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CRITICAL philosophy or metaphysics Mr. Read divides into two branches, the metaphysics of nature and science and the metaphysics of ideals. Then in Book i., entitled “Canonic,” he considers various tests of truth, different forms of scepticism, and the great problem of the.
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- METAPHYSICS, NATURE OF
- Descartes and the Metaphysics of Human Nature
- The Metaphysics of Nature | Issue 65 | Philosophy Now
Other differences there are which shall be omitted here, because they are not germane to the course of thought upon which we are about to enter. It cannot be denied, indeed, that supernatural Theology has incidentally led the way to great discoveries within the defined boundary of metaphysical truth. Yet even in such case human reason has only been put on the scent, so to speak, by the revealed mystery; but has pressed forward in pursuit by the strength of its own processes, and has come up with the truth, thus pointed out to it, by virtue of its own demonstrations.
Here it may be necessary to anticipate an objection which might present itself to the mind of the reader; for if it be true that Metaphysics rests on reason, not on authority, he may be puzzled to understand what purpose is to be gained by those numerous quotations which he will encounter in the present work. Let it suffice, then, to say, that they are not produced as proofs but as witnesses to proofs; while each proof must stand or fall according to the intrinsic evidence which it possesses.
Their appearance is due to the fact that the author professes to present the Peripatetic philosophy before the public in an English dress. He is an interpreter rather than a philosopher; handing down the teaching of others, not professedly publishing his own.
He could not, therefore, content himself with merely exhibiting that philosophy; but was bound to stamp his statements with the seal of the chief among those Doctors whose system he has undertaken to expose. These prefatory observations introduce us to the fundamental question touching the nature and limits of Metaphysics. And, first of all, it behoves us to determine its definition. By some it has been defined to be, the science of things which either surpass matter or are separated from it by abstraction; by others, as the science of things either positively or negatively immaterial.
These two definitions are substantially the same. For things positively immaterial are such as in their own nature and essence surpass and exclude matter; while the negatively immaterial are those which, though material in themselves, are considered by the intellect apart from their material conditions, and are, consequently, separated from matter by abstraction. They are both, however, generic definitions at the best; and would seem to have been adopted in conformity with the modern usage of including under Metaphysics Anthropology and Cosmology.
According to the ancient and accepted definition, which is every way preferable and will therefore be retained in this work, Metaphysics is 'a science which contemplates real Being as such. It is considered subjectively, when regarded as an accidental quality inhering in the Subject who possesses it; objectively, when it represents the objects of cognition, i.
Thus, for instance, when Sir Isaac Newton is said to be a great mathematician, the science is considered subjectively; when we speak of the Differential Calculus forming a part of mathematics, it is considered objectively. The proper definition of any such habit will give the subjective element in the Genus, the objective in the Differentia, and consequently the two conjoined in the entire definition. For every science is differentiated by the subject-matter of its investigation, or which comes to the same thing by the object of its contemplation. According, then, to the definition already adopted, Metaphysics is subjectively a science, objectively the truths of Being as such; while in its complete and essential nature it is the science of Being, of the truths of Being, simply as such.
Topics of metaphysical investigation include existence , objects and their properties , space and time , cause and effect , and possibility.
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Metaphysical study is conducted using deduction from that which is known a priori. Like foundational mathematics which is sometimes considered a special case of metaphysics applied to the existence of number , it tries to give a coherent account of the structure of the world, capable of explaining our everyday and scientific perception of the world, and being free from contradictions. In mathematics, there are many different ways to define numbers; similarly in metaphysics there are many different ways to define objects, properties, concepts, and other entities which are claimed to make up the world.
While metaphysics may, as a special case, study the entities postulated by fundamental science such as atoms and superstrings, its core topic is the set of categories such as object, property and causality which those scientific theories assume. For example: claiming that "electrons have charge" is a scientific theory; while exploring what it means for electrons to be or at least, to be perceived as "objects", charge to be a "property", and for both to exist in a topological entity called "space" is the task of metaphysics.
There are two broad stances about what is "the world" studied by metaphysics. The strong, classical view assumes that the objects studied by metaphysics exist independently of any observer, so that the subject is the most fundamental of all sciences. The weak, modern view assumes that the objects studied by metaphysics exist inside the mind of an observer, so the subject becomes a form of introspection and conceptual analysis.
Some philosophers, notably Kant , discuss both of these "worlds" and what can be inferred about each one.
METAPHYSICS, NATURE OF
Some philosophers, such as the logical positivists , and many scientists, reject the strong view of metaphysics as meaningless and unverifiable. Others reply that this criticism also applies to any type of knowledge, including hard science, which claims to describe anything other than the contents of human perception, and thus that the world of perception is the objective world in some sense.
Metaphysics itself usually assumes that some stance has been taken on these questions and that it may proceed independently of the choice—the question of which stance to take belongs instead to another branch of philosophy, epistemology. Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being , becoming , existence or reality , as well as the basic categories of being and their relations. Identity is a fundamental metaphysical issue.
