5.00 credits
30.0 h
Q2
Teacher(s)
Depré Olivier; Schmutz Jacob;
Language
French
Main themes
Each year, the course will select two/three particular themes in ancient and contemporary metaphysics, with particular attention to the continuity or the repetition of classical metaphysical issues in the philosophical contemporary panorama.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 1 | reflect on certain central themes of metaphysics today in relation to their other interests in philosophy, science and culture in general; |
| 2 | place the metaphysical positions treated in the course in the context of their historical development; |
| 3 | deepen, alone or in a group, a philosophical question chosen in connection with the questions addressed in the course; |
| 4 | write a text containing the results of their reflection and make an oral presentation. |
Content
Genesis and Structures of Classical Metaphysics
Course taught in Q2 2022-23 by Prof. Jacob Schmutz (alternating with Prof. Olivier Depré in 2023-24)
"Metaphysics" is a frightening term: Kant already declared that metaphysics, or the "transcendental philosophy of the ancients", was over. For fifty years, it has been said that we would be in a "post-metaphysical age" (Jürgen Habermas); during the interwar period, and in totally opposite political camps, Carnap as well as Heidegger called for the necessity of "overcoming metaphysics". Today, on the other hand, we see the expression "metaphysics" springing up again everywhere, with a new analytical taste, especially in Anglophone academia: "metaphysics of properties", "metaphysics of nature", etc.
What can the history of philosophy teach us about the use of this word, and about the reality of this discipline which was for a long time the queen of university teaching - in particular in Louvain during the triumphant neo-thomism of Cardinal Mercier (1851-1926), when all students were obliged to take courses in ontology, general metaphysics and special metaphysics? In this course, I would like to start again from scratch the history of this "phantom" word that is metaphysics: phantom, because it was invented by an obscure librarian, Andronicus of Rhodes, in order to classify works of Aristotle of which he did not know what to do. The constitution of metaphysics as a specific science was largely a Byzantine and Arabic achievement, before becoming Latin: we will therefore explain how in the division of the late antique sciences, the very concept of "metaphysics" appeared as a separate discipline, which always had difficulty in justifying itself in front of logic on the one hand, and physics on the other. We will then study its various transformations in the Arabic-speaking world (Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes) and the Latin-speaking world (Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, John Buridan, Dominic of Flanders, Francisco Suarez). We will pay particular attention to the different moments of tension: throughout history, there have been multiple moments when metaphysics seemed in fact a useless science, which could be absorbed into a theory of language (Averroes, William of Ockham) or into theology (Al-Kindi, Maimonides, and many Arab and Latin neoplatonists). Finally, we will see how metaphysics is understood in the modern era: we will deconstruct the classic monument that is the Disputationes metaphysicae of the Spanish Jesuit Francisco Suarez, and we will try to understand how metaphysics has ended up in a vague psychology during the Enlightenment.
Course taught in Q2 2022-23 by Prof. Jacob Schmutz (alternating with Prof. Olivier Depré in 2023-24)
"Metaphysics" is a frightening term: Kant already declared that metaphysics, or the "transcendental philosophy of the ancients", was over. For fifty years, it has been said that we would be in a "post-metaphysical age" (Jürgen Habermas); during the interwar period, and in totally opposite political camps, Carnap as well as Heidegger called for the necessity of "overcoming metaphysics". Today, on the other hand, we see the expression "metaphysics" springing up again everywhere, with a new analytical taste, especially in Anglophone academia: "metaphysics of properties", "metaphysics of nature", etc.
What can the history of philosophy teach us about the use of this word, and about the reality of this discipline which was for a long time the queen of university teaching - in particular in Louvain during the triumphant neo-thomism of Cardinal Mercier (1851-1926), when all students were obliged to take courses in ontology, general metaphysics and special metaphysics? In this course, I would like to start again from scratch the history of this "phantom" word that is metaphysics: phantom, because it was invented by an obscure librarian, Andronicus of Rhodes, in order to classify works of Aristotle of which he did not know what to do. The constitution of metaphysics as a specific science was largely a Byzantine and Arabic achievement, before becoming Latin: we will therefore explain how in the division of the late antique sciences, the very concept of "metaphysics" appeared as a separate discipline, which always had difficulty in justifying itself in front of logic on the one hand, and physics on the other. We will then study its various transformations in the Arabic-speaking world (Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes) and the Latin-speaking world (Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, John Buridan, Dominic of Flanders, Francisco Suarez). We will pay particular attention to the different moments of tension: throughout history, there have been multiple moments when metaphysics seemed in fact a useless science, which could be absorbed into a theory of language (Averroes, William of Ockham) or into theology (Al-Kindi, Maimonides, and many Arab and Latin neoplatonists). Finally, we will see how metaphysics is understood in the modern era: we will deconstruct the classic monument that is the Disputationes metaphysicae of the Spanish Jesuit Francisco Suarez, and we will try to understand how metaphysics has ended up in a vague psychology during the Enlightenment.
