School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses

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Subject: Metaphysics × Start date: 1951 × End date: 1959 ×

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    Some modern attitudes to metaphysics : an account of the discoveries of the logical positivists and of John Wisdom
    Joske, W. D ( 1958)
    We propose in this thesis to examine some contemporary attitudes to metaphysics and metaphysical sentences, for in the last fifty years metaphysics has been -' the subject of a new critical investigation. Philosophers have begun to ask themselves whether the subject was worthy of the veneration it has traditionally been accorded,- whether or not the whole structure of metaphysical systems' was anything more than a pretentious sham. the investigation has been conducted by paying attention to metaphysical sentences and metaphysical arguments, to the bricks and mortar from which the systems were built, rather than to the systems as a whole. It has been characterised by philosophers asking themselves questions of a logical nature, such as Can a metaphysical sentence be said to express a proposition?" or "Is a metaphysical sentence more closely related to poetry than to the sentences of science and every day discourse?" These questions are logical rather than metaphysical, and the subject of the current investigation and controversy has, in fact, been the logical status of metaphysical sentences and statements. The modern philosopher has set out to unravel metaphysical sentences and to discover exactly what part they play in our discourse. We have set ourselves the task of following the arguments and discoveries of some of the investigators, and, in particular, we will examine the finding of the Logical Positivists and of John Wisdom, for these men can be claimed to have set the tone of much modern philosophical and metaphysical thinking, We intend not merely to decide for or against the views of any particular philosopher, but rather to see what each has discovered that will be helpful to us when we xx come to make up our own minds as to the part played by metaphysical sentences in our discourse.
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