Thaddeus Metz | |
---|---|
Occupation | Philosopher |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Cornell University |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Philosophy |
Sub-discipline | The meaning of life;ethics;political philosophy;philosophy of law;African philosophy;non-Western philosophy |
Institutions | University of Pretoria |
Thaddeus Metz (b. 1968) is an American philosopher,academic and author who has lectured at mainly South African universities. He currently teaches at the University of Pretoria.
Metz earned a PhD from the Sage School of Philosophy at Cornell University in 1997. [1] In 2015,Metz was appointed to the position of Distinguished Professor at the University of Johannesburg,a position he held until 2019. This was followed by a position as Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pretoria [2] in 2020.
Metz has supervised doctoral students from many different countries, [3] including Mpho Tshivhase the first African woman from South Africa to get a PhD in philosophy [4] [5] and Doreen Sesiro the first African woman from Botswana to do so. [6]
Much of his work 'takes an analytic approach to African morality,the meaning of life,the nature of mental health,the point of a university,the role of a legal system,and a range of other topics in value theory and moral-political philosophy'. [7] In particular,he (alongside Susan R. Wolf) is often credited for having helped develop life's meaning as a distinct field in Anglo-American philosophy. [8]
Special journal issues and books devoted to Metz's research include:
Metz was elected to the Academy of Science of South Africa. [20]
Logical positivism,later called logical empiricism,and both of which together are also known as neopositivism,is a movement whose central thesis is the verification principle. This theory of knowledge asserts that only statements verifiable through direct observation or logical proof are meaningful in terms of conveying truth value,information or factual content. Starting in the late 1920s,groups of philosophers,scientists,and mathematicians formed the Berlin Circle and the Vienna Circle,which,in these two cities,would propound the ideas of logical positivism.
Synchronicity is a concept introduced by analytical psychiatrist Carl Jung to describe events that coincide in time and appear meaningfully related,yet lack a discoverable causal connection. Jung held this was a healthy function of the mind,that can become harmful within psychosis.
Analytic philosophy is an analysis focused,broad,contemporary movement or tradition within Western philosophy,especially anglophone philosophy. Analytic philosophy is characterized by a clarity of prose;rigor in arguments;and making use of formal logic and mathematics,and,to a lesser degree,the natural sciences. It is further characterized by an interest in language and meaning known as the linguistic turn. It has developed several new branches of philosophy and logic,notably philosophy of language,philosophy of mathematics,philosophy of science,modern predicate logic and mathematical logic.
Absurdism is the philosophical theory that the universe is irrational and meaningless. It states that trying to find meaning leads people into conflict with a seemingly meaningless world. This conflict can be between rational man and an irrational universe,between intention and outcome,or between subjective assessment and objective worth,but the precise definition of the term is disputed. Absurdism claims that,due to one or more of these conflicts,existence as a whole is absurd. It differs in this regard from the less global thesis that some particular situations,persons,or phases in life are absurd.
Ubuntu describes a set of closely related Bantu African-origin value systems that emphasize the interconnectedness of individuals with their surrounding societal and physical worlds. "Ubuntu" is sometimes translated as "I am because we are",or "humanity towards others". In Xhosa,the latter term is used,but is often meant in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".
Analytical Thomism is a philosophical movement which promotes the interchange of ideas between the thought of Thomas Aquinas,and modern analytic philosophy.
Stanley Louis Cavell was an American philosopher. He was the Walter M. Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value at Harvard University. He worked in the fields of ethics,aesthetics,and ordinary language philosophy. As an interpreter,he produced influential works on Wittgenstein,Austin,Emerson,Thoreau,and Heidegger. His work is characterized by its conversational tone and frequent literary references.
Alfred Cyril EwingFBA was an English philosopher who spent most of his career at the University of Cambridge. He was a prolific writer who made contributions to Kant scholarship,metaphysics,epistemology,ethics,and the philosophy of religion.
William Sweet is a Canadian philosopher,and a past president of the Canadian Philosophical Association and of the Canadian Theological Society.
