Metaphysics Essay, Research Paper
Metaphysics
The term metaphysics came from the writings of Aristotle that came after his writings on physics. Traditionally, metaphysics refers to the branch of philosophy that attempts to understand the nature of all reality, whether visible or invisible. It seeks a description so basic, so essentially simple, and so all-inclusive that it applies to everything, whether divine or human or anything else. It attempts to tell what anything must be like in order to be at all. Philosophers generally divide reality into two halves, mind and matter (extended and unexpended reality) and do not emphasize such distinctions within the mind half as spirit and soul.
But what is reality is there a visible and an invisible world, or are we just atoms and when we did our atoms go into the ground and form something new. This is the feud Plato and Lucretus had. Plato was one of the most complex philosophers, at first glance. But when you look into It and try to understand it you begin to se what he is talking about it is not so complex anymore. He wrote ” The Allegory of the Cave” He said that there are two realms, an Ideal world and a Physical world. The Physical world is the world we live in, it is imperfect, and it changes, and ages, the physical world is also temporary. The Ideal world is the complete opposite; it is perfect timeless, and permanent. Plato explains this like this; he says that there is you starring at a wall and there are puppets getting shined on by a fire and there is a projection on the wall that you are staring at. God is the fire and we are staring at the shadows and the shadows are the physical world, which we see, and the puppets that we can’t see is the ideal world. This I s a very watered down version of the story but I think it get my point across.
But I have this to say to Plato, if God is all-powerful and all knowing, then evil must not exist apart from God. For it to do would be impossible. This leads you to question the true power of God, and the true good of God. If God is all good, and has the power to stop evil and doesn’t, then God must have a slightly nasty disposition, and therefore is not all good. If God wishes to stop evil and can’t, then God is not all powerful: He is limited. If God is perfect, than why does he let this happen? At this angle, it seems foolish that we should worship the being that seemingly subjects us to such pain and anguish, doesn’t it? You might picture being 7 in a classroom, and the boy who sits behind you hits you everyday and makes you cry. The teacher knows he does it, and is within her power to stop it one way or another but chooses to do nothing. In this scenario you’d imagine that you would grow to hate the boy and hate the teacher as well. So why then, in this similar situation do we not condemn God for his passive nature with all this evil going on? Theists have the burden of explaining how a being that is all knowing, all-powerful, and all good can allow evil to exist, and why a perfect being does or might allow horrible evils to exist in our world.
Lucretus was a different opinion he says that there is no god we are just a whole bunch of atoms, moving around, and just by chance that atom made us. When we die the atoms fall apart and make something new. So therefore we should not feat death, or anything because there is nothing that goes on after this world to look forward to just your atoms falling into the ground and you will just be gone.
We as people are always on the go. Since we are always on the go there has to be movement and someone who causes the movement. There was a philosopher named St. Thomas Aquinas who believed God to be the first mover [or creator] of all things. He states this in his philosophical writing known as “The Five Ways.” For this example I will only use the first way which is based on motion. Whatever moves in this world is moved by another, nothing in this world can move itself, but everything is potentially in motion. For example: something, which is actually hot, like fire, makes something, which is potentially hot say, wood to be actually hot: and in this way it moves and alters it. And so we must reach a creator who is not moved by anything, which is god God.
It seems as though religious faith could also be a genuine option. It is forced, you ultimately have to decide, because seemingly choosing to be an agnostic and choosing not to choose, you’ve still spoken volumes. Choosing to have no part in religious faith in itself seems to be choosing. It can be an option of the live kind, for almost everyone, I believe. Even Tarzan, who was raised by monkeys, having never been to monkey Sunday school, must have lied on his back some nights and stared at the stars and wondered how they got there.