PHL - Metaphysics Lesson
Metaphysics
There is existence, or rather our phenomenal experience of the world confirms that things exist, and that their existence is non-necessary because we notice that things come into existence and pass out of it. Contingent existence cannot arise unless it is made necessary by a cause. A causal chain in reality must culminate in one un-caused cause because one cannot posit an actual infinite regress of causes (a basic axiom of Aristotelian science). Therefore, the chain of contingent existents must culminate in and find its causal principle in a sole, self-subsistent existent that is Necessary.
- Ibn Sina (Metaphysics)
Metaphysics: the branch of philosophy that examines the true nature of reality, whether visible or invisible; it includes the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, and, fact and value.
Metaphysics was once called "natural philosophy" and the connotation is that it is the study of the nature of our environment. A branch of metaphysics leads to scientific discovery. Another branch asks the big questions about our reality:
Where did we come from?
Is there a purpose or design to reality?
What happens when we die?
Metaphysics presents an inquiry into topics that also concern religion, but philosophy does not advocate, it merely examines. Read the following essay in which a philosopher explores the philosophical notions related to our origins. The question here is "nothing" a possible state of reality.
Reading Assignment: "The Metaphysics of Nothing"
Click here to read the essay "The Metaphysics of Nothing". Links to an external site.
Reading Assignment: The Allegory of the Cave by Plato
The final topic in this module is a famous scenario described by a famous philosopher. Plato was a student of Socrates and a teacher to Aristotle. He lived 2,400 years ago, yet his writings still set a standard for philosophical discourse. His most famous work is titled The Republic. This philosophical treatise is written as a dialogue, a discussion, in which thought on various subjects is revealed. The premise of The Republic is to establish the proper education for a philosopher-king. In Book VII, Plato tries to explain his perception of reality through an allegory. Obviously, this concerns metaphysical questions as well as epistemological ones. The Allegory of the Cave illustrates the interconnectedness of ideas.
Click here to read Book VII of Plato's Republic. As you read the Allegory of the Cave, try to make a mental picture of the cave Plato describes. Better yet, why not draw a picture of it and refer to it as you read the selection. In many ways, understanding Plato's Allegory of the Cave will make your foray into the world of philosophical thought much less burdensome.
The Allegory presents, in brief form, most of Plato's major philosophical assumptions: his belief that the world revealed by our senses is not the real world but only a poor copy of it, and that the real world can only be apprehended intellectually; his idea that knowledge cannot be transferred from teacher to student, but rather that education consists in directing student's minds toward what is real and important and allowing them to apprehend it for themselves; his faith that the universe ultimately is good; his conviction that enlightened individuals have an obligation to the rest of society, and that a good society must be one in which the truly wise are the rulers.
The Matrix develops a science fiction plot based on Plato's allegory.
In the film, the humans trapped in the Matrix are like the people in the cave. They see only what the machines want them to see, but they believe they see reality as it really is. They accept what their senses tell them as all that exists. Neo suspects that this is all a lie, but he's not sure how the Matrix works. Morpheus, who runs the resistance to the Matrix, brings Neo into the Resistance, believing that Neo is the person who has been foreseen by the Oracle to be able to defeat the Matrix.
Watch the film clip below.
In the next film clip, Morpheus explains an apocalyptic scenario that mirrors the situation of the prisoners in the cave. View the video below.
Later, Neo is taken to see the Oracle. Watch the video below.
In the movie, there is a character, Cypher, who decides to ignore reality and subsume his reality in the matrix. He exclaims, "Ignorance is bliss."
RESOURCES IN THIS MODULE ARE OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES (OER) OR CREATED BY GAVS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED. SOME IMAGES USED UNDER SUBSCRIPTION.