Feminist philosophy is an approach to philosophy from a feminist perspective and also the employment of philosophical methods to feminist topics and questions. Feminist philosophy involves both reinterpreting philosophical texts and methods in order to supplement the feminist movement and attempts to criticise or re-evaluate the ideas of traditional philosophy from within a feminist framework.
A Defense of Abortion is a moral philosophy essay by Judith Jarvis Thomson first published in Philosophy &Public Affairs in 1971. Granting for the sake of argument that the fetus has a right to life,Thomson uses thought experiments to argue that the right to life does not include,entail,or imply the right to use someone else's body to survive and that induced abortion is therefore morally permissible. Thomson's argument has critics on both sides of the abortion debate,but it continues to receive defense. Despite criticism,"A Defense of Abortion" remains highly influential.
John Niemeyer Findlay,usually cited as J. N. Findlay,was a South African philosopher.
Todd Gifford May is a political philosopher who writes on topics of anarchism,poststructuralism,and post-structuralist anarchism. More recently he has published books on existentialism and moral philosophy.
In positive psychology,a meaningful life is a construct having to do with the purpose,significance,fulfillment,and satisfaction of life. While specific theories vary,there are two common aspects:a global schema to understand one's life and the belief that life itself is meaningful. Meaning can be defined as the connection linking two presumably independent entities together;a meaningful life links the biological reality of life to a symbolic interpretation or meaning. Those possessing a sense of meaning are generally found to be happier,to have lower levels of negative emotions,and to have lower risk of mental illness.
Transcendental humanism in philosophy considers humans as simultaneously the originator of meaning,and subject to a larger ultimate truth that exists beyond the human realm (transcendence). The philosophy suggests that the humanistic approach is guided by "accuracy,truth,discovery,and objectivity" that transcends or exists apart from subjectivity.
Jon Mills is a Canadian philosopher,psychoanalyst,and clinical psychologist. His principle theoretical contributions have been in the philosophy of the unconscious,a critique of psychoanalysis,philosophical psychology,value inquiry,and the philosophy of culture. His clinical contributions are in the areas of attachment pathology,trauma,psychosis,and psychic structure.
Paolo Diego Bubbio is an Italian philosopher and Associate Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Turin. He holds the Italian National Scientific Habilitation as a Full Professor. Additionally,he is an Honorary Associate Professor at Western Sydney University. Bubbio is known for his proposal of “kenotic thought”and for his research on post-Kantian philosophy,philosophical hermeneutics,and the philosophy of religion. He is the editor of the "Contemporary Studies in Idealism" book series for Lexington Books.
Better Never to Have Been:The Harm of Coming into Existence is a 2006 book by South African philosopher David Benatar. In the book,Benatar makes a case for antinatalism.
Mpho Tshivhase is a South African philosopher who teaches at the University of Pretoria. In April 2018,Tshivhase became the first black woman to receive a PhD in philosophy in all of South Africa. Tshivhase teaches applied ethics and her research is focused on uniqueness and individuality.
Importance is a property of entities that matter or make a difference. For example,World War II was an important event and Albert Einstein was an important person because of how they affected the world. There are disagreements in the academic literature about what type of difference is required. According to the causal impact view,something is important if it has a big causal impact on the world. This view is rejected by various theorists,who insist that an additional aspect is required:that the impact in question makes a value difference. This is often understood in terms of how the important thing affects the well-being of people. So in this view,World War II was important,not just because it brought about many wide-ranging changes but because these changes had severe negative impacts on the well-being of the people involved. The difference in question is usually understood counterfactually as the contrast between how the world is and how the world would have been without the existence of the important entity. It is often argued that importance claims are context- or domain-dependent. This means that they either explicitly or implicitly assume a certain domain in relation to which something matters. For example,studying for an exam is important in the context of academic success but not in the context of world history. Importance comes in degrees:to be important usually means to matter more within the domain in question than most of the other entities within this domain.