So why combine them? Is that not like saying metadata has nothing to do with data or metacognition has nothing to do with cognition? I think the scientific method employed by physics is fundamental as the most reliable way of pursuing new knowledge and testing its validity. — universeness
The scientific method employed by physics is perhaps the most reliable way of pursuing new knowledge of the natural world, but I would not call it fundamental. It rests on the question than are considered meaningful. Your post for instance contains hidden assumptions, for instance you equate knowledge with the physical world. However when I want to enlarge my legal knowledge, physics does not bring me much. I have nothing against physics, but it rests on what one might call an economy of truth, a field of assumptions about what is worth knowing, what 'knowledge' is like and how knowledge should be tested. Those assumptions are metaphysical. — Tobias
Science describes physicality, the movement of particles. It is descriptive. It does not say why or if those movements are meaningful. — Jackson
The scientific method isn't science, it's metaphysics. — Clarky
I've seen other prominent posters point out the fact that the scientific method is a methodology not an ontology but is often mistaken for the latter. I accept this as an important point that clears up an area of confusion. — ZzzoneiroCosm
Keeping in mind that Aristotle called it "metaphysics" because it came after physics in his publications, not because it was beyond physics in subject matter or an addition to physics. I tend to see it as the framework for knowledge and understanding, which I guess is what you mean by "beyond" in this context. — Clarky
I don’t know if this is relevant, but the Aristotelian term ‘physis’ is better translated as nature than as physics. It is true that physics and the natural seem synonymous for the modern era of science , but Aristotle’s conception of nature was quite different in many respects from what we think of today as physics. — Joshs
Epistemology is often included within metaphysics. — Clarky
The scientific method is epistemology. Epistemology is often included within metaphysics. I believe that's appropriate. — Clarky
My understanding is that epistemology is about the nature of knowledge and metaphysics is about the nature of reality. The scientific method as methodology is a useful framework that may not necessarily have a metaphysical implication. Though certaintly an epistemological. — ZzzoneiroCosm
I would not use "reliable" as a test for truth — Jackson
I cant see a lot of value in unreliable truths. — universeness
Well, you agreed with 'overburdened,' which was the extent I was suggesting. The quotes just demonstrated a ' wideness of range,' which I thought was enough for illustration purposes.I don't see that any of the posts you've quoted are necessarily inconsistent with each other — Clarky
I tend to see it as the framework for knowledge and understanding, which I guess is what you mean by "beyond" in this context. — Clarky
Meta-physics is reflection on what it means, or what must be the case for it to have the meaning it does, and so on. So for example in current physics, the metaphysical debates revolve around the meaning of quantum physics - what the quanitifiable observations and predictive theories mean about the larger reality, what is implied by the theory. — Wayfarer
As for the supernatural, that's always given me pause when the subject is metaphysics — Clarky
Can you give me an example of a metaphysical principle which is neither true or false?One of the most important ideas for Collingwood, one that I strongly endorse, is that metaphysical principles are not true or false. — Clarky
Do you think the god posit is a metaphysical concept?That works fine for talking about God or gods in general — Clarky
Common to mistakenly include epistemology within metaphysics, it seems. — ZzzoneiroCosm
Oxford English Dictionary; Metaphysics - The branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.
Merriam Webster's Dictionary: Metaphysics - A division of philosophy that is concerned with the fundamental nature of reality and being and that includes ontology, cosmology, and often epistemology. — Clarky
If you have a counter-source, I'm interested. — ZzzoneiroCosm
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