The Metaphysical Society of America (MSA) is a

philosophical Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

organization founded by Paul Weiss in 1950. As stated in its constitution, "The purpose of the Metaphysical Society of America is the study of reality." The society is a member of the

American Council of Learned Societies The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a private, nonprofit federation of 75 scholarly organizations in the humanities and related social sciences founded in 1919. It is best known for its fellowship competitions which provide a ra ...

Early history and purpose

In his opening address, "The Four-Fold Art of Avoiding Questions", Paul Weiss spoke of the need for a society that would reinvigorate philosophic inquiry. He denounced "parochialism," referring to those who insisted upon "some one method, say that of pragmatism, instrumentalism, idealism, analysis, linguistics or logistics, and denied the importance of meaningfulness of anything which lies beyond its scope or power," as well as those who confined their studies to only some historic era. Early in the history of the society, there was some dispute about whether certain schools of thought should be included in the program. By the second meeting there was controversy regarding papers by logicians, a controversy possibly fueled by the dominance of

positivism Positivism is a philosophical school that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positivemeaning '' a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. Gerber, ''Soci ...

in that decade. Before 1960, there had been some fear of admitting the existential

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

. However, as Paul Weiss remarked in 1969, the society had succeeded in accomplishing metaphysical diversity: A book on the history of the society,
Being in America: Sixty Years of the Metaphysical Society
', was published by Rodopi in 2014 in its Histories and Addresses of Philosophical Societies Series.

Findlay Book Prize

The Findlay Book Prize started in 1992. It is awarded to "the best work of metaphysics." It was established in honor of its namesake,

J. N. Findlay John Niemeyer Findlay (; 25 November 1903 – 27 September 1987), usually cited as J. N. Findlay, was a South African philosopher. Education and career Findlay read classics and philosophy first at Pretoria High School for Boys, the ...

, who was President of MSA in 1975.

Presidents and addresses

Since the founding of the Metaphysical Society, presidential addresses have been published in the ''

Review of Metaphysics ''The Review of Metaphysics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of philosophy. It was established by Paul Weiss and the first issue was published in September 1947. The journal's primary sponsor is and has been The Catholic University of America ...

'', which was also founded by Paul Weiss.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.metaphysicalsociety.org
Metaphysical Society's listserv
Metaphysics Philosophical societies in the United States Member organizations of the American Council of Learned Societies 1950 establishments in the United States Organizations established in 1950 Continental philosophy organizations