Metaphysics Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Methodology == Metaphysicians employ a variety of [[Philosophical methodology|methods]] to arrive at metaphysical theories and formulate arguments for and against them.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=xi, 2}} | {{harvnb|Koons|Pickavance|2015|pp=2β3}} }}</ref> Traditionally, ''[[A priori and a posteriori|a priori]]'' methods are the dominant approach. They rely on rational [[intuition]] and abstract reasoning from general principles rather than sensory [[experience]]. ''A posteriori'' approaches, by contrast, ground metaphysical theories in [[empirical observation]]s and scientific theories.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Koons|Pickavance|2015|pp=2β3}} | {{harvnb|Mumford|2012|loc=Β§ 10. What Is Metaphysics?}} | {{harvnb|Tahko|2015|pp=151β152}} | {{harvnb|Jaksland|2023|pp=198β199}} }}</ref> Some metaphysicians use perspectives from fields such as [[physics]], [[psychology]], [[linguistics]], and [[history]] to conduct their inquiry.<ref>{{harvnb|Koons|Pickavance|2015|pp=2β3}}</ref> The two approaches are not exclusive and it is possible to combine elements from both.<ref>{{harvnb|Tahko|2015|pp=151β152, 172β173}}</ref> Which method a metaphysician employs often depends on their conception of the nature of metaphysics, for example, whether they see it as an inquiry into the mind-independent structure of reality, as [[Metaphysical realism|metaphysical realists]] claim, or the principles underlying thought and experience, as some [[Metaphysical anti-realism|metaphysical anti-realists]] contend.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Mumford|2012|loc=Β§ 10. What Is Metaphysics?}} | {{harvnb|Koons|Pickavance|2015|pp=2β3}} | {{harvnb|Effingham|Beebee|Goff|2010|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BBKsAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA123 123]}} | {{harvnb|Khlentzos|2021|loc=Lead Section, Β§ 3. The Anti-Realist Challenges to Metaphysical Realism}} }}</ref> ''A priori'' approaches often rely on intuitions, that is, non-inferential impressions about the correctness of specific claims or general principles.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Daly|2015|pp=[https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137344557_1 11β12]|loc=Introduction and Historical Overview}} | {{harvnb|Duignan|2009a}} | {{harvnb|Tahko|2015|pp=177β180}}}}</ref> For example, arguments for the [[A-theory of time]], which states that time flows from the past through the present and into the future, often rely on pre-theoretical intuitions associated with the sense of the passage of time.<ref>{{harvnb|Tahko|2015|pp=188β190}}</ref> Some approaches use intuitions to establish a small set of [[self-evident]] fundamental principles, known as [[axiom]]s, and employ [[deductive reasoning]] to build complex metaphysical systems by drawing conclusions from these axioms.<ref>{{harvnb|Goldenbaum|loc=Lead Section, Β§ 1. The Geometrical Method}}</ref> Intuition-based approaches can be combined with [[thought experiments]], which help evoke and clarify intuitions by linking them to imagined situations while using [[counterfactual thinking]] to assess the possible consequences of these situations.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Tahko|2015|pp=177β178}} | {{harvnb|Brown|Fehige|2019|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Goffi|Roux|2011|pp=[https://philpapers.org/rec/GOFOTV 165, 168β169]}} | {{harvnb|Eder|Lawler|van Riel|2020|pp=915β916}} }}</ref> To explore the relation between matter and consciousness, some theorists compare humans to [[philosophical zombies]], that is, hypothetical creatures identical to humans but without [[Consciousness|conscious experience]].<ref>{{harvnb|Kirk|2023|loc=Lead Section, Β§ 2. Zombies and Physicalism}}</ref> A related method relies on commonly accepted beliefs instead of intuitions to formulate arguments and theories. The [[Common sense|common-sense]] approach is often used to criticize metaphysical theories that deviate a lot from how the average person thinks about an issue. For example, common-sense philosophers have argued that [[mereological nihilism]] is false since it implies that commonly accepted things, like tables, do not exist.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Lawson|2020|pp=185β186}} | {{harvnb|Jaksland|2023|pp=198β199}} }}</ref> [[Conceptual analysis]], a method particularly prominent in [[analytic philosophy]], aims to decompose metaphysical concepts into component parts in order to clarify their meaning and identify essential relations.