metaphysics

Okay guys this is my journal that I am working on for proving the existence on phenomena that has occurred, and how it is likely to have happened it is 35000 words and it is still growing and being edited. I am honestly probably not 20% done. <SNIP> Paper is here -...

Hello, everybody! I've been studying a lot of political philosophy and have combined several elements of various philosophies into one which I think is both reasonable and practical. I'd love to hear constructive criticism, so without further ado: When asked to describe Objectivism whilst...

Hi, First, i'm not sure if this is the right board. I honestly don't think of the social-sciences as proper sciences like physics and chemistry, but rather socially-constructed histories that reflect the spirit of the day in which they are written. From that perspective I find that there are...

Can we be "certain" whether or not supernatural realities exist or do not exist? Hi. I saw this post: But do you live with "uncertainty" about whether or not there exist supernatural realities, that is, realities that are not bound by the laws of physical reality, non-physical modes of...

Inspired by this... I have an explanatory model for the experiences I've had that I also use to make predictions about future experiences. This model looks like the world as proposed by materialists but I am not a materialist. Neither am I an idealist nor a solipsist. These are all...

Can we consider metaphysics part of philosophy? I found this paragraph in a letter written by Hermon von Helmholtz in 1902 that suggests that it is not. “In my opinion nothing has been so pernicious to philosophy as its repeated confusion with metaphysics. The latter has played much the same...

TLDR I'd like this to remain in religion philosophy, as the metaphysical arguments (I believe) are valid, and the implications (Does God exist if this is valid? What religions or doctrines may support the idea?) may lead to some interesting discussions. It seems fair to qualify the...

Why materialism ? Well, a few days back our esteemed member UndercoverElephant implied that I cannot accept this dualistic ideas because I'm a materialist. Well, that's tautological, but what he actually said is that I cannot accept the idea that there is something as "free will" because I'm a...

I'm sure that Philosophy has greatly benefitted from the study of metaphysics because Aristotle was a student of thei branch of scence but is this really science or just woo?

Dumbest question ever asked...

In this thread, mslxl and Paul C. Anagnostopoulos had the following exchange: mslxl later dismissed the response, I think unfairly: So, Paul, I'd like to hear why and, if you wish, provide an opportunity for rebuttal. I also wonder if your position is similar mine. I've been influenced...

An interesting point came up over here, relating to the nature of the 'spiritual', and in particular my metaphysical beliefs. I posted a brief overview on my worldview, which I replicate below. This was in response to a wonderful post by Jackalgirl, which I replicate below in its entirety...

I consider myself a Buddhist, but I'm also a skeptic. I'm part of a community of skeptical buddhists, here: http://www.sasana.org/ Most Buddhists, however, are not skeptics. They literally believe in the metaphysical baggage of Buddhism, which is different, better or worse, dependent on the...

*Warning this thread contains woo woo garb. Last night on "30 Days", the show plotted an atheist in the home of staunch christians. The show had none of the Jerry Springer-type outbreaks with one side throwing stuff or yelling at the other, but I did have hope when the atheist attended a bible...

The rather lengthy thread on science and materialism solidified an issue I've had with metaphysics for awhile. Before you can consider a metaphysical position, you have to define some terms. You have to be careful not to define the terms so as to beg the question (mind is separate from brain...

(the original subject of this thread has been deleted)

Rather than hijacking another thread (again), I thought start a new thread to ask a question about one of Ian's posts. This first sentince cought my attention so I looked up the definition of metaphysical, because I thought Ian's usage here was odd. Fairly certain, he wasn't using the fourth...