Preview

Metaphysics: Ontology and Universal Conceptions

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
277 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Metaphysics: Ontology and Universal Conceptions
Metaphysics has been given many definitions over the years, Aristotle says that it is the science of being as being, or the study of everything that can be. Another definition given to metaphysics is the science of the most universal conceptions. My personal favorite would be metaphysics is the science of the most abstract conceptions. This, to me, is saying that metaphysics is the study of ideas real physics does not solve, things that cannot be measured by a gauge. Aristotle also said "The first science deals with things which are both separate (from matter) and unmovable." The study of things not made from any physical material, and cannot be removed from human life, such as: the human soul, or the existence of god. You can't touch, see, taste, smell, or hear these things; they exist only in the state of mind.

There are three key ideas to metaphysics: being, substance, and cause. The most important thing about the idea of being is that it cannot be defined. If it were given a definition "by proximate genus and ultimate difference", the word itself, being, includes anything that ever was, and everything that ever will, so it cannot exclude anything, and therefore cannot be included in a genus or group. With this definition of being, it cannot be argued, "that any lower concepts will have a greater comprehension than being." There could not be anything added to being, if being includes everything, so the equation "Substance = Being + a" is incorrect. It could be said that one can use metaphysics to have a better understanding of religion, I know the bible seems kind of abstract to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Epistemology Phil/201 Quiz

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Claims that we can have some knowledge or ordinary things, but not of metaphysical things.…

    • 1075 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Matrix 2

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages

    |sense that they look to what is in front of them and what they |that contains the theory of being. The word "metaphysics" is |…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In philosophy, a term known as metaphysics, referred to the writings of Aristotle nearly three centuries after his death. Metaphysics is the area of philosophy that attempts to understand the basic nature of all reality, whether it is seen or indistinguishable we try to relate to our existence. It seeks a description so basic that it applies to everything, whether divine or human. In short, metaphysics attempts to enlighten what anything must be like in order to be at all. To call one a metaphysician in this traditional, philosophical sense indicates nothing more than his or her interest in attempting to discover what underlies everything. Old materialists, who said that there is nothing but matter in motion, and current naturalists, who say that everything is made of lifeless, non-experiencing energy, are just as much to be classified as metaphysicians as are idealists, who maintain that there is nothing but ideas, or mind, or spirit (Metaphysics, par 2). The major schools of thought in relation with metaphysics are realism, idealism, materialism, determinism, and libertarianism.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ontological argument: The area of metaphysics that deals with the nature of being and reality.…

    • 464 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Worldview Assignment

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Every day is a gift and one we should never take for granted. The way we perceive the world around us takes critical thinking and a strong and faithful framework to help guide us through life. The world we live in gets harder and harder and moral responsibility is constantly being challenged.…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Metaphysics is the philosophical study that asks the question of what is real. It is the ancient's point of view on reality. There are three answers to the metaphysical question. Monism which states that reality is one and it is the eastern philosophy. Dualism which sees reality as two conflicting forces and the last pluralism which is reality is many. Hierarchy is rooted at pluralism. First we need to define hierarchy as the ancients defined it. Hierarchy is defined as the higher incorporated and transfigure the lower and the lower images the higher. Aristotle outline of hierarchy is the perfect example of how hierarchy works and it defines hierarchy by itself. The lowest level is the inanimate which are simply characterized by their self-identity which is the tendency of something to remain it self and keep its identity, after inanimate comes the plants with their ability to reproduce. Next are animals that are described as being able to feel sensations. After are the humans, characterized by their desire to reason and deliberate, then the gods defined by being immortal, and finally the forms which are not things but patterns of energy that are eternal. Even in each level of hierarchy there can be a higher and lower but something that is higher needs to have more power to operate according to its nature. An example is a student desk and an office desk, they are both inanimate but the office desk is higher in the order than the student desk because it fulfills its duty as a desk better; it operates better according to its nature.…

    • 1544 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The ontological argument was first made famous in the 11th century by St Anslem from Canterbury and was later taken further by French philosopher Rene Descartes. The debate is an attempt to confirm God’s existence as a priori argument. It does not rely on observations of the world around us it simply uses logic and the idea that it is illogical to say that God does not exist as its main factor.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Metaphysics is the “ultimate reality” the leader has set. This is the way in which the leader perceives the world and the goal they set to achieve within this perception. Although the leader possesses an “ultimate reality”, these realities are not always achievable.…

    • 3542 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Worldview Paper

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Metaphysical is what has regarded as the key problem of the whole speculative field of philosophy (Wilson, 2010). Epistemology is the study or theory of knowledge (Wilson, 2010). Ethics is a major branch of philosophy, and is the study of value or quality. Philosophical Anthropology is the study of human nature (Wilson, 2010). All of these components are important and are what worldviews…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The idea of God being actively involved in His creation is a core, fundamental belief or doctrine found in Christianity. In fact I’d venture to say that it is one of the first things a person must realize and recognize about God in order to better understand the other aspects of Him and also our role in the world.…

    • 910 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    According to Brian Garrett of Australian National University, metaphysics is concerned with the nature and identity of objects.1 In order to increase understanding of the identity of objects, puzzles of constitution and identity are used by philosophers. There is a puzzle common in metaphysics: the Ship of Theseus, which was believed to…

    • 1961 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Relative Bitcoin

    • 2116 Words
    • 9 Pages

    concepts and laws are derived from interplay between theory and experiment, this makes sure only good theories survive and theories get better over time…

    • 2116 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Relative BItcoin

    • 10971 Words
    • 39 Pages

    concepts and laws are derived from interplay between theory and experiment, this makes sure only good theories survive and theories get better over time…

    • 10971 Words
    • 39 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ontologically, epistemologically, and methodologically, the present study fits most comfortably within the constructivist approach. On the ontological front, the formal model proposed in the previous chapter reflects the acceptance in the present study of the core ontological tenets of constructivism. Namely, I modeled constructivism’s two core ontological tenets: (1) that “social reality is constructed” and social agents are the “social constructors of their own practices and structures;” and (2) that the agent-constructed social world informs agents’ interests and thereby circumscribes what they see as possible and morally appropriate courses of action. Building on the first core ontological tenet of constructivism, the exogenously given…

    • 315 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Empiricists attempt to limit themselves to nominalistic language, a language not containing references to abstract entities such as properties, classes, relations, numbers, propositions, etc. They treat mathematics as a mere calculus wherein no interpretation is given or can be given. However, abstract entities are impossible to avoid for some scientific contexts.…

    • 1861 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays