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This classic, provocative introduction to classical metaphysical questions focuses on appreciating the problems, rather than attempting to proffer answers.
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10 reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Old, But Still the Best
25 Nov 2005
Format:Paperback
For my money, Richard Taylor's "Metaphysics" is still the best short introduction to metaphysics for undergraduates or general readers. Taylor had a unique gift for explaining "heavy" philosophical topics -- God, fatalism, mind, time, causality -- in readable prose that met analytical standards but never mired the reader in a bog of technicalities and linguistic distinctions. The chapters on God and fatalism, in particular, are near-classic essays that have been widely discussed in the secondary literature and reprinted in anthologies.
Taylor conveyed a sense of excitement about philosophy and taught readers that metaphysics is central to any thoughtful life. Maybe he got a bit carried away on this score -- to judge by a few statements in "Metaphysics," he took himself very seriously and believed that only philosophers can have meaningful lives. But these are minor annoyances and conceits in an otherwise outstanding book. There's a reason why it's gone through four editions and is still in print after more than 40 years! I've read the book three times and still find riches in it.
Taylor conveyed a sense of excitement about philosophy and taught readers that metaphysics is central to any thoughtful life. Maybe he got a bit carried away on this score -- to judge by a few statements in "Metaphysics," he took himself very seriously and believed that only philosophers can have meaningful lives. But these are minor annoyances and conceits in an otherwise outstanding book. There's a reason why it's gone through four editions and is still in print after more than 40 years! I've read the book three times and still find riches in it.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
you will think, but you might not come to any conclusions
18 April 2000
Format:Paperback
This is the text book for many college philosophy-knowledge and reality courses. A small book that one can read over a few times and think about the tough questions of epistemology and metaphysics. The mind-body relation(or lack thereof), freedom and determinism, fate, space and time,temporal passage,causation,God,and polarity, are among the topics touched upon. This is a book in which you must think as you read,and watch out for assumptions the author makes at points. Go for it.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Good Introduction to Philosophy
3 May 2003
Format:Paperback
"Metaphysics" has been used in classrooms since the 1960s, and for good reason -- it is a clearly-written introduction to central metaphysical issues such as the mind/body problem, determinism and free will, and the existence of God (the chapter on God has been reprinted in numerous anthologies). Here and there, author Taylor gets carried away with the "heaviness" of his subject, as when he writes like Ecclesiastes, or succumbs to faux-Spinoza-isms about how "untutored and vulgar" people lead impoversished lives because they can't understand metaphysics. But otherwise the book is excellent. If you wanted to introduce a smart teenager or college freshman to philosophy, you couldn't do better than "Metaphysics."
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