met·a·phys·ics
/ˈmedəˌfiziks/ noun
the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.
“they would regard the question of the initial conditions for the universe as belonging to the realm of metaphysics or religion”
Meta-Metaphysics of Metaphysics.. physics.
Metaphysics, there I said it again. It’s just as hard to describe what “it” is or represents, as it is to understand what the purpose of thinking is, in and of itself.
Brutal.
In its present state, metaphysics is represented in question form. I.e
- What is an object?
- What does it mean for an object to have “properties”?
- What does it mean to say “I never said she stole my money”
- What is the source and nature of time? You get the idea.
Moreover, the term metaphysics didn’t always have the same meaning that it does today. Making it difficult to really pin down the subject as a concept. In the “old-world”, metaphysics was the study of -first things-. This can be seen by the great thinkers of the ancient world in works such as Plato’s Forms or the idea of The Prime Mover by Aristotle. Whereby, they were trying to find the essence of an object or a thing. I find this idea fascinating; and is somewhat of a driving force in my own exploration of broader ontology and emergence. This is somewhat of the antithesis of Physics and the study of the “real world”, in so far as our observance of things and exploration of their mechanics vs. the nature/existence of the reality from which those things reside.
Here is how I wrap my head around it: We have a perfectly good model for the beginning of the universe. Correct? So far, we are pretty damn sure that all of creation sprung forth from “the big bang”. Our modern day physics can carry us forward through all of time and space and matter and energy and any other such question about the substance/rules of reality, but those rules have to be afforded one single miracle at the very beginning in order to work. We can approximate the forces and systems that would have allowed for such an event, but we cannot explain the nature of the universe in its current form nor can we ideate its beginning using few, if any, of those rules. Thus, we are left with the “pre-physics” of our reality, and so far all way have is -questions-.
There. Done?