Metaphysics means nothing but an unusually obstinate effort to
thinkclearly.
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Ptolemy... against the champions of this or that cosmology of the heavens... had dared to claim that it is legitimate to interpret the facts of astronomy by the simplest geometrical scheme which will 'save the phenomena,' no matter whose Metaphysics might be upset. His conception of the physical structure of the earth, however, prevented him from carrying through in earnest this principle of relativity, as his objections to the hypothesis that the earth moves amply show.
ptolemyA more detailed, but still uncontroversial comprehensive, definition is that philosophy is rationally critical thinking, of a more or less systematic kind about the general nature of the world (Metaphysics or theory of existence), the justification of belief (epistemology or theory of knowledge), and the conduct of life (ethics or theory of value). Each of these three elements...
Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct, but to find these reasons is no less an instinct.
Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct; but to find these reasons is no less an instinct.
f. h. bradleyMetaphysics — what Metaphysics do those trees have?
patrick swiftMetaphysics has as the proper object of its enquiries three ideas only: God, freedom, and immortality.
Immanuel KantLook, there's no Metaphysics on earth like chocolates.
fernando pessoaScience cannot exist without some small portion of Metaphysics.
And Coleridge, too, has lately taken wing, But, like a hawk encumbered with his hood, Explaining Metaphysics to the nation I wished he would explain his explanation.
RochdaleI think Metaphysics is good if it improves everyday life; otherwise forget it.
The Metaphysics of substance. The strange feeling which comes over us when we sense: this is skin – this is bone – all in a single vision that is completely unearthly. The dreaminess of our existence mixed at the same time with the indescribably sweet illusion of reality.
max beckmannThe mathematical framework of quantum theory has passed countless successful tests and is now universally accepted as a consistent and accurate description of all atomic phenomena. The verbal interpretation, on the other hand – i.e., the Metaphysics of quantum theory – is on far less solid ground. In fact, in more than forty years physicists have not been able to provide a clear metaphysical model.
fritjof capraAnd Coleridge, too, has lately taken wing, But, like a hawk encumber'd with his hood, Explaining Metaphysics to the nation – I wish he would explain his Explanation.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeThe way towards ' wisdom ' or towards ' freedom ' is the way towards your inner being. This is the simplest definition of Metaphysics .
mircea eliadeIn the metaphysical elements of aesthetics the various nonmoral feelings are to be made use of; in the elements of moral Metaphysics the various moral feelings of men, according to the differences in sex, age, education, and government, of races and climates, are to be employed.
Immanuel KantIt has never been in my power to study anything, mathematics, ethics, Metaphysics, gravitation, thermodynamics, optics, chemistry, comparative anatomy, astronomy, psychology, phonetics, economics, the history of science, whist, men and women, wine, metrology, except as a study of semeiotic .
charles sanders peirceMany agnostics (including myself) are quite as doubtful of the body as they are of the soul, but this is a long story taking one into difficult Metaphysics. Mind and matter alike, I should say, are only convenient symbol in discourse, not actually existing things.
bertrand russellPeople wonder why the novel is the most popular form of literature; people wonder why it is read more than books of science or books of Metaphysics. The reason is very simple; it is merely that the novel is more true than they are.
Now these two questions Does there exist a material reality distinct from sensible appearances? and What is the nature of reality? do not have their source in experimental method, which is acquainted only with sensible appearances and can discover nothing beyond them. The resolution of these questions transcends the methods used by physics; it is the object of Metaphysics. Therefore, if the aim of physical theories is to explain experimental laws, theoretical physics is not an autonomous science; it is subordinate to Metaphysics.
pierre duhemGod is growth, God is structure/knowledge, God is everything and nothing simultaneously. And, rather heretically for the Abrahamic religions, to perceive i.e. to cognate i.e. to be of matter i.e. to be structured energy generating a gravimetric field is an aspect of God relating to another aspect of God through light, which is of course God. In this, the underlying Metaphysics are most definitely Pandeist.
I was thrown out of college for cheating on the Metaphysics exam: I looked into the soul of another boy.
woody allenPtolemy... against the champions of this or that cosmology of the heavens... had dared to claim that it is legitimate to interpret the facts of astronomy by the simplest geometrical scheme which will 'save the phenomena,' no matter whose Metaphysics might be upset. His conception of the physical structure of the earth, however, prevented him from carrying through in earnest this principle of relativity, as his objections to the hypothesis that the earth moves amply show.
Madame de Staël thought it was pride in man to endevour to penetrate the secret of the universe; and speaking of the higher Metaphysics she said: "I prefer the Lord's Prayer to it all."
Hinduism has produced the profoundest Metaphysics that we know of.