http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/metaphysics Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Wed, 22 Apr 2026 05:19:21 -0400 Wed, 22 Apr 2026 05:19:21 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1917/the-structure-of-fiction-and-the-emergence-of-the-other-than By Dani W. Park - In this essay, I will analyze the structure of fiction, arguing that this structure is a duality that rests upon a spirit that defines and propels fiction in reality. This spirit, which I refer to as the Other-than, is the metaphysical embodiment of radical change that seeks to emerge in reality. The structure by which this spirit of fiction emerges, however, depends on two components- the Imaginative and the Written. The Imaginative is the divided and individuated form of the Other-than that is imbued within each work of fiction and is therefore incapable of ideological influence; the Written... Mon, 18 Oct 2021 07:21 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1917/the-structure-of-fiction-and-the-emergence-of-the-other-than http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1773/a-nietzschean-interpretation-of-the-self-in-psychological-continuity By Harry P. Chalklin - There are two views of personal identity that many people find plausible. The first is the psychological continuity view; the second is what I shall call multiplicity views of the self. Despite their plausibility, these positions appear incompatible, as I shall go on to explain. In this essay, I propose the thesis that psychological continuity and multiplicity views of the self can be made compatible by thinking of the self, not as a continuous psychological unity, but instead as a continuous, creative, psychological task a person undertakes to form a self which feels more unified than it previously... Mon, 02 Dec 2019 08:38 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1773/a-nietzschean-interpretation-of-the-self-in-psychological-continuity http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1718/debating-space-through-the-gand#246;ttingen-review-why-kants-transcendental-ideality-of-space-exceeds-berkeleys-subjective-idealist-interpretation By Rocco A. Astore - It is not often that one questions the nature of space, in fact, most people understand extension as independent of their mind as well as the objects that appear in their surrounding world. However, in a radical twist, fitting for the revolutionary epoch of the Enlightenment, Königsberg scholar, philosopher Immanuel Kant forwarded a strikingly new hypothesis. To Kant, although the representations of objects rely on space for their subsistence, minds are independent of it, since they alone impose space onto the world of appearance. Despite his view not being readily defendable by all his peers... Tue, 09 Jan 2018 04:25 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1718/debating-space-through-the-gand#246;ttingen-review-why-kants-transcendental-ideality-of-space-exceeds-berkeleys-subjective-idealist-interpretation http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1639/does-essence-precede-existence-a-look-at-camuss-metaphysical-rebellion By Scot N. DuFour - Albert Camus lived during a tumultuous time that included his experience of World War II and the Algerian War. Camus is most prominently known as an author of fine French literature but he was also a philosopher. While it is debatable whether Camus was an existentialist, a label he personally disliked, his analysis of rebellion in his work The Rebel serves as a relevant argument for the establishment of an ethic based on metaphysical rebellion. Camus faced and was witness to great oppression throughout his lifetime so it is no surprise that he wrote about rebellion. Camus was personally part of... Mon, 01 May 2017 10:41 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1639/does-essence-precede-existence-a-look-at-camuss-metaphysical-rebellion http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1499/was-spinoza-a-kabbalist-the-influence-of-jewish-mysticism-in-book-i-of-ethics By Rocco A. Astore - Throughout philosophy’s history, some of its most prominent thinkers have drawn inspiration from sources outside of its canon. It is of my opinion that one of these philosophers, Spinoza, in the first book of his Ethics, borrowed elements of the Kabbalah, to portray his image of God. The first purpose of this piece is to explicate Spinoza’s understanding of God, or Nature so that the reader can assess and become familiarized with his views. Next, by using Daniel C. Matt’s The Essential Kabbalah, the Heart of Jewish Mysticism, I will hope to convey a general idea of the Kabbalist... Wed, 23 Nov 2016 09:07 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1499/was-spinoza-a-kabbalist-the-influence-of-jewish-mysticism-in-book-i-of-ethics http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1426/nagarjunas-idealism-as-a-metaphysical-justification-against-ignorance By Rocco A. Astore - The revered Madhyamika Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna is a central figure in the history of Eastern thought. In his Seventy Stanzas, Nagarjuna shares his views on many eternal questions including inquiries into what it means to have a proper understanding of the mind and the objects that it perceives. Though counterintuitive, he believes that one should regard all objects as being ultimately immaterial because if objects were not ideational, one’s immaterial mind would not be able to perceive them (1). Nagarjuna’s view derives from his belief that the mind is an immaterial sense organ... Tue, 28 Jun 2016 06:58 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1426/nagarjunas-idealism-as-a-metaphysical-justification-against-ignorance http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1387/plotinus-ontology-and-the-problem-of-matter By Rocco A. Astore - Within The Enneads, Plotinus claims all existence derives from an entirely immaterial and benevolent source which he calls the One.