PHILOS 1E03 Lecture 10: PHILOS- Lecture Ten (Nov.18.15)
Document Summary
Is free will possible in a deterministic world? . Traditionally, the books that came after aristotle"s physics. Bailey says that it deals with questions that cannot be dealt with by science, or empirically. There would seem to be little point in developing a metaphysics that was incompatible with the sciences. Metaphysics tries to probe very general questions that cannot be answered directly, but which are foundational for science. Different metaphysics would suggest different approaches in science: e. g. , newton versus leibniz on the nature of space and time, or on the origins of the universe. Examples of metaphysics: the mind-body problem, and the nature of consciousness, whether the mind or intentionality can be reduced to brain processes, the status of the law of causality, whether every happening must have a sufficient reason. R e and nietzsche are strongly influenced by darwin"s naturalism, have colonial attitudes to non- european cultures, and consider all human actions as determined, perhaps even fated.