Teaching methods
The metaphysics seminar will be given in the form of an explanation of texts, provided to students in advance in French or English translation. Knowledge of classical languages (Greek, Latin, and Arab) is an advantage, but not a prerequisite.
Evaluation methods
The seminar will be evaluated by a final written work (15 pages) on a theme agreed with the teacher.
A mid-term evaluation will be proposed on the basis of a text analysis, which will be worth 30% of the final grade.
A mid-term evaluation will be proposed on the basis of a text analysis, which will be worth 30% of the final grade.
Online resources
A reader of texts, mainly in French (but with English translations generally readily available), will be provided to students via Moodle.
Bibliography
Bertolacci, Amos (2006), The Reception of Aristotle’s Metaphysics in Avicenna’s Kitab al-Sifa’. A Milestone of Western Metaphysical Thought, Leiden: Brill (Islamic Philosophy, Theology & Science. Texts and Studies, 63)
Berti, Enrico (2017), Introduzione alla metafisica, 2a edizione, Turin: UTET
Booth, Edward (1983), Aristotelian Aporetic Ontology in Islamic and Christian Thinkers, Cambridge University Press
Boulnois, Olivier (1999), Etre et représentation. Une généalogie de la métaphysique moderne à l’époque de Duns Scot (XIIIe-XIVe siècles), Paris, PUF
Boulnois, Olivier (2013), Métaphysiques rebelles. Genèse et structures d’une science au Moyen Age, Paris : PUF
Courtine, Jean-François (1990), Suárez et le système de la métaphysique, Paris: PUF (Epiméthée)
De Libera, Alain (1999), « Genèse et structure des métaphysiques médiévales », in ; La métaphysique. Son histoire, sa critique, ses enjeux, ed. Jean-Marc Narbonne & Luc Langlois, Paris / Québec : Vrin / Presses de l’Université Laval, p. 159-181
Esposito, Costantino (2009, ed.), Origini e sviluppi dell’ontologia. Secoli XVI-XXI, Turnhout – Bari, Brepols – Pagina (Quaestio. Annuario di storia della metafisica, 9)
Ferraris, Maurizio (2003), Ontologia, Naples : Guida
Ferrraris, Maurizio (2008, ed.), Storia dell'ontologia, Milan: Bompiani
Gilson, Etienne (1962), L’être et l’essence, Paris : Vrin, 2e éd.
Hasse, Dag Nikolaus & Bertolacci, Amos (2011, eds), The Arabic, Hebrew and Latin Reception of Avicenna’s Metaphysics, Berlin – Boston : de Gruyter (Scientia graeco-arabica, 7)
Honnefelder, Ludger (1990), Scientia transcendens. Die formale Bestimmtheit der Seiendheit und Realität in der Metaphysik des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit (Duns Scotus, Suárez, Wolff, Kant, Peirce) Hambourg: Meiner (Paradeigmata).
Honnefelder, Ludger (2002), La métaphysique comme science transcendantale entre le moyen âge et les temps modernes, ouvrage traduit par Isabelle Mandrella, revu par Olivier Boulnois, Jean Greisch et Philippe Capelle pour la publication, Paris : PUF (Chaire Etienne Gilson)
Kahn, Charles H. (1966), “The Greek Verb ‘to be’ and the Concept of Being”, Foundations of Language 2, p. 245-265
Leinsle, Ulrich Gottfried (1985), Das Ding und die Methode. Methodische Konstitution und Gegenstand der frühen protestantischen Metaphysik, Augsbourg: Maro Verlag
Martins, António Manuel (1994), Lógica e ontologia em Pedo da Fonseca, Lisbonne: Fundação Calouste Gulbenki
Menn, Stephen (2021), “Aristotle on the Many Senses of Being”, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 59, p. 187-263
Mercier, Désiré (1919), Métaphysique générale, ou Ontologie, Louvain: Institut Supérieur de Philosophie [https://archive.org/details/mtaphysiqueg00merc]
Owens, Joseph (1978), The Doctrine of Being in the Aristotelian Metaphysics, Toronto: PIMS
Pickavé, Martin (2007), Heinrich von Gent über Metaphysik als erste Wissenschaft. Studien zu einem Metaphysikentwurf aus dem letzten Viertel des 13. Jahrhunderts, Leiden: Brill
Vollrath, Ernst (1962), "Die Gliederung der Metaphysik in eine Metaphysica generalis und eine Metaphysica specialis", Zeitschrift für philosophische Forschung 16/2, p. 258-284
