Metaphysical Knowledge Research Articles

The purpose of metaphysics: Apology of excess

AbstractThis article consistently elaborates the extra‐contextual nature of metaphysical knowledge. Metaphysicsis seen as a semantic construction of culture that produces a certain type of thinking, memory, and identification: that is, subjectivity, and sociality as an ethical and axiological model of interaction with the world and the Other. The paper argues that metaphysics is a kind of orientation in space and that culture is a semiotic way of world orientation, or collection of spaces into an intelligible structure, a specific characteristic of human existence in the universe. Indeed, metaphysics through the space of culture allows one to experience the universe empirically as unity, to assume the presence of meaning. Based on the analysis, the paper summarizes the definition of the phenomenon of culture as a specifically human way of mastering space and controlling time, consciousness as a topology of reflective practices, and virtual reality technology as a space of pure metaphysics.

Трансцендентально-трансцендентный дуализм материального бытия

The article presents a new materialistic interpretation of transcendental and transcendent knowledge, revealing the dualism inherent in material being. It proposes definitions of transcendental and transcendent knowledge based on the fundamental questions they address. To achieve the research goal of answering these questions and elucidating the dualism of material being, the author provides an analytical examination of metaphysics, including the relationship between metaphysics and ontology, the sequence of the construction of metaphysics by “pure reason” on the basis of a consistent definition of the primary properties of being, and assesses the possibility of verification of metaphysical knowledge. Particular attention in the study is paid to the search for answers to private questions of transcendent knowledge on the basis of the proposed self-evident principles: existence, non-alternativity and difference. Consequently, questions related to various primary properties of being are examined. As a result, the limits of variability of transcendent knowledge are revealed. A new approach to verifying transcendental knowledge based on transcendental knowledge is proposed, with the admissibility of such verification being argued. In conclusion, the content of the transcendental-transcendent dualism of material existence is formulated, encompassing the simultaneous conception of being as realization and as a variant of realization of multibeing.

Imagini și conștiință la Ludwig Klages

One of the thinkers who, in the wake of Nietzsche, criticized reason in the name of Life, Soul, and emotions, Ludwig Klages is not only a very analytical thinker able to approach critically, in a systematic manner, topics of phenomenology, ontology, or even science but also a creative thinker who proposes a metaphysical view that endeavours to overcome the post-Kantian bracketing of the world. A representative himself of Lebensphilosophie, Klages considers that the static structure of consciousness – which he calls „Spirit,” and which corresponds to what we usually call „concept” – is what has created the worldview that has led the Western human being into the present profound rift with reality, and with himself too. In the following paper we discuss first some of Klages’ arguments concerning the misconceptions that made possible such an overvaluation of concepts as fundamental instruments of the human mind. Secondly, we present his response to this rationalist bias and prejudice, namely his theory about the „reality of images.” The latter are not conceived of as mirror-like reflections of external reality but as highly significant „expressions” of this reality, allowing us a specific metaphysical knowledge of it. What is more, as such „expressions,” images do not inform us – this is the role of the concept – but rather, they „build” us (somewhat in the classical sense of the German Bildung and also Bildungsroman) and are the real profound source of our (changing) truths. On this point, Klages abandons the classical view of truth as correspondence that we inherited from Aristotle, proposing a theory in which, although the human being is receptive towards the external world, he is not conceived of as immutable or endowed with an intellectual grid that passes unchanged through the ages.

The Religious Postmodernity

The use of a hermeneutic open to the demands of metaphysical knowledge would be able to show how one moves from the historical circumstances and contingencies in which the Sacred Texts have matured to the truth expressed through them, which overcomes these circumstances by rising high above them. Man, with his historically limited speech, finds himself able to express truths that transcend the use of language. For truth can never be confined to a time or a cultural form. If postmodernity is a distrust of metanarratives (in Lyotard's sense), then substantive denotation presupposes the primacy of meaning that precisely eludes postmodernism.

