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Metaphysics Homework 1

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that investigates the fundamental nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, possibility and actuality. While philosophy more broadly examines various aspects of knowledge, metaphysics specifically focuses on understanding existence itself. A metaphysical inquiry seeks to discover explanations for all things that can be known through the use of reason and intellect. Though humans are finite and cannot comprehend the entirety of reality at once due to limitations of language and knowledge, metaphysical study is still meaningful and important as it uncovers more about reality and allows people to find purpose and meaning in life.

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111 views3 pages

Metaphysics Homework 1

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that investigates the fundamental nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, possibility and actuality. While philosophy more broadly examines various aspects of knowledge, metaphysics specifically focuses on understanding existence itself. A metaphysical inquiry seeks to discover explanations for all things that can be known through the use of reason and intellect. Though humans are finite and cannot comprehend the entirety of reality at once due to limitations of language and knowledge, metaphysical study is still meaningful and important as it uncovers more about reality and allows people to find purpose and meaning in life.

Uploaded by

Deo de los Reyes
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Sem. Deo B.

De Los Reyes

Questions for Reading 1- What is Metaphysics and Why Do It

1. What are the similarities and differences between philosophy and metaphysics?

Metaphysics is a unique branch of philosophy and of which derive special branches of it, that
is, Cosmology and Theodicy. Metaphysics, then, as part of the philosophical sciences, tries to delve
on the study of all things, as to their being. As a distinguished study of philosophy, Metaphysics is
concerned about the purpose and existence of things, of which we call as, being. Philosophy, for the
scholastics, is a science that investigates the ultimate causes and principles of things through the use
of reason. By this definition, Metaphysics, of which Scholasticism, as a school of thought, has
contributed much, is also a philosophy that investigates the ultimate causes and principles of things
specifically concerning their being. Since, Metaphysics, as a quest for the ultimate purpose of being,
is what makes it, a philosophical science and a distinguished branch of philosophy.
On the other hand, Metaphysics, unlike other philosophical sciences that has its own object
of study, does not have its own specific field or object of interest. While other philosophical sciences
have their own focus of study, e.g. Ethics, for morality, Logic, by correct reasoning, etc. Metaphysics
only has being as it’s object, which is encompassing all things. As it’s object of investigation being
“Being”, and by this; Metaphysics has no distinctive specific subject matter. Since it investigates the
very foundation of reality, which is being, thus Metaphysics as a separate philosophy differs from the
other branches of philosophical science. In addition, Metaphysics also differs from other
philosophical schools of thought. One school of thought, Scholasticism, has held Metaphysics in high
esteem and is considered as the “First Philosophy” before delving into the other philosophical
sciences. Scholastics uphold Metaphysics as intergral or foundational before getting into the study of
the other philosophical sciences e.g. Ethics and Aesthetics. Other schools of thought, like Empiricism
and Kantianism, most of what consist Modern Philosophy, that of Hume and Kant, do not consider
Metaphysics as a foundational philosophical science, since other sciences differ on the approach and
process of doing philosophy. Moreover, Metaphysics differs from philosophical sciences, like
Empiricism, which starts with the principle that human experience is solely the origin of knowledge
and thus intelligibility. Metaphysics is otherwise, stating that not only human experience but even
mental and imaginative constructs are objects of being.
2. What are the characteristics of a metaphysical inquiry?

Man as a being tries to know what is good for him, and thus arises the desire to know all
things that is good, up to the core, that is, in Metaphysical terms, Being per se. And we can
somewhat call this process, as metaphysical inquiry, the act of searching for “Being”. Man’s will
searches for what is good for his life, and this drive for goodness, motivates him to search for what is
and not good for him through his use of will and intellect, and thus the study of Metaphysics, is a
useful tool of knowing what is good for him. This quest of metaphysical inquiry is the quest to give
explanations to all things that can be known, that is, the intelligibility of all being. And so,
metaphysical inquiry requires that all that is known and can be known to be discovered by man. This
is so, for man has the capabilities to know the things around him, and with this gift of knowing also
rests the responsibility and imperative to discover and investigate all that is known and can be
known, their reason and purpose. Beings, in so far as they are beings, and are not non-beings, are
intelligible or can be known. And so man, must risk and expend effort, using reason to know the
depths of being. These are the characteristics of a metaphysical inquiry that (1) all of the world is
knowable or intelligible and thus the object of Metaphysics is all beings in the world, (2) it is man’s
duty to use will and intellect, to give reason to being, that which is present in each and the whole
world, and (3) that the inquiry is limitless until all about being must be known, if it cannot be
intelligible, then it is non-being.
3. Metaphysics embraces the whole of reality. Finite that we are as human persons, is it possible to
study the whole of reality at once? How is metaphysics possible in this sense?

Man, in his own will and intellect, drives to know everything that needs to be known in order
to live life to the fullest. However, man is only a part of the whole reality and cannot contain the
immensity of reality, since parts of the whole cannnot be greater than the whole itself. But then, this
immensity of reality is not an excuse or a frustration for man, not to ponder and discover the
immesity of reality. If man’s effort and knowledge of Metaphysics be considered futile or incomplete,
then man’s outlook in life would be a life with no meaning or purpose. However, the study of
Metaphysics give light to the life of man, since, as a pursuit for the very being of life, is already a
pursuit to put meaning and purpose to life. And so, it is not an excuse, that man’s limited capacity to
comprehend being in it’s totality, be a hindrance to the study of Metaphysics. Even though man is
limited to language and culture, what man has presently come to know, thought, felt, imagined, with
the use of Metaphysics is already beneficial to the meaning and purpose of life. Even if, man’s
knowledge of being can only be a minute detail of the totality of being, there is still hope and
relavance to it, since it is a small step ahead of uncovering reality itself, and with that small step is a
sense of fulfillment and excitement on what’s in store for the following discoveries on Metaphysics
to come. Man has no excuse to give up the quest of Metaphysics because of the futility that rests in
man’s limitedness; reality as it is; yet man must also believe and with reason, unfold the mysteries of
life and give meaning and purpose to life with man’s capacity to know and will, which is also a reality.

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