Kinda Nice to Know: (Metaphysics Test)
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Introductory note
 meaning of the term “metaphysics”
“Is There a God?” – Two World Views (note): chapter 8
Rod Liddle: “The Trouble With Atheism”: chapter 8
 http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4214774/11328883
Aquinas: Christian Aristotelianism (handout): chapter 8
 Various proofs for the existence of God
 Ontological (Anselm)
 The “Five Ways” (esp. the “modern”
Cosmological argument: note)
 Pascal’s wager
God & Science: jigsaw activity: chapter 8
 http://catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0011.html
 http://catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0007.html
 http://catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0015.html
 http://catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0013.html
 http://catholiceducation.org/articles/science/sc0074.html
The Probability of God (Unwin): chapter 8
 Podcast/handout (questions)
The Problem of Evil: arguments vs. God’s existence
The problem of Freedom & Determinism (notes): chapter 8
 Arguments for Freedom
 Arguments for Determinism
 “The Dilemma of Determinism” (James)
The problem of change (handout)
 Heraclitus & Cratylus
 Parmenides & Zeno
 Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Democritus
 Plato & Aristotle: matter & form – jigsaw activity
The problem of the Person: chapter 7
 Human nature (ch. 2)
 Criteria of personhood (note)
 Positive/negative views of human nature (BLM Intro-3)
 Arguments vs. “essentialism:
 Buddhist
 Feminist
 Scientific
 Existentialist
 Blade Runner
 Artificial Intelligence (Turing Test, Chinese Room)
 The “Mind-Body Problem” (handout)
 Idealists vs. materialists
Key Words
metaphysics
idealist
realist
materialist
dualist
monist
determinism (“hard” & “soft”)
deism
theism
polytheism
pantheism
panentheism
atheism
nihilism
essentialism
Turing Test
Chinese Room
anthropic principle
intelligent design
scientific explanation
essential explanation
personal explanation