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Originally Posted by Aedