Wisdom (Metaphysics 2016) #
An introduction to Aristotle’s Metaphysics and first philosophy (2016). These lectures trace the progression from sensation through experience to wisdom, examining how wonder initiates philosophical inquiry and how knowledge of first causes represents the highest form of human understanding.
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Lectures #
1. The Development of Knowledge: From Sensation to Wisdom #
This lecture examines Aristotle’s account of how human knowledge develops progressively from sensation and memory through experience to art/science and finally to wisdom. Berquist traces the hierarchy of knowledge as presented in the opening of Aristotle’s Metaphysics, establishing that all men naturally desire to know and that this desire reveals knowing to be a natural human good. The lecture explores the distinction between experiential knowledge of particulars and universal knowledge of causes, arguing that while experience may succeed better in practical doing, knowledge of causes is wiser because it grasps the why, not merely the that.
2. Knowledge, Wisdom, and the Wise Man #
This lecture explores the distinction between experience and wisdom, arguing that wisdom consists in knowing causes rather than merely knowing that something is so. Berquist analyzes Aristotle’s account of the wise man through six characteristic features and develops the hierarchy of knowledge from sensation through memory, experience, and universal knowledge to wisdom about first causes and beginnings.
3. Wisdom, Causality, and the Characteristics of the Wise Man #
This lecture explores Aristotle’s definition of wisdom through six characteristics of the wise man, emphasizing that wisdom is knowledge of first causes and universals rather than mere experience. Berquist develops the distinction between knowing ’that’ something is so (experience) versus knowing ‘why’ it is so (wisdom through understanding causes), and examines how wisdom involves ruling and ordering through knowledge of the most universal principles. The lecture also discusses the distinction between universale in causando (universal in causation) and universale in predicando (universal in predication), showing how first causes relate to the most universal predicates.
4. Wonder, Wisdom, and the Divine Possession of Knowledge #
This lecture explores Aristotle’s account of wonder (thaumazein) as the origin of philosophy and the nature of wisdom as the highest form of knowledge. Berquist examines the six characteristics of the wise man from Aristotle’s Metaphysics Book I, analyzes wisdom as both speculative and liberal (free) knowledge, and discusses why wisdom appears to be a divine rather than human possession. The lecture culminates in understanding wisdom as knowledge of first causes, with particular attention to how philosophical wonder differs from poetic wonder and how knowledge progresses from ignorance through causes to understanding.
5. The Preamble to Aristotle’s Metaphysics: Knowledge, Wonder, and Wisdom #
This lecture examines Aristotle’s preamble to the Metaphysics, focusing on why all men by nature desire to know and how this desire leads to wisdom. Berquist explores the role of the senses—especially sight—in revealing our natural inclination toward knowledge for its own sake, distinguishes between knowing that something is so versus knowing why, and demonstrates how wonder progresses from sensible things to the pursuit of first causes. The lecture emphasizes the structure of the preamble and its function in preparing readers for the investigation of wisdom as the highest form of knowledge.
6. The Natural Road of Knowledge: From Sensation to Wisdom #
This lecture explores Aristotle’s account of how human knowledge progresses naturally from sensation through memory and experience to universal knowledge and ultimately wisdom. Berquist discusses the distinction between the man of experience (who knows that something is so) and the man of art or science (who knows why it is so), using concrete examples from his own life and highlighting how wisdom requires knowledge of causes rather than mere practical skill. The lecture emphasizes that this progression reflects the structure of human nature as a rational animal and establishes the foundation for understanding wisdom as knowledge of first causes.
7. Wisdom, Art, and the Knowledge of First Causes #
This lecture explores the nature of wisdom through Aristotle’s investigation of how human knowledge progresses from sensation through experience to art and finally to wisdom. Berquist examines why wisdom must concern itself with first causes and beginnings, traces the hierarchy of knowledge types, and introduces Aristotle’s six-part characterization of the wise man. Central to the discussion is understanding how words become equivocal by reason, particularly in distinguishing between different senses of key philosophical terms.
8. The Natural Road of Knowledge and God as First Cause #
This lecture develops Aristotle’s concept of the natural road (methodos) of human knowledge, tracing the progression from sensation through memory, experience, and universal knowledge to knowledge of causes. Berquist explores how this epistemological order reflects the fundamental principle that the first cause can have no cause before it, using this to resolve a critical theological error: the mistaken belief that God loves the saints because they are good. The lecture emphasizes that God’s love is the cause of creatures’ goodness, not an effect of it, and that understanding this distinction is essential to grasping God’s simplicity and his role as first cause.
9. Aristotle’s Six-Part Description of the Wise Man #
Berquist examines Aristotle’s systematic description of the wise man through six characteristics: knowledge of all things universally, knowledge of difficult things, certitude in knowledge, ability to teach causes, knowledge desired for itself, and the capacity to direct others. Through this analysis, Berquist demonstrates how these characteristics point toward wisdom as knowledge of the first cause, and addresses the apparent tension between knowing difficult things and possessing the most certain knowledge.
10. The Six Characteristics of the Wise Man #
This lecture examines Aristotle’s six-part characterization of the wise man to understand the nature of wisdom itself. Berquist explains how the wise man’s universal knowledge of difficult things connects to knowledge of the first cause, and how the correspondence between universality in predication and universality in causality reveals wisdom as knowledge of the most universal causes. The lecture addresses the apparent tension between the difficulty of wisdom and the certainty of the wise man’s knowledge.
11. Wisdom as Speculative Knowledge and the Beginning of Philosophy #
This lecture explores the nature of wisdom as speculative rather than practical knowledge, grounded in wonder (thaumazein) as the beginning of philosophy. Berquist examines how wisdom differs from other sciences by being pursued for its own sake, resembling divine knowledge rather than human utility. The lecture connects philosophical wonder to poetic and mythological sources, using Plato’s Theaetetus dialogue to show how wonder unites human reason with divine truth, and concludes that wisdom is the most honorable knowledge precisely because it transcends practical necessity.