Metaphysicians investigating identity are tasked with the question of what, exactly, it means for something to be identical to itself, or — more controversially — to something else. Issues of identity arise in the context of time : what does it mean for something to be itself across two moments in time? How do we account for this?
Descartes and the Metaphysics of Human Nature
Another question of identity arises when we ask what our criteria ought to be for determining identity? And how does the reality of identity interface with linguistic expressions? The metaphysical positions one takes on identity have far-reaching implications on issues such as the Mind—body problem , personal identity , ethics , and law. The ancient Greeks took extreme positions on the nature of change. Parmenides denied change altogether, while Heraclitus argued that change was ubiquitous: "[Y]ou cannot step into the same river twice.
Identity, sometimes called Numerical Identity , is the relation that a "thing" bears to itself, and which no "thing" bears to anything other than itself cf. A modern philosopher who made a lasting impact on the philosophy of identity was Leibniz , whose Law of the Indiscernibility of Identicals is still in wide use today. It states that if some object x is identical to some object y , then any property that x has, y will have as well.
However, it seems, too, that objects can change over time. If one were to look at a tree one day, and the tree later lost a leaf, it would seem that one could still be looking at that same tree. Two rival theories to account for the relationship between change and identity are perdurantism , which treats the tree as a series of tree-stages, and endurantism , which maintains that the organism—the same tree—is present at every stage in its history.
In virtue of intrinsic and extrinsic properties , endurantism finds a way to harmonize identity with change. Endurantists believe that objects persist by being strict numerical identity over time [7]. Discriminating between intrinsic properties and extrinsic properties, endurantists state that numerical identity means if some object x is identical to some object y, then any intrinsic property that x has, y will have as well.
Thus, if an object persists being numerical identity , intrinsic properties of it are unchanged, and extrinsic properties can change over time. This is reasonable—besides this object itself, environments and other objects can change over time; extrinsic properties, properties that relate to other objects, would change even if this object does not change. Perdurantism harmonizes identity with change through another way. Perdurantism, or four-dimensionalism , state that material objects persist by having temporal parts at different times [7]. For perdurantists, what persist is a four-dimensional object and what keep numerical identity are temporal parts of this four-dimensional object.
Thus, there is no contradiction between identity and change if one object persists and other objects are numerical identity over time. Objects appear to us in space and time, while abstract entities such as classes, properties, and relations do not. What then is meant by space and time such that it can serve this function as a ground for objects? Are space and time entities themselves, of some form, or must they exist prior to other entities? How exactly can they be defined? For example, if time is defined as a "rate of change" then must there always be something changing in order for time to exist?
Classical philosophy recognized a number of causes, including teleological future causes. In special relativity and quantum field theory the notions of space, time and causality become tangled together, with temporal orders of causations becoming dependent on who is observing them. The laws of physics are symmetrical in time, so could equally well be used to describe time as running backwards. Why then do we perceive it as flowing in one direction, the arrow of time , and as containing causation flowing in the same direction? Causality is linked by most philosophers to the concept of counterfactuals.
To say that A caused B means that if A had not happened then B would not have happened. Causality is usually required as a foundation for philosophy of science , if science aims to understand causes and effects and make predictions about them. Metaphysicians investigate questions about the ways the world could have been. David Lewis , in On the Plurality of Worlds , endorsed a view called Concrete Modal realism , according to which facts about how things could have been are made true by other concrete worlds, just as in ours, in which things are different.
Other philosophers, such as Gottfried Leibniz , have dealt with the idea of possible worlds as well. The idea of necessity is that any necessary fact is true across all possible worlds. A possible fact is true in some possible world, even if not in the actual world. For example, it is possible that cats could have had two tails, or that any particular apple could have not existed. By contrast, certain propositions seem necessarily true, such as analytic propositions , e. A less controversial view might be that self-identity is necessary, as it seems fundamentally incoherent to claim that for any x , it is not identical to itself; this is known as the law of identity , a putative "first principle".
Aristotle describes the principle of non-contradiction , "It is impossible that the same quality should both belong and not belong to the same thing This is the most certain of all principles Wherefore they who demonstrate refer to this as an ultimate opinion. For it is by nature the source of all the other axioms. What is "central" and "peripheral" to metaphysics has varied over time and schools; however contemporary analytic philosophy as taught in USA and UK universities generally regards the above as "central" and the following as "applications" or "peripheral" topics; or in some cases as distinct subjects which have grown out of and depend upon metaphysics:.
The Metaphysics of Nature | Issue 65 | Philosophy Now
Metaphysical cosmology is the branch of metaphysics that deals with the world as the totality of all phenomena in space and time. Historically, it formed a major part of the subject alongside Ontology, though its role is more peripheral in contemporary philosophy. It has had a broad scope, and in many cases was founded in religion.