graph TD
accTitle: Subdisciplines of philosophy
accDescr: A diagram showing Philosophy connected to six subdisciplines: Ethics, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Axiology, Aesthetics, and Logic.
P[Philosophy] --> E[Ethics]
P --> M[Metaphysics]
P --> EP[Epistemology]
P --> Ax[Axiology]
P --> Aes[Aesthetics]
P --> Log[Logic]
classDef magenta fill:#fcb1fc,stroke:#990099,color:#000;
class M magenta;
What is Metaphysics?
metaphysics
NoteDefinition. Philosophy
Philosophy is the systematic and critical study of the fundamental questions about existence (metaphysics), arguments (logic), prudential values (axiology / value theory), moral values (ethics), beauty (aesthetics), knowledge (epistemology), and language.
Some classic philosophical questions include:
- What exists?
- What makes an argument good or bad?
- What makes life worth living? What kinds of things make a life go better?
- What is the meaning of life?
- What types of actions are morally wrong?
- Is beauty objective or subjective?
- What can we know?
- Do names directly refer to their objects or do they refer via a description of that object’s characteristics?
One branch of philosophy is Metaphysics.
NoteDefinition. Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that investigates the most fundamental and general aspects of reality by clarifying and evaluating propositions about the status, nature, structure, and origin of what exists.
There are three main branches of metaphysics:
- Cosmology – the study of the world as a totality. Some questions include:
- Is the world one or many?
- Is the world contingent or a necessity?
- Why is there something rather than nothing?
- Cosmogony – the origin of the universe and objects in the universe. Some questions include:
- How did existence come to be?
- What are the implications of scientific theory on the origin of the world?
- Do we need to assume an intelligent designer or creator?
- Ontology – the study of the most basic kinds of things that exist and the properties of these kinds of things
graph TD
accTitle: Subdisciplines of Ontology
accDescr: A diagram showing Philosophy connected to six subdisciplines, but most importantly highlighting that Cosmology, Cosmogony, and Ontology are subdisciplines of Metaphysics.
P[Philosophy] --> E[Ethics]
P --> M[Metaphysics]
P --> EP[Epistemology]
P --> Ax[Axiology]
P --> Aes[Aesthetics]
P --> Log[Logic]
M --> C[Cosmology]
M --> CG[Cosmogony]
M --> O[Ontology]
classDef magenta fill:#fcb1fc,stroke:#990099,color:#000;
classDef lightorange fill:#ffefa1,stroke:#990099,color:#000;
class M lightorange;
class C magenta;
class CG magenta;
class O lightorange;
Ontology
Ontology is the study of what is (the basic kinds of things that exist) and the nature of what is (the basic properties of the basic things that exist).
NoteDefinition. Ontology
Ontology is the study of the most fundamental (basic) type of things that exist and their nature (e.g., their number and characteristics).
TipExercise
Under our preliminary definition of ontology, ontology is a study of what exists. Create a table with three columns using the following headers: “Exists,” “Does not exist,” and “Maybe exists.” Next, complete the table by placing the following objects in the correct column: tables, atoms, human beings, the number 5, the solar system, unicorns, mermaids, Zeus, the Loch Ness Monster, dragons, abstract objects (numbers, propositions), possible worlds, God, consciousness, free will, aliens, Bigfoot, time travel, parallel universes, sentient AI.
Clarifying ontology
Ontology …
- studies kinds of things that exist (tables in general), not just anything that exists (this particular table).
- studies basic kinds of things that exist (composite objects), not just any kind of thing (tables).
- investigates the necessary properties of the most basic kinds of things that exist: what traits does an object have to have in order to be a member of the kind?
- investigates whether some list of necessary properties is sufficient for being a member in such-and-such basic kind: is being a polygon and four-sided sufficient for being a square? is being a polygon, and four-sided, and have equal sides sufficient for being a square?
- studies the properties of the necessary properties of the most basic kinds of things that exist: if \(A\) must be material to be a person, then what does it mean to be material?
graph TD
accTitle: Characterization of Ontology
accDescr: A diagram where Ontology points to the nodes: (1) what exists, (2) basic kinds, (3) properties of those kinds, and (4) properties of properties.
P[Philosophy] --> M[Metaphysics]
M --> C[Cosmology]
M --> CG[Cosmogony]
M --> O[Ontology]
O --> P1["What exists"]
O --> P2["Basic kinds"]
O --> P3["Properties of those kinds"]
O --> P4["Properties of properties"]
TipExercise
Philosophers often try to find what properties are necessary for an object to be a member of a basic kind of thing. That is, what properties must something have to be that type of thing. They also want to create a list of all of the necessary properties such that if an object has all of those properties, then it is guaranteed to be a member of that basic type of thing. Let’s practice this! Create a list of all of the properties something must have in order to be a pen. Once that is complete, answer the questions below.
- Can anything be a pen without having one of the properties on your list? If so, then the property is not necessary and so needs to be removed from your list.
- Can something have all of the properties on your list but fail to be a pen? If so, then your list is not sufficient (does not guarantee membership) and so you need to modify your list in some way, e.g., by adding more properties.
TipExtra-Credit.
Listen to one of three episodes from the podcast (Philosophy Bytes: https://philosophybites.com/episodes/):
- Janet Radcliffe Richards on What is Philosophy?
- Emily Thomas on Wildly Implausible Metaphysics
- Kit Fine on What is Metaphysics?
Then write five things that stand out to you from the podcast. Put them in bullet-point format and bring the paper with you next time.