Peter Van Inwagen - Metaphysics [2008][A]

Book Description
Release date: August 5, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0813343569 | ISBN-13: 978-0813343563 | Edition: Third Edition
This essential core text introduces readers to metaphysics. In thoughtful and engaging prose, Peter van Inwagen examines three profound questions: What are the most general features of the world? Why is there a world? And, what is the place of human beings in the world? The third edition includes an entirely new chapter on ontology. The new chapter presents a theory of the nature of being and proceeds to apply this theory to two problems of ontology: the problem of non-existent objects and the problem of universals. Equally valuable as a textbook in a university course or an introduction to metaphysical thinking for the interested layperson, Metaphysics remains a fascinating book for a wide range of readers, from first-time students to the most sophisticated philosophers.

Contents
1. Introduction

Part One: The Way the World Is
2. Individuality
3. Externality
4. Temporality
5. Objectivity

Part Two: Why the World Is
6. Necessary Being: The Ontological Argument
7. Necessary Being: The Cosmological Argument

Part Three: The Inhabitants of the World
8. What Rational Beings Are There?
9. The Place of Rational Beings in the World: Design and Purpose
10. The Nature of Rational Beings: Dualism and Physicalism
11. The Nature of Rational Beings: Dualism and Personal Identity
12. The Powers of Rational Beings: Freedom of the Will
13. Concluding Meditation
14. Coda: Being

Review
"Explores basic metaphysical issues in a brisk, accessible way.....fascinating." -- John Martin Fischer, University of California, Riverside

About the Author
Peter van Inwagen is John Cardinal O’Hara professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is the author of numerous books, including Ontology, Identity, and Modality and Christian Faith and the Problem of Evil.