A REVIEW ON FACTORS AFFECTING MEDHA (INTELLIGENCE) IN CHILDREN

Intelligence encompasses the capacity for critical thinking, learning from experiences, problem-solving, and adapting to new situations. The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) serves as a metric to gauge human intelligence derived from standardised tests or subtests designed for this purpose. In Ayurveda, this cognitive ability aligns with the concept of Medha (intelligence), involving a comprehensive understanding of existing knowledge, combining elements such as buddhi (intellective faculty), smriti (recollecting memory), and dhriti (grasping power). In contemporary scientific terms, these components collectively represent IQ. It is crucial to recognise that achieving a high IQ is influenced by various factors, including prenatal conditions (maternal nutrition and health), events during birth, postnatal circumstances, environment, and daily routines. Optimal IQ in children requires consistent attention to the mother's nutrition from the perinatal period up to early childhood, considering the prenatal, natal, and postnatal environments. Proper monitoring, coupled with adequate food and healthcare for the mother, can contribute to achieving optimal IQ in the child. Nutrition plays a vital role in cognitive development during early childhood, influencing brain growth and intellect. Unfortunately, parents often overlook this critical factor. Certain elements, such as nimitta (cause and effect knowledge), rupa grahanat (form recognition), sadrishyat (similarity understanding), saviparyaat (contrast comprehension), sattvaanubhandha (mind concentration), abhyasat (practice), gyanayogaat (metaphysical knowledge attainment), and punah srutaat (sequential partial communication), contribute to good memory. The impairment of indriya (sensory organs) can lead to a deficiency in knowledge. Therefore, a holistic approach that considers prenatal, natal, and postnatal factors, coupled with proper nutrition and healthcare, is crucial for fostering optimal intelligence and cognitive development in children.

Современная реализация натурфилософской концепции познания на основе эмпирико-метафизической общей теории систем

The article examines the relationship between philosophy and science, as well as the possible role of general systems theory in the formation of the field of consolidated philosophical and scientific knowledge. It is argued that the existing arguments concerning the incompatibility of philosophy with the criteria of scientificity only point to the existence of differences between philosophical knowledge and knowledge within the framework of private sciences. At the same time, philosophy is the methodological and paradigmatic basis of all sciences. It is suggested that it is expedient to return to the natural-philosophical concept of cognition, according to which the core of science is philosophy, and private sciences act as tools of cognition of separate subject areas. The methodological basis for the realization of the natural-philosophical concept today can be the general theory of systems, supplemented by the ontological component. In the article the idea of a common field of knowledge formed by philosophy and all private sciences is put forward. This field of cognition is formed by areas of three types: metaphysical knowledge, private sciences, and areas of generalized or universal knowledge, the cogni-tion of which can be carried out only by means of the general theory of systems. An extended version of the general theory of systems is proposed – the empirical-metaphysical general theory of systems, which, in the author’s opinion, possesses the necessary capabilities for the realization of philosophical cognition. The pro-posed general theory of systems includes an epistemological component (metaphysics of material being) as well as an ontological component. А cognition of complex non-deterministic objects within the framework of empirical-metaphysical general theory of systems is realized by a wide set of tools: collections of patterns and primitives of systems, secondary laws and properties of objects, evolutionary way of cognition and laws of evo-lutionary growth of complexity of systems, as well as methodology of formation of reliable knowledge.

سید انور علی شاہ کی مذہبی و صوفیانہ شاعری:ایک مطالعہ

Sufi Syed Anwar Ali Shah, born on 11 Muharamul Haram 1324 H at Village Jahan pur Sharif, Taluka Mirpur Mathelo District Ghotki, His father, s Name is Syed Khuda Bux Shah. The forefathers of Syed Anwar Ali Shah belonged to Arabia, then migrated to Punjab (Uch Sharif) and then to Balochistan and then to Sindh. Syed Anwar Ali Shah received his early religious education from his uncle Hafiz Syed Bahadur Ali shah and then from Molvi Mohammad Essa Noorani. Anwar Ali Shah received a little wordly knowledge in apparent but his spiritual and metaphysical knowledge is very thoughtful. Sufi Anwar Ali Shah composed poetry in many languages i, e Sindhi, Urdu, Siraiki, Balochi, Persian, Arabic, Hindi and Marwari. Syed Anwar Ali Shah, s mystic poetry is full of deep sense, wide message and a great insight and enlightenment. He is on the same path of Mansoori. Poerty of Syed Anwar Shah is message of unity, tolerance and co-existence. Nodoubt, the urdu poetry of Syed Anwar Ali Shah is replete with thought-provoking subjects, and metaphorical terms, which needs a very deep study and insight to understand. Syed Anwar Shah is a great Sufi saint, and his message in poetry is in line with same all sufis of world. This article peeps in deep to his Urdu poetry at wider length.

