All Questions
Tagged with terminology metaphysics
38 questions
7
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Is there a metaphysical view that avoids categorizing the fundamental nature of things?
In other words, is there a metaphysical view that avoids getting entangled in debates over dichotomies such as:
Physicalism vs. Non-Physicalism
Naturalism vs. Supernaturalism
Physical vs. Mental
...
- 4,138
3
votes
0
answers
54
views
Seeking name of method for interpreting reality of phenomena as only a result or emanation of a more meaningful higher system/agent
I have noticed that a method of interpreting evidence according to a higher system/agent is important to some theology and philosophy - for example, Plato's theory of forms used to interpret material ...
- 31
1
vote
1
answer
63
views
What are the main terms and their (relatively) proper definitions that a beginner in metaphysics/philosophy should know of?
I've recently come across many intelligent individuals in the field of metaphysics. Their intellectual prowess impressed me; since their field of expertise informs all other fields, they demonstrated ...
- 75
5
votes
1
answer
105
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Does introspection provide strong evidence for weak forms of solipsism and idealism? Are not all philosophical distinctions mind-dependent objects?
Philosophy in One Lecture
Daniel Bonevac:
https://youtu.be/AycTgPJtBP0
In this video lecture Daniel draws two stick figures on the blackboard, representing two human bodies, and attached to each ...
- 3,199
3
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1
answer
46
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What is the term for a property instantiated either verbally or by judgement?
A promise is an example of a speech act. Is there a broader term encompassing nonverbal judgements? For example, consider a domain where objective measures of a property are vague or nonexistent; a ...
- 71
2
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3
answers
644
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What is meant by "begin to exist" in the Kalam Cosmological argument
This question, tbc, is about the first three steps of the cosmological argument, because without those steps, the remainder of the argument just doesn't matter.
As William Lane Craig formulates the ...
- 3,329
3
votes
4
answers
196
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What is the name of the view that the world as presented to us by our senses is false and there is a true world behind it?
Some historical examples include the Gnostics, Advaita Vedanta, Kant, Schopenhauer, and countless mystics.
I was just wondering if there is a common name for these sorts of worldviews.
Thank you!
- 883
3
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2
answers
149
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Is there a term for properties that an entity has at a particular time, but which depend on the properties it has at other times?
Is there a term for properties that an entity has at a particular time, but which depend on the properties it has at other times?
For example, when he was a child, Lebron James had the property of ...
- 161
1
vote
1
answer
125
views
What is the philosophical term for when a property is emergent from an underlying structure?
There is a term that refers to this, which I can't find anywhere, but I remember it from studies of consciousness and the brain.
For example, "consciousness is ____ on the physical brain".
...
- 113
4
votes
1
answer
404
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What motivated Whitehead to choose "Cogredience"?
I'm not a native english speaker, so I was not familiar with the term "cogredience" when I first saw it in Concept of Nature. frankly, it seems like its a word Whitehead used in a different ...
- 4,144
0
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4
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173
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Is there a concept that refers to phenomena that are caused or seemingly caused by something outside the physical realm?
Is there a concept that refers to phenomena that are caused or seemingly caused by something outside the physical realm? I am referring to phenomena that seems to have been shown to be caused by ...
user37389
1
vote
0
answers
53
views
Have philosophers identified what may cause something to be unknowable?
Have philosophers identified what may cause something to be unknowable? If such reasons have been identified, what are they called? If there's no exhaustive lists, what are the different causes or ...
user37389
1
vote
2
answers
97
views
What do you call the idea that each universes have wholly different natural laws?
What do you call the idea that each universes have wholly different natural laws? Instead of, let's say, all universes sharing some common laws, I am talking about the idea that all universes have ...
user37389
3
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Metaphysicist or Metaphysician?
As a physicist who takes an interest in metaphysics, I was shocked to learn that practitioners of metaphysics call themselves metaphysicians. Why not metaphysicists?
My first thought was that unlike ...
- 263
1
vote
1
answer
114
views
What is different between causation and causality [closed]
What is different between causation and causality?
And, if there is any difference, do most philosophers recognize it or is it just common among UCL or Cambridge scholars?
Thank you for your answer ...
- 113
6
votes
1
answer
7k
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What does Nietzsche refer to with the "backworldsmen"?
I'm a rookie to philosophical thinking but trying my best to understand the concepts. I'd be appreciated if you could enlighten me about this:
In Chapter 3 of Thus Spake Zarathustra, he is addressing ...
- 71
2
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1
answer
1k
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What is the definition of 'object' in philosophy?
I have two examples in my mind that I'm unsure if they can be considered Objects:
The second usage of things, as in, each thing has usually a defined usage, but sometimes people use things in a ...
- 131
3
votes
7
answers
614
views
Is there an idea of non-spatial reality in philosophy?
Our world is spatial. In particular there are 3 dimensions and we can measure lengths of objects in either of them.
