Course Number: PHS 490
Course Title: METAPHYSICS
Term: SPRING 2016
Professor
Jon Kirwan, MEd, DPhil (Oxon)
jkirwan@holyapostles.edu
1. DESCRIPTION
Metaphysics is that most general investigation of philosophy that attempts to arrive at reasoned
judgments about how things really are. This course presents a comprehensive introduction to
Aristotelian and Thomistic metaphysics. Topics included are the nature of metaphysics as a science
and its subject matter; the distinction between being and essence; and the analogy of being.
2. COURSE GOALS
•
Acquire systematic knowledge of the main topics & structure of Aristotle’s Metaphysics
•
Become familiar with Aristotle's and Aquinas' conception of the nature of metaphysics
•
Develop critical thought on metaphysical questions
•
Improve analytical, discussion and writing skills in philosophy
3. THEMATIC QUESTIONS
•
Can being as being be known purely in its material context?
•
Is the Metaphysics an ontology or a theology? Neither or both?
•
What is the analogy of being?
•
How is this science related to other sciences such as natural science and theology known
as sacra doctrina?
4. REQUIREMENTS
You will be graded on your weekly discussion posts (15%), two quizzes (15%), a mid-term (20%), a
final 12-15 page essay (25%), and a final exam (25%). The final essay will be required at the end of
the course. Discussion posts will not be required on quiz and test days.
The required final essay should be emailed to the online professor as a MS WORD attachment at:
jkirwan@holyapostles.edu. And, of course, you are encouraged to post comments and questions
on the course’s webpage or email the professor directly.
1
6. REQUIRED READINGS
•
Aristotle, Metaphysics (ONLY the translation by W.D. Ross will be acceptable because you
must have an edition with Bekker numbers in the margin to find texts within each book) You
can find this edition online: http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.html or purchase
the Basic Works of Aristotle, McKeon, ed. on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
•
Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Boethius’ De Trinitate, qq. 5-6, (available online:
http://www.dhspriory.org/thomas/BoethiusDeTr.htm)
•
Thomas Aquinas, On Being and Essence
•
Ralph McInerny, “The Nature of Book Delta of the Metaphysics According to the Commentary
of Saint Thomas Aquinas” (available online as chapter 16 in Graceful Reason: Essays in
Ancient & Medieval Philosophy -http://books.google.com/books?id=SBk7Ce6MymgC&pg=PR5&source=gbs_selected_pages&
cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false
7. ADDITIONAL PRIMARY READINGS
•
Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics, (available online:
http://dhspriory.org/thomas/Metaphysics.htm)
•
Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles I, q. 34
•
Thomas Aquinas, De Potentia, q. 7, a. 7
•
Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae I, q. 13, a. 5
•
Aristotle, Physics
•
Plato, Phaedo
8. ADDITIONAL SECONDARY READINGS
•
Etienne Gilson, Being and Some Philosophers (Toronto, 1952)
•
R.A. te Velde, Participation and Substantiality in Thomas Aquinas (Leiden, 1995)
•
G.P. Klubertanz, St. Thomas on Analogy: A Textual Analysis and Systematic Synthesis
(Chicago, 1960)
•
Hampus Lyttkens, The Analogy Between God and the World (Uppsala, 1952)
•
Clark Norris, The One and the Many: A Contemporary Thomistic Metaphysics (Notre Dame,
2001)
•
Ralph McInerny, Being and Predication (CUA Press, 1986)
•
Joseph Owens, The doctrine of being in the Aristotelian Metaphysics: a study in the Greek
background of mediaeval thought (Toronto, 1963)
9. COURSE SCHEDULE
CLASS ONE - On wisdom
•
Reading: Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book One
•
All desire to know… what?
•
Why is one type of knowledge better than another?
2
•
What are the four types of cause?
•
How did Aristotle’s predecessors err in their understanding of cause?
•
What is problematic or inadequate about the conception of the Forms as causes?
CLASS TWO – On the nature of metaphysical inquiry and its difficulties
•
Reading: Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book Two & Three (little alpha and Beta)
•
Why are the most fundamental things the most difficult to understand?
•
Why must there be a first principle?
•
What does Aristotle see as the consequence of a supposed infinity of causes?