Seizing the World: From Concepts to Reality

Abstract In this essay, I shall defend a transcendental argument for epistemological realism: the view that mind-independent yet cognitively accessible entities exist. The proposed argument reasons from the fact that we are conceptual creatures to the existence of a knowable outer world as a condition of the possibility of such creatures. I first lay down my general approach to concepts and conceptualization, according to which concepts are rules that agents follow in their cognitive activities. I go on to explicate the peculiar normative nature of rules and rule-following, from which I extract, following Wittgensteinian considerations, an intractable problem for any idealist account of concept possession. I argue that the very possibility of conceptualizing requires the existence of external objects that enable the cognizer to regulate their use of concepts, and close with some remarks on the resultant nature and scope of metaphysical knowledge.

PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURE OF CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE

The structural abstract discusses the features of modern post-non-classical scientific discourse, according to which all kinds of scientific and religious knowledge are simplified mental construction of a complex objective reality. All accumulated religious knowledge is a combination of various theoretical models of divine reality, the performance of which was checked by centuries of experience of mystical connection with the Lord. According to the requirements of scientific and religious discourse on incompleteness of knowledge, all religious texts of the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, etc. are not carriers of absolutely probable knowledge. The sacred reality they describe is far more complex. The structural abstract reveals the originality of the subject and object of religious narration and the special nature of the mystical fact. The empirical basis of Christian knowledge is the books of the Old and New Testaments, which set the initial basis of Christian knowledge. The array of interpretations of sacred knowledge, accumulated over two thousand years of the Christianity development, it constitutes the main volume in the system of Christian knowledge. Christian theology provides a comprehensive understanding of Christian doctrine and its historical development. A special role is played by mystical knowledge-management-experiencing, the knowledge of God in the structure of Christian knowledge. The peculiarity of knowledgemanagement-experiencing determines that it comes directly from God. Theology can be achieved in the course of many years of practical work of an ascetic. The mystical side of knowledge-management is the experience of a direct connection with the Lord, which is difficult to convey in words. Secret knowledge-management exists only in real time in the existential reality of sacred experience. The structural abstract distinguishes two types of metaphysical knowledge – Western and Eastern metaphysics. Western metaphysics is considered to be the universal, most developed type of philosophical rational knowledge, the main goal of which is to develop a theoretical model of the fundamental reality, what is the God. It is reasonable to call Eastern metaphysics the metaphysics of the Path originating in the middle of the first millennium BC in India (Brahmanism, Buddhism, Jainism, etc.) and China (Taoism). Orthodoxy is the Christian version of the metaphysics of the Path, while Sufism is in Islam. Everything is subordinated to the liberation of the ascetic from worldly desires and the achievement of a mystical connection with God in Eastern metaphysics. The metaphysics of the Path includes three components – theoretical construction of the God, difficult practical actions (the Path) and the secret knowledge-management of the God, which are considered in inseparable unity. The Orthodox version of the metaphysics of the Path is one of the most developed in Eastern metaphysics.The texts of Western and Eastern metaphysics differ considerably. The works of Western metaphysicians appeal to the human mind and are predominantly speculative. The writings of Eastern metaphysicians try to reproduce the mental reality of the Path of merit of Enlightenment to a large extent. If rational knowledge of the fundamental foundations of the universe prevails in Western metaphysics, then Orthodox metaphysics is guided by the desire to enter the mystical space of divine reality.

