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Being and Motion

by Thomas Nail

A movement-centered challenge to metaphysical tradition

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Paperback New English

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A movement-centered challenge to metaphysical tradition

Thomas Nail argues that movement should be treated as philosophy’s primary starting point rather than as something explained by more static concepts such as space, time, force, or eternity. The book combines a wide historical account of thinking about motion—from prehistoric mythologies to contemporary ontology—with a systematic reconsideration of core metaphysical categories. Quality, quantity, relation, and modality are approached through this movement-oriented framework, placing the project squarely in debates about being, change, and the foundations of ontology. Its scope is both conceptual and historical, tracing why motion has so often been subordinated within philosophical systems while proposing a different basis for understanding the present.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers of metaphysics and ontology
  • Students and scholars interested in philosophical accounts of motion and change
  • Those interested in the history of philosophical ideas

Themes

Movement and mobilityOntologyMetaphysical categoriesHistory of philosophyChange

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Book overview

More than at any other time in human history, we live in an age defined by movement and mobility; and yet, we lack a unifying theory which takes this seriously as a starting point for philosophy. The history of philosophy has systematically explained movement as derived from something else that does not move: space, eternity, force, and time. Why, when movement has always been central to human societies, did a philosophy based on movement never take hold? This book finally overturns this long-standing metaphysical tradition by placing movement at the heart of philosophy.

In doing so, Being and Motion provides a completely new understanding of the most fundamental categories of ontology from a movement-oriented perspective: quality, quantity, relation, modality, and others. It also provides the first history of the philosophy of motion, from early prehistoric mythologies up to contemporary ontologies. Through its systematic ontology of movement, Being and Motion provides a path-breaking historical ontology of our present.
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