•
Are sensible substances the only ones that exist, or are there others besides them?
•
Is it kinds or individuals that are the elements and principles of things?
•
Are unity and being the substance of things, or are they attributes of some other subject?
CLASS THREE – The study of being as being
•
Reading: Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book Four
•
Reading: Thomas’ commentary on Bk VI, lessons 1 & 2
•
Suggested reading on the concept of analogy:
o Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles I, q. 34
o Thomas Aquinas, De Potentia, q. 7, a. 7
o Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae I, q. 13, a. 5
•
How can there be a science of being when the meaning of the term itself is ambiguous?
•
How can several uses of the same term be different but related in a meaningful way?
•
What is the principle of non-contradiction and why does Aristotle spend so much time on it?
•
How does he show the truth of this principle? Does he demonstrate it?
CLASS FOUR – Aristotle’s philosophical lexicon
•
Reading: Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book Five
•
Reading: Thomas’ commentary on Bk V, lessons 1-2, 9-10
•
Why is this book here and not at the beginning or end of the whole work?
•
Does he clarify his terms here? Or is he making the ambiguities more evident?
•
In what way is this discussion helpful at this point in the work?
•
Suggested reading: Ralph McInerny, “The Nature of Book Delta of the Metaphysics
According to the Commentary of Saint Thomas Aquinas”
CLASS FIVE – Kinds of being & the study of substance
•
Reading: Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book Six & Seven (chs. 1-6)
•
How does this division of the sciences differ from Book One?
•
Why can’t we have knowledge of incidental being?
3
•
What are the four senses of substance?
•
What does he mean by “only species of a genus will have an essence ”? chapter 4
•
What are the possibilities and criterion for determining?
•
Does he equate the ‘essence’ of a substance with species?
•
What does he mean by saying that “the form of the sphere is not produced” when a bronze
or “brazen” sphere is made? Ch. 8
CLASS SIX – Study of Substance (part two)
•
Reading: Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book Seven (chs. 7-17)
•
Reading: Thomas’ commentary on Bk VII, lessons 3-4, 13-14 & 17
•
When are parts included or not included in the formula of a substance?
•
Does he equate substance with form?
•
What constitutes the unity of a substance? I.e., what is the substance of a thing?
•
Are universals substances?
CLASS SEVEN – Actuality & potentiality
•
Reading: Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book Eight & Nine
•
What does Aristotle mean by “no one makes or begets the form”? Chapter 3
•
How does he define ‘actuality’ and ‘potentiality’?
•
Which is prior?
CLASS EIGHT
•
MID-TERM
CLASS NINE– On unity
•
Reading: Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book Ten
•
What are the four kinds of unity?
•
Is unity the same as being?
CLASS TEN – The importance of order
•
Reading: Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book Eleven
•
Is there such a thing as wisdom?
•
Is truth contradictory or relative?
•
Is the world infinite?
•
Are change and motion random?
•
How do we explain differences in judgment?
•
How does he define motion?
CLASS ELEVEN – The cause of being
•
Reading: Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book Twelve
4
•
Why does Aristotle claim that the artisan and the doctor do not “create” anything?
•
What is the source of motion?
•
How is motion caused?
•
Why does Aristotle claim that there is only one Prime Mover but many “unmoved movers”?
•
What does he mean by “thinking of thinking” when speaking of the Prime Mover?
•
Does Aristotle’s Prime Mover create?
CLASS TWELVE – The Division of the Sciences
•
Reading: Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Boethius’ De Trinitate, q. 5
•
How are the sciences divided?
•
What is the divine science?
•
Can being as being be known purely in its material context?
CLASS THIRTEEN
•
Reading: Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Boethius’ De Trinitate, q. 6
•
What does it mean to say that theological language is analogical?
•
How does metaphysics differ from the theology of sacred doctrine?
•
Can we understand the divine essence in this life?
CLASS FOURTEEN
•
Reading: Thomas Aquinas, Being and Essence, Chs. 1-3
•
What is the subject and purpose of this book?
CLASS FIFTEEN
•
SUBMIT FINAL ESSAY
•
Reading: Thomas Aquinas, Being and Essence, Chs. 4-6
•
Has Thomas clarified, corrected or contradicted Aristotle?