Метафизический смысл критики ориентализма в трудах Рене Генона

This article is devoted to the critical arguments against orientalism put forward by the French mystic Réne Guénon (1886–1951) in his three books: A General Introduction to the Study of Hindu Teachings (1921), East and West (1924), Man and His Realization according to Vedanta (1925), and in the paper Eastern Metaphysics (1925). These arguments have rarely attracted the attention of researchers, and yet they occupy an important place in the methodology of Génon's justification of his “true metaphysics” which is one more attempt to return to man his proper human existence, broken in the modern world into different forms – Eastern and Western civilizations. The two types of civilizations are in a state of ruinous confrontation all the time. In the introduction of the article, Guénon’s anti-orientalist ideas are correlated with the criticism of orientalism by E. Said (1935–2003), which had a great influence on Oriental studies of the second half of the twentieth century. The main part touches on the cultural context of the esotericist’s ideological search, and it marks the source of his metaphysics in the idea of contrasting Modernity and Tradition. Guénon criticizes the widespread belittling of traditional Eastern cultures by the Western people, and the “dogmas” of civilization, progress and the existence of only one type of humanity moving along the steps of the only possible progress based on reason and rational sciences. For the thinker, the understanding of culture as the progress is flawed, and Western civilization is not a model for the other civilizations, but it is an anomaly of development. As long as the Westerners in general, and the Orientalist scientists, in particular, who study the East with prejudice, without the desire to reach a genuine understanding of the meanings of Tradition as a form of integral metaphysical knowledge, do not get rid of their “dogmas”, the confrontation between East and West will persist. Guénon often finds his critical arguments in the works of professional orientalists (Eugène Burnouf, Max Müller) and philosophers (G.W. Leibniz). He demonstrates the mistakes they made which destroy the foundations of the orientalist approach.

Scientia propter quid nobis—The Epistemic Independence of Metaphysics and Theology in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei attributed to Duns Scotus by Wouter Goris

Reviewed by: Scientia propter quid nobis—The Epistemic Independence of Metaphysics and Theology in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei attributed to Duns Scotus by Wouter Goris Claus A. Andersen GORIS, Wouter. Scientia propter quid nobis—The Epistemic Independence of Metaphysics and Theology in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei attributed to Duns Scotus. Münster: Aschendorff, 2022. viii + 296 pp. Paper, € 49.00 The central claim of Wouter Goris's new book is that the Quaestio de cognitione Dei traditionally (both in one late medieval manuscript and in some modern scholarship) attributed to John Duns Scotus not only is inauthentic but in fact represents an early reaction against Scotus's teaching on the scientific nature of metaphysics. The Quaestio in particular explores Scotus's distinction between a science "in itself" and one "for us" and, going beyond Scotus's own doctrine, shows how this distinction is applicable to metaphysics. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 offers a critical edition of the Quaestio de cognitione Dei, which has hitherto been available in a plain transcription published by C. R. S. Harris in 1927. Harris's text was based on a single manuscript from the fifteenth century (Oxford, Merton College, Ms. 90); Goris bases his edition on a manuscript from the early fourteenth century (Assisi, Biblioteca Comunale, Ms. 172), one that does not attribute the text to Scotus. Goris highlights that the text has significant parallels in the prologue of John of Reading's Scriptum on the first book of the Sentences; there is presently not sufficient evidence for claiming that Reading is the author of the De cognitione Dei, but it does seem clear that either Reading or some other Franciscan friar relying on Reading's Scriptum authored the text between 1316 and 1325. The Quaestio itself consists of two articles. Two appendices to the edition document longer passages from Reading's Scriptum. Part 2 investigates the use of the distinction between a science in itself and one for us in Duns Scotus and some of the early Scotists. Scotus's doctrine developed over time. At Oxford Scotus taught that theology in se is about the divine essence in its particularity; theology for us is about the most perfect concept of God attainable for human beings by natural means, that is, the concept "infinite being." It falls to metaphysics to prove that there is such a kind of being. At Paris Scotus rather taught that both theology in se and theology for us are about the divine essence in its [End Page 549] particularity. The implication is that a strictly demonstrative science about God is possible for human beings in this present life, a knowledge of God that is completely independent of metaphysics. Goris argues that this shift in the view of theology explains the absence of Scotus's famous "twin doctrines" of the univocal concept of being and of being as the first adequate object of the intellect from his theological epistemology of the Parisian period. Not too surprisingly, in the wake of Scotus we find several authors grappling with the relationship between theology and metaphysics. The positions investigated by Goris vary considerably. Richard of Conington distinguishes between human metaphysical knowledge of being and God's own metaphysical knowledge of being; the latter represents a more perfect knowledge of both God himself and creatures as included under the concept of being. Francis of Marchia employs a distinction between a general metaphysics (about being as being) and a special metaphysics (about divine being), but on the level of science for us the special part of metaphysics is subordinated to the general one. Nicolas Bonetus, by contrast, advocates a sharp distinction between metaphysical knowledge of being and natural theology; he structures his metaphysics as a purely ontological discipline and treats natural theology as a separate science; Goris sees this reorganization as Bonetus's most decisive contribution to the history of metaphysics. Part 3 analyzes the fundamental doctrines defended in the Quaestio de cognitione Dei and compares them with those of Scotus and John of Reading. The first article of the Quaestio introduces two important distinctions, the first of which is between metaphysics in itself and metaphysics for us; these two...

