The scholastics divided metaphysics into two subjects. The first is the study of being, ontology. The second is the study of knowledge, epistemology. They saw metaphysics as part of a broader project to develop a body of systematic knowledge[1].

I think we dismiss epistemology too quickly in classical theist circles. It's a good rule of thumb to not worry much about it when doing ontology, but ignoring it leaves people unequipped to deal with doubt. So if anyone has epistemic questions, they're welcome to ask them. But the reading group will be focusing on the first of the two subjects—ontology.

We'll be starting with three excerpts: the first chapter of Lowe's A Survey of Metaphysics, The Discovery of the World from Reinhardt Grossmann's The Existence of the World, and the first chapter of Loux's Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction. The first excerpt is a defense of metaphysics as a viable discipline, and all three contain discussions of the Categories.

On June 3rd, a book on the problem of universals. If you aren't one of the fifteen that have already PMed me, you'll want to by then.


[1]They called this body total science.