RELATED QUESTIONS:
- Critically define metaphysics.
- Why would anyone describe metaphysics as the foundation of knowledge?
- Evaluate at least five definitions of metaphysics that you are familiar with.
Introduction
Due to its dynamic and universal nature, metaphysics like most philosophical concepts has been totally misconstrued; it has been misinterpreted to mean absolutely something else. Various scholars have also given their subjective positions on what they think metaphysics is, but this only compounds the problem more. Thus, there is the need to put metaphysics in the right bearing by explaining what it truly is, and this is the aim of this write-up.
The Confusion about Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a universal concept which permeates every aspect of being. It is a concept that is presupposed by existence itself, but it has been misconceived. There is a false notion that anything which seems abstract and more like pseudo-reality is metaphysics. Pathetically, the common African man on the street tends to conceive metaphysics as voodoism, occultism and magic. Even in the western world, the confusion about the nature of metaphysics has led some scientific thinkers like the logical positivists to move the motion that metaphysics should be scrapped from among the academic disciplines. They feel that metaphysics is too abstract and thus irrelevant to issues concerning practical life. Even within the academic circle, metaphysics has been perceived as a dichotomy of idealistic and materialistic realities; this is really a wrong understanding of the true nature of metaphysics. Therefore, some clarification is very much necessary.
Various Definitions of Metaphysics
Before we give a clear explanation of what metaphysics is, we would present various scholarly definitions of same. The fact that metaphysics is generally misunderstood by people has led various scholars to postulate their own subjective definitions. Some of these definitions are hereby presented below;
- The philosophical study of being and knowing.
- Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy investigating principles of reality transcending those of any particular science.
- The branch of philosophy which studies fundamental principles intended to describe or explain all that is, and which are not themselves explained.
- Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, being, and the world.
- Metaphysics refers to "subjects that are beyond the physical world".
- The study of events beyond or outside of man's understanding of classical physics.
- The branch of philosophy that examines the nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and value.
What Metaphysics Really Is
In
order to properly explain the true nature and vocation of metaphysics, it would
make sense to initially state what metaphysics is not. For the sake of
precision, metaphysics is not voodoism, occultism or magic. Also, metaphysics
is not a dichotomy of idealism and materialism; or as Jim Unah puts it, a
hidden double of existents. It should be clear that professional metaphysics is
“Ontology, aka Metaphysica Generalis”.
What
is ontology? Naturally, we would be expecting a straightforward answer to this
question that nails it on the head. But the truth is, the concept of ontology
is very difficult to define because it concerns something that is abstract and
universal. What is this thing that ontology is concerned with? The answer,
“Being”. Accordingly, for the sake of simplicity ontology can be defined as the study of being. In its most
fundamental sense, being implies “the ability, possibility and actuality of
existence”. Hence, ontology as the study of being does not refer to how a
particular thing exists. Ontology does not concern itself with the existence of
this or that element or entity, like a particular country or human being or
technology. Precisely, ontology concerns itself with the concept of existence
in general. It has a universal nature and this is why it is very difficult to
understand or comprehend. In philosophical language, ontology can be simply
defined as follows;
- The study of being
- The study of pure being (the essence of being itself)
- The study of being precisely as being (being qua being)
- The study of what it means to be
- The study of what it means to be at all.
This
is metaphysics as it pertains to the study of “pure being”; it represents the
primary business of philosophy. Its task is to study “being qua being”; to
investigate “what it means for what is
to be”. Thus, Ontology, a.k.a Metaphysica Generalis is professional
metaphysics (the real or raw metaphysics). Its main vocation is to study being
in the widest, most general and universal sense. It wants to study and explain
those particular elements that transcend all beings. Therefore, ontology in
this sense, by examining the general structures of the world, does provide a
laying ground, a foundation from which other sciences (Metaphysica specialis)
can take their rise or footing.
