Introduction to Metaphysics

Notable Philosophers and Quotes

• Emanuel Kant: Referred to metaphysics as a "bottomless abyss" and a "dark ocean without a shore."
• William James: Described it as "an unusually obstinate way to think clearly."
• Ludwig Wittgenstein: Influential views on metaphysics, considered many metaphysical questions to be nonsensical.

Overview of Metaphysics

• Branch of Philosophy: Along with ethics, epistemology, and logic.
• Ultimate Nature of Reality: Often described as the discipline concerned with the ultimate nature of reality.

Historical Background

• Aristotle and Metaphysics: Originally referred to as "first philosophy" or "theology."
  • The term "metaphysics" means "after the physics,"
  • Major themes: First causes and the study of being or existence.
• Developments in 17th and 18th Centuries: Continental rationalists distinguished between general and special metaphysics.
  • General Metaphysics (Ontology): Study of being/existence.
  • Special Metaphysics: Divided into cosmology, rational psychology, and natural theology.

Ontology and Its Questions

• Present-Day Ontologists: Focused on providing accounts of what exists.
  • Key Topics: Properties, numbers, events, relations, souls, material objects, and universals.
  • Example of Universals: Redness, squareness, and beauty.

Contemporary Metaphysical Questions

• Peter van Inwagen's Three Questions:
  1. What are the most general features of the world and what sorts of things does it contain?
  2. Why does the world exist and why does it have the described features and content?
  3. What is our place in the world?
• Other Topics: Nature of time and space, the mind-body problem, causality, what it means to be a person, and the problem of free will.

Skepticism about Metaphysics

• Ludwig Wittgenstein: Called many philosophical propositions nonsensical.
  • Believed metaphysical questions transcend the world and are inexpressible in language.
  • Quote: "The solution of the riddle of life in space and time lies outside space and time."

Appreciation of Metaphysics

• Influence of Arthur Schopenhauer: Wittgenstein was influenced by Schopenhauer's extensive metaphysical systems.
• Final Thoughts: Despite skepticism, Wittgenstein regarded metaphysical writings as "among the noblest products of the human mind."