Metaphysics 101

I love studying philosophy and I always thought that relating what I'm learning to various subjects was a skill of mine, but lately I've been running into some trouble. Maybe it's grad school? Sometimes I feel like when I spend most of my time thinking about a particular subject matter, it's not as fun to talk about it with others. This changes now because Chris the scientist wants to learn something about philosophy. I admire both his desire and the effort that he has already put into doing so, I thought I should get out of my slump and try to teach him something. Conversations are tricky though. My thoughts are scattered and he's new to a lot of this stuff. So here we are...

I hope to be writing a series of blogs on an introduction to metaphysics. These entries will certainly be influenced by the metaphysics class I took last semester, so much of the credit goes A.P.

Alright, here we go!

----------------------

What is metaphysics?

When one first considers the question "what is metaphysics", the most common response would be that it is a philosophy that seeks to find the truth about the being of entities - or more simply, what "is". Even Plato way back when believed that that the main condition of being is characterized is characterized by a feeling of wonder. He asserted that we cannot talk thinkingly about being unless we first discover that everything has a particular mode of being. The "essence" of a thing tells me about it's way of existing. All that talk of Plato makes me think we should do a brief history of metaphysics... and we're off!

Parmenides: the only thing we can say about the cosmos is that it is. Under that there are many definitions of being, but if you talk about being you are talking about everything.

Heraclitus: What is the nature of the movement of the universe?

Aristotle: (interpreting) Parmenides on the being of beings. Different forms of being.

Plato: being in a certain way according to a certain what. But being is not the start or the end, rather it is the "The Good", which is beyond being. 

Augustine: relies heavily on Aristotle. Faith in search of understanding.

Anselm - faith in search of self-understanding.

 

Then the moderns!

Hobbes -> Kan -> Hegel -> Scattering of philosophy -> Nietzsche: Western philosophy shows itself to be a nihilism.

Phew. Please google each for more information.  

* A note on being.*

Let's leave no stone unturned. When we talk about "being" we are talking about the verb "to be" - or the being of beings. Many people choose to capitalize the word Being in order to denote the prior, I will not. You'll get the hang of it! Phenomenology, as it is related to metaphysics, is a guide to help people experience what there really is.... before science. ;)

BEING -> exists

                  what is "x"? ousia-essentia  (we use "what" because philosophy wants to be universal  but 

                  the universal is empty. Let's not go down this path!)

EXISTENCE -> being -> esse -> to be

                       -> a being -> ens entia -> being(s)

OBJECT -> A thing that has to show its possibilities. Knowledge can be the truth of a thing, but there 

                    is no-thing itself beyond my abstraction.

Metaphysics is a controversal subject! Many philosopher's (and folks in general) laugh it off because they think it concerns itself with non-empirical pursuits and is thus worthless. Not so, my friend! Let's consider two characteristics of a metaphysics that is done well: opening up yourself towards your own affectedness and asking "what is the meaning of my dealing with ___." The term "metaphysics" what's given by the latter editors of Aristotle, based on the idea that the physical world is always moving and changing. Whereas, "meta-physics" is then representative of a more fundamental notion of being. "Meta" also contains within it a reflective sense. Back then it was seen as the highest form of philosophy (not so anymore!) because it was thought to pre-suppose all other disciplines. 

So what do we do when we talk about being? Is being a univocal term that always says the same thing and if no, what is the particularity of being? These are the big questions of metaphysics: being as present, as multiple, and as one. Being is that which makes it possible that things are. In this strange way, being i almost nothing because it applies to every possible being. Although, being does not necessarily imply existence. 

The only truth is that it is! Being include all the differences. Everything is itself and it is different and so everything is the same in so far that is is - that's essence. Everything is different from what is - that's existence. A being is a being because being makes it being being.

So when thinking about being, experience is much richer than what we can find in a lab. 

Let's end the segment with the suggestion that the word metaphysics means nothing. We're here to talk about being. Let's do it. 

Homework:

• Leave any questions you have in the comments below to be answered by me.
• Right a brief paragraph (or more) trying to summarize the project of metaphysics in your own words.