The Fundamental Problems of Western Metaphysics

by Zubiri, Xavier; Redondo, Joaquín; Fowler, Thomas

• ISBN13: 9780761848776
• ISBN10: 0761848770
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780761848790
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-10-27
• Publisher: UPA

Summary

This book introduces the profound reflections of Xavier Zubiri (1898-1983) on the history of philosophy to English-speaking audiences. As a philosopher who rethought much of philosophy and theology, Zubiri felt it necessary to be in continuous dialogue with earlier thinkers both to avoid past mistakes and to extract all that is valuable from them. The theme of the present book is the transcendental in Western philosophy and how a firm grasp of it reveals underlying unity in Western philosophy, but also fundamental problems that Zubiri believed require a complete rethinking of certain basic notions and theories. Zubiri develops this theme by analyzing the work of six major philosophers: Aristotle, St. Thomas, Descartes, Leibniz, Kant, and Hegel. To conclude, he sketches his own resolution of the problems of Western philosophy, a subject addressed in greater depth in his major work, Sentient Intelligence. This translation was made possible by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Culture.

Author Biography

Xavier Zubiri (author, 1898-1983): Contemporary Spanish philosopher who profoundly rethought the problems of philosophy and developed a radically new approach to knowing and reality, termed Sentient Intelligence. His thought synthesizes classical philosophy (Aristotle to St. Thomas) and phenomenology, but goes beyond both. His theological writings utilize this philosophical framework. Jhaquin Redondo (translator, 1927-2009): Longtime scholar and researcher of Zubiri. A native speaker of both Spanish and English, he effectively translated Zubiri's philosophical expressions, often metaphorical, into clear English. He translated four other works by Zubiri, including Man and God, published by University Press of America. Thomas Fowler (translator): President and founder of the Xavier Zubiri Foundation of North America. He translated three other works by Zubiri and is editor of The Xavier Zubiri Review. He serves as adjunct professor at George Mason University, and is the author of The Evolution Controversy, A Survey of Competing Theories. He is a frequent speaker of Zubiri's key ideas at the annual Metanexus Institute conferences on science and religion.

Table of Contents

Translator's Introduction	p. 1
Editor's Introduction	p. 3
Author's Introduction	p. 7
East and West	p. 7
What is metaphysics?	p. 10
Ground of metaphysics	p. 17
Problematic character of the ground of metaphysics	p. 19
Aristotle's First Philosophy	p. 25
Philosophical Search Before Aristotle: The Quest for the őv	p. 27
Difficult Character of This Search	p. 34
The Aristotelian Quest	p. 35
Aristotelian idea ofőv, the őv and the framework of change	p. 35
First philosophy as a science that is searched for	p. 41
Western Philosophy (1): St. Thomas	p. 47
The Purification of Aristotelian Concepts	p. 52
The idea of philosophy as metaphysics	p. 52
Object of metaphysics and the idea of being	p. 54
The Vision of Being in St. Thomas	p. 65
Entification of the real. Framework of nothingness and the intrinsic finitude of created being	p. 65
The entification of God	p. 69
The Nature of Metaphysics	p. 74
Western Philosophy (2): Descartes	p. 83
The Framework of Nothingness: Uncertainty	p. 85
Descartes' Development of the Problem	p. 87
Doubt and certainty	p. 87
Certainty and evidence	p. 88
Evidence and truth	p. 91
Western Philosophy (3): Leibniz	p. 103
Leibniz'Problem. The Framework of Nothingness: Possibility	p. 103
Leibniz' Development of the Problem	p. 105
Idea and possibility	p. 105
Possibility and reality	p. 109
Structure of the transcendental order	p. 111
Philosophy as science of the principles of reason	p. 118
Western Philosophy (4): Kant	p. 125
Introduction. The Framework of Nothingness: Objectuality	p. 125
Kant's Problem	p. 129
Kant's Development of the Problem	p. 135
The principle of the transcendental	p. 135
Constitution of the transcendental order	p. 40
Unity of Kantian metaphysics	p. 159
Western Philosophy (5): Hegel	p. 167
Hegel's Problem. The Framework of Nothingness: The Absolute and Reason	p. 168
Hegel's Development of the Problem	p. 170
Discovery of reason. From consciousness to Absolute knowledge	p. 170
Internal structure of reason	p. 181
The realization of reason	p. 197
Conclusion. The Fundamental Problem: The Problem of Knowing	p. 217
Knowing as a Problem	p. 218
Ratio, intellectus concipiens, nous	p. 219
Sensibility	p. 222
The Idea of Sentient Intelligence	p. 223
Sensing and that which is given in sensing	p. 223
The nature of intellection	p. 226
Sentient intelligence	p. 226
Transcendental reason and the problem of Metaphysics	p. 233
Index	p. 235
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