Metaphysics Commons^™

A Comprehensive Study Of Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, And Comparison, Per Maximilian Gasseholm

Social Sciences

Today complimentary medicine is being increasingly sought out. Ayurveda and TCM, are among the oldest systems of medicine and have been developed for over thousands of years in India and China respectively. This paper details the philosophies, medical theories, anatomy, diagnosis, and treatments of both of these systems, including a comparison. Both of these modalities of healing operate with a microcosm – macrocosm paradigm. This makes them fundamentally similar, and compatible with each other. Ayurveda uses Tridoshic theory to apply treatments ranging from diet, massage, meditation, yoga among other therapies to bring Vata, Pitta, and Kapha into balance. TCM is …

Essence, Existence, And Necessity: Spinoza’S Modal Metaphysics, Austen Haynes

Senior Honors Projects

“In thought, as in nature, there is no creation from absolute nothing.” I have taken on the daunting project of giving an account of Spinozaʼs metaphysics, and laying out the reasoning behind his doctrines. In a letter written in December 1675, barely over a year before his death, Spinoza told Henry Oldenburg that the fatalistic necessity (which was disturbing readers of his philosophy) was in fact the “principal basis” of his Ethics. Since all of his metaphysical doctrines are entwined with this necessity, it is my task to piece this puzzle together. In this thesis, I will begin by …

Ideology, Truthmaking And Fundamentality, Anthony Robert James Fisher

Philosophy - Dissertations

In chapter 1 I outline two conceptions of ideology: ideological pessimism and ideological realism. Ideological pessimism is the view that ideological inquiry has dim prospects insofar as ideology is tied to meaning. Ideological realism is the view that there is a fact of the matter about which ideology is taken as primitive when attempting to describe reality correctly. I respond to an argument on behalf of ideological pessimism, develop ideological realism, and then defend it against an objection that attempts to derive the unpalatable consequence that a main dispute in the metaphysics of properties is verbal.

In chapter 2 I …

Not To Be: Modality Without Possible Worlds, Samuel Girwarnauth

The Hilltop Review

For many with broadly Aristotelian intuitions the Humean usurpation of work in philosophy is a frustrating landscape. This is most obviously demonstrated in the arena of the metaphysics of modality, and talk of "possible worlds" specifically. Famously, the Humean denial of necessary connections in the world has led to the most strongly defended thesis on modality to date: the extreme modal realism (EMR) of David Lewis. Pace Lewis, actualism ought to be the preferred position, but whose version, which actuality? The thrust of this paper shall be to argue that the truth makers, or grounding, for modal claims are not …

A Catholic Core Curriculum, Richard Liddy

Department of Religion Publications

No abstract provided.

Inflationary Truth-Theoretic Semantics, Michael Brady Horton

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

I argue that satisfaction and reference—and therefore, truth—are multiply realizable properties. I advocate a novel approach motivated by a commitment to the robustness and fruitfulness of truth-theoretic approaches to natural language semantics.

DEFLATIONISM: Philosophers keen on deflating the metaphysical pretensions of truth theories claim that we need not appeal to a substantive truth-property. Recently, however, some philosophers have sought to combine deflationism about truth with the view that our concept of truth or the truth-predicate can play an important role in natural language semantics.

TRUTH-THEORETIC SEMANTICS: The goal of a formal semantic theory of a natural language is to provide …

The Effect Of Spiritualism On The Cognitive Functions On Learning And Memory, Carla Antonieta Farcello

McNair Poster Presentations

Last summer I conducted a pilot study which researched whether better working memory would be documented among an experimental group (individuals who report being spiritual) as compared to the control group (individuals who report being non-spiritual).Total scores showed a significantly higher sense of spiritualism among the spiritual participants vs. the non spiritual participants (p < .001) along with a significant improvement in working memory for spiritual participants vs. non spiritual participants (p = .027). The results of this study documented significantly better performance on a task measuring emotional learning and memory among individuals who reported being spiritual as opposed to individuals who reported being non-spiritual. These findings build on prior studies suggesting the effect of positive emotions on broadening cognitive processes (Strauss & Allen, 2003).

My current study is building on what my prior findings have suggested and studies the effect of spiritualism on the cognitive functions of learning and memory. In addition to the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) used in the pilot study, I am including the Spirituality Index …

On Eros In Plotinus: Attempt At A Systematic Reconstruction (With A Preliminary Chapter On Plato), Alberto Bertozzi

Dissertations

This study is an attempt at a systematic reconstruction of Plotinus’ understanding of eros or love in two basic steps, corresponding to Chapters One−Two and Three−Four respectively.

The first step highlights Plotinus’ connection to Plato. In Chapter One, first I argue that Plotinus’ way of reading the dialogues is faithful to Plato’s intention insofar as it is an active engagement in the practice of philosophy advocated in the dialogues; I then try to show that some important elements of Plotinus’ understanding of eros, most notably the differentiation of levels of reality in the soul’s ascent to Beauty and the view …