However, when thinking about metaphysics I came to the conclusion that there might ...
- 2,764
1
vote
1
answer
768
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How did Aristotle arrive at the definition of substance/ousia?
In Aristotle's terminology, ousia, or substance, is that which is the subject of predication, but never itself predicated of anything. This is a highly technical definition; I don't expect it reflects ...
- 2,002
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1
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Why is ousia translated as substance? Should it be?
From Aristotle's Metaphysics, translation Reeve 2016, Z1:
What is being?---is just the question, What is substance?
This statement is a lot more obvious in Greek:
Ousia is a noun formed from ...
- 2,002
4
votes
5
answers
2k
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Is there a term for the philosophical view that claims nothing exists independently of interaction?
My view is following:
Nothing exists on its own, existence is the property of interaction. But since every interaction is different, I conclude that existence itself is subjective. But then, what ...
- 2,764
4
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3
answers
3k
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Relation between essentialism and realism
One definition of “essentialism” would be that it is a kind of realism of universals with the additional claim that every particular p instantiates a certain universal E which determines its existence....
- 5,175
6
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10
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+100
What is the definition of physical? Is that definition clear enough to make a distinction between physical and non-physical?
Awkwardly synthesizing jobermark's old question Is there a boundary on 'physical'? with my (badly put) question Can physics talk about non-physical entities/concepts, and if not which academic ...
- 4,144
6
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6
answers
6k
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Absolute Truth in Mathematics
Often in philosophical discussions, the concept of absolute truth will be proposed in a metaphysical manner that supposes supreme authority and the absence of exceptions to rules regardless of context....
- 277
2
votes
2
answers
126
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Luck of certainty
Title may be bit confusing but let me explain.
Our existence depends on very small possibilities as a person and as humanity.
There are billions of planets without any living thing but there is life ...
- 123
0
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3
answers
169
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Choosing to believe unfalsifiable hypotheses because of their consequences
Say there are two, mutually exclusive hypotheses A and B. Both are unfalsifiable with current knowledge and technology, but lead to starkly different ontologies. Now say I find the logical ...
- 121
12
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2
answers
4k
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What is an attribute, as used in Spinoza's Ethics?
In Spinoza's Ethics, the definitions of Part 1. include a supposedly all important term: Attribute, defined by Spinoza in the following:
"IV. By attribute, I mean that which the intellect ...
- 305
-2
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2
answers
1k
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How to define a number [closed]
What is the positive real number (say less than one) that is not a rational nor an irrational number?
I have encountered a mathematical problem that confused me about the definition of real numbers,...
- 101
2
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2
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150
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Is the idea of a multiverse considered metaphysics? [duplicate]
I know that metaphysics has to do with the fundamental nature of reality. I am just not sure if a multiverse is considered fundamental
- 345
2
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3
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240
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Why do we tend towards discretizing things around and within us?
Why do we tend towards discretizing things around and within us? Do our senses (for space and time) fool us into this notion all the way into the need for discretizing abstractions themselves, e.g. An ...
- 325
1
vote
3
answers
183
views
Can anything really be called complex?
What makes something complex?
If someones mind can, in reasonable time, understand something considered complex, is it no longer complex?
If it's the brain changing in presence of a complex object, ...
- 203
3
votes
2
answers
3k
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What is Ontological Commitment?
What is Ontological Commitment?
I can infer some understanding from its usage in philosophical texts, but I would like to have a definitive answer to be able to confidently use the notion on my own.
...
- 3,175
2
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3
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766
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What's so speculative in rationalists metaphysics?
From Loux's: Metaphysics: A Contemporary Introduction.
The metaphysical theories of the rationalists, by contrast, were
anything but conservative. In their hands, metaphysics results in
...
- 1,428
3
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5
answers
5k
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Is 'Transcendental' originally a philosophical concept or a theological one?
I had understood 'transcendental' to be religiously inspired terminology and in fact exclusively so, so it came as a surprise to me that it had a philosophical side to it - as a term it was introduced ...
- 48.8k
3
votes
1
answer
180
views
Is there an accepted term for the idea that: “an idea's validity is increased with age”
Is there a field or term which can be used to describe conjecture on the notion that:
The validity of an idea is related to the length of time it has been debated.
Such a field would concern (or, ...
- 161
1
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2
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103
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Is there an accepted term for the idea that: "an idea's validity is increased by the number of proponents"
Is there a field or term which can be used to describe conjecture on the notion that:
The validity of an idea is related to the number of proponents/opponents of the idea.
Such a field would concern ...
- 161
6
votes
4
answers
867
views
If ontology is theory of existence, then what is theory of essence?
Some words in philosophy are usually represented as theory of x. For example, logic is the theory of reasoning, epistemology is the theory of knowledge, ontology is the theory of existence, etc.
On ...
- 1,851
0
votes
1
answer
725
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What is the name of the view that everything is composed of four elements?
What is the view that everything is ultimately composed of four fundamental elements called?
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