metaphysics Hear it!

metaphysics Definition

meta·phys·ics (met′ə fiz′iks)

noun

  1. the branch of philosophy that deals with first principles and seeks to explain the nature of being or reality (ontology) and of the origin and structure of the universe (cosmology): it is closely associated with the study of the nature of knowledge (epistemology)
  2. speculative philosophy in general
  3. esoteric, often mystical or theosophical, lore
  4. the theory or principles (of some branch of knowledge)
  5. popularly any very subtle or difficult reasoning

Etymology: < ML metaphysica, neut. pl. < Gr (ta) meta (ta) physika, lit., (that) after (the) physics (in reference to location after the Physics in early collections of Aristotle's works)

metaphysics Synonyms

metaphysics

n.

epistemology, ontology, cosmology, mysticism, transcendentalism; see also philosophy, religion 1.

metaphysics Usage Examples

Preposition: of

  • presence: All we can hope for is to destroy this " metaphysics of presence " - where we expect immediate access to meaning ' .
  • self: Strawson is surely correct to hold that phenomenological considerations cannot be ignored in thinking about the metaphysics of the self.
  • substance: Bauer's late critique assimilated Hegel with Spinoza and the metaphysics of substance, understood as the negation of form and subjectivity.
  • experience: D'Oro, G. , Collingwood and the Metaphysics of Experience, Routledge, London and New York, 2002.
  • modality: Nor have issues about the metaphysics of modality and possible worlds been discussed.
  • mind: In the metaphysics of mind, too, behavioristic themes survive in the approach to mind known as functionalism.

Converse of object

  • think: I don't think any linguistic metaphysics is of any value unless account is taken of the points that it raises.
  • call: The mode of thought which dominates the modern capitalist philosophy and science is called the metaphysics.

Adjective modifier

  • old: Sometimes, however, doctrine becomes so intertwined with the older metaphysics that they are difficult to separate.
  • naturalistic: Metaphysics as Metaphor Many philosophers think that physicalism is a naturalistic metaphysics.
  • underlying: How does this issue impact not only on inter-faith dialog but on the underlying metaphysics and theology of this question?
  • true: The body may perhaps compensates for the loss of a true metaphysics.

Modifies a noun

  • metaphysic: Metaphysics Metaphysics is often connected in one way or another with religion.
  • deal: Why not then say that metaphysics deals with things separated from matter and motion, that is with a particular kind of being?
metaphysics Quotes

When we run over libraries, persuaded of these principles, what havoc must we make? If we take in our hand any volume; of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance; let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact or existence? No.Commit itthen tothe flames: for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion.

—Humboldt, Alexander, Baron von

And Coleridge, too, has lately taken wing, But, like a hawk encumbered with his hood, Explaining metaphysics to the nationö I wished he would explain his explanation.

—Rochdale

Los metaf|¤sicos de Tl o« n no buscan la verdad ni siquiera la verosimilitud: buscan el asombro. Juzgan que la metaf|¤sica es una rama de la literatura fanta¤  stica. The metaphysicians of Tlo«  n do not seek for the truth or even for verisimilitude, but rather for the astounding. They judge that metaphysics is a branch of fantastic literature.

—Borges,Jorge Luis

Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct, but to find these reasons is no less an instinct.

—Bradley, Francis Herbert

Metaphysics means nothing but an unusually obstinate effort to thinkclearly.

—James,William

The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any otheranimals. Some of their most esteemed inventions have no other apparent purpose, for example, the dinner party of more than two, the epic poem, and thescience of metaphysics.

—Mencken, H(enry) L(ouis)

Science cannot exist without some small portion of metaphysics.

—Planck, Max Karl Ernst