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Existence and the Good

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Argues that morals and politics require on a metaphysical backing and proposes a neoclassical metaphysics.Morals and politics depend on a metaphysical backing. All reality is marked by certain nece...
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  • 02 January 2012
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Argues that morals and politics require on a metaphysical backing and proposes a neoclassical metaphysics.

Morals and politics depend on a metaphysical backing. All reality is marked by certain necessary features and a divine purpose inherent in all reality defines the good to which all human life should be directed.

These are bold assertions in a climate where the credibility of metaphysics is widely denied. Indeed, for the past two centuries, Western philosophy has been marked by a consensus that questions about moral and political life should be considered separately from questions about ultimate reality. In this challenging work, Franklin I. Gamwell defends metaphysical necessity against both modern and postmodern critiques. The metaphysics vindicated is not the traditional form both critiques typically have in view, however. Instead, Gamwell outlines a neoclassical project for which Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne are the main philosophical resources. As it maintains the significance of theistic metaphysics, the book makes no appeal to religious authority but solely to common human experience, and on this basis articulates principles of human purpose and democratic justice.

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Price: £25.50
Pages: 219
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Imprint: SUNY Press
Publication Date: 02 January 2012
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9781438435923
Format: Paperback
BISACs:

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"The volume is welcome especially because of its uncompromisingly unorthodox approach." — Journal of Religion

"…this book may well be the best of its kind … In short, it is a must read." — International Journal for Philosophy of Religion

Preface
Introduction

1. The Metaphysics of Existence

The Western Background
The Necessity of Existence
The Task of Metaphysics

2. The Metaphysics of Subjectivity

Totality and Meaning
Totality Is Prior to Meaning

3. The Metaphysics of God and the World

Final Real Things
The Divine Individual
God and the World

4. The Metaphysics of Human Purpose

Decision for a Self-Understanding
The Comprehensive Good
Human Purposes
The Good of Human Rights

5. The Metaphysics of Democracy, Part 1

Introduction
Democracy without Metaphysics
Democracy without Metaphysics: A Critique

6. The Metaphysics of Democracy, Part 2

The Principle of Communicative Respect
Constitutional Principles of Justice
Democracy and Substantive Justice
Democracy and the Comprehensive Good

Notes
Works Cited
Index