Against methodological continuity and metaphysical knowledge

The main purpose of this paper is to refute the ‘methodological continuity’ argument supporting epistemic realism in metaphysics. This argument aims to show that scientific realists have to accept that metaphysics is as rationally justified as science given that they both employ inference to the best explanation, i.e. that metaphysics and science are methodologically continuous. I argue that the reasons given by scientific realists as to why inference to the best explanation (IBE) is reliable in science do not constitute a reason to believe that it is reliable in metaphysics. The justification of IBE in science and the justification of IBE in metaphysics are two distinct issues with only superficial similarities, and one cannot rely on one for the other. This becomes especially clear when one analyses the debate about the legitimacy of IBE that has taken place between realists and empiricists. The metaphysician seeking to piggyback on the realist defense of IBE in science by the methodological continuity argument presupposes that the defense is straightforwardly applicable to metaphysics. I will argue that it is, in fact, not. The favored defenses of IBE by scientific realists make extensive use of empirical considerations, predictive power and inductive evidence, all of which are paradigmatically absent in the metaphysical context. Furthermore, even if the realist would concede the methodological continuity argument, I argue that the metaphysician fails to offer any agreed upon conclusions resulting from its application in metaphysics.

Eidetic Variation as a Source of Metaphysical Knowledge

In neo-Aristotelian accounts, the task of metaphysics is to explore the space of metaphysical possibilities, and our knowledge of metaphysical possibilities is ultimately grounded on our knowledge concerning the essence of entities. Eidetic variation, as established by Husserlian phenomenology, is a method of identifying a specific pattern of phenomenological givenness that is constitutive of the identity and condition of existence of a kind of entities. Thus, Husserlian phenomenology provides us with a method to acquire knowledge concerning the general essence of entities.

Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Account of Metaphysical Certainty in terms of Ta’wīl

This paper examines Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s understanding of metaphysical certainty in terms of his theory of ta’wīl (interpretation) while showing his optimism in attaining metaphysical certainty. Rāzī, also known as the leader of the skeptics (shaykh al-mushakkikīn) in the Shiʻi sources, while thoroughly criticizing the philosophical and kalam traditions before him, remains a controversial figure among scholars. His critical thinking confounded subsequent thinkers, and thus, various ways of reading about Rāzī have emerged. Some have evaluated Rāzī as a metaphysical agnostic who believed that the intellect cannot attain certainty in theological knowledge. This study positions Rāzī’s account of metaphysical certainty in relation to his theory of ta’wīl. The first part of the article focuses on the history of the relationship between metaphysical certainty and ta’wīl the debates over the relationship between intellect and transmission in theological knowledge  and offers the historical context in which Rāzī developed his idiosyncratic approach. The second part identifies Rāzī’s principles of reason in metaphysical knowledge through the interpretation of the concept of istiwā’. This article does not aim to fully investigate Rāzī’s understanding of ta’wīl. However, it analyzes how intellectual truths, one of the main components of the theory of ta’wīl, become metaphysical certainties. The Muʻtazilī mutakallimūn made metaphysical certainties, which are transformed from intellectual truths, a yardstick of understanding and interpreting religion. On the other hand, what some might call their obsession with reliance upon metaphysical certainties became an intolerant attitude towards different interpretations of religion, grew into an oppressive ideology with political power, and ultimately fueled a critical resistance by non-Muʻtazila scholars against rationality (or even rationalism itself). As a natural consequence, the rational development of other doctrines was slowed down by the reaction against Muʻtazilī influence. The first part of the article, while discussing Kalam schools, especially the Ashʻarī school of theology, in terms of metaphysical certainty and the interpretation of revelation, charts the crystallization of the Ashʻarī account of the relationship between interpretation (ta’wīl) and intellectual truths, a historical process inversely correlated with the presence of the Muʻtazila. However, the crystallization process, which was somewhat ambivalent until Rāzī, reaches its ultimate form with Rāzī. The first of the main principles of Rāzī’s theory of ta’wīl is that the intellect is the foundation of revelation (al-ʿaql aṣl al-naql). The intellect becomes the decisive factor not only in terms of authentication and understanding of revelation but also in terms of its interpretation (ta’wīl). Focusing on his Tafsīr, one of his last treatises and which was left incomplete, this article argues against the claim that toward the end of his life, he was inclined to metaphysical agnosticism, falling into an epistemic pessimism with respect to attaining metaphysical certainty. Rāzī takes a firm stance on the probability of transmission in works written throughout his life. Rāzī’s firm stance on the probability of transmitted sources necessarily leads to the principle that reason is the foundation of transmission. Especially with his account of ta’wīl, he offers a rational theology in which he maintains his optimism on metaphysical certainty.

