filosofis

INTRO METAPHY. Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy  wich questions reality. Why do things and beings exist? What are they? Where do we came from? Our interest in metaphysics is as old as philosophy is. Even the earliest philosophers asked themselves metaphysical questions. Metaphysical doctrines have always been developed to oppose rival doctrines. Therefore, it is important to study opposing metaphysical doctrines at the same time. This will enhance our understanding of their opposing stances. Metaphysics is divided into different cathegories: Unity: is generally regarded as the attribute of a thing whereby it is undivided in itself and yet divided from others. Since it is an ultimate philosophical notion, it cannot be defined strictly. Reality: Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, reality is the totality of a system, known and unknown. Essence: isa designation for the property or set of properties that make an entity or substance what it fundamentally is, and which it has by necessity, and without which it loses its identity.Necessity:is a modal property of a true proposition whereby it is not possible for the proposition to be false and of a false proposition whereby it is not possible for the proposition to be true. Mattter: is that of which things are made, an intrinsic determinable principle whose opposite is form. Plurality:is the position that there is not one consistent means of approaching truths about the world, but rather many. Appearance:what seems to be.

Existence:is the ability of an entity to interact with physical reality. In philosophy, it refers to the ontological property of being. Contingency:is the status of propositions that are neither true under every possible valuation Spirit:the construction of a philosophical system on the remote pattern of the rationalism. By other hand, metaphysical doctrines are: Monism: the doctrine that the person consists of only a single substance, or that there is no crucial difference between mental and physical events or properties. Essentialism:the view that some properties of objects are essential to them. Materialism:the view that all facts (including facts about the human mind and will and the course of human history) are causally dependent upon physical processes, or even reducible to them. Pluralism: is a political philosophy holding that people of different beliefs, backgrounds, and lifestyles can coexist in the same society and participate equally in the political process Existentialism:a modern philosophical movement stressing the importance of personal experience and responsibility and the demands that they make on the individual, who is seen as a free agent in a deterministic and seemingly meaningless universe.Dualism:is the belief that there are two kinds of reality: material (physical) and immaterial (spiritual). In Philosophy of Mind, Dualism is the position that mind and body are in some categorical way separate from each other, and that mental phenomena are, in some respects, non-physical in nature. 

ARISTOTELIAN COSMOLOGY: Aristotle was the first person to attempt to give a rational and systematic explanation of the ordered Universe. This Ancient Greek philosopher was not concerned with explaining observable phenomena; instead, he wanted to develop a model of a Universe wich had a logical order. So, he created a system that incorporated the doctrines proposed by his predecessors in a coherent way, the resulting Unicerse had the following characteristics: FINITE: Aristotle believed that the cosmos had to be finite because “infinite” is synonymous with “incomplete”. Something incomplete cannot have a perfect order. ETERNAL: the cosmos cannot begin at a particular point in time becase otherwise the cosmos would have originated from nothing, FILLED WITH MATTER: there is no void. The void is absolute not-being, and not being cannot be conveived to exist. As a result, the Universe is filled with matter. GEOCENTRIC AND GEOSTATIC: the motionless earth is located at the centre of the cosmos. All other celestial bodies revolve around the Earth IN MOTION: the cosmos has a dynamic order. All changes require a cause: when the cause ceases, the changes stop. DIVIDED INTO TWO SPHERES: the sublunary and supralunary spheres. The sublunary sphere covers the main section of the cosmos, starting at the Earth and reaching the sphere of the Moon, The supralunaty sphere covers the expanse that begins at the sphere of the Moon and ends where the stars are ficed, wich is the outer frontier of the cosmos. Aristotelian physics is not a quantitative science. As a result, it does not include calculations of the movements and positions of planets. 

However, it was obvious to philosophers of the time that the movements of the planets were irregular, this requiered rational explanation. During the 2nd century bc, PTOLEMY tried to link the logical perfection of the Aristotelian model with observable facts. He developed an astronomical model which included precise calculations of the positions and speeds of the stars in the firmament. He described that the universe was geocentric, just as in Aristotle’s model. The orbts were eccentric: they were not perfect orbits and the Earth was not at the centre of them. In addition the planets didn’t move incircular orbits, they moved in orbits known as epicycles, wich, in turn, revolved around the original orbits. The Ptolemaic model of the Universe constitutes the greatest astronomical work in Ancient history. His conclusions were accepted by sciencists and formed the basis of astronomcal investigation for the following 1400 years. The Aristotelian Ptolemaic understanding of nature has unique characteristics: ORCANICISM: The whole Universe is like  a living organism. Each part of the Universe serves a funcion, THe whole is greater than the sum of its parts. FINALISM: all natural changes have a “final cause” an ultimate objective, the changes pursue this objective. In the sublunary sphere, the aim of the natural movements is that every being recovers its corresponding place in the Universe: the Earth at the centre, water around it, the eater and finally fire. In the supralunary shere, all celestial bodies aim to achieve the perfection inherent to higher stars. The sphere of fixed stars aims to achieve the percection of the unmoved mover. 

