Customer Reviews

Elements Of Metaphysics (The Heritage series in philosophy)

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I'm having a hard time with this book. I'm nearly finished with it. I guess I "can't see the forest for the trees", so-to-speak. I'm not sure if this is the subject matter or Carter's presentation of it. However, in retrospect, I find reading Moore and Bruder's chapters on Metaphysics (in Philosophy: The Power of Ideas) much clearer. I don't dissuade a reader from this book; I only caution that I didn't find the book a model of clarity and organization.

I read this when I was a student and it laid the foundation for me to go on and study philosophy with the possible certainty that I understood what I was reading. I use the reasoning in this book to evaluate most everything I read, teach, write, or do.

This book was the first introduction I had to the area of metaphysics. The first chapter does a good job of explaining just what metaphysics is about. It is unfortunate that most people associate the word 'metaphysics' with crystal religions and astrology because that is NOT what metaphysics means in philosophy. If one is interested in finding out what "true" metaphysics is, this book is accessible to almost anyone. The later chapters get complicated but if the reader takes some time, the material can be understood. One thing to note is that Carter's own views dominate the book and, as with anything, one should not just read this book. Readers might be interested in Peter van Inwagen's *Metaphysics* after reading this book. Also, if *Elements of Metaphysics* does get too thick, the reader may wish to read Thomas Nagel's *What Does It All Mean?* before continuing to work through Carter's book.

If you have any reasonable background in philosophy (and I do mean any) I implore you to avoid reading this book. It does not do justice to a single position it attempts to explain (even the positions that Carter claims to support). I would like to think that it is due to the brevity with which Carter approaches each subject, but some passages are just inexplicably absurd. At best, the book can be considered a crude introduction to a few of the major problems of metaphysics, but don't expect to find any gems of reasoning. I sincerely hope that nobody who reads this book comes away with the conclusion that this is how philosophy is conducted.

An Excellent book. Incredibly informative.

I recommend this book to Everyone looking for a basic understanding of Metaphysics and Philosophy!