2. Being


  1. The object of Metaphysics

   We know that the object of Metaphysics is being, and you can find it in everything. Someone could think that Metaphysics studies everything, but it is not the case.

   If we ask ourselves what a man is, Metaphysics will answer that he is a being, but this is not enough. Man has many qualities which their knowledge we are interested in: where comes he from, how old are he, his digestive system, his breathing system, his blood, his bones, his ideas and feelings, etc. About the man there are many qualities that are studied by specific sciences: Medicine, Psychology, etc.

Everything, besides having being, has many other qualities and attributes studied by particular sciences.

  A. Choose the right Letter: a, b. c. ( If the letter turns into red, the answer is correct).

  1. Metaphysics studies

    a. everything
    b. the being of things
    c. qualities and attributes

  2. The man has

    a. many qualities
    b. one quality
    c. only the being

 3. Qualities are studied by

    a. Metaphysics
    b. Physics and Chemistry
    c. particular sciences

 4. What can be found in everything is

    a. being
    b. value
    c. existence

 5. Metaphysics studies

    a. everything
    b. being or entity
    c. every quality

 6. If we say the man is being, that is

    a. a lot
    b. too much
    c. little

  2. Can being be defined?

   Defining is to say what a thing is. In order to define we use two concepts: proximate genus and divisive differentia. For instance, in order to define a human we say he is an animal, his proximate genus and in a broader sense because there are other animals not humans. But besides an animal we say he is rational and this is the divisive difference, because the other animals are not rational.

   Another example could be: what is a car? First of all we will say that it is a vehicle, its proximate genus due to the fact that there are other vehicles being cars, such as lorries or motorbikes. But besides being a vehicle we say that it is put in motion by itself by means of a combustion engine, and this is the divisive difference.

   To define something we need a concept broader than that we are going to define, the proximate genus, and a typical feature, the divisive difference.

  But in order to define being, can we find a broader concept? In no way, because being is everything there is. So, being cannot be defined.

  B. Choose the rigth Letter: a, b, c.

  1. Saying what a thing is, is to

    a. sum up
    b. abstract
    c. define

  2. We define with the proximate genus and

    a. features
    b. attributes
    c. divisive difference

 3. When we say the man is an animal, this is

    a. the divisive difference
    b. the proximate genus
    c. the proper characteristic

 4. The man is rational. This is

    a. the divisive difference
    b. the proximate genus
    c. a characteristic

 5. Which is broader?

    a. the divisive difference
    b. the proximate genus
    c. a characteristic

 6. Being cannot be defined because there is

    a. no proximate genus
    b. no divisive difference
    c. any characteristic

  3. Characteristics of being notion

  - Being cannot be defined.

   - Being is trascendental, i.e., its concept can be applied to everything

   - Being notion is the first one we acquire chronologically. When children begin to get something with their senses, perceive beings with few characteristics and so in a confused way. Therefore, being is the first notion we acquire.

   - Being is the first logical notion. Among the qualities of everything being is never missing. For instance, a car “is” a vehicle that is put in motion by itself; a horse “is” an animal; a tree “is” vegetal, etc.

   - Being notion is the most abstract one and the last one we know clearly. Mind has to make the highest abstraction it is able to.

   - The easiest thing is to know what is particular, what we perceive by our senses. Metaphysics is the most abstract science and so the most difficult one to achieve.

   - Children acquire being notion in a confused way, while older people studying Metaphysics can acquire this notion clearly.

  C. Choose the right Letter: a, b, c.

  1. Being can be applied to everything, so it is

    a. trascendental
    b. privet
    c. specific

  2. Children acquire being notion in a way

    a. clear
    b. clean
    c. confused

 3. Adults acquire being notion in a way

    a. confused
    b. clear
    c. vague

 4. Being is the first notion:

    a. psychological
    b. logical
    c. ethical

 5. Being is known clearly in

    a. adulthood
    b. childhood
    c. at birth

 6. Knowing what is abstract is

    a. easy
    b. normal
    c. difficult



 

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®Arturo Ramo García.-Record of intellectual property of Teruel (Spain) No 141, of 29-IX-1999 Plaza Playa de Aro, 3, 1º DO 44002-TERUEL







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