ANTHROPOCENTRISM: the geocentric quiality of this cosmovision is a form of anthropocentrism. The Earth, the place inwich human beings live, is at the  centre of the universe. HETEROGENEITY: THe Aristotelian cosmos is Not a “Universe” but a “diverse”: it has diverse regions, substances and displays natural movements. The cosmos s divided into two completely different regions. This is due to the composition of both reguibs, as well as the laws that govern them. THE MECHANICAL UNIVERSE: During the 16th century, Nicolaus Coperncus proposed a theory wich contradicted the geocentric model: the heliocentric model. The main characteristics of the Copernican universe are: The sun is motionless and is located at the centre of the universe. The planets revolve around the Sun in circular orbits. The eccentric orbits and epicycles are still used to locate the positions of the planets. The moon revolves around the Earth. The Earth moves in three ways: rotation on its axis, revolution around the Sun and titling of its axis with respect to the ecliptc plane./ With the Earth no longer at the centre of the Universe, people began to think about the world and the role of human beings in a different way. This is because humans no longer held the privileged  position of the geocentric model. / Many people were strictly opposed to  Copernicus theory. In the context of this opposition, the role of Galileo Galilee in providing physical evidence to support Copernican astronomy was key. Galileo proposed that we should: Limit the field of reserch to questions whose answers are verifiable using our sensory experience. Only consider properties that can be analysed and interpreted mathematically, 

such as length, temperature and mass. Improve the quality of scientific instruments, such as the telescope, to enhance the quality of scietific observation. Develop arguments to highlight the errors of geocentric model. JOHANNES KEPLER put an end to the Aristotelian belief that the most perfect geometrical shape was the circle. Kepler’s theory is condensed into the three laws wich carry his name. The first law replaces circular orbits with ellipctical ones. The culmination of the process, wich began with Copernicus, was Isaac Newton’s theory of physics, wich ultimately superceded Aristotelian physics. This new theory  systematised the findings made by Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler./ Newton stated that the law of universal gravitation affected all bodies: oth celestial bodies and those found on the Earth’s surface. It was the first time in history that the concept of a single universe was accepted/ CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MECHANISTIC MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE: MECHANICAL: the universe is composed of particles of matter, They move according to deterministic laws wich can be expressed using mathematics. Only one cause is accepted, the efficient cause, denying the existence of finalism as presented by Aristotle. DETERMINATE: If all physical phenomena are governed by causal laws, once a particular phenomenon  and the causes that generated it are known, it is possible to accurately describe any past or future event. MATHEMATICAL: Mathematics is the only valid means of studying nature. Qualities that cannot be expressed mathematically have not value. HOMOGENEOUS:Nature is governed by principles of simplicity and uniformity. 

REJECTION OF ANTHROPOCENTRISM: In the heliocentric model the Earth revolves around the Sun and it is no longer at the centre of the Universe. A feeling og smallness and insignificance is felt by people who embrace the Copernican model. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD: Learning the scientific method willhelp us to understand how science works. There are two foundamental models of the scientific meotd : the classical and the modern. According tho the CLASSICAL model, it has to phases: INDUCTIVE PHASE: General laws are established using objective data gathered from a process of generalisation. This process must meet three requirements: It must involve a great number of observations. The observations must be madre in a wide range of different circumstances. No statement based on observation may contradict the universal law obtained. DEDUCTIVE PHASE: A universal law is chosen; it is related to a specific case, and an explanation or prediction of a phenomena is made. There are some problems with the classical model of the scientific method: Inductive reasoning lacks necessary solidity, as it is possible to not include observations that contradict the law. The first two requirements are vague : How many observations are enought? What can be considered to be a sufficiently signigicant vatiation in circumstances? Theses weaknesses led scientists and philosophers to come up with a modern model of the scientific method: the hypothetico-deductive-mehod:-Posing a problem: scientific enquiry begins when something seems to be impossible to explain using the knowledge available.-Gathering empirical data: The scientist gathers as much information as he or she can on the apparently inexplicable subject.

-Formulating an explanatory hypothesis: Using the information gathered, the scientist comes up with a possible solution.-Deducing observable consequences: The consequences of the proposed solution are predicted.-Experimental texting: The predicted consequences are cheked against facts in order to validate the proposed hypothesis. THE CRITERIA OF DEMARCATION: Therefore, it became necessary to establish criteria for distinguishing between what is a scientific discipline and what is not. VERIFICATIONISM: states that the only theories that are verified through experiments can be considered scientific. The verification of a scientfic law or theory consists of proving that what is established is true in all cases under consideration.However, this is impossible to prove even forn laws and theories that ono one would deny as being scientific. FALSIFICATIONISM: is based on the idea that, although we cannot verify or prove scientific laws or theories  indisputably, it is possible to prove that they are conclusively false through experience. According to falsifications, scientific hypotheses should be able to be proven false. Falsificationsim solves the problems wich make verificationsim unviable.However, we have to admit that we will never know whether accepted scientific laws and theories are raelly true or not. The only thing we can be sure about is that current laws and theories are improvements on their predecessors.