Question by heeltap: What basic metaphysical entities do U use to order & organize ur understanding of the nature of the Universe?
Oversimplified Examples: In Language the basic entities are the word and the concept. In chemistry it is atoms and molecules. In the philosophical branch called ethics. it is things called ethical rules and standards(ie values).
My Q is about the basic components or entities you have identified as fundamental to your personal theory about the branch of philosophy called metaphysics. The branch specifically addresses the issues of what exists or doesn’t, of what is real or isn’t, & what is truth or not. Please cite the names of philosophers and thinkers or writings that helped you in this matter.
Ontology is a branch of Metaphysics.
Cosmology and cosmogony are also specific branches of metaphysics. So is theology(dealing w/God & God- to human relationship questions). ; and so is the branch known as merology(about how best to partition wholes into parts and vice versa).
Amazing, all the Answers posted are ,from a philosophical POV, address the Q I asked . Some are more informative than others but all are provocative and suggest possible territory to explore. I am currently reading about Spinoza and I am finding how deeply he tried to unify our metaphysical understanding of the universe we humans live in. He saw the universe or nature as the embodiment of God’s infinite attributes expessed as unique particulars formed by finite modes emanating from those attributes.
Best answer:
Answer by Mr. X
you’re talking about ontology, not metaphysics. ontology is the field of philosophy that addresses what is and what isn’t. metaphysics addresses the underlying rules or principles.
and none of that is worth SQUADOOSH without epistemology. for how do you know anything about existence? you could be fooling yourself and making everything up.
What do you think? Answer below!
One,
the “I AM.” Everything is there.
Only by combining the still primitive fields of psychology, biology, chemistry and physics and correlating them to the mystical insights underlying theology, have I been able to understand the nature of reality and its relationship to being in a way that is helpful. Philosophy alone – for all its great minds – has not yet done it. (Meister Eckhart and Spinoza have been the most inspirational, however.)
I’ve found, oddly, that the old scholastic categories of substance, attributes, accidence, and essence have proved very useful in my thinking about the world.
I say this is odd because William James, who in many respects is my philosophical mentor, thought them all so many busted balloons, though he wouldn’t have been so crude as to put it that way. Still, I have found that thinking my way through Jamesian epistemology, I made my way back to substance and attributes.
A substance is that which can be understood as a non-arbitrary whole. There are lots of true statements we might make about a substance, and most of them might be said to single out its attributes. There are two types of attributes: essential and accidental. An accidental attribute could be different and the substance to which it belongs would continue to be what it is. An essential attribute can’t be other than what it is, without that substance ceasing to be what IT is.
Those are fairly straightforward definitions, although in my own thinking they have led me to the conclusion that there is no true substance smaller than a planetary ecosystem.
True that some things fore mentioned suggest you undertake to work outside the box. But — what is best suggested is to throw away the box, for little associated with the box — whether inside or outside it — will be anything but an attachment to it. For anything that can be thought or done or said as regards the universe is away already and accords still other realms that are thrown away on that universe you just fancied yourself having left.
My personal observations and the questions they raise are of the most value, but Carl Sagan, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawkings have expanded my ability to ponder new things. Everything is real. The question is what is it really?
the individual, reality, perception, reason, the truth and the concept that we are all inside God’s mind, uncertainty.
The guys who helped me with this, though some are not philosophers, are Plato, Descartes, Hume, Berkeley, Nietzsche, Leibniz, Einstein, Schrodinger and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
The basic fundamentals of life as put out in Bhagavad Gita… the most sacred Scripture of Hinduism on Mother Earth helped me reach the goal of my life… gain self realization! The basic understanding of metaphysics is possible by grasping the pearls of wisdom contained in Bhagavad Gita… the doctrine given to mankind by Lord Krishna in Mahabharata.
Lord Krishna… an Avatar of his era (God manifest in human form) came about 3600 years ago. The essence of Bhagavad Gita is sufficient to understand the basics of life. The knower of Bhagavad Gita becomes the knower of all. Having understood Bhagavad Gita in entirety… there is nothing left in the field of spirituality and metaphysics requiring further learning.
The most fundamental principle of life that requires to be followed by every spiritual seeker is the path of absolute truthfulness. Devoid of this… most human beings never come out of the rut of Samsara (worldly life). Truthfulness is that ingredient on the path of metaphysics devoid of which human beings behave no better than animals.
The power of discrimination available to human beings… that distinguishes us from animals is the most important ingredient of life. Mounted with the power of discrimination human beings reach the level of enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation (moksha)! The form of a human being is the highest entity in the cosmic system!
Other than anything else… the sweet small inner voice of our soul atman within that always guides us on the right path is the voice of God flowing through human beings. Those who establish control over the senses and the mind hear the sweet small inner voice of our soul atman distinctly. It is this voice that makes a Mahavira or a Buddha out of an ordinary mortal.
Most human beings on Mother Earth get mesmerized by wanton desires and greed for materialistic riches. They fail to establish control over the senses and the mind. Logistics plays a very important role in the field of metaphysics. Guide or no guide… one can always understand the laws of metaphysics by Logistics.
The dialogues of Plato were based on Logistics. If you are more intelligent than me… convince me or else accept whatever I have to state… was his motto! The path of Neti (not this, not this) as dictated and advocated by Maharishi Ramana was purely based on Logistics. By negating everything not being God… whatever is left is God Almighty himself!
Understanding Bhagavad Gita makes clear the concept of the Cosmos on the whole. The big bang theory… the origination of the Cosmos… the definition of Almighty God… the purpose of human life… why God Almighty built the Cosmos… the evolution theory… the purpose why everything exists… all becomes absolutely clear! More on spirituality – http://www.godrealized.org/Spirituality.html