Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Conditions Of Fundamental Metaphysics: A Critique Of Jorge Gracia's Proposal, Jonathan Vajda

Critical Reflections

Jorge Gracia’s paper “The Fundamental Character of Metaphysics” (2014) proposes five conditions that, if satisfied, would be sufficient to establish metaphysics as a fundamental discipline for other sciences: (1) universal extension, (2) ontological neutralism, (3) sui generis character, (4) overall disciplinary integration, and (5) necessity. In this paper, I argue that his metaphysical project requires revision. Not only are the conditions insufficient to establish fundamentality, two of the conditions are themselves problematic. Gracia's intends to be radically inclusive, yet unintentionally excludes certain views. His notion of fundamentality avoids reference to establishing normative principia, yet a key benefit of grounding …

Grounding The Concept Of God In The Human Predicament, Clinton B. Neptune

Critical Reflections

Contemporary religious epistemology often neglects offering a substantial defense of a particular conception of God, relying instead on appeals to tradition and past great theologians. This neglect is regrettable due to the large impact one’s concept of God has on the kind of expected evidence of God. I aim to correct this deficiency by offering a defensible concept of God grounded in the predicament faced by all human inquirers. My account of this human predicament will focus on three key features that are salient to religious inquiry: death, moral failure, and suffering and severity. I will defend the idea that …

"On Γίγνων", Faith D. Mcfadden

Critical Reflections

Abstract for On Γίγνων

This paper will examine C.D.C Reeve’s use of ἀγάλματα as a birth metaphor in the dialogue the Symposium, and compare it to the other birth metaphors as found in the Theaetetus. This paper posits that there is a difference betwixt the ἀγάλματα found in Socrates and the διάνοια with which certain men are found to be pregnant[1]. The relationship of ἀγάλματα and διάνοια are commensurate to the relationship of διάνοια and νοήσις as found in the hierarchy of understanding in the soul in the line metaphor of the Republic.

The paper will …