I have no idea who this is for. Who is the “you” in the headline?
I started reading and annotating each paragraph and got lost pretty quick. It certainty is not for an average educated adult.
One suggestion I have and it might prove useless is differ between life and non-life and between human made and non-human made in terms of contingency. Also, spell out the characteristics a little bit better. I understand substance and accidents ok and a little of essence and existence but what other characteristics? What is form and matter? Is material and molecule.an example? Illustrations would help.
How much of what is being explained is due to human consciousness? Solar systems come into existence without any intelligence but what else? For example, planets, waterfalls desserts etc. somehow,Thumper, as an example doesn’t do it. Is life a separate issue?
I’ve come to the conclusion that the term “metaphysics” is a meaningless term. I understand “physics” as a discipline and more widely as anything to do with the physical universe. There is matter, energy and the four laws of nature.
But what is metaphysics? Is it anything to do with existence that is not the physical universe? For example, the origin of the physical universe, or investigations of life not covered by biology, especially mental life. If that is true, then wouldn’t it be better to subcategorize these investigations and proceed from there and get rid of the term all together by ignoring it.
Jerry—traditionally, metaphysics is the study of being qua being: being as such, or being in all its forms. It asks what can be discovered about all things insofar as they are beings, and not merely insofar as they are physical objects. Closely related to this is the study of the categories of being—that is, the most fundamental kinds of things that exist, and the relations among them.
Accordingly, metaphysicians ask questions such as: whether all beings exist contingently or whether there are necessary beings; whether there are more possible beings than actual beings; whether all beings stand under causal or explanatory relations; whether all beings are mutable; whether everything that exists has some reason or ground for its being; and how beings are to be categorized in the first place—substances, properties, relations, events, states of affairs, and so on—and which of these, if any, are ontologically basic.
If you ask me, then I would say these are substantive inquiries into the most general features of reality—features presupposed by, rather than competed with, the special sciences.
Now, if physicalism is true—if reality is exhausted by the physical and its laws—then metaphysics plausibly collapses into physics or becomes largely deflationary. But if there is more to being than the physical—if reality includes non-physical aspects, principles, or modes of existence (souls, angels, God, etc.)—then metaphysics is not only meaningful, but unavoidable.
I have not explored by far the distinction between physics and metaphysics. But I have come to the conclusion that metaphysics are things not known by personal experience but only by logic.
All of physical science is personal experience. Someone has made observations of the physical phenomenon and has seen regularities in outcomes and then made associations and predictions. Similarly for personal observations of physical phenomenon that no one would call science such as the quickest way to Walmart. I or someone else has made these observations. For other similar things such that their neighbors sweat shirt has a local town name on it, they will take someone else’s experience. They will also accept others personal experience for their observations of physical phenomenon such as maps. It’s how we get through life.
Metaphysics as I see it deals with phenomena for which there is no personal experience for anyone but which makes sense that it exists or probably exists based on other phenomena.
Now there are some squishy things such as things related to mental life such as what we would call natural law which says that if you do certain things it will be better by some criterion. I’m not sure if these should be called metaphysics because they deal with something that could be physical or maybe not. But we obviously don’t know for sure that they exist by nature or by nurture.
I have no idea who this is for. Who is the “you” in the headline?
I started reading and annotating each paragraph and got lost pretty quick. It certainty is not for an average educated adult.
One suggestion I have and it might prove useless is differ between life and non-life and between human made and non-human made in terms of contingency. Also, spell out the characteristics a little bit better. I understand substance and accidents ok and a little of essence and existence but what other characteristics? What is form and matter? Is material and molecule.an example? Illustrations would help.
How much of what is being explained is due to human consciousness? Solar systems come into existence without any intelligence but what else? For example, planets, waterfalls desserts etc. somehow,Thumper, as an example doesn’t do it. Is life a separate issue?
Merry Christmas!
I’ve come to the conclusion that the term “metaphysics” is a meaningless term. I understand “physics” as a discipline and more widely as anything to do with the physical universe. There is matter, energy and the four laws of nature.
But what is metaphysics? Is it anything to do with existence that is not the physical universe? For example, the origin of the physical universe, or investigations of life not covered by biology, especially mental life. If that is true, then wouldn’t it be better to subcategorize these investigations and proceed from there and get rid of the term all together by ignoring it.
Jerry—traditionally, metaphysics is the study of being qua being: being as such, or being in all its forms. It asks what can be discovered about all things insofar as they are beings, and not merely insofar as they are physical objects. Closely related to this is the study of the categories of being—that is, the most fundamental kinds of things that exist, and the relations among them.
Accordingly, metaphysicians ask questions such as: whether all beings exist contingently or whether there are necessary beings; whether there are more possible beings than actual beings; whether all beings stand under causal or explanatory relations; whether all beings are mutable; whether everything that exists has some reason or ground for its being; and how beings are to be categorized in the first place—substances, properties, relations, events, states of affairs, and so on—and which of these, if any, are ontologically basic.
If you ask me, then I would say these are substantive inquiries into the most general features of reality—features presupposed by, rather than competed with, the special sciences.
Now, if physicalism is true—if reality is exhausted by the physical and its laws—then metaphysics plausibly collapses into physics or becomes largely deflationary. But if there is more to being than the physical—if reality includes non-physical aspects, principles, or modes of existence (souls, angels, God, etc.)—then metaphysics is not only meaningful, but unavoidable.
I have not explored by far the distinction between physics and metaphysics. But I have come to the conclusion that metaphysics are things not known by personal experience but only by logic.
All of physical science is personal experience. Someone has made observations of the physical phenomenon and has seen regularities in outcomes and then made associations and predictions. Similarly for personal observations of physical phenomenon that no one would call science such as the quickest way to Walmart. I or someone else has made these observations. For other similar things such that their neighbors sweat shirt has a local town name on it, they will take someone else’s experience. They will also accept others personal experience for their observations of physical phenomenon such as maps. It’s how we get through life.
Metaphysics as I see it deals with phenomena for which there is no personal experience for anyone but which makes sense that it exists or probably exists based on other phenomena.
Now there are some squishy things such as things related to mental life such as what we would call natural law which says that if you do certain things it will be better by some criterion. I’m not sure if these should be called metaphysics because they deal with something that could be physical or maybe not. But we obviously don’t know for sure that they exist by nature or by nurture.