Bound Existence: Part 4— Metaphysics? [MTA]
Is Metaphysics Dead?
In this Bound Existence series, we explored the metaphysics of Space and Time, Third and Fourth Dimensional Beings, and what exists Beyond Our World.
In this part, we will ask what was the point of this exploration; more specifically, what is the point of investigating our Bound Existence, and what is the point of Metaphysics?
This series both described and was based on much of the philosophical foundations Kant created, as such it is very fitting that we finish this series with the fundamental question of the existence of metaphysics.
Kant wanted to make the Critique of Pure Reason in part to discover whether metaphysics is just an act of pure speculation, or whether it can be a real knowledge-producing discipline like the other sciences.
What is Metaphysics?
We have been doing metaphysics all along this series!
To put the definition into words, metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with topics of existence, reality, and everything beyond physics, hence the term, metaphysics.
Metaphysics usually deals with questions that (currently) cannot be answered by science alone. Questions such as: whether God exists, whether free will exists, whether morality exists, and whether the afterlife exists, are some of the key metaphysical questions that pre-occupies many metaphysicians, including Kant.
Because these questions are beyond scientific consensus, probability, and falsifiability, answers seem to require a greater deal of belief and Faith.
Why Metaphysics? [WM]
Beyond intellectual entertainment, is there something tangible that can be drawn from the field of metaphysics?
Many take metaphysics as a fruitless act of speculation, who cares? Trying to step outside of oneself to analyze existence? What is the point of this, are we not just Sisyphus asking too many questions to the abyss of life? Are any methods of abstraction valid tools to step beyond a bound existence?
Anti-Metaphysics: No Use Argument
Some, like the science fanatics, claim that there is no use for metaphysics. It is just mumbo-jumbo for those who enjoy thinking too much. There’s nothing to it, no real knowledge to be gained, just useless opinions and hot takes on issues.
Science has demonstrated the uselessness of metaphysics; science is an actual important discipline as it produces real knowledge. There are tangible results with science that you can measure, predict and replicate; science guides the way for knowledge by both discovering new knowledge and pointing the way forward. Science falsifies reality, that is, it tells us what can be true and what can be false, then it proves what is true and what is false through its miraculous methods and tools such as the scientific method.
Metaphysics can do none of these things. Metaphysics is just people thinking out of their ass, no system to guide knowledge, and no system of falsification. The best tools metaphysics has is intuition, reason, and logic, while science has those tools plus other methods and abilities of mathematical abstraction that far surpass the rudimentary tools of metaphysics.
The results of which have been spectacular.
Science and its many disciplines have extended human life, and advanced technology, and allowed us to better understand, who, what and how we are. Metaphysics is just the pass-time of idle thinkers.
So metaphysics has no real use in our contemporary world and must be discarded within the real world of science.
The Reply of the Philosophe
I believe that for some philosophers and many metaphysicians, it is a wet dream if a science fanatic approached them with these exact sentiments stated above. Their mouths would salivate with the opportunity to blow their mind with some philosophy.
Let’s explore what a few potential replies philosophers would give and then unpack both sides of this discussion.
Necessity of Metaphysics
You cannot do away with it.
If you want to discard metaphysics and claim that in our modern scientific age it is useless and has no place, then that claim is itself a position based on metaphysical presuppositions of the primacy of science.
In other words, to claim that metaphysics is useless is to base the foundations of your metaphysical reality on science. Why base your reality on science? There may be many great reasons, but regardless, the reasons that you chose science over metaphysics rest on your presuppositions as to what takes primacy over what. Those presuppositions of the primacy of science, in turn, rear your reality to view science as primary over all other interpretations of reality. Which is in itself a claim as to what is reality — a metaphysical claim!
Metaphysics as Rearing Reality
Your interpretation of reality, what you take as real, and your ontology (what there is), is profoundly powerful to how you experience it. Your experiential being is greatly reared by what you take to be real.
This rearing of reality can be commonly termed your “worldview”, this is your view of the world. Your worldview can be as much your perspective as it is your reality, and it can be especially difficult for many to distinguish between the two.
