Philosophy Stack Exchange
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Questions tagged [metaphysics]

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the essence of things, of the fundamental nature of being and the world and the principles that organize the universe. Metaphysics is supposed to answer the question "What is the nature of reality?"

There is no universal definition of metaphysics, since it covers the broadest aspects of the universe, reality, and being. Metaphysics is traditionally subdivided into , the theory of being in itself, and , the theory describing the origin and structure of the universe.
Aristotle divided metaphysics into , , and .

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Why is there something instead of nothing?

The "something" means the whole Universe (known and unknown). It would include all the multiverses and such. It could be represented as the “reality” version of the set of all sets, which is itself debated. A better version of the whole Universe…
Geoffroy CALA
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What is the difference between metaphysics and ontology?

I know that ontology is a sub-field of metaphysics. But I can't see the difference between them. I mean ontology is defined as "The study of being and existence", and metaphysics is defined as "fundamental nature of being and the world"; is there a…
wajed
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Why does the universe obey scientific laws?

As far as anyone is aware, the universe consistently acts according to predictable laws (and scientific inquiry exists to determine those laws). Is there any metaphysical reason for this? Is such a question even answerable? EDIT: I think my question…
That Guy
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Why has the philosophy of Bishop Berkeley fallen out of favor in academic philosophy?

I studied George Berkeley as an undergraduate, and though I absolutely loved his work and his philosophy, many of my peers, and even some of my professors, found his philosophy wholly unappealing, even worth mocking. My school offered full classes…
dimo414
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Is there anything that is totally random?

When I say totally random, I mean absolutely random, not pseudorandom. If I want to say "totally random" numbers such as 1,26,17,4,1 and 27, although I see them to be totally random, they aren't. These are numbers that I think are influenced by my…
Garmen1778
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Fundamental idea on proving God's existence with science

I think that proving God's existence or any deity from any culture with the rigors of science is fundamentally absurd. The popular arguments usually involve space-time and the big bang theory. (I have a layperson's understanding of those ideas).…
TheLast Cipher
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Can time exist without change?

Imagine an event of one second in length, like two hands clapping. Suppose that another interval of time elapses between the clap, a period in which nothing happens in the whole universe (or in all universes). You and your hands stand still, and…
Francesco D'Isa
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Is it possible for something to have no cause?

Bertrand Rusell writes in his essay "Why I Am Not A Christian": There is no reason why the world could not have come into being without a cause; [...] Warren Rachelle, however, states in his response: To simply state that "there is no reason why…
eflorico
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What was Cantor's philosophical reason for accepting the infinite but rejecting the infinitesimal?

I have begun inquiring recently into mathematical aspects of Georg Cantor's theory of transfinite numbers and sets, which he developed between the years of 1874 and 1897. Throughout his theory, Cantor captured the so called actual infinity and thus…
L.M. Student
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What is the difference between naturalism and materialism?

What is the difference between naturalism and materialism, if any? I see definitions of naturalism that say, in effect, it is the belief that there is no supernatural. But what is the supernatural other than that which is not natural, which seems…
David Lewis
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What are some criticisms of Epicurus' "death is nothing to us"?

Epicurus famously asserted that death should not be feared, with roughly the following argument: When we die, we no longer exist; Since we no longer exist, we can feel neither pain nor pleasure. Rather, we simple "are not"; Therefore, there is…
commando
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What is information?

I am fascinated with information theory, as put together by Claude Shannon in the 1940s. It is amazing to me that this concept arose from analysing letters in the alphabet and then was later abstracted to black holes. But what I find lacking is the…
Bell App Lab
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How can something come from nothing?

In our current state of affairs, it is safe and reasonable to assume something exists, be it a universe, pure consciousness, an illusion, or some other designation. If some readers nevertheless claim something does not exist right now, then this…
Saul
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Does True Randomness actually exist?

I tend to think of randomness as a lack of complete information when it comes to knowing something. If we look at the history of probability theory it centers on a lack of knowing the exact outcome of certain games/gambling bets. This I have no…
Pete1187
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Is there a reason to believe that our universe obeys internally consistent rules?

I'm coming at this from the POV of a physicist. Physics demonstrates that the universe does not feel any obligation to follow a humans naive idea of what makes sense. This idea of what "makes sense" was developed for surviving in a Newtonian world,…
Clumsy cat
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