of a single, indivisible substance to Russell's 'logical atomism' and from the Buddha's account of a causally interrelated world to Leibniz's one of causally independent 'monads'." "Among the metaphysical debates are those between monists and pluralists and materialists and idealists. The authors range in time from Lao Tzu and Plato to Heidegger and Whitehead. The selected texts include many classics from the golden age of metaphysics in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries." "A comprehensive introduction by the editor, together with his preambles to each text, makes this an ideal volume for students on historically informed courses in metaphysics and the more speculative realms of philosophy.


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