CLASS FIFTEEN
•
FINAL EXAM
10. DISABILITIES ACCOMMODATIONS POLICY
Holy Apostles College & Seminary is committed to the goal of achieving equal educational
opportunities and full participation in higher education for persons with disabilities who qualify for
admission to the College. Students enrolled in online courses who have documented disabilities
requiring special accommodations should contact Bob Mish, the Director of Online Student Affairs, at
rmish@holyapostles.edu or 860-632-3015. In all cases, reasonable accommodations will be made to
ensure that all students with disabilities have access to course materials in a mode in which they can
receive them. Students who have technological limitations (e.g., slow Internet connection speeds in
convents) are asked to notify their instructors the first week of class for alternative means of delivery.
11. ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY
Students at Holy Apostles College & Seminary are expected to practice academic honesty.
5
Avoiding Plagiarism
In its broadest sense, plagiarism is using someone else's work or ideas, presented or claimed as your
own. At this stage in your academic career, you should be fully conscious of what it means to
plagiarize. This is an inherently unethical activity because it entails the uncredited use of someone
else's expression of ideas for another's personal advancement; that is, it entails the use of a person
merely as a means to another person’s ends.
Students, where applicable:
•
Should identify the title, author, page number/webpage address, and publication date of works
when directly quoting small portions of texts, articles, interviews, or websites.
•
Students should not copy more than two paragraphs from any source as a major component of
papers or projects.
•
Should appropriately identify the source of information when paraphrasing (restating) ideas
from texts, interviews, articles, or websites.
•
Should follow the Holy Apostles College & Seminary Stylesheet (available on the Online
Writing Lab’s website at http://www.holyapostles.edu/owl/resources).
Consequences of Academic Dishonesty:
Because of the nature of this class, academic dishonesty is taken very seriously. Students
participating in academic dishonesty may be removed from the course and from the program.
12. ATTENDANCE POLICY
Even though you are not required to be logged in at any precise time or day, you are expected to
login several times during each week. Because this class is being taught entirely in a technologymediated forum, it is important to actively participate each week in the course. In a traditional
classroom setting for a 3-credit course, students would be required, per the federal standards, to be
in class three 50-minute sessions (or 2.5 hours a week) and prepare for class discussions six 50minute sessions (or 5 hours) a week. Expect to devote at least nine 50-minute sessions (or 7.5 quality
hours) a week to this course. A failure on the student’s part to actively participate in the life of the
course may result in a reduction of the final grade.
13. INCOMPLETE POLICY
An Incomplete is a temporary grade assigned at the discretion of the faculty member. It is typically
allowed in situations in which the student has satisfactorily completed major components of the
course and has the ability to finish the remaining work without re-enrolling, but has encountered
extenuating circumstances, such as illness, that prevent his or her doing so prior to the last day of
class.
To request an incomplete, distance-learning students must first download a copy of the Incomplete
Request Form. This document is located within the Shared folder of the Files tab in Populi. Secondly,
students must fill in any necessary information directly within the PDF document. Lastly, students
must send their form to their professor via email for approval. “Approval” should be understood as the
professor responding to the student’s email in favor of granting the “Incomplete” status of the student.
Students receiving an Incomplete must submit the missing course work by the end of the sixth week
following the semester in which they were enrolled. An incomplete grade (I) automatically turns into
the grade of “F” if the course work is not completed.
6
Students who have completed little or no work are ineligible for an incomplete and must receive the
grade that they have earned. Students who feel they are in danger of failing the course due to an
inability to complete course assignments should withdraw from the course.
A “W” (Withdrawal) will appear on the student’s permanent record for any course dropped after the
end of the first week of a semester to the end of the third week. A “WF” (Withdrawal/Fail) will appear
on the student’s permanent record for any course dropped after the end of the third week of a
semester and on or before the Friday before the last week of the semester.
14. ABOUT YOUR PROFESSOR
Dr. Jon Kirwan
•
D.Phil., University of Oxford, 2014
•
M.A. in theology, Loyola Marymount University, 2010
•
M.Ed., University of Massachusetts, 1998
•
B.A., William Jewell College (MO), 1988
7