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! == History == {{main|History of metaphysics}} [[File:Yin yang.svg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|alt=Symbol of yin and yang|The [[taijitu]] symbol shows [[yin and yang]], which are concepts of two correlated forces used in Chinese metaphysics to explore the nature and patterns of existence.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Perkins|2023|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Littlejohn|loc=§ 5. Fundamental Concepts in the Daodejing}} }}</ref>]] The history of metaphysics examines how the inquiry into the basic structure of reality has evolved in the course of history. Metaphysics has its origin in speculations about the nature and origin of the cosmos that go back to ancient civilizations.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=183}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} }}</ref> In [[ancient India]] starting in the 7th century BCE, the [[Upanishads]] were written as religious and philosophical texts that examine how [[Brahman|ultimate reality]] constitutes the ground of all being. They further explore the nature of the [[Ātman (Hinduism)|self]] and how it can reach [[moksha|liberation]] by understanding ultimate reality.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Perrett|2016|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=q7wwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 7–10]}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Indian Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Andrea|Overfield|2015|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=x5-aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 70–71]}} }}</ref> This period also saw the emergence of [[Buddhism]] in the 6th century BCE,{{efn|The precise date is disputed.<ref>{{harvnb|Velez|loc=§ 1a. Dates}}</ref>}} which denies the existence of an independent self and understands the world as a [[Saṃsāra|cyclic process]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Perrett|2016|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=q7wwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 7–10]}} | {{harvnb|Velez|loc=Lead Section, § 3. The Buddha's Cosmology and Metaphysics}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Indian Philosophy}} }}</ref> At about the same time{{efn|According to traditional accounts, [[Laozi]] as the founder of Daoism lived in the 6th century BCE but other accounts state that he may have lived in the 4th or 3rd centuries BCE.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Dynes|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pxjOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA60 60]}} | {{harvnb|Littlejohn|loc=§ 2. Classical Sources for Our Understanding of Daoism}} }}</ref>}} in [[ancient China]], the school of [[Daoism]] was formed and explored the natural order of the universe, known as [[Dao]], and how it is characterized by the interplay of [[yin and yang]] as two correlated forces.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Littlejohn|loc=§ 5. Fundamental Concepts in the Daodejing}} | {{harvnb|Dynes|2016|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pxjOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA60 60–61]}} }}</ref> In [[ancient Greece]], metaphysics emerged in the 6th century BCE with the [[pre-Socratic]] philosophers, who gave rational explanations of the whole cosmos by examining the [[first principle]]s from which everything arises.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=183}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} | {{harvnb|Kirk|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uewoLyIw_DQC&pg=PA308 308–310]}} }}</ref> Following them, [[Plato]] (427–347 BCE) formulated his [[theory of forms]], which states that eternal forms or ideas possess the highest kind of reality while the material world is only an imperfect reflection of them.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=184–185}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} | {{harvnb|Graham|loc=§ 3b. Metaphysics}} }}</ref> [[Aristotle]] (384–322 BCE) accepted Plato's idea that there are universal forms but held that they cannot exist on their own but depend on matter. He also proposed a system of categories and developed a comprehensive framework of the natural world through his theory of the [[four causes]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=185–187}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} | {{harvnb|Graham|loc=§ 4a. Terminology, § 4f. Metaphysics}} }}</ref> Starting in the 4th century BCE, [[Hellenistic philosophy]] explored the [[Logos|rational order]] underlying the cosmos and the idea that it is made up of [[Atomism|indivisible atoms]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} | {{harvnb|Graham|loc=§ 5a. Epicureanism, § 5c. The Stoics}} }}</ref> [[Neoplatonism]] emerged towards the end of the ancient period in the 3rd century CE and introduced the idea of "the One" as a transcendent and ineffable entity that is the source of all of creation.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=187–188}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|pp=590–591}} | {{harvnb|Graham|loc=§ 5. Post-Hellenistic Thought}} }}</ref> Meanwhile in [[Indian Buddhism]], the [[Madhyamaka|Madhyamaka school]] developed the idea that all phenomena are [[Sunyata|inherently empty]] without a permanent essence while the consciousness-only doctrine of the [[Yogācāra|Yogācāra school]] stated that experienced objects are mere transformations of consciousness that do not reflect external reality.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Indian Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Depraz|Varela|Vermersch|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=iYJy_2909NAC&pg=PA212 212]}} | {{harvnb|Shun'ei|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1C4qAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 5–6]}} }}</ref> The [[Āstika and nāstika|Hindu school]] of [[Samkhya]] philosophy{{efn|The ideas underlying Samkhya philosophy arose as early as the 7th and 6th centuries BCE but it's classical and systematic formulation is dated 350 CE.<ref name="auto1">{{multiref | {{harvnb|Ruzsa|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Indian Philosophy}} }}</ref>}} introduced a metaphysical dualism with [[Purusha|pure consciousness]] and [[Prakṛti|matter]] as its fundamental categories.