- Most prominent exponents
- 1- Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)
- 2- Plato (428 - 347 BC)
- 3- Parmenides (born between 530 and 515 BC)
- 4- Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804)
- 5- Heraclitus (536 - 470 BC)
- 6- René Descartes (1596 - 1650)
- 7- Gottfried Leibniz (1646 - 1716)
- References
The main metaphysical philosophers date mostly to the years before Christ. Aristotle is considered by many to be the father of metaphysics due to the well-known publication of the fourteen papyrus scrolls.
This philosopher defines deeply what for him was known as metaphysics. However, there is evidence that Parmenides preceded him in the antecedents of the same branch of philosophy.
The development of this branch of philosophy has found exponents throughout the world that have enriched the way in which the nature of being is analyzed from the perspective of metaphysics.
Most prominent exponents
1- Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)
This Macedonian philosopher made a work composed of fourteen scrolls of papyrus, each equivalent to one volume.
The first eight were defined in the area of physics; in these he raised various theories.
The remaining volumes gave rise to the term "metaphysics", which refers to what follows the explanations about nature.
2- Plato (428 - 347 BC)
This Greek philosopher inspired and provided great tools to understand this philosophy in other thinkers.
Although he is not specified in any of his works as a metaphysician, his works based on his original thought generated valuable contributions.
3- Parmenides (born between 530 and 515 BC)
This Greek philosopher has only one known work. It is said that his work is a revelation and one of its parts, called The Way of Truth, promoted Plato in his doctrine of forms and Aristotle in his metaphysical theories.
For this reason it is said that Parmenides can be considered the father of metaphysics.
4- Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804)
He was a German philosopher who learned about the philosophy of Leibniz and Wolff in his university studies in theology through his mentor Knutzen.
This knowledge motivated him to venture into natural science, making great contributions to logical metaphysics.
5- Heraclitus (536 - 470 BC)
Greek philosopher, one of the first metaphysicians. He considered that the world was created by a natural principle.
Fire for him represented the best example of the natural, since fire is continually subjected to changes, just like the world. That change is the basic origin of all things.
6- René Descartes (1596 - 1650)
Descartes became one of the most influential of the seventeenth century. He was a Catholic Christian.
He is considered the founder of modern philosophy. His theories affirmed the existence of the soul and of God. In this century theology and metaphysics were very close.
7- Gottfried Leibniz (1646 - 1716)
This German was an influential philosopher, mathematician, theologian, logician, and jurist, among other disciplines he practiced.
For him, any man, through reason, managed to transcend the material world and death. He was in charge of introducing the concept of spiritual atoms calling them "monads."
References
- Bacca, JD (1990). Nine great contemporary philosophers and their themes: Bergson, Husserl, Unamuno, Heidegger, Scheler, Hartmann, W. James, Ortega y Gasset, Whitehead. Barcelona: Anthropos Editorial.
- Conti, CC (1995). Metaphysical Personalism: An Analysis of Austin Farrer's Metaphysics of Theism. Clarendon Press.
- Forment, E. (2013). Metaphysics. Word.
- Hibbs, T. (2007). Aquinas, Ethics, and Philosophy of Religion: Metaphysics and Practice. Indiana: Indiana University Press.
- José Arredondo Campos, GE (2015). Philosophy: Perspectives and problems. Mexico: Grupo Editorial Patria.