(used with a sing. verb) Philosophy The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and value.
Sure there are many kooks who will believe anything without reference to logic, and many of these people hang out in circles labeled ‘metaphysical’.
Hey there are academic kooks who hang out in philosophical circles to sharpen their debate skills with no real desire to seek truth who call themselves ‘philosophers’…are all philosophers academic rednecks who just want to fight? No!
I hate it that the word ‘metaphysics’ is now used with a condescending tone as though the study of the nature of
reality at unknown levels is somehow beneath the dignitiy of a REAL philosopher.
We need to get over that before philosophy becomes useless as a tool to discover truth and present it in a logical format.
I pcture a big head scientist sitting on a plutonium throne with a big metaphysical gun.
“Meta” inferring “beyond”, or more specifically, “beyond tangeable substance” followed by “physics” is the term philosophers use to describe theories involving the naure of the universe from a logical perspective which have no scientific ground.
I’ve been wanting to reply to this since it was posted, but keep putting it off as my reaction to the title is not the same as the course the discussion seems to be taking. Metaphysics is a dirty word; it is far dirtier than watching hard-core pornography with the family on Sunday evening; far dirtier than taking an elementary school class on a field trip to a slaughter house. Metaphysics is far more disturbing and unsettling that just sex and death.
Etaoin it’s no worse than
mythology,
religion,
video games,
internet,
work,
even what most call ‘philosophy’
all ‘keep busy’ activites meant to make us feel ‘safe’
so we can ignore having to stare existence directly in the eye
and deal with it.
This René Guénon caught my eye last week. He taught that the Truth is revealed in visions; and what’s more that the Truth is timeless. Diversion is beautiful, exactly as you say because it keeps us “‘busy’” and “‘safe’”. I’m not sure how I feel about advertising metaphysics; it creeps up on everyone. Maybe on Jeffs’ commune they would show metaphysics to the children; but decent people just don’t talk about it.
Well that the American way SELL SELL SELL !! For instance…
I’m sure ‘The Secret’ was all about the ‘Benjamins’ as they cut out Esther Hicks
where they got the idea of the Law Of Attraction to market via Oprah.
But having run in all circles from advertising to religion to metaphysical (damn I’m old)
there’s elements of truth in all of them (except advertising of course it’s ALL spin).
That’s why I built my own model of existence and thesis I just wish it didn’t resemble the One Brahmans sang about over 3500 years ago Bra(pun intended)…makes me look REALLY old…hey that’s right we’re all one old being.
Come to think of it; a sort of metaphysics is advertised very heavily in some Moslem countries; the Call to Prayer blares; and there is a somewhat sublime “advertisement” played on television at prayer times.
I think when people say that they’re against metaphysics that it’s because they just can’t comprehend most of the reading. Why does it always attach, at least in the minds of such people, to religion? It’s just too hard for some, so they attack what they do not understand.
I think it’s that people assume because it’s essentially not empirical, that it’s stricktly fantasy. Those people fail however, as you suggest, to recognize that everything including science has a metaphysic.
because most people who talk about metaphysics, are almost certainly talking about fantasy-and fantastical types of meta-physics. That make no coherent sense.
Its an umbrella term, which when usually beinging discussed, is about bullshit.
Also come to think of it, some of the “lower-brow” metaphysical material is really quite Metaphysical,
“The Major Arcana are usually regarded by card readers as relating to matters of higher purpose or deep significance, as opposed to the Minor Arcana which relate to the everyday world and matters of immediate significance.”
I think those people are abusing the term. I’ve noticed that you have a great interest in science. Now the metaphysics of that can be pretty interesting. Watching a person work out an identity theory of mind in a way that’s logically deducable is an interesting thing. Ignoring all metaphysics and dismissing it as fantasy seems like a cop out. I’m not into tarrot cards, but I do like coming to new understanding about the theoretical limitations of things. That’s when metaphysics is good. If you love science, and you have metaphysics, but you’re well enough read in philosophy to get into some dense material, then you might check out David Kellogg Lewis. He’s first a logician, second a metaphysician, and third an amazingly eloquent analytical philosopher. I think you’d get a big kick out of alot of what he says.
Metaphysics is good for problem solving. It is not good for revealing the true nature of reality. It can settle questions pertaining to the latter insofar as one is satisfied that the answers are meaningful and sensical, but such answers will never reflect the outer world with perfect precision.