Life’s Meaning and Religion in Contemporary Europe

The challenges of modernity in the West have been numerous, affecting even the deepest or existential segments of human being. That the anxiety of the modern era has led to crises has been claimed by many. At the same time religion, in this case Christianity, has undergone notable changes, where its institutional and social roles have been particularly weakened. Since religions seek to assert metaphysical knowledge and answer existential questions, I examine if and to what extent religiosity determines meaning in an individual’s life. A questionnaire was developed consisting of seven scales measuring Higher Meaning of Life, General Meaning in Life, Religiosity, Spirituality, Faith Maturity, Faith in Day-to-Day Life and Social Connectedness. Results show that higher meaning of life and general meaning in life are two separate categories, determined by different parameters. In terms of absolute values, participants have reported significantly lower mean value on the Higher Meaning of Life scale in comparison with General Meaning in Life scale. Further analysis shows that religiosity is not a key predictor of higher meaning of life, nor general meaning in life. As giving meaning and purpose is considered to be one of the essential functions of religion, I conclude that religiosity, and consequently religion, does not fulfil one of its main functions in contemporary Slovenia. However, spirituality has been measured to have a considerable effect on the higher meaning of life.

Paradox of the Arche-fossil

In his influential After Finitude. An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency (2008), Quentin Meillassoux argues that *Correlationism* (an umbrella-term encompassing most varieties of Idealism) gives rise to an irresolvable paradox, called "the Paradox of the Arche-fossil", which is essentially a clash between philosophical principles and scientific findings. This irresolvable paradox of Correlationism then paves the way for the "Speculative Turn" and the ensuing rise of burgeoning "speculative realism" in Continental Philosophy: noumenal reality, as-it-is-in-and-of-itself, "the Great Outdoors", is back on the Continental stage, open for speculative thought and even metaphysical knowledge. We attempt to provide a thorough and charitable analysis of the Paradox of the Arche-fossil. Our analyses lead us to conclude that Meillassoux's argument fails, due to an ambiguity with regard to the concept of being that cannot be repaired. We end by directing attention to another ominous threat to Correlationism, ignored by Meillassoux and all "speculative realists" alike, which is still breathing.

Inquiry & Ordinary Truthmakers

Abstract This paper argues that accepting an ordinary approach to truthmakers and rejecting something I call “the metaphysical knowledge assumption” (MKA) allows us to account for inquiry in terms of truthmaking. §1 introduces inquiry and the potential place of truthmakers in inquiry. §2 presents the relevant ordinary notion of truthmakers. §3 presents and motivates MKA. This assumption, I argue (§4), makes a truthmaker-focused account of inquiry whose objects are not the fundamental nature of things impossible and thus should be rejected. The ordinary picture, which understands truthmakers not exclusively in terms of the objects of fundamental reality or of semantics (§5), but in terms of the relevant, intentional objects of inquiry, gives us an attractive, general, truthmaker-based view of inquiry.