Wisnovsky, Robert (2003), Avicenna’s Metaphysics in Context, Ithaca: Cornell University Press
Zachhuber, Johannes (2020), The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics. Patristic Philosophy from the Cappadocian Fathers to John of Damascus, Oxford University Press
Zimmermann, Albert (1998), Ontologie oder Metaphysik ? Die Diskussion über den Gegenstand der Metaphysik im 13. Und 14. Jahrhundert, 2ème ed., Louvain : Peeters (Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie Médiévales, Bibliotheca, 1)
Berti, Enrico (2017), Introduzione alla metafisica, 2a edizione, Turin: UTET
Booth, Edward (1983), Aristotelian Aporetic Ontology in Islamic and Christian Thinkers, Cambridge University Press
Boulnois, Olivier (1999), Etre et représentation. Une généalogie de la métaphysique moderne à l’époque de Duns Scot (XIIIe-XIVe siècles), Paris, PUF
Boulnois, Olivier (2013), Métaphysiques rebelles. Genèse et structures d’une science au Moyen Age, Paris : PUF
Courtine, Jean-François (1990), Suárez et le système de la métaphysique, Paris: PUF (Epiméthée)
De Libera, Alain (1999), « Genèse et structure des métaphysiques médiévales », in ; La métaphysique. Son histoire, sa critique, ses enjeux, ed. Jean-Marc Narbonne & Luc Langlois, Paris / Québec : Vrin / Presses de l’Université Laval, p. 159-181
Esposito, Costantino (2009, ed.), Origini e sviluppi dell’ontologia. Secoli XVI-XXI, Turnhout – Bari, Brepols – Pagina (Quaestio. Annuario di storia della metafisica, 9)
Ferraris, Maurizio (2003), Ontologia, Naples : Guida
Ferrraris, Maurizio (2008, ed.), Storia dell'ontologia, Milan: Bompiani
Gilson, Etienne (1962), L’être et l’essence, Paris : Vrin, 2e éd.
Hasse, Dag Nikolaus & Bertolacci, Amos (2011, eds), The Arabic, Hebrew and Latin Reception of Avicenna’s Metaphysics, Berlin – Boston : de Gruyter (Scientia graeco-arabica, 7)
Honnefelder, Ludger (1990), Scientia transcendens. Die formale Bestimmtheit der Seiendheit und Realität in der Metaphysik des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit (Duns Scotus, Suárez, Wolff, Kant, Peirce) Hambourg: Meiner (Paradeigmata).
Honnefelder, Ludger (2002), La métaphysique comme science transcendantale entre le moyen âge et les temps modernes, ouvrage traduit par Isabelle Mandrella, revu par Olivier Boulnois, Jean Greisch et Philippe Capelle pour la publication, Paris : PUF (Chaire Etienne Gilson)
Kahn, Charles H. (1966), “The Greek Verb ‘to be’ and the Concept of Being”, Foundations of Language 2, p. 245-265
Leinsle, Ulrich Gottfried (1985), Das Ding und die Methode. Methodische Konstitution und Gegenstand der frühen protestantischen Metaphysik, Augsbourg: Maro Verlag
Martins, António Manuel (1994), Lógica e ontologia em Pedo da Fonseca, Lisbonne: Fundação Calouste Gulbenki
Menn, Stephen (2021), “Aristotle on the Many Senses of Being”, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 59, p. 187-263
Mercier, Désiré (1919), Métaphysique générale, ou Ontologie, Louvain: Institut Supérieur de Philosophie [https://archive.org/details/mtaphysiqueg00merc]
Owens, Joseph (1978), The Doctrine of Being in the Aristotelian Metaphysics, Toronto: PIMS
Pickavé, Martin (2007), Heinrich von Gent über Metaphysik als erste Wissenschaft. Studien zu einem Metaphysikentwurf aus dem letzten Viertel des 13. Jahrhunderts, Leiden: Brill
Vollrath, Ernst (1962), "Die Gliederung der Metaphysik in eine Metaphysica generalis und eine Metaphysica specialis", Zeitschrift für philosophische Forschung 16/2, p. 258-284
Wisnovsky, Robert (2003), Avicenna’s Metaphysics in Context, Ithaca: Cornell University Press
Zachhuber, Johannes (2020), The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics. Patristic Philosophy from the Cappadocian Fathers to John of Damascus, Oxford University Press
Zimmermann, Albert (1998), Ontologie oder Metaphysik ? Die Diskussion über den Gegenstand der Metaphysik im 13. Und 14. Jahrhundert, 2ème ed., Louvain : Peeters (Recherches de Théologie et Philosophie Médiévales, Bibliotheca, 1)
Faculty or entity
EFIL
