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! == Relation to other disciplines == Metaphysics is related to many fields of inquiry by investigating their basic concepts and relation to the fundamental structure of reality. For example, scientists often rely on concepts such as [[Scientific law|law of nature]], causation, necessity, and spacetime to formulate their theories and predict or explain the outcomes of experiments.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|GΓΆhner|Schrenk|loc=Lead Section, Β§ 1. What Is Metaphysics of Science?}} | {{harvnb|Mumford|Tugby|2013|pp=1β2}} | {{harvnb|Hawley|2018|pp=187β188}} }}</ref> While the main focus of scientists is on the application of these concepts to specific situations, metaphysics examines their general nature and how they depend on each other. Physicists formulate specific laws of nature, like [[Newton's law of universal gravitation|laws of gravitation]] and [[Laws of thermodynamics|thermodynamics]], to describe how physical systems behave under various conditions. Metaphysicians, by contrast, ask what all laws of nature have in common, for example, whether they merely describe contingent regularities or express necessary relations.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|GΓΆhner|Schrenk|loc=Β§ 3. Why Do We Need Metaphysics of Science?, Β§ 4c. Laws of Nature}} | {{harvnb|Roberts|2016|pp=337β338}} }}</ref> At the same time, new scientific findings have also influenced existing and inspired new metaphysical theories. Einstein's [[theory of relativity]], for instance, prompted various metaphysicians to conceive space and time as a unified dimension rather than as independent dimensions.<ref>{{harvnb|Healey|2016|pp=356β357}}</ref> Empirically focused metaphysicians often rely on scientific theories to ground their theories about the nature of reality in empirical observations.<ref>{{harvnb|Hawley|2018|pp=187β188}}</ref> Similar issues pertain to the [[social sciences]] where metaphysicians investigate their basic concepts and analyze their metaphysical implications. This includes questions like whether social facts arise from non-social facts, whether social groups and institutions have mind-independent existence, and how they persist through time.<ref>{{harvnb|Hawley|2018|pp=188β189}}</ref> Metaphysical assumptions and topics in [[psychology]] and [[psychiatry]] include the questions about the relation between body and mind, whether the nature of the human mind is historically fixed, and what the metaphysical status of diseases is.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Dafermos|2021|pp=1β2, 6β7}} | {{harvnb|Hawley|2016|p=174}} }}</ref> Metaphysics is similar to both [[physical cosmology]] and [[theology]] in its interest in the first causes and the universe as a whole. Key differences are that metaphysics relies on rational inquiry while physical cosmology gives more weight to empirical observations and theology is additionally based on divine [[revelation]] and faith-based doctrines.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Van Inwagen|2024|pp=6β8}} | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|p=10}} }}</ref> Historically, cosmology and theology were considered subfields of metaphysics.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Dryer|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=S8weDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA490 490]}} | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|p=10}} }}</ref> {{cladogram |title=Suggested Upper Merged Ontology |caption=Fundamental categories in the [[Suggested Upper Merged Ontology]]<ref>{{harvnb|Heckmann|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=e5adLEi4gYgC&pg=PA42 42]}}</ref> |cladogram={{clade |label1=Entity{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}} |1={{clade |label1={{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}Physical{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}} |1={{clade |label1={{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}Object |1={{nbsp}} |label2={{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}Process |2={{nbsp}} }} |label2={{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}Abstract{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}{{nbsp}} |2={{clade |label1={{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}Quantity |1={{nbsp}} |label2={{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}Proposition |2={{nbsp}} |label3={{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}Attribute |3={{nbsp}} |label4={{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}Relation |4={{nbsp}} |label5={{nbsp}}{{nbsp}}Set or Class |5={{nbsp}} }} }} }} }} Metaphysics in the form of ontology plays a central role in [[computer science]] to classify objects and formally represent information about them. Unlike metaphysicians, computer scientists are usually not interested in providing a single all-encompassing characterization of reality as a whole but instead employ many different ontologies, each one concerned only with a limited domain of entities.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Goy|Magro|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MJd_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7456 7456β7457]}} | {{harvnb|Hawley|2016|pp=168β170}} }}</ref> For example, a college [[database]] may use an ontology with categories such as ''person'', ''teacher'', ''student'', and ''exam'' to represent information about academic activities.<ref>{{harvnb|Goy|Magro|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MJd_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7457 7457]}}</ref> Ontologies provide standards or conceptualizations for encoding and storing information in a structured way, which makes it possible to use and transform the information by computational processes for a variety of purposes.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Goy|Magro|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MJd_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7456 7456β7457]}} | {{harvnb|Hawley|2016|pp=168β169}} }}</ref> Some [[knowledge base]]s integrate information belonging to various domains, which brings with it the problem of handling data that was formulated using different ontologies. They do so by providing an [[upper ontology]] that defines concepts on a higher level of abstraction to apply to all domains. Influential upper ontologies include [[Suggested Upper Merged Ontology]] and [[Basic Formal Ontology]].<ref>{{harvnb|Gopalakrishnan Nair|2014|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MJd_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4594 4594]}}</ref> [[Logic]] as the study of [[Logical reasoning|correct reasoning]]<ref>{{multiref |1={{harvnb|MacFarlane|2017}} |2={{harvnb|Corkum|2015|pp=753β767}} |3={{harvnb|Blair|Johnson|2000|pp=93β95}} |4={{harvnb|Magnus|2005|loc=1.6 Formal Languages|pp=12β14}} }}</ref> is often used by metaphysicians as a tool to engage in their inquiry and express insights using precise [[logical formula]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Ney|2014|pp=1β2, 18β20}}</ref> Another relation between the two fields concerns the metaphysical assumptions associated with [[logical system]]s. Many logical systems like [[first-order logic]] rely on [[existential quantifier]]s to express existential statements. For instance, in the logical formula <math>\exists x \text{Horse}(x)</math> the existential quantifier <math>\exists</math> is applied to the [[Predicate (logic)|predicate]] <math>\text{Horse}</math> to express that there are horses. Following Quine, various metaphysicians assume that existential quantifiers carry [[ontological commitment]]s, meaning that existential statements imply that the entities over which one quantifies form part of reality.<ref>{{multiref |1={{harvnb|Shapiro|Kouri Kissel|2022|loc=Β§2.1 Building Blocks}} |2={{harvnb|Cook|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=JfaqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 111]}} |3={{harvnb|Kind|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oDhjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT236 236]}} |4={{harvnb|Casati|Fujikawa|loc=Lead Section, Β§1. Existence as a Second-Order Property and Its Relation to Quantification}} }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page