What does God know? Treatise on the “divine knowledge” in the structure of natural theology by Francisco Suárez

The article is a study of the late scholastic concept of natural theology based on the works of Fr. Suárez, Metaphysical Disputations (1597) and De Deo Uno et Trino (1607), as well as the analysis of the treatise on “divine knowledge” and the demonstration of its significance in the structure of Suárez’s natural theology. First, the article explicates the concept of natural theology as the highest and most noble part of metaphysical science, since the natural theology of Suárez differs both from supernatural or revelation theology, and from the whole metaphysical knowledge about being. Second, the thematic content of natural theology is described in comparison with revelation theology, and the general method of natural theology, which is determined by the specific limitations of the natural knowledge of God in this life, is analyzed. At the same time, the most important role of the traditional scholastic concept of “perfectio simpliciter” as revealing the essence of Suárez’s method in natural theology is emphasized. Third, we point out the reasons for the special significance of the treatise on the “divine knowledge/scientia Dei” contained in section 15 of Suárez’s 30th Metaphysical disputation, and analyze the structure of this treatise, showing how Suárez’s exposition in it corresponds to the general “rule of method”. Fourth, the article thematizes the question of the objects of knowledge of the divine intellect, explains the general division of objects into three classes and explicates the complex type of connection between the cognition of the primary and secondary objects of the divine intellect, since it determines the way God knows finite possible things “in themselves”. Finally, we show a certain ambivalence in Suárez’s understanding of the reality and objectivity of the objective being (esse obiectivum) of possible finite essences as a secondary object that terminates divine knowledge.

On the foundation of the philosophical theology of Francisco Suarez: Disputation XXVIII of Disputationes Metaphysicae

The article is the preface to the Russian translation of the second part of Francisco Suárez’s Metaphysical Disputations, which examines the successive divisions of “being in general” into its different modifications of varying degrees of specification (“contractions”). The first section of Disputation XXVIII introduces the primary division of being into God and creation, considers several synonymous formulations of it, and demonstrates their reference to the same reality. Next, in section two, Suárez analyzes the arguments against the adequacy of this primary division of being and refutes them. In section three, the Spanish philosopher explores the type of predication of being to God and creatures. He argues against the equivocality or univocality of the concept of being and concludes that it has analogical character. Next, Suárez examines the varieties of analogy formulated by eminent philosophers and theologians of the past, that is, the analogy of proportionality and the analogy of proportion, or external attribution, and shows their inadequacy to explain analogia entis. Suárez’s own position is that being is predicated on God and creatures according to the analogy of internal attribution, and he draws out the characteristics of this type of analogy. Disputation XXVIII as a whole is an introduction to Suárez’s natural theology, which he thinks of as an integral part of metaphysical knowledge.

PURPOSE OF METAPHYSICS: APOLOGY OF OVERAGE

The article consistently substantiates the statement about the non-contextual nature of metaphysical knowledge. It is proved that metaphysics as knowledge of the limit level of abstraction determines the context, which gives it the status of a pure theory of the universal essential foundations of existence and knowledge of the world. Also, metaphysics as a speculative level of boundary abstractions determines the general contour of the realization of culture, on the specific historical interpretation of which depends the content of the cultural space of human existence. It is hypothesized that the metaphysics of culture emphasizes the constant principles of the specificity of human existence, and the effectiveness and efficiency of reflection on the phenomenon of culture is carried out by determining the fundamental for a particular era dialectical contradiction. Accordingly, metaphysics is a pronounced semantic construction of culture, which produces a certain type of thinking, memory and identification, i.e. subjectivity; and sociality as an ethical-axiological model of interaction with the Other. It is argued that classical metaphysics since its inception and throughout its long, meaningful and productive existence is a kind of orientation in space. The author argues that culture is a collection of space in an intelligible structure, the specific nature of human existence in the universe, the way of human being in the world. Space in the metaphysics of culture means the area of localization of the "Ego" and the field of transcendence at the same time. It is argued that metaphysics through the space of culture allows us to empirically feel the universe as Unite, to assume the existence of meaning. The concept of metaphysics of culture as a sphere of philosophical research of the phenomenon of culture in its boundary, extra-experiential, essential principles of historical development and semantic transformations is defined. Based on the analysis, the author summarizes the definition of the phenomenon of culture as a specifically human way of mastering space and the conquest of time, and consciousness - as a topology of reflective practices.