Metaphysical Concepts: Ontology, Epistemology, and God

Posted on Dec 16, 2024 in Philosophy and ethics

Metaphysical Knowledge

Topics in Metaphysics

  • The truth, knowledge, soul, God, good, evil, freedom, reality, death, the meaning of life, etc.
  • Metaphysics is “the science that seeks” and studies knowledge which is not science.

Large Regions of Metaphysical Knowledge

  • Ontology: theory of reality in general
  • Gnoseology or theory of knowledge: theory of the knowing subject
  • Ethics: Theory of human action

Ontology

  • The material object is the set of all beings.
  • The formal purpose is to study what they all have in common: to be.

Problems of Ontology

From the field of physics or social science, concepts are used or entities that may be considered real or unreal.

Ontology and Epistemology

First Task: Clarify Terms

  • Categories: are the fundamental concepts that allow us to think, sort, and classify things.
  • Be: has two meanings. One refers to existence. The other is to describe the relationship that exists between subject and predicate.
  • Entity: a word derived from Greek Ontos, which is, things, people. An entity (or entity) is something that exists in some way.
  • Substance / accident: The substance is what has an independent existence, and the accident is a quality; you need a substance to exist.
  • Matter / form: matter is understood as what something is made of, while form is its structure.
  • Essence / existence: The essence is the set of notes necessary for a thing to be what it is. Existence is the way that content, its essence, is in reality.
  • Cause and effect: Cause is what leads to something, and the effect is the result of a cause. Every movement, every change depends on a cause.

The Transition from Ontology to Epistemology

  • Real: is something that exists independently of whether anyone is experiencing or knowing.
  • The pair of concepts real / unreal introduces the second part of metaphysics, epistemology, or theory of knowledge.
  • The emergence of consciousness introduces a new way of reality.
  • We must distinguish between: real people, consciousness, and intentional beings that exist in the consciousness.

God as an Ontological Problem

The Study of God

  • Theology is the science that deals with God.
  • There is a supernatural theology, based on experiences or revelations, and a natural theology (based on reason).

The Problem of the Existence of God

Given this problem, there are different positions:

  • Atheism: denial of the existence of God.
  • Theism: asserting the existence of God.
  • Pantheism: identification of the whole of reality with God.
  • Agnosticism: inability to know anything certain about the existence or nonexistence of God.


Astonishment of the Existence of Reality

  • The shock of something existing is the origin of the God question.
  • Philosophy can state the need to support an existence that asserts itself.

First Philosophy

  • Aristotle called ontology “first philosophy” because it had to study the fundamental principles of all reality.
  • Throughout history, we have tried to base that “first philosophy” on real people, in conscience, or God.

Methods and Models of Philosophical Knowledge

Mayeutic Method

  • Dialogue is directed wisely, under the rules of correct human reasoning.
  • The truth is reached through dialogue and reasoned arguments.

Physical Method (Empirical)-Rational

Argues that, in the search for truth, we must start from outside experience: the physical data collected by our senses. (Preponderance of experience)

Rational Method

Defends the primacy of reason in the justification of knowledge. We must find a truth to start from, and from it extract others.

Empirical Method

For Hume, there are two kinds of truth: truths of reason (deduction) and truths of fact (empirical and intuition). These, which are the source of knowledge, can never be definitively proven.

Transcendental Method

Kant starts from a critical analysis that reviews the possibilities of rational knowledge itself. His explanation is based on a synthesis of empiricism and rationalism.

Methods and Models of Philosophical Knowledge (II)

Analytic-Linguistic Approach

For Wittgenstein, the mission of philosophy is to clarify and explain the uses of language, and its limits and possibilities.

Hermeneutic Method

Hermeneutical technique becomes a philosophical method to interpret any human phenomenon.

Criteria of Truth

Basic Criteria

  • Objective, comprehensive, systematic, and adjusted descriptions.
  • Well-defined concepts.
  • To test the theories.
  • Internal and External Consistency.
  • Ability to criticize and to resolve critical issues.
  • Their findings may also be subject to criticism.