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Great Philosophers of The Twentieth Century

  • 2024/25
  • Created  Updated 
  • Linked to PHI-30027

Key Primary Texts

Key Secondary Texts

LECTURE 1 and 2: Ayer’s critique of metaphysics

Reading for seminar 1 (On Ayer’s critique of metaphysics)

Key texts by A.J. Ayer:

For an overview of A.J. Ayer and logical positivism:

On the logical positivists' neo-empiricist critique of metaphysics:

On scientism see:

LECTURES 3 and 4: Collingwood’s metaphysics of absolute presuppositions

Reading for seminar 2 (On Collingwood’s metaphysics of absolute presuppositions):

For an overview of Collingwood:

On absolute presuppositions see:

LECTURES 5 and 6: Collingwood’s critique of Ayer

Reading for seminar 3 (On Collingwood’s defence of metaphysics against Ayer’s attack):

The reading on scientism for lectures 1 and 2 is also relevant:

On explanatory pluralism and the critique of scientism see:

LECTURES 7 and 8: Heidegger’s fundamental ontology, Dasein, and the false problem of external world scepticism.

Accessible background reading:

Reading for seminar 4 (On the nature of Dasein and its relation to the world):

Further reading

On Heidegger and idealism see:

LECTURES 9 and 10: Dasein and the ready-to-hand present-at-hand distinction

Reading for seminar 5 (on the ready-to-hand/present-at hand distinction and its wider significance)

Further reading

On Jackson’s defence of the manifest image see:

LECTURES 11 and 12: Being with, Inauthenticity and Anxiety

Reading for seminar 6 (on inauthenticity and anxiety):

Further reading:

LECTURES 13 and 14: Heidegger on language, truth and reality

Reading for seminar 7 (on Heidegger’s conception of truth):

Further reading:

LECTURES 15 and 16: Carnap’s critique of metaphysics in “Empiricism, Semantics and Ontology”

Essential reading

On the contemporary metaontological debate see:

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