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Jackson|1998|pp=28β30}} | {{harvnb|Eder|Lawler|van Riel|2020|p=915}} | {{harvnb|Shaffer|2015|pp=[https://www.jstor.org/stable/26602327 555β556]}} | {{harvnb|Audi|2006|loc=[https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-concepts/philosophy Β§ Philosophical Methods]}} }}</ref> In [[Phenomenology (philosophy)|phenomenology]], the method of [[eidetic variation]] is used to investigate essential structures underlying [[Phenomenon|phenomena]]. To study the essential features of any kind of object, it proceeds by imagining this object and varying its features to identify which ones are essential and cannot be changed.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Drummond|2022|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=VQ9hEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA75 75]}} | {{harvnb|Ryckman|2005|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FI1JCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA142 142β144]}} }}</ref> The [[Transcendental arguments|transcendental]] method is a further approach and examines the metaphysical structure of reality by observing what entities there are and studying the [[Condition of possibility|conditions of possibility]] without which these entities could not exist.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Coelho|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=P518M0X_zakC&pg=PA128 128]}} | {{harvnb|KΓΆrner|1984|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eAA4AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA183 183β184]}} | {{harvnb|PihlstrΓΆm|2009|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=srGLpb7pWdkC&pg=PA60 60β61]}} | {{harvnb|Stern|Cheng|2023|loc=Lead Section}} }}</ref> Some approaches give less importance to ''a priori'' reasoning and see metaphysics instead as a practice continuous with the empirical sciences that generalizes their insights while making their underlying assumptions explicit. This approach is known as ''naturalized metaphysics'' and is closely associated with the work of [[Willard Van Orman Quine]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Ney|2014|pp=30β31}} | {{harvnb|van Inwagen|Sullivan|Bernstein|2023|loc=Β§ 4. The Methodology of Metaphysics}} | {{harvnb|Jaksland|2023|pp=198β199}} }}</ref> He relies on the idea that true sentences from the sciences and other fields have [[ontological commitments]], that is, they imply that certain entities exist.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Ney|2014|pp=37β38, 40}} | {{harvnb|van Inwagen|Sullivan|Bernstein|2023|loc=Β§ 4. The Methodology of Metaphysics}} }}</ref> For example, if the sentence "some electrons are bonded to protons" is true then it can be used to justify that electrons and protons exist.<ref>{{harvnb|Ney|2014|p=41}}</ref> Quine used this insight to argue that one can learn about metaphysics by closely analyzing{{efn|Quine's method of analysis relies on [[logic translation]] to [[first-order logic]] in order to express claims as precisely as possible while relying [[existential quantifier]]s to identify their ontological commitments.<ref>{{harvnb|Ney|2014|pp=40β41}}</ref>}} scientific claims to understand what kind of metaphysical picture of the world they presuppose.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Ney|2014|pp=40β43}} | {{harvnb|van Inwagen|Sullivan|Bernstein|2023|loc=Β§ 4. The Methodology of Metaphysics}} }}</ref> In addition to methods of conducting metaphysical inquiry, there are various methodological principles used to decide between competing theories by comparing their theoretical virtues. [[Ockham's Razor]] is a well-known principle that gives preference to simple theories, in particular, to theories that assume that few entities exist. Other principles consider [[explanatory power]], theoretical usefulness, and proximity to established beliefs.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|McDaniel|2020|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3tDaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA217 217β221]}} | {{harvnb|Ney|2014|pp=48β49}} | {{harvnb|Mumford|2012|loc=Β§ 10. What Is Metaphysics?}} | {{harvnb|van Inwagen|Sullivan|Bernstein|2023|loc=Β§ 4. The Methodology of Metaphysics}} | {{harvnb|Koons|Pickavance|2015|pp=2β3}} }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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