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Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is often characterized as first philosophy, implying that it is more fundamental than other forms of philosophical inquiry. Metaphysics is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some modern theorists understand it as ...
METAPHYSICAL definition: 1. relating to the part of philosophy that is about understanding existence and knowledge: 2…. Learn more.
The meaning of METAPHYSICAL is of or relating to metaphysics. How to use metaphysical in a sentence.
Jun 25, 2024 · Metaphysics, branch of philosophy whose topics in antiquity and the Middle Ages were the first causes of things and the nature of being. Later, many other topics came to be included under the heading ‘metaphysics.’. The set of problems that now make up the subject matter of metaphysics is extremely diverse.
Putting its rather arbitrary etymological origins to one side, we can say the word ‘metaphysics’ refers to the philosophical study of reality: metaphysics essentially attempts to establish a coherent picture of what reality ultimately is and how reality ultimately works. In doing so, it explores basic issues around substance, existence ...
Sep 10, 2007 · 1. The Word ‘Metaphysics’ and the Concept of Metaphysics. The word ‘metaphysics’ is notoriously hard to define. Twentieth-century coinages like ‘meta-language’ and ‘metaphilosophy’ encourage the impression that metaphysics is a study that somehow “goes beyond” physics, a study devoted to matters that transcend the mundane concerns of Newton and Einstein and Heisenberg.
Metaphysics is the most abstract branch of philosophy. It’s the branch that deals with the “first principles” of existence, seeking to define basic concepts like existence, being, causality, substance, time, and space. Within metaphysics, one of the main sub-branches is ontology, or the study of being.These two terms are so closely related that you can often hear people use “metaphysics” and “ontology” interchangeably.
Major types of metaphysical theory include Platonism, Aristotelianism, Thomism, Cartesianism ( see also dualism), idealism, realism, and materialism. Sir Michael A.E. Dummett was an English philosopher who did influential work in the philosophy of language, metaphysics, logic, the philosophy of mathematics, and the history of analytic philosophy.
Oct 8, 2000 · Aristotle’s Metaphysics. First published Sun Oct 8, 2000; substantive revision Sat Nov 21, 2020. The first major work in the history of philosophy to bear the title “Metaphysics” was the treatise by Aristotle that we have come to know by that name. But Aristotle himself did not use that title or even describe his field of study as ...
The metaphysical facts about the ultimate nature of things in themselves must remain a mystery to us because of the spatiotemporal constraints on sensibility. When we think about the nature of things in themselves or the ultimate ground of the empirical world, Kant has argued that we are still constrained to think through the categories, we cannot think otherwise, but we can have no knowledge because sensation provides our concepts with no content. ...