<ref name="auto1"/> In China, the school of [[Xuanxue]] explored metaphysical problems such as the contrast between being and non-being.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Chai|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LSAAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 19]}} | {{harvnb|Robinet|2013|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=R3Sp6TfzhpIC&pg=PA274 Chongxuan]}} }}</ref> [[File:Boethius.jpeg|thumb|alt=Illustration of Boethius|[[Boethius]]'s theory of universals influenced many subsequent metaphysicians.]] Medieval Western philosophy was strongly influenced by ancient Greek philosophy. [[Boethius]] (477–524 CE) attempted to harmonize Plato's and Aristotle's theories of universals by stating that universals can exist both in matter and in the mind. His theory inspired the philosophies of nominalism and conceptualism, as in the thought of [[Peter Abelard]] (1079–1142 CE).<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=188–189}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Boethius, § Abelard}} | {{harvnb|Marenbon|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DYSVbvnDL8IC&pg=PA6 6]}} | {{harvnb|Sweeney|2016|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=orIYDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 10–11]}} }}</ref> [[Thomas Aquinas]] (1224–1274 CE) understood metaphysics as the discipline that investigates the different meanings of ''being'', such as the contrast between substance and [[Accident (philosophy)|accident]], and principles applying to all beings, such as the [[principle of identity]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Brown|loc=§ 5. Metaphysics}} | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=189}} }}</ref> [[William of Ockham]] (1285–1347 CE) proposed the methodological principles of [[Ockham's razor]] as a tool to decide between competing metaphysical theories.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=190}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Ockham}} }}</ref> Arabic–Persian philosophy, which had [[Islamic Golden Age|its prime period]] from the early 9th century CE to the late 12th century CE, employed many ideas of the ancient Greek philosophers to interpret and clarify the teachings of the [[Quran]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=Arabic–Persian Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Adamson|Taylor|2004|pp=1–3}} }}</ref> [[Avicenna]] (980–1037 CE) developed a comprehensive philosophical system that examined the contrast between existence and essence and distinguished between contingent and necessary existence.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Ibn Sina (Avicenna)}} | {{harvnb|Lizzini|2021|loc=Lead Section, § 3. Essence and Existence, § 4. Modality and Existence}} }}</ref> [[Medieval India]] saw the emergence of the [[Monism|monist]] school of [[Advaita Vedanta]] in the 8th century CE, which holds that everything is one and that the idea of many entities existing independently is an [[Maya (religion)|illusion]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Indian Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Perrett|2016|loc=§ The Medieval Period of Indian Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Dalal|2021|loc=Lead Section, § 2.3 Two-Tiered Reality}} }}</ref> In China, [[Neo-Confucianism]] arose in the 9th century CE and explored the [[Li (neo-Confucianism)|concept of li]] as the rational principle that is the ground of being and reflects the order of the universe.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Berthrong|loc=Lead Section, § 4. Traits, Themes and Motifs}} | {{harvnb|Wu|2022|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zRVmEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 56]}} | {{harvnb|Smart|2008|p=99}}}}</ref> In the early modern period, [[René Descartes]] (1596–1650) developed a substance dualism according to which body and mind exist as independent entities that causally interact.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=591}} | {{harvnb|Dehsen|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cU7cAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 51]}} }}</ref> This idea was rejected by [[Baruch Spinoza]] (1632–1677), who formulated a monist philosophy according to which there is only one substance that has both physical and mental attributes developing side-by-side without interacting.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=190}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=591}} }}</ref> [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]] (1646–1716) introduced the concept of possible worlds and articulated a metaphysical system, known as [[monadology]], that understands the universe as a collection of [[Monad (philosophy)|simple substances]] that are synchronized without causally interacting with one another.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=190–191}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=591}} | {{harvnb|Look|2020|loc=§ 4. Metaphysics: A Primer on Substance}} | {{harvnb|Menzel|2023|loc=1. Possible Worlds and Modal Logic}} }}</ref> [[Christian Wolff (philosopher)|Christian Wolff]] (1679–1754), conceptualized the scope of metaphysics by introducing the distinction between general and special metaphysics.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Svare|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=60MsUE3K2ekC&pg=PA15 15]}} | {{harvnb|Hettche|Dyck|2019|loc=§ 5. Metaphysics}} }}</ref> According to the [[idealism]] of [[George Berkeley]] (1685–1753), everything is mental, including material objects, which are [[Esse est percipi|ideas perceived by the mind]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=192}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=591}} }}</ref> [[David Hume]] (1711–1776) made various contributions to metaphysics, including the [[Humeanism#Causality and necessity|regularity theory of causation]] and the idea that there are no necessary connections between distinct entities. At the same time, his [[Empiricism|empiricist]] outlook led him to formulate a stark criticism of metaphysical theories that aim to arrive at ultimate principles inaccessible to sensory experience.