Question by Rebekah: What is the difference between Metaphysics and Epistemology?
I am trying to see how many people posting in the Philosophy category know the def. of these words.
I am not claiming that you don’t know what these words mean, I am just curious.
Best answer:
Answer by …Sky the Limits…
Metaphysics:
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Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of “first principles” and “being” (ontology).
Metaphysics as a discipline was a central part of academic inquiry and scholarly education since before the age in which Aristotle coined the word. Long considered “the Queen of Sciences”, its issues were considered no less important than the other main formal subjects of physical science, medicine, mathematics, poetics and music. Since the Age of Reason, problems that were not originally considered metaphysical have been added to metaphysics. Other problems that were considered metaphysical problems for centuries are now typically relegated to their own separate subheadings in philosophy, such as philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, philosophy of perception, philosophy of language, and philosophy of science. In rare cases subjects of metaphysical research have been found to be entirely physical and natural, thus making them part of physics.
A somewhat informal way of considering metaphysics, particularly in its more modern applications such as the “philosophy of …” subheadings cited above, is to say that it is “thinking about thinking.” A major concern of metaphysics is a study of the thought process itself: how we perceive, how we reason, how we communicate, how we speculate, and so on. The subject matter is usually abstract, and, it might be said, concerns itself with how we deal with such abstractions.
What might be called the core metaphysical problems would be the ones which have always been considered metaphysical. What most of such problems have in common is that they are the problems of ontology, “the science of being qua being”.
In modern times, the meaning of the word metaphysics has become confused by popular significations that are really unrelated to metaphysics or ontology per se, viz. esotericism and occultism. Esotericism and occultism, in their many forms, are not so much concerned with inquiries into first principles or the nature of being, though they do tend to proceed on the metaphysical assumption that all being is “one”.
Epistemology:
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Epistemology, from the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin and scope of knowledge. Historically, it has been one of the most investigated and most debated of all philosophical subjects. Much of this debate has focused on analysing the nature and variety of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth and belief. Much of this discussion concerns the justification of knowledge claims.
Not surprisingly, the way that knowledge claims are justified both leads to and depends on the general approach to philosophy one adopts. Thus, philosophers have developed a range of epistemological theories to accompany their general philosophical positions. More recent studies have re-written centuries-old assumptions, and the field of epistemology continues to be vibrant and dynamic.
What do you think? Answer below!
epistemology is the study of knowledge, or what one can know, and how one knows that he/she knows it. metaphysics is a term used to describe the study of non-physical or conceptual entities. PS: I think that philosophy has a different connotation to the lay-person, otherwise known as an “arm-chair philosopher”.
Plain and simple. Metaphysics is the study of what is real and the nature of reality. Epistemology is the study of knowledge; mainly how and if we can know things. The two go hand in hand because you must first define your metaphysics to start your epistemology. In other words, you must know what is real to you and what is your reality to figure out what it is you can know for sure in that reality.
one french philosopher from 17th century (famous) and one american professor of epistemology (still living) where used for ‘Matrix’ ..do you know who are they…
i was also dissapointed with questions being asked in this category