PHIL 305 Metaphysics: Aristotle, Spinoza and Leibniz (Not offered 1998-99)

In the first half of this course we will read Aristotle's Metaphysics, a work which presents what Aristotle takes to be the highest and most intrinsically desirable form of knowledge, "first philosophy" (which later philosophers call "metaphysics"). What is the goal and subject-matter of metaphysics? How do the topics which Aristotle's legacy gives to the field of metaphysics-causality, explanation, the relationship between mind and world, God-fit together originally, in Aristotle's project of describing first philosophy? To supplement our understanding of Aristotle's metaphysical project, we will also look at other of his treatises, including the Categories, Posterior Analytics, and Physics. In the second half of the course, we will study the metaphysical systems of two early modern philosophers: Spinoza, who vehemently rejects Aristotelianism in favour of the seventeenth century's new "mechanical philosophy," and must come up with a system that covers traditional metaphysical topics without recourse to traditional modes of explanation, and Leibniz, who in response to problems in Spinoza's metaphysics, revives and reincorporates Aristotelianism into seventeenth-century mechanical philosophy. Requirements: participation, responses to study questions, and 2 longer (8-10 pages) papers, one on Aristotle, and one on either Spinoza or Leibniz. Prerequisite: Philosophy 102.

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