Читать книгу What is Metaphysics? - John Heil - Страница 13

If you have been paying attention you will know that this book is meant to be illustrative, not exhaustive. I believe that the best way to introduce metaphysical theses is to do so in the course of developing a coherent overall picture and measuring that picture against the alternatives. I can recall being frustrated as an undergraduate when those instructing us were coy about their own views on particular topics. We knew they had views, and we knew these colored what we were told, but we were left in the dark as to when the thumb was or was not on the scale.

I will be guiding you through the territory along a path with many branches leading in different ways to different destinations. I shall, however, do what I can to make it clear what advantages paths not taken might offer, thereby affording you the chance to revisit them later should you be so inclined. Finally, although I am not writing for academic philosophers, I like to think that what I have to say would be acceptable in their sight.

Many of the themes to be addressed might strike you as at odds with common sense. Common sense is a vexed notion, however. Does common sense tell us that Earth is flat, that tables and chairs exist outside our minds, or that things could have been very different than they are? Does Earth appear flat? Well, how would a spherical Earth appear? And how would things appear if nothing existed outside your mind, or if everything were preordained and nothing happened by chance?

You might have views on one or more of these points, but observe that, in the course of taking any sort of a stand on them, you would be engaging in metaphysical reflection. Is it absurd to think that nothing exists outside your own mind? Probably, but why is it absurd? Simply appealing to the appearances here is no help at all, and if you brush off such questions as idle, what are your reasons?

This should give you some idea of what is in store should you stick with me and continue reading. Meanwhile, I propose to illustrate the approach I shall be taking by starting, in chapter 2, with a topic of interest to all of us: the nature of time and its passage.