The Romance of Metaphysics with Emile Alexandrov

Summary

Philosopher Emil Alexandrov joins Jeffrey Mishlove to trace metaphysics from the pre-Socratics, Plato and Aristotle through the Neoplatonists, medieval thinkers, Kant and Schopenhauer. Alexandrov argues that every system of first principles responds to something fundamentally unknowable, which he calls the ineffable, and that ancient thinkers used ritual, poetry and theurgy to reach truths that reasoning alone cannot. He closes by suggesting that parapsychology could serve as an experimental branch of metaphysics, helping make sense of evidence that modern rationalism dismisses.

Key takeaways

• 1Emil Alexandrov, assistant professor at Waseda University in Tokyo and visiting scholar at the University of New Mexico, is the author of 'The Other Platonist Beginning' and 'Metaphysics and Ineffable'.
• 2Aristotle's 'unmoved mover', a self-thinking first principle that stops an infinite regress of causes, grounded Western metaphysics from Aquinas and Duns Scotus to Kant.
• 3Iamblichus argued that thought alone cannot reach the ineffable One and that ritual (theurgy, or 'ineffable works') is required; Plotinus held that rigorous thinking was enough.
• 4Proclus wrote the 'Elements of Theology' (211 propositions), believed Plato's dialogues were divinely inspired, and influenced thinkers for about 1,000 years.
• 5Neoplatonic theurgy used statues and stones to create 'sympatheia' (sympathy) with the gods; Iamblichus said 'one must wait for the allotted hour' before working magic.
• 6Jean Houston reportedly felt a spiritual connection to Proclus, and Mishlove describes a similar guiding connection with the Roman philosopher Seneca.
• 7Alexandrov agrees with Peter Kingsley that pre-Socratics such as Empedocles and Heraclitus were closer to mystics and shamans than to abstract philosophers.
• 8Parapsychology's roughly 200 years of evidence is framed as data that only an open, rigorous metaphysics can interpret.

Glossary terms

Source

Transcript excerpt

Aristotle starts off with empirical observation, perhaps more rigorously than anyone before him, and finds that there are endless series of cause and effect before him. But he says that doesn't make sense. That would lead to an infinite regress of cause and effect, or mover unmoved. And so he says, this is where, by the way, we see a classical example of a metaphysical inference. He says, in order to stop an infinite regress, we have to have an unmoved mover. But in establishing that unmoved mover, we now have a first principle. And this is how Aristotle establishes his metaphysics. Now, the other important component of Aristotle's metaphysics is this idea of the primacy of thinking. So Aristotle goes through a very, very extensive series of arguments to explain why thinking is the most, how do I say, perfect aspect of being a human being. Keep watching to learn more. The New Thinking Allowed Magazine Issue 10 on UFOs and UAP is now ready for free download. And you can also order beautiful printed copies. Go to newthinkingallowed.org. New Thinking Allowed is presented by the California Institute for Human Science, a fully accredited university offering distant learning graduate degrees that focus on mind, body, and spirit. The topics that we cover here. We are particularly excited to announce new degrees emphasizing parapsychology and the paranormal. Visit their website at C-I-H-S dot E-D-U. Book 4 in the New Thinking Allowed Dialogue Series is Charles T. Tartt, Seventy Years of Exploring, Consciousness and Parapsychology. Now available on Amazon. Thinking Allowed. Conversations on the Leading Edge of Knowledge and Discovery with Psychologist Jeffrey Mishlove. Hello and welcome. I'm Jeffrey Mishlove. Today we are going to explore the romance of metaphysics. ...

Excerpt from New Thinking Allowed, Aug 20, 2026. Rights remain with the original creators. Hear the full episode at the source.