resolving the conflicts

Metaphysical Positivism is systematic constructive positivist philosophy. We present here sketches of Metaphysical Positivism together with some related historical material which might possibly help the reader come to an understanding of this system and its place in the history of ideas.

The problem of engineering machines which reason is philosophically provocative. The justification of an architecture for such a machine is a kind of constructive philosophy.

A conception of philosophy in terms of its purpose, methods, form and content, which is closer in some ways to literary art than it is to most other philosophy.

Existential positivism is positive practical philosophy. It builds from a base of pragmatic scepticism, and is closely related to, though not strictly dependent on existential expressionism. It bears on philosophical matters which depend in some way on subjective values, or upon some other kind of essential reference to our personal feelings and intutions.

A triad of book projects related to Positive Philosophy.

The conflict between logic and emotion takes place in the mind of the individual, that between reason and romanticism belongs to society rather than the individual. Is this essentially the same game in these two different but interrelated arenas?

Two constrasting views of the proper relationship between the logical and emotional elements of the human psyche, which may be thought representative of distinct lines of development of western philosophy are dissected with a view to a synthesis.

Two contrasting views of the proper relationship between the logical and emotional elements of the human psyche, which may be thought representative of distinct lines of development of western philosophy are dissected with a view to a synthesis.

The design of control logic by formal methods provides a stimulating test case for radical advances in the application of formal logic. The articulation of principles, rationale, foundations and methods for such an approach to engineering design has substantial philosophical content.

The construction of machines which realise signficant elements of the kinds of cognitive capacity hitherto exclusive to the human brain is an engineering problem with a substantial philosophical content.

Political philosophy has historically been a significant influence on the evolution of political systems in the real world. Even the most neutral philosophical analysis of may cast light which changes the world. Conversely, thinking about how to realise significant improvements to the world we live in leads us into a kind of philosophy.

Best known as a philosopher and mathematician, Leibniz was also an engineer. He built calculating machines, and conceived of a universal calculating machine capable of solving any problem which could be formulated in a sufficiently precise way.

Artificial Intelligence as we now call it, is an engineering problem whose putative solutions raise philosophical problems. The mere possibility of non-human intelligence, once accepted, may provoke changes in philosophical attitude to problems which have no obvious connec tion with the engineering of artefacts.

Contemporary western philosophy is predominantly a scholarly academic activity in which a philosopher fully acquainted with the relevant literature deploys rational arguments leading to objective conclusions which correct or extend our understanding of various philosophical problems. Though flowing from the same tradition, my philosophy fails to satisfy most of the accepted criteria and is intended to be in some respects which are discussed here, more like art than science.

Philosophy is expected to be objective and rational. Sceptical doubts demand retreat to a subjective expression of a personal viewpoint.

The dynamic character of philosophical thought suggests an expression similar to "stream of consciousness" with more recognition of the significance of internal congnitive structure to the nature of that stream. The hypertext medium permits more transparent presentation of that structured consciousness, the online delivery allows the web site to have a dynamism which reflects the dynamics of thought.

Materials on the history of philosophy which provide context for an understanding of Metaphysical Positivism.

In essence Metaphysical Positivism is a positivisitic philosophy with negative dogmas excised, with a positive attitude towards metaphysics, based around a method of logical analysis together with appropriate philosophical (including metaphysical) underpinnings.

The motivation.

Metaphysical Positivism is a positivistic philosophical system formulated for the twenty first century, building on a heritage going back at least as far as David Hume; cognisant of developments in logic and computer science which have taken place in the 20th Century, but turning away from some of the recent tendencies in analytic philosophy.

The term "Existential Positivism" combines two terms which are normally poles apart, apparently an oxymoron.This represents a weakness in positivistic phlosophy which we seek here to remedy.

Of the three books envisaged two are informal, one covering the theoretical and the other the practical aspects of positive philosophy. The third book contains formal materials connected with positive philosophy in various ways, and comes in three volumes. Of these three volumes are concerned with formal exegetical analysis, one consists of various formal syntheses, and the third contains supporting materials (theories having little philosophical interest), and complete theory listings for all three parts.

A presentation of the theoretical/analytic side of Positive Philosophy closely coupled with a contemporary conception of the research and development programmes of Leibniz and Carnap on the formalisation and automation of reason and its applications in science and engineering.

Practical Positive Philosophy is concerned with existential questions, ethics, morality, justice, politics and economics.

An analytic examination of varieties of analysis (mostly but not necessarily philosophical) and their philosophical, technical and technological underpinnings, historical and contemporary, formal and informal.