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Morris|Brown|2023|loc=§ 3. Philosophical Project, § 5. Causation, § 6. The Idea of Necessary Connection}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|pp=591–592}} }}</ref> This skeptical outlook was embraced by [[Immanuel Kant]] (1724–1804). He tried to reconceptualize metaphysics as a [[Critical philosophy|critical inquiry]] into the basic principles and categories of thought and understanding rather than seeing it as an attempt to comprehend mind-independent reality.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=192–193}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=592}} | {{harvnb|Wood|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=i7PG-Vk824UC&pg=PA354 354]}} | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=1–2, 6}} }}</ref> Many developments in the later modern period were shaped by Kant's philosophy. [[German idealism|German idealists]] employed his idealistic outlook in their attempt to find a unifying principle as the foundation of all reality.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=193}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=592}} | {{harvnb|Critchley|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=syhsLJ1eMOEC&pg=PA31 31]}} }}</ref> [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]] (1770–1831) developed a comprehensive system of philosophy that examines how absolute spirit manifests itself.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=592}} | {{harvnb|Green|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Gu6YVfL58OQC&pg=PA172 172]}} }}</ref> He inspired the [[British idealism]] of [[Francis Herbert Bradley]] (1846–1924), who interpreted absolute spirit as the all-inclusive totality of being.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=193}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=592}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Idealism}} }}</ref> [[Arthur Schopenhauer]] (1788–1860) was a strong critic of German idealism and articulated a different [[The World as Will and Representation|metaphysical vision]] that takes a [[Voluntarism (philosophy)#Metaphysical voluntarism|blind and irrational will as the underlying principle of reality]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Schopenhauer}} | {{harvnb|Janaway|1999|pp=[https://academic.oup.com/book/2954/chapter-abstract/143638920?redirectedFrom=fulltext 248–249]}} }}</ref> Pragmatists like [[C. S. Peirce]] (1839–1914) and [[John Dewey]] (1859–1952) conceived metaphysics as an observational science of the most general features of reality and experience.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=194}} | {{harvnb|Misak|2008|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=p30osmyc2xoC&pg=PA406 Scientific Realism, Anti-Realism, and Empiricism]}} }}</ref> [[File:ANWhitehead.jpg|thumb|alt=Photo of Alfred North Whitehead|[[Alfred North Whitehead]] articulated the foundations of [[process philosophy]] in his work ''[[Process and Reality]]''.]] In the 20th century, [[Rudolf Carnap]] (1891–1970) and other [[Logical positivism|logical positivists]] formulated a wide-ranging criticism of metaphysical statements by holding that they are meaningless since there is no way to [[Verificationism|verify them]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=592}} | {{harvnb|Hart|1998|loc=Lead Section}} }}</ref> Another criticism of traditional metaphysics was articulated by [[Ordinary language philosophy|ordinary language philosophers]] who identified misunderstandings of ordinary language as the source of many traditional metaphysical problems.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=194–195}} | {{harvnb|Morris|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sfElDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 15]}} }}</ref> [[Alfred North Whitehead]] (1861–1947) developed [[process philosophy|process metaphysics]] as an attempt to provide a holistic description of both the objective and the subjective worlds.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Desmet|Irvine|2022|loc=§ 6. Metaphysics}} | {{harvnb|Palmer|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZT2pI9IMiYUC&pg=PA175 175]}} }}</ref> [[Logical atomism|Logical atomists]], like [[Bertrand Russell]] (1872–1970) and the early [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] (1889–1951), conceived the world as a multitude of atomic facts, which inspired later metaphysicians such as [[D. M. Armstrong]] (1926–2014).<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Proops|2022|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Klement|2019|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Mumford|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kGGmBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 100]}} }}</ref> [[Willard Van Orman Quine]] (1908–2000) tried to naturalize metaphysics by connecting it to the empirical sciences. His student [[David Lewis (philosopher)|David Lewis]] (1941–2001) employed the concept of possible worlds to formulate his [[modal realism]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hylton|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=n5XX3CwWh2MC&pg=PT348 348]}} | {{harvnb|Oddie|2006|p=170}} | {{harvnb|Parent|loc=§ 2. Lewis' Realism}} }}</ref> In [[continental philosophy]], [[Edmund Husserl]] (1859–1938) engaged in ontology through a phenomenological description of experience while his student [[Martin Heidegger]] (1889–1976) developed [[fundamental ontology]] as an attempt to clarify the meaning of being.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Ryckman|2005|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=FI1JCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA142 142–144]}} | {{harvnb|McLean|2003|p=[https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-concepts/metaphysics 550]}} | {{harvnb|Taminiaux|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kcJzeXpHctYC&pg=PA154 154]}} }}</ref> Heidegger's philosophy inspired general criticisms of metaphysics by [[Postmodernism|postmodern]] thinkers like [[Jacques Derrida]] (1930–2004).<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Gilje|Skirbekk|2017|loc=Derrida, Foucault, and Rorty - Deconstruction and Critique}} | {{harvnb|Reynolds|loc=Lead Section}} }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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