Reflection #3 - PHPC 107: Metaphysics
AGAPEIC ASTONISHMENT & EROTIC PERPLEXITY Still on the topic of William Desmond’s Metaphysics, we talked about the sources of Metaphysical Thinking, specifically Astonishment and Perplexity, as agapeic and erotic respectively. What Desmond says about the ‘agapeic astonishment’ is that it is because it arises from a surplus/excess out of which an affirmative movement of mind as self-transcending emerges. This arising movement of self-transcendence is not only for itself but for the other, for the other is for itself and always irreducible to what is for the self. Agape is a term which refers to love. From what I understand, agape is also the term for describing a love that is unconditional. This reminds me of God. I think that because God himself does not love with any stipulations or prerequisites. The same as through with being. Being is given to us. That word ‘given’ there signifies that it is freely imparted. The word used to describe being is not ‘sold’ or any other words th