Metaphysics of Goodness

Robert Cummings Neville is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Religion, and Theology and Dean Emeritus of the School of Theology at Boston University. He is the author of many books, including Defining Religion: Essays in Philosophy of Religion and The Good Is One, Its Manifestations Many: Confucian Essays on Metaphysics, Morals, Rituals, Institutions, and Genders, both also published by SUNY Press.

• Preface: A Philosophy of GoodnessPhilosophical Background and ContextThe PlotAcknowledgments Part I. Goodness in Harmony and Form 1. Goodness in ExperienceUbiquity, Evolution, and Aesthetic PerceptionHarmonies Defined, and EcosystemsSituations, Perspectives, and SunsetsGoodness Experienced2. A Metaphysics of Form as GoodnessDensity of Being and Existential FieldsQuantity, Complexity, Simplicity, and EleganceNarrowness, Width, Vagueness, and TrivialityFocus, Field, Intensity, and Immediacy3. A Cosmology of Form as GoodnessPossibilities, Determinism, Indeterminism, and TemporalityActuality, Becoming, Conditions, and Loci of GoodnessGoodness-Identity4. Testing the TheoryThe Question of the Meaning of GoodnessImaginative Analytic of GoodnessImmediacy and Mediacy in Framing IntensityGoodness, Engagement, Relations, and ExperiencePart II. Goodness in Beauty and Art 5. Beauty in FormBeauty as What Is Good in ItselfBeauty as Ubiquitous and UltimateBeauty as Simplification Beauty as Experienced6. Beauty in ArtArt as an Elementary Human ProcessArt in Motivation and CreativityArt as a Basic Response to ExistenceArt and Religion7. To Appreciate ArtsBeauty for AppreciationBeauty in FormBeauty in Actualizing FormBeauty in Repose8. To Create ArtsTo Seek BeautyTo Seek Beauty in FormTo Seek Beauty in Actualizing FormBeauty in Achieving Beauty: The Artistic LifePart III. Goodness in Obligation and Personhood 9. Goodness in Being TrueGoodness as ConformityThe Goodness of TruthBeing TrueThe Obligation to Inquiry10. Goodness in Being MoralMorality as a Two-Term RelationObligation with FreedomObligation without FreedomAchievement of Responsible Identity11. Goodness in Being RightEngagementAppropriate Engagement with the Contours of the WorldEngagement as Self-ConstitutionEngagement as Finite Limitation12. Goodness in Being VirtuousConformation to the Ultimate Content of LifeThe Harmony of VirtueVirtue-IdentityVirtue and the World’s GoodnessPart IV. Goodness in Flourishing and Civilization 13. Goodness in Human FlourishingGoodness in ContextsCivilizationFlourishingThe Global Context of High Civilizations14. Goodness in Rituals and InstitutionsA General Theory of RitualRituals in Human FlourishingInstitutions in High CivilizationRituals in Global Society and Civilization15. Goodness in Creativity and SpiritInitiativeMaking a LifePursuit of BeautyThe Spirit of Creativity16. The Goodness in CivilizationCulture and CivilizationSpirit of Civilization: CharacterEnergyCreativityNotes Bibliography Index

"In Metaphysics of Goodness, Neville shows yet again that Boston Confucianism is indeed a world philosophical tradition, one richer by far because of its dual engagement of the Chinese and Greek traditions from the situation of American pragmatism. Longtime readers of Neville will, of course, devour this book. But they aren't the only ones. New readers, particularly those with interests in comparative philosophy, speculative metaphysics, and fresh, singular treatments of value theory, will find much to reflect on and ponder in these pages." — Reading Religion"Neville's work is informed by a lifelong engagement with the most important philosophers in history, including Plato, Aristotle, Whitehead, and Dewey. Here, he offers an important argument that there is beauty not only in how people see the world, but also in the world itself." — Kevin Schilbrack, Appalachian State University