Worldview as Perspective: in a more superficial sense, if you take your worldview to be just your perspective on reality, you implicitly posit two key things. The first is that there is an objective reality outside of yourself that you can perceive, and in turn interpret which then forms your worldview. Second, it implies that your worldview is not a reality in itself, that is, you are just a subject perceiving an objective world in your unique way; which is what distinguishes your worldview from others, despite the many commonalities in worldview you may share with your parents or close friends.
Worldview as Reality: Here is where one conflates both reality and perspective to be two of the same and is the root of ontological idealism. The world is your experience of it, the world is your worldview. There is nothing necessarily beyond your worldview, as reality is your worldview.
Anti-Metaphysics: No Use Argument (Continued)
Science fanatics would be quick to retort and claim that this talk of rearing reality can be accounted for in a purely scientific paradigm.
We have well-established sciences that deal with one's experience and perspective, psychology is the science of the mind and behavior, neuroscience is the science of the biological processes of neurons and their interactions (both in your brain and in the general nervous system), so where does the role of metaphysics arise?
The Reply of the Philosophe
Metaphysics and Psychology
Some notice that the more one learns about theories of God, different religions, or theories of free will and choice, something fundamentally changes about their perspective on life. Though you may not believe other worldviews, the act of introspecting as to what you believe can be enlightening.
A new orientation to the world, a new way to approach what you see and feel.
In understanding different fundamental modes of perceiving (worldviews), you seem to be exposed to a new way to navigate the world. In a way, we are navigating this world with our own maps, and taking the time to understand someone else's map may change the way you yourself navigate.
Where is the psychological utility?
Having a better understanding of a Faith you hold to be true, or how and where you are located in the world around you, may just make you feel a bit different than you were before. This can be just as exciting as it can be strange, and can bring much comfort and tranquility.
Going Deeper
To ground metaphysics purely in psychological value can be a trivial commodity, even if it is true.
Metaphysics as Mode of Existence
What if you cannot entirely cash out philosophy in psychology? What if there is more to metaphysics than just giving you a new map to change your perspective and how you feel about the world around you?
As we have explored, worldviews are not just opinions that one holds, but how the actual world arises to oneself. There remains an underlying being or a locus of experience that each one of us possesses, with each of our own dispositions and metaphysical outlooks that shape our mode of existence.
Understanding the cardinal processes of a person is a valuable and honorable enterprise for scientific study, but the act of being cannot be reduced to these cardinal processes, just as the composition cannot be reduced to the composer. Metaphysics does more than just rear our reality and shape our lives, but reflects the morphology of our very being.
If you want to, with a touch of artistry and Faith, one can take this morphology of being and equate it to one's spirit, where hylomorphism of sorts composes one's soul. So if you do not have Faith in anything outward, beyond this world and experience, perhaps you can look inwards and find Faith in yourself.
Faith springing from the composition of your life.
And when in doubt of your own composition, look inward and seek Faith in the composer of life.
Basic Summary — For All Readers:
Metaphysics is something that both helps us navigate this world and reflects our own selves. Efforts to destroy metaphysics are futile, as the topics of metaphysics are also the topics of our very being, we cannot do away with the necessity of metaphysics as it rears our psychology, reality, and being. Though what one holds to be true in metaphysics is more of a matter of personal faith and belief, those very beliefs seem as integral and necessary to a person as the very basic facts of science.
Technical Summary — For Those Interested:
Taking notions of metaphysics to extremes can lead to leaps of faith in terms of introspective being and theories of self. In the juxtaposition of introspection and extrospection of oneself, one can identify both a locus of awareness juxtaposed to a dynamic complete being. Both representations are of the same individual, and yet the distinction of the present locus of awareness taken as the composer and the dynamic complete being as the composition, reveals that the relation between the two is not entirely clear and may require faith in maintaining a theory of oneself. Thus faith can be drawn from the very act of being — the composition. And if one is in doubt of ones being, then one can draw faith from the fundamental life that drives the composition — the composer. How to compose your life is for you, the composer, to uncover.
The Series is Complete!
I hope you guys enjoyed this journey and stay tuned for more philosophy. We will be exploring topics ranging from the art of seduction, dreams, deja-vu, the values we hold to be true, and much more!
| Originally Published (14/07/22) |
