The Restitution of Metaphysics Author:Errol E. Harris The twentieth century has been marked by widespread attacks upon, if not the complete repudiation of, metaphysics, the idea that one can develop a consistent and coherent theory of reality. This has been due largely to the influence of empiricism, inspired by the presuppositions of Newtonian science. Some philosophers refuse to admit that ther... more »e is a metaphysic imbedded in the knowledge that is gleaned from science. Their self-defeating attacks on metaphysics ignore the contemporary revolution in physics that introduced a new scientific paradigm inspired by quantum physics and relativity theory. They deny that an accepted method of knowing presupposes a view of what is real and therefore what is knowable. No other contemporary philosopher has stressed more than Errol E. Harris the erroneous consequences of the twentieth-century scientific revolution for philosophy, nor have the bankruptcy and barrenness of current attacks on metaphysics been so cogently and effectively revealed. In THE RESTITUTION OF METAPHYSICS Harris examines the errors of empiricism, showing that the predominantly holistic character of contemporary science has been largely overlooked by current schools of philosophy, which have spawned the skepticism and relativism of the postmodern outlook. He then develops the basis in physics for the restoration of metaphysics with its main features being holism, dialectical progression, anthropomorphism, and theism.« less