Conatus: REVISED EDITION by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

C O N A T U S

all particular truths true. For goodness I’m looking for ‘meta-ethics’ — the basis of our ethics and morality — and still very much a metaphysical search. And for beauty — something more profound than simply an aesthetic of prettiness or attractiveness. Then — along with the big three — I’ve added two further themes to the book. Firstly, it seems that behind questions of goodness and beauty, there’s a wider question of value. (In fact, as explored throughout this work, there’s a valuing going on even in our search for truth.) Within this theme of value I include our searches for meaning and purpose. Then, secondly, and ultimately perhaps, there is a search for something beyond the knowledge of truth, ethics and aesthetics in our philosophical enquiries. I’ve described it as joy, but it might include contentment, peace and flourishing. With these themes in mind, the running order of the book is determined — truth, value, goodness, beauty, joy.

The way our thoughts split up the world is also an important theme of this book. In fact, several chapters are devoted to exploring such splits and trying to understand what they mean and whether they help or hinder our search. Perhaps a pattern can be discerned to our investigations, starting with observation, moving on to establish explanations and from there making the leap from ‘how questions’ to ‘why questions’. A meaning is a step beyond an explanation. A purpose is a step beyond a meaning. And as I’ve suggested above, this is still only half the story! There is something about the way us humans deal with the questions of truth, goodness, beauty, meaning

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