Philosophy of Metaphysics

Shawandra Jenkins

Prof. Oliver - #14 Group 4

December 4, 2012

Final Essay

 

Philosophy of Metaphysics

Shawandra D JenIn Western philosophy, metaphysics has become the study of the fundamental nature of all reality, what is it, why is it, and how are we can understand it. Some treat metaphysics as the study of “higher” reality or the“invisible” nature behind everything, but that isn’t true. It is, instead, the study of all of reality, visible and invisible; and what constitutes reality, natural and supernatural. Because most of the debates between atheists and theists involve disagreements over the nature of reality and the existence of anything supernatural, the debates are often disagreements over metaphysics

In Western philosophy, metaphysics has become the study of the fundamental nature of all reality — what is it, why is it, and how are we can understand it. Some treat metaphysics as the study of “higher” reality or the “invisible” nature behinIn Western philosophy, metaphysics has become the study of the fundamental nature of all reality, what is it, why is it, and how are we can understand it. Some treat metaphysics as the study of “higher” reality or the“invisible” nature behind everything, but that isn’t true. It is, instead, the study of all of reality, visible and invisible; and what constitutes reality, natural and supernatural. Because most of the debates between atheists and theists involve disagreements over the nature of reality and the existence of anything supernatural, the debates are often disagreements over metaphysics

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SSH

In Western philosophy, metaphysics has become the study of the fundamental nature of all reality, what is it, why is it, and how are we can understand it. Some treat metaphysics as the study of “higher” reality or the “invisible” nature behind everything, but that isn’t true. It is, instead, the study of all of reality, visible and invisible; and what constitutes reality, natural and supernatural. Because most of the debates between atheists and theists involve disagreements over the nature of reality and the existence of anything supernatural, the debates are often disagreements over metaphysics.

          The term metaphysics means “the books after the books on nature.” When a librarian was cataloging Aristotle’s works, he did not have a title for the material he wanted to shelve after the material called “nature”, so he called it “after nature.” Originally, this wasn’t even a subject at all; it was a collection of notes on different topics, but specifically topics removed from normal sense perception and empirical observation.

 

          People that study Metaphysics are called Metaphysicians. A metaphysician is someone seeking to understand the substance of reality: why things exist at all and what it means to exist in the first place. Much of philosophy is an exercise in some form of metaphysics and we all have a metaphysical perspective because we all have some opinion about the nature of reality. Everything in metaphysics is more controversial than other topics, there isn’t agreement among metaphysicians about what it is they are doing and what they are investigating.

          Some people tend to wonder why we study Metaphysics; they want to know if it is pointless or not. Some irreligious atheists, like logical positivists, have argued that the agenda of metaphysics is largely pointless and can’t accomplish anything. According to them, metaphysical statements cannot be either true or false; as a result, they don’t really carry any meaning and shouldn’t be given any serious consideration. There is some justification to this position, but it is unlikely to convince or impress religious theists for whom metaphysical claims constitute some of the most important parts of their lives. Thus the ability to address and critique such claims can be important.

          There are a lot of questions that surround Metaphysics: What is out there? What is reality? Does Free Will exist? Is there such a process as cause and effect? Do abstract concepts (like numbers) really exist? All these questions can be answered. Not all of them will have the same answers. Everybody will have different perspectives on the questions that Metaphysics. These are true Philosophical questions in my opinion.