It is not at all miscellaneous. There are different schools of thought with a different definition of the object. At the fringes there will be there will be disagreement, just like there is with all categorization. — Tobias
As an Umbrella term Metaphysics means nothing more than any philosophical effort that deals with claims beyond the current limits of our epistemology.
So by defintion (μετα- φυσική/after we are done with Physika (modern Science) any claim that isn't answer by our currently epistemology is a metaphysical claims.
Now they are Philosophical Metaphysical claims i.e. why(teleological) questions on human behavior and pseudo Metaphysical claims i.e. why(teleological) question on Natural workings.
-"Is that post directed to Mr. Smith or me?"( Well it is simple because we can not include all the scenarios in a generalization.)
-Not sure I think it was for you.
-'You take an everyday definition of imagination. That is not what I am talking about. We do not need to imagine aliens to account for rules of evidence. This is the STEP definition: "To imagine is to represent without aiming at things as they actually, presently, and subjectively are. One can use imagination to represent possibilities other than the actual, to represent times other than the present, and to represent perspectives other than one's own.""
-No those were just real life examples of what imagination can produce. I never offered a definition on Imagination.
Imagination is our ability to make "unorthodox" connections between facts and arrive to ingenious conclusions and perspectives.
-"Imagination played a role in the history of philosophy and means something like: to imprint. We need that to order impressions we get from sense data and literally 'make sense' of them. We need it to form ourselves a world. You skip this whole conundrum between the rationalists and empiricists and just put your eggs in the empiricist basket."
-You need to understand that Imagination includes many different mind properties that when combine we identify the result as imaginative. But those properties alone and their contributions are far from not making the cut and being recognized as imaginative.
The fact is that empirical input is fundamental for every single one of them. In addition to that, in order for imagination be be epistemically or philosophical or logically valuable....the produced results still need to be objectively evaluated.
This is why I insist in the fundamental nature of our Observations and Objective verifications.
This is a good like to check all those different types of imagination...and what we call imagination.
https://www.teachthought.com/learning/types-of-imagination/
Imagination played a role in the history of philosophy and means something like: to imprint. We need that to order impressions we get from sense data and literally 'make sense' of them. We need it to form ourselves a world. You skip this whole conundrum between the rationalists and empiricists and just put your eggs in the empiricist basket. — Tobias
-No no no I don't deny that........I only point out that those eggs NEED to be put in a basket or else you can not distinquish a mad man from an imaginative one.
We certainly need imagination when drafting criteria for what counts as evidence. Accepting something as evidence entails counter factual reasoning: given information that points to a situation being a situation of Y, can it still be a situation of X? Or does this information conclusively prove Y? — Tobias
-Not that much, what we mainly need is Symbolic Language (a capability of our Lateral Thalamus ), our ability to observe and reason. Sure If you equate abstract thinking with Imagination, then I can accept your claim, but then again imagination is defined as something more than a basic mental capability.
I think that you need to define the term without including every mental properties that happens to process symbolic language.
There are no 'rules of reality'. there is not rulebook given from the sky to tell you what reality is or isn't. — Tobias
The rules of reality are not prescribed if you think that this is what my phrase implies(I thought it was obvious). We as agents describe the emergent rules that natural processes produce. i.e. there is a reason why you can only exit your appartment by using a door or a window.
The electromagnetic cohesion of molecules produce this "rule" and you need to take it in to respect it in your everyday interactions.
especially since reality itself is a purely abstract concept devoid of any material content. — Tobias
-You are confusing the map with the territory. The term "reality" is a concept, but rules about this reality are facts and their properties that are a part of the territory.
Moreover, you are incoherent on your own terms because you define imagination contrary to reality. — Tobias
-No I didn't. My point was really simple. Any claim based on imagination needs to be verified by what we see in reality....Imagination can be a really good way to connect pieces and arrive to new information that are true about reality, but without objective verification they are useless.
GrEAT EXAMPLES:
Einstein's imaginative idea on relativity was accepted AFTER the english astronomer verified it objectively through empirical means.
Peter Higgs imaginative idea on a Bozon was verified 60 years after CERN verified the energetic footprint of that particle.
You need to understand that imagination is nothing without Objective verification....well it is something we call it...."crazy people".
-"Without imagination you as an artist would be out of business as well, so they seem equally important. It does not make sense to prioritize one over the other. As Kant stated: "Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions (sense impressions TA) without concepts are blind."
-Of course they are equally important in my work but not equally fundamental. Without objective verification and compatibility to reality's rules, those ideas are useless.
