Metaphysics Philosophy Discipline
(Redirected from metaphysics)
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
A Metaphysics Philosophy Discipline is a philosophy discipline that is a foundational inquiry discipline that investigates fundamental reality, existence, being, and the ultimate nature of the universe.
- AKA: Metaphysics, Metaphysical Philosophy, First Philosophy.
- Context:
- It can typically examine Fundamental Questions about existence and non-existence.
- It can typically investigate Ontological Categories of being.
- It can typically analyze Causal Relationships between entities.
- It can typically explore Modal Properties of possibility and necessity.
- It can typically study Temporal Relationships of time and change.
- ...
- It can often address Mind-Body Problems through philosophical analysis.
- It can often examine Universal Properties versus particular instances.
- It can often investigate Identity Conditions across temporal change.
- It can often analyze Mereological Relationships between parts and wholes.
- ...
- It can range from being an Analytic Metaphysics Philosophy Discipline to being a Continental Metaphysics Philosophy Discipline, depending on its metaphysical methodology.
- It can range from being a Substance-Based Metaphysics Philosophy Discipline to being a Process-Based Metaphysics Philosophy Discipline, depending on its metaphysical ontological commitment.
- It can range from being a Realist Metaphysics Philosophy Discipline to being an Anti-Realist Metaphysics Philosophy Discipline, depending on its metaphysical stance on reality.
- ...
- It can utilize A Priori Reasoning for metaphysical arguments.
- It can employ Conceptual Analysis for metaphysical clarification.
- It can apply Modal Logic for possibility reasoning.
- It can use Thought Experiments for metaphysical exploration.
- ...
- Example(s):
- Core Metaphysics Philosophy Subdisciplines, such as:
- Historical Metaphysics Philosophy Traditions, such as:
- Ancient Greek Metaphysics (6th century BCE-6th century CE), including Platonic metaphysics and Aristotelian metaphysics.
- Medieval Metaphysics (5th-15th century), including Scholastic metaphysics and Islamic metaphysics.
- Modern Metaphysics (17th-19th century), including Rationalist metaphysics and Empiricist metaphysics.
- Contemporary Metaphysics (20th century-present), including Analytic metaphysics and Process metaphysics.
- Specialized Metaphysics Philosophy Areas, such as:
- Applied Metaphysics Philosophy Domains, such as:
- ...
- Counter-Example(s):
- Epistemology Discipline, which investigates knowledge and justification rather than existence and being.
- Ethics Discipline, which examines moral values and right actions rather than fundamental reality.
- Logic Discipline, which studies valid inferences and formal systems rather than metaphysical truth.
- Natural Science Disciplines, which investigate empirical phenomena rather than fundamental nature.
- Phenomenology Discipline, which describes conscious experience rather than ultimate reality.
- See: Philosophy Discipline, Ontology, Philosophical Method, Reality, Existence, Being, Causality, Time, Space.
References
2014
- (Wikipedia, 2014) ⇒ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/metaphysics Retrieved:2014-3-7.
- Metaphysics is a traditional branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world that encompasses it,[1] although the term is not easily defined. [2] Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms: [3] # What is ultimately there? # What is it like? A person who studies metaphysics is called a metaphysicist [4] or a metaphysician. [5] The metaphysician attempts to clarify the fundamental notions by which people understand the world, e.g., existence, objects and their properties, space and time, cause and effect, and possibility. A central branch of metaphysics is ontology, the investigation into the basic categories of being and how they relate to each other. Another central branch of metaphysics is cosmology, the study of the origin, fundamental structure, nature, and dynamics of the universe. Some include Epistemology as another central tenet of metaphysics but this can be questioned. Prior to the modern history of science, scientific questions were addressed as a part of metaphysics known as natural philosophy. Originally, the term "science" (Latin scientia) simply meant "knowledge". The scientific method, however, transformed natural philosophy into an empirical activity deriving from experiment unlike the rest of philosophy. By the end of the 18th century, it had begun to be called "science" to distinguish it from philosophy. Thereafter, metaphysics denoted philosophical enquiry of a non-empirical character into the nature of existence.[6] Some philosophers of science, such as the neo-positivists, say that natural science rejects the study of metaphysics, while other philosophers of science strongly disagree.
- ↑ Geisler, Norman L. "Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics" page 446. Baker Books, 1999.
- ↑ Metaphysics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).
- ↑ What is it (that is, whatever it is that there is) like?
- ↑ Random House Dictionary OnlineTemplate:Spaced ndashmetaphysicist
- ↑ Random House Dictionary OnlineTemplate:Spaced ndashmetaphysician
- ↑ Peter Gay, The Enlightenment, vol. 1 (The Rise of Modern Paganism), Chapter 3, Section II, pp. 132-141.