Metaphysics
The study of the_________ ______________________ of ____________.
Examples:
The pre-Socratic philosophers:
What is _______________________ _______________________________?
Why did they ask this question?
To determine:
*whether __________________________and ___________________________are the same?
*what remains the _____________________in ___________________________?
How is reality defined?
_____________ -one of the two 2006 buzzwords according to the Global Language Monitor:
“reality as determined by ________________________.‖
Reality = The __________________ _________________________ of all that is!
The key question:
What does ____________________________ _____________________________ of?
How objective is our access to reality?
*Realism:
*there is a _________ __________ out there.
*we can _________ it and _________ it.
*Anti-realism: (more ____________)
*is there an __________ ___________ out there?
*it __________ matter, we ___________ know it.
*we take _______ in ________________ reality.
Three metaphysical options:
1. ___________________________—reality is ______________________________only
*corresponds to world view of _____________________________
2. _________________________—reality is the product of the ―________________________‖
3. _____________________-reality is combination of _________________& ____________________
What are some of the metaphysical issues?
What is the__________________________?
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* is the ―mind‖ _______________________or ___________________________________?
* where is the mind ________________________________?
* how does the mind ____________________________the body to act?
What is the_________________________?
How is the soul_________________________________?
Related issues:
*what survives the body after death?
*with cloning, are two souls created out of one?
*what is the status of the souls of frozen embryos?
*how do artificial or organ transplants affect the soul?
The problem of ____________________________ _________________________________
*in what sense do I remain the same person?
What distinguishes __________________________from_______________________________?
What is the status of _____________________ _______________________ _____________________?
Do _______________________/ _______________________(e.g. colors, numbers) ―exist‖?
Do ______________________and ________________________exist?
Do the __________________and the _______________________exist?
Does God exist ―_______________________of‖ time or ―_______‖ time?
Defining Human Nature –
Why the topic of ______________________ is important:
It impacts one’s views of:
*the ____________________ of humans
*belief in _____________ and __________________________
*_____________ (when it occurs, what happens after death.)
*______________, embryonic ______________________________,
_____________,________________.
Materialism vs. Dualism
Reductive materialism - the mind, emotions, etc. can be _______________________to
____________________________(aka. reductionism)
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) “we are complex biological machines”
―The astonishing hypothesis is that you, your joys and sorrows, your memories and ambitions, your
sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more that the behavior of a vast assembly of
nerve cells and their associated molecules.” Francis Crick
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“We are machines built by DNA whose purpose is to make more copies of the same DNA…It is every
living object’s sole reason for living.” Richard Dawkins
‖epiphenomenalism‖ ―consciousness is a ______________________________of biological, physical &
neural processes…caused by molecular changes in the brain substance.”
The ―_____________________________ _________________________________‖ to materialism
“The leading problem in the biological sciences is the problem of explaining how neurobiological
processes cause conscious experiences.” John Searle
materialism cannot account for human _____________________________________. Examples:
self-awareness, ability to choose, intentionality, creativity
Dualism
Cartesian dualism (Descartes—1596-1650)
Radical dualism makes a _______________________ ___________________________between body
and soul
The act of thinking requires a _____________________, but not a______________________!
Strong distinction between ____________________________and _____________________________
Humans vs. Machines
Humans _________________________conversation Machines ______________________ speech
______________________________action require “special_______________________‖
to act
have____________________ intelligence ___________________________intelligence
Christian Monism
______________________________
*____________________ consists of one _________________________
*The ___________ is not a separate _____________, but a ―higher‖ capacity of the ___________.
*Problems: explaining ___________________, _________ after _________, the biblical accounts of
_______________.
Holistic Dualism
“The soul and the body are highly interactive, they enter into deep causal relations and functional
dependencies with each other, the human person is a unity of both.” J.P. Moreland
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Substance Dualism (Thomas Aquinas)
The person is a complex union of __________________, ___________________, & _______________
*the ____________ soul is present at _______________ and until ___________
*the _________ and the __________ are intimately ____________
*there is a _____________ and _____________ relationship between the _________ and the ________
(correlation, not identification)
*the _________ is a _____________ of the soul (eg. the soul experiences vision by means of the eyes
*the soul is the _________________________of the body’s _________________________________
The soul is a substance that “stands under, informs, animates, develops and unifies all the body’s parts
and functions and makes the body human.” J.P. Moreland – Body and Soul
A Theology of Human Nature
Humans are _____________
* from __________, the Creator ( Gen. 1:1, 2:7)
*from ___________ (living and non-living)
Humans are _______________ (eg. self-conscious beings)
*_____________ - free to ______ or to ___________ ( Gen 2:16)
*_____________ - not good for __________ to be ___________ ( Gen 2:18)
*_______________ - Adam named the _______________ ( Gen 2:19-20)
*________________ - sense of ___________, ____________, and ______________ (Gen 3:8-10)
Each living person consists of a __________ and a ______________
The body is _______________:
*_______________ and ______________
- ―the earthly tent we live in‖ ( 2 Cor 5:1)
- I live in the tent of this body‖ ( 2 Pet 1:3)
* An __________________ of the __________________
- don’t offer your body to sin ( Rom 6:13)
- offer your body…to God ( Rom 12:1)
The __________ is distinct from the _______________
Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”
Paul- torn between departing to be with Christ or remaining ―in the body‖ Phil 1:23-24
Further implications:
*the soul is___________ - something other than the ___________________ continues to exist after
___________
Both _________ and _________ are:
*__________ real
*____________ related
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The ____________ is distinct from the _____________
The word of _______ ―penetrates even to dividing __________ and _________‖ Heb 4:12
“May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless” 1 Thess 5:23
________________ and ________________ have souls- living beings
Only ______________ have ______________ - living persons
Creation in _________________ refers to the ___________ not the _____________:
*moral, ______________, emotional, _________________, and relational ____________
After death, the __________ with be united with a _____________________ body
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