Let me put it differently.
The imaginative nature of an idea (how wild or how fancy or how amazing it sounds) bares no weight in how epistemically or instrumentaly valuable it is. The quality by which we make this evaluation is Objective verification...not Imagination.(only is movies !).
After we evaluate an idea as knowledgeable or wise...then can see the important role in it.
But that is like drawing a circle around the arrow. For every imaginative idea that hit the bulls eye they are thousands that led their creators at stray, because they denied the role of objective verification.
Not all axioms and principles are the product of piecing things together in unusual orders. Some are just descriptions of our ability to use symbolic language.
Because you measure advance in metaphysics with the wrong yardstick. You want them to be displayed by evidence. However, metaphysics (epistemology) questions when evidence needs to be given, what can count as evidence, under what circumstances etc. Metaphysics informs our worldview and therefore questioning it from a certain worldview will lead to failure. You are asking the wrong question. As for "our Philosophy", I have no idea what you mean. Philosophy is not yours. Your division between history of philosophy and philosophy displays something else. An unhistorical view of philosophy, i.e., what is shown is your metaphysics. You think the history of a certain something is unimportant for the determination of that certain something, a claim I would contest. — Tobias
-No No No. Metaphysics is the way for adding frameworks in to our Philosophy or Science...this is the only goal of metaphysics. If that wasn't its goal...then we would be talking about Hollywood scenarios or religious dogmas.......
-"Metaphysics informs our worldview and therefore questioning it from a certain worldview will lead to failure."
-Only if they can arrive to wise conclusions (epistemically verified) one can then justify them as informative.
Metaphysics is what we do in science and philosophy in order to expand our epistemology or wisdom.
You seem to believe that metaphysics is a way to use Philosophy as an excuse for accepting unfounded worldviews(correct me if I am wrong).
Its not I who uses a wrong yardstick, you are ignoring the standards and criteria of what claim or question qualifies as philosophical or not.
-"You want them to be displayed by evidence. However, metaphysics (epistemology) questions when evidence needs to be given, what can count as evidence, under what circumstances etc."
-Again not true. Metaphysics is what we do when we lack the evidence. But our starting point must ALWAYS be inside our established epistemology, free from logical fallacies and in agreement with Logic.
Evidences are necessary only when a metaphysical conclusion attempts to become Philosophy (wise claims) or Science (Knowledge).
If it remains with unknown an unknown epistemic value, it can never be acknowledge for its wisdom so it will remain metaphysical for the time being.
Metaphysical worldviews are the claims that "cheated" and forced their way in Frameworks. They took advantage of human existential and epistemic anxieties and they enjoyed a spot in Philosophy for many years pretending to offer wisdom or knowledge about the world.
Science and Logic have change that.
As for "our Philosophy", I have no idea what you mean. Philosophy is not yours. — Tobias
Our Philosophy refers to this human construction, a methodology(s) by which we are able to arrive to wise claims. Metaphysical claims that do not have that capability are not part of our Philosophy....like frameworks that have unverified knowledge value are not part of our Science.
-" Your division between history of philosophy and philosophy displays something else. An unhistorical view of philosophy, i.e., what is shown is your metaphysics."
First its not mine division. Chronicling (reproducing philosophical claims) is not Philosophy.
Mario Bunge in his book "Philosophy in Crisis", outlines the problem of many people using Historical "statements" as an Argument from Authority fallacy to reproduce unwise metaphysical conclusions.
Its like having Alchemists claiming Alchemy to be scientific just because it is part of Chemistry's History.
Philosophical claims SHOULD rise and fall on their own merits.
Nobody is really an expert in metaphysical opinions so we should never accept metaphysical claims of the past just because their author is a celebrity now. Metaphysics refers to opinions that are currently unfalsifiable, because they go beyond our current knowledge by definition.
Those claims that originate from our epistemology and respect Logic are more credible and this is the only evaluation we can do. If we are able to verify the claim it self, then its no longer metaphysical but epistemical and this is the ultimate goal for evvery metaphysical claims.
-"You think the history of a certain something is unimportant for the determination of that certain something, a claim I would contest."
No I think, like in the case of imagination, we can only verify which historical claims are philosophical or not through their ability to be produce wisdom while they are supported by knowledge.
History alone is not a sufficient excuse to argue in favor of a position....that is a logical fallacy (Appeal to tradition/from Age).
I see here that you have a very distorted misconception on what Metaphysics is or SHOULD be. This misconception is common and allows all type of pseudo philosophy to sneak in Philosophy and pollute the body of our inquiries.