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refers to things outside of and beyond the natural sciences, this is not the origin of the term (as opposed to, say, meta-ethics, which refers to the nature of ethics itself). Instead, the term was used by later editors of Aristotle. Aristotle had written several books on matter and physics, and followed those volumes with work on ontology, and other broad subjects. These editors referred to them as “the books that came after the books on physics” or “metaphysics”. Aristotle himself refers to metaphysics as “the first philosophy”. This term was also used by some later philosophers, such as Descartes, whose primary work on the subject of metaphysics is called Meditations on First Philosophy.

Ontology is a branch of metaphysics which studies being. Ontology is concerned with the ultimate nature of being, and of all reality in general. The process of studying ontology generally consists of describing being as well as determining how reality may be organized and categorized, and how different types of beings relate to one another. The term “ontology” refers to the things counted as being in a metaphysical system. Generally, ontology is a list of things that exist – the “furniture of the universe” as it is sometimes put.

Differences in ontology among philosophers generally deal with whether or not there are non-physical entities, and whether those things can be counted as being, existing, both or neither. Examples of candidates for ontological status as non-physical being include the mind, mathematical objects and universals.

Some of the prominent ontologists were: Aristotle, Plato, Saint Anselm, Baruch Spinoza, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Martin Heidegger, Immanuel Kant and Jean-Paul Sartre1.

Vocabulary.

valid – веский, обоснованный, достоверный; reasoning – рассуждение, объяснение; argumentation – обоснование;

ultimate – безусловный, окончательный;

to encompass – заключать (в себе), охватывать; matter – материя, вещество, сущность;

entity – сущность, существо, существование;

Saint Anselm – Святой Ансельм (Кентерберийский); Baruch Spinoza – Барух (Бенедикт) Спиноза;

Questions:

1. What is the main subject of metaphysics?

1 http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/philosophy-the-history- philosophy.html#ixzz2u3wjMakq, http://www.philosophy-index.com/philosophy/branches/

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2.What does the term “metaphysics” mean?

3.Where did this term come from?

4.What is the main subject of ontology?

5.What does the term “ontology” mean?

6.Name some of the most prominent ontologists.

Give the written translation of the text.

Part II.

Cosmology is the area of metaphysics and science that studies the origin, evolution and nature of the universe. Cosmology is concerned with the contents and astrophysical phenomena of space and time, as well as their origin and progression. Although cosmology is most often concerned with physics and astronomy in the scientific world, it directly relates to a number of philosophical and theological views. While ontology studies the nature of being and reality itself, cosmology is the study of those things that are in reality, and how they, and perhaps reality, came to be.

Epistemology is the area of philosophy that is concerned with knowledge. The main concerns of epistemology are the definition of knowledge, the sources of knowledge (innate ideas, experience, etc.), the process of acquiring knowledge and the limits of knowledge. Epistemology considers that knowledge can be obtained through experience and/or reason. A primary concern of epistemology is the very definition of knowledge itself. The traditional definition, since Plato, is that knowledge is justified true belief, but recent evaluations of the concept have shown supposed counterexamples to this definition. In order to fully explore the nature of knowledge and how we come to know things, the various conceptions of what knowledge is must first be understood. The sources of knowledge must also be considered. Perception, reason, memory, testimony, introspection and innate

ideas are all supposed sources of knowledge.

Logic is the systematic process of valid reasoning through inference – deriving conclusions from information that is known to be true. It is the area of philosophy that is concerned with the laws of valid reasoning. A distinction is drawn between logical validity and truth. Validity merely refers to formal properties of the process of inference. Thus, a conclusion whose value is true may be drawn from an invalid argument, and one whose value is false, from a valid sequence2.

2 http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/philosophy-the-history- philosophy.html#ixzz2u3wjMakq, http://www.philosophy-index.com/philosophy/branches/

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Vocabulary

progression – движение, изменение; innate ideas – врожденные идеи;

to acquire – приобретать, получать, достигать; to obtain – приобретать, получать;

primary concern – первоочередная задача; justified – подтвержденный, обоснованный; evaluation – анализ, исследование; counterexample – исключение;

perception – восприятие;

testimony – доказательство, утверждение; introspection - интроспекция, самоанализ; inference – умозаключение;

to derive – выводить из, происходить от; validity – обоснованность, действительность; invalid – необоснованный, недействительный; sequence – последовательность.

Read the text and answer the questions after it.

Part III.

Ethics or moral philosophy is the branch of philosophy concerned with human conduct and its moral value. There are generally three branches of ethics: meta-ethics, which is concerned with questions about whether or not morality exists, and what it consists of if it does, normative ethics, which is concerned with how moral values should be developed and applied ethics, which deals with how moral values can be applied to specific cases.

Aesthetics is the area of philosophy which covers the concepts of beauty and art. There are two basic standings on the nature of beauty: objective and subjective judgment. Subjective judgment of beauty suggests that beauty is not the same to everyone – that which aesthetically pleases the observer is beautiful (to the observer). Alternatively, those partial to the objective description of beauty try to measure it. They suggest that certain properties of an object create an inherent beauty – such as symmetry and balance. Both Plato and Aristotle supported the objective judgment. Some, such as Immanuel Kant, took a middle path, holding that beauty is of a subjective nature, but there are qualities of beauty which have universal validity. The classical concepts behind aesthetics saw beauty in nature, and that art should mimic those qualities found in nature. Aristotle's Poetics describes this idea, which he develops from Plato's teachings. Modern

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aesthetic ideas, including those of Kant, stress the creative and symbolic side of art

– that nature does not always have to guide art for it to be beautiful3.

Vocabulary

conduct – поведение; value – ценность;

normative ethics – нормативная этика; applied ethics – «прикладная этика»; standing – положение, статус; judgment – суждение, мнение, взгляд;

to please – доставлять удовольствие, угождать, нравиться; observer – наблюдатель;

partial – неравнодушный к; properties – характеристики; inherent – зд. природный;

to mimic – подражать, имитировать;

Poetics – «Поэтика».

Questions:

1.What is the main subject of ethics?

2.What are the main branches of ethics? What do they deal with?

3.What is the main subject of aesthetics?

4.What are two basic standings of the nature of beauty?

Give the written translation of the text.

1.2 The History of Philosophy.

Historically, philosophy falls into three large periods: classical (Greek and Roman) philosophy, which was concerned with the ultimate nature of reality and the problem of virtue in a political context; medieval philosophy, which in the West is virtually inseparable from early Christian thought; and, beginning with the Renaissance, modern philosophy, whose main direction has been epistemology.

Part I. Classical Philosophy.

The first Greek philosophers, the Milesian school in the early 6th century BC, consisting of Thales, Anaximander, and Anaximenes, were concerned with finding the one natural element underlying all nature and being. They were followed by Heraclitus, Pythagoras, Parmenides, Leucippus, Empedocles,

3 http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/philosophy-the-history- philosophy.html#ixzz2u3wjMakq, http://www.philosophy-index.com/philosophy/branches/

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Anaxagoras, and Democritus, who took divergent paths in exploring the same problem.

Socrates was the first to inquire also into social and political problems and was the first to use the dialectical method. His speculations were carried on by his pupil Plato, and by Plato's pupil Aristotle, at the Academy in Athens. Roman philosophy was based mainly on the later schools of Greek philosophy, such as the Sophists, the Cynics, Stoicism and Epicureanism. In late antiquity Neoplatonism, chiefly represented by Plotinus, became the leading philosophical movement and profoundly affected the early development of Christian theology. Arab thinkers, notably Avicenna and Averroes, preserved Greek philosophy, especially Aristotelianism, during the period when these teachings were forgotten in Europe4.

Vocabulary

ultimate – окончательный, безусловный, идеальный; virtue – добродетель;

Milesian – милетский;

Thales – Фалес;

to underlie – лежать в основе, обусловливать;

Leucippus – Левкипп; Anaxagoras – Анаксагор;

speculations – предположения, размышления;

Plotinus – Плотин;

Averroes – Аверроэс (Ибн Рушт Мухаммед).

Read the text and give the summary of it.

Part II. The Middle Ages to the 19th Century.

Scholasticism, the high achievement of medieval philosophy, was based on Aristotelian principles. St. Thomas Aquinas was the foremost of the schoolmen, just as St. Augustine was the earlier spokesman for the church of pure belief. The Renaissance, with its new physics, astronomy, and humanism, revolutionized philosophic thought. René Descartes is considered the founder of modern philosophy because of his attempt to give the new science a philosophic basis. The other great rationalist systems of the 17th century, especially those of Baruch Spinoza and G. W. von Leibniz, were developed in response to problems

4 http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/philosophy-the-history- philosophy.html#ixzz2u3wjMakq, http://www.philosophy-index.com/philosophy/branches/

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