[1] At the same time, he also states matter corrupts that which is immaterial, and one should not understand it as being good.[2] Therefore, how can one state that Plotinus is being consistent when he claims that all things derive from an all-good One, yet bodies are defective in nature? With this piece, I will first describe Plotinus’ understanding of the One. Next, I will state his notions concerning the nature of souls and bodies. I will then state his views... Wed, 30 Mar 2016 04:14 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1387/plotinus-ontology-and-the-problem-of-matter http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1354/examining-free-will-through-spinoza-and-descartes By Rocco A. Astore - According to Spinoza, for something to be entirely free it must be uncompelled in all ways and also the cause of itself.[1] Furthermore, because he believes that there is only one substance that causes itself, which is God, or Nature, and since he states it is uncompelled due to its existence being identical to its essence, it follows that due to its essence being of a self-determined nature, it by necessity exists without being dependent on any other being.[2] Also, since God is uncompelled, all things that derive from it are modes of its attributes and are not to be understood as being at the... Sun, 14 Feb 2016 03:53 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1354/examining-free-will-through-spinoza-and-descartes http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1327/hans-jonas-critique-of-the-modern-concept-of-causality By Joao B. Farias Jr - Hans Jonas main objective in his book The phenomenon of life is to offer an interpretation of the phenomenon of Being that is neither conditioned to dualism nor to a partial conception of being, such as those developed by idealism and by materialism. This essay presents some considerations concerning the Jonasian critique of the concept of causality as formulated by Kant and by Hume. After all, Jonas maintains that, because his ontology is based in the organic phenomenon of life, it requires a revision of what one understands as causality. The senses, or rather, the body that senses itself, is... Fri, 15 Jan 2016 02:36 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1327/hans-jonas-critique-of-the-modern-concept-of-causality http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/938/the-sexual-and-the-spiritual-in-john-donnes-poetry-exploring-the-extasie-and-its-analogues By Basil Thommen - This paper looks at the poet John Donne’s method of incorporating sexual imagery into religious and spiritual contexts. The main features of Donne’s technique arise from his notion of ecstasy. Donne’s ecstasy describes how the souls of two lovers leave their bodies during their physical union and mix together before returning to their original bodies. This experience purifies each of the lovers and grants them spiritual fulfillment. Writers such as Marsilio Ficino, St. Teresa of Avila, and others have proposed similar ideas regarding the transformative experience that sex has... Mon, 10 Nov 2014 10:14 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/938/the-sexual-and-the-spiritual-in-john-donnes-poetry-exploring-the-extasie-and-its-analogues http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/876/baudrillards-vision-of-the-postmodern-society-and-the-hope-for-human-action By Gian Carla D. Agbisit - This paper is about the numbing of man’s critical impulse brought about by consumer society, a society obsessed with speed, and is characterized by a constant consumption of products—of good things turning into goods, of culture with price tags, and of the generation of the unreal to cover up the loss of the real. But this paper also argues that despite the radical change of focus—from the modern society’s concern for freedom and political change to the blurred postmodern distinction between real and unreal—there is an underlying political concern that must be addressed... Tue, 25 Mar 2014 09:39 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/876/baudrillards-vision-of-the-postmodern-society-and-the-hope-for-human-action http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/766/technology-and-justice-the-philosophy-of-authenticity-and-democratic-theory By Matthew McManus - My aim in this work is to sketch, in broad strokes, an idea for a method of both assessing these dynamics and, ultimately, moving beyond them to provide a philosophic foundation for those moral notions I will suggest are attractive. By necessity, this has meant starting primarily with an analysis and critique of modernity and its normative content. While this is hardly a novel idea, I have attempted to contribute originally to the discourse of modernity, as Habermas characterizes it, by suggesting how a reconceptualization of temporality, and a reexamination of time's connection to language, would... Wed, 02 Oct 2013 11:05 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/766/technology-and-justice-the-philosophy-of-authenticity-and-democratic-theory