If I were to ask you what metaphysics means, what would your answer be? What comes to mind?
I suspect words like metaphysic fairs, fortune tellers, or new age, may come to mind, but while this can relate to metaphysics, I’m more speaking of the philosophy overall.
Metaphysics is an area of philosophy that seeks to understand our existence, the reality in which we live, and the nature of reality and all that exists within it. This is the field that questions time and perception, what consciousness is and whether it is separate form the brain, whether we have free will, how we can interact with the energy around us, and so on.
Due to the nature of metaphysics and what it can encompass, a definitive definition can be a little tough to pin down. The exact meaning of metaphysics can vary depending on who you talk to as it’s a rather abstract concept. I have come to describe it as being what empiricism is not. I’m not sure how that came to be, but I suspect it’s due to my view of it being the counterbalance to what is not abstract and what empiricism can make tangible sense of.
There is a healthy respect for empiricism, especially with a preference and tendency to seek supported data and facts before daring to make a determination or decision; however, I love metaphysics for all the potential it holds.
Unanswered questions mean there are unknowns to be contemplated, to let the imagination go wild on, knowledge that is not yet tapped into, much like that perfect, untouched snow after a heavy snowfall.
In this unexplored realm lies metaphysics, that darkness that begins at the edge of what we are already privileged to know. Metaphysics is the word my inner child whispers as she gazes in awe into that deceptively empty abyss that we instinctively sense contains such precious secrets, many of which we are unlikely to even begin to comprehend exists.
Ahhh, metaphysics!
I know so very little about it, which makes it even more exciting to learn.
During the day, I study psychology, from the biology of the brain, how the body influences our cognition, and how our cognition influences our perception to how we learn and how our emotions are influenced by our environment and biology, and so on.
At night it is my time to play. Night is the time to dream and dabble in the moonlit playground that is metaphysics.
Yes, I do believe this may be a good place to start!