Please explain to a beginner: what is metaphysics? Heidegger once delivered a famous lecture called "What Is Metaphysics " After he finished and a baffled silence a student raised his hand "But Professor Heidegger," he asked, "what is metaphysics?" To which Heidegger responded, "That is a very good question " To this old wives tale I'd add the suggestion that the answer also changes, because "physics" changes
What is the difference between metaphysics and ontology? As you say, really there is no difference We may choose to study this or that area of metaphysics but by its very nature all the approaches to metaphysics converge It would not be possible to solve ontology without solving all significant metaphysical problems There is a difference between the definitions but as you observe it doesn't matter much
What are some real-life applications of metaphysics? Metaphysics seems to be a field that is almost purely abstract However, I am also interested in knowing how metaphysics has impacted the real world, if at all
philosophy of science - Can Chance be considered a metaphysic answer . . . My question was about the limitation of science regarding chance Basically, when does scientific chance stop and metaphysic chance start? In a way, the question proposed is asking the same question but regarding goals, one alternative of chance An interesting question indeed, similar but I think still distinct from mine
What is the difference between metaphysics, supernaturalism, and . . . 'Metaphysics' and 'supernatural' are essentially synonyms, the former meaning ‘the science of things transcending what is physical or natural’, Greek, derived from Aristotle Supernatural means 'above or outside nature' derived from the Latin But they're basically the same word although in practice, the former is usually associated with philosophy, the latter with religion and spirituality
Why did the logical positivists “reject metaphysics”? True, my question is roughly identical to this one Did early analytic philosophers reject metaphysics? , yet I don’t find the answers fulfilling I have done some light reading on logical empiricis
Is metaphysics necessarily a first philosophy? People want a meaningful world, and a meaningful world requires a metaphysic We can do science and philosophy and life itself without metaphysics and thus without meaning — essentials of nihilism 101 — but that's a tawdry existence So metaphysics is 'first philosophy' in the sense that it grounds every other activity in a web of
categorization - What is metaphysics in relation to language . . . Metaphysics deals with the objective world (things, parts, qualities, quantities), whereas language is a tool used by humans (and other animals) as a way of communicating to one another and themselves They are different entirely When someone speaks or writes something it is known as a particular thing called an utterance in metaphysically terms So intuitively the relation between them is
What is the distinction between mysticism and metaphysics? Mysticism and Metaphysics seem to share immediate similarity: both amount to sort of speculations pertaining to capture universal truth that cannot be confirmed nor refuted by the senses What is the