What (books) are the resources for a research in 'Metaphysics'?

[krishna_lit]

Please kindly suggest the best resources to perform an in-depth study of 'Metaphysics.' I chose to start with Aristotle.. Please mention the other famous works, if any, in this subject by other people that would help me.

If any of you have any previous experiences with this concept please kindly do share them here. It would be a great help if you can also describe what you've learned from Metaphysics and how it influenced your life.

Thank you, guys :)

[mal4mac]

That's a tough start, why not start with some secondary material to give you an overview, like:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/

I especially like the final paragraph of that article:

"The weak form of the thesis that metaphysics is impossible is this: there is something about the human mind ... that unfits it for reaching metaphysical conclusions in any reliable way. This idea is at least as old as Kant, but a version of it that is much more modest than Kant's (and much easier to understand) has recently been carefully presented in McGinn (1993)."

McGinn's argument is that the human mind is incapable of a satisfactory treatment of a large range of philosophical questions, a range that includes all metaphysical questions. I've read a couple of McGinn's books and think he is a great philosopher, in fact, he's the best contemporary philosopher I've read, and he's not difficult to read.

So in embarking on this journey you should remember that the greatest philosopher of modern times (Kant) thinks no one is up to the task of doing any sensible work in metaphysics, and gives very good arguments as to why this is the case. Almost all decent, contemporary philosophers agree with Kant (that's why Kant is thought the greatest!)

So, if I was you, I'd start by reading McGinn, and if you are still tempted to explore metaphysics, try Kant's first critique, that is, "The Critique of Pure Reason". This is a very difficult work; I like Pluhar's straightforward translation, and found Caygill's "A Kant Dictionary" invaluable.

Doing all this (tough!) reading in metaphysics, or more precisely anti-metaphysics, has made me immune to believing in metaphysical nonsense, like: the Christian God, enlightenment, nirvana, rebirth, Brahman, Atman, eternal soul, angels, Plato's forms, "Aristotelian unmoved mover", Hegel world spirit, Nietzsche eternal return, Stoic Zeus, Spinoza pantheistic God, ontological arguments, Descartes God, any other Gods.

Kant & McGinn are great garbage removal men, they have cleaned out my mental space, for that I am very grateful

[krishna_lit]

That's a tough start, why not start with some secondary material to give you an overview, like:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/

I especially like the final paragraph of that article:

"The weak form of the thesis that metaphysics is impossible is this: there is something about the human mind ... that unfits it for reaching metaphysical conclusions in any reliable way. This idea is at least as old as Kant, but a version of it that is much more modest than Kant's (and much easier to understand) has recently been carefully presented in McGinn (1993)."

McGinn's argument is that the human mind is incapable of a satisfactory treatment of a large range of philosophical questions, a range that includes all metaphysical questions. I've read a couple of McGinn's books and think he is a great philosopher, in fact, he's the best contemporary philosopher I've read, and he's not difficult to read.

So in embarking on this journey you should remember that the greatest philosopher of modern times (Kant) thinks no one is up to the task of doing any sensible work in metaphysics, and gives very good arguments as to why this is the case. Almost all decent, contemporary philosophers agree with Kant (that's why Kant is thought the greatest!)

So, if I was you, I'd start by reading McGinn, and if you are still tempted to explore metaphysics, try Kant's first critique, that is, "The Critique of Pure Reason". This is a very difficult work; I like Pluhar's straightforward translation, and found Caygill's "A Kant Dictionary" invaluable.

Doing all this (tough!) reading in metaphysics, or more precisely anti-metaphysics, has made me immune to believing in metaphysical nonsense, like: the Christian God, enlightenment, nirvana, rebirth, Brahman, Atman, eternal soul, angels, Plato's forms, "Aristotelian unmoved mover", Hegel world spirit, Nietzsche eternal return, Stoic Zeus, Spinoza pantheistic God, ontological arguments, Descartes God, any other Gods.

Kant & McGinn are great garbage removal men, they have cleaned out my mental space, for that I am very grateful

Thank you so very much for the descriptive response. And, thanks specially for providing me with that URL of metaphysics introduction and other new works... I hope to work towards them in order to get something out of it.... Let's see ;)

[mal4mac]

And, thanks specially for providing me with that URL of metaphysics introduction and other new works... I hope to work towards them in order to get something out of it.... Let's see ;)

What do you hope to get out of it?

[krishna_lit]

What do you hope to get out of it?

Aah, that's exactly what I'm trying to find out....

[mal4mac]

Why create problems?

[Drkshadow03]

Why create problems?

Because all men desire to know.

[mal4mac]

Aah, that's exactly what I'm trying to find out....

So you have a metaproblem with metaphysics. That is, you are really interested in metametaphysics. :)

Hah! Wikipedia even has a page on that:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metametaphysics

[Nate]

That's a tough start, why not start with some secondary material to give you an overview, like:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/


that was a great read. thanks

[krishna_lit]

So you have a metaproblem with metaphysics. That is, you are really interested in metametaphysics. :)

Hah! Wikipedia even has a page on that:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metametaphysics

Thank you very very much. I just got a new book "Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology" because of your reply... Thank you :D

[krishna_lit]

Because all men desire to know.

Great sentence. Thnx

[mal4mac]

Thank you very very much. I just got a new book "Metametaphysics: New Essays on the Foundations of Ontology" because of your reply... Thank you :D

I didn't recommend it, so don't blame me if you don't like it. :) Not that I'm saying it's bad; I haven't read it, so can't comment.

[Drkshadow03]

Great sentence. Thnx

It comes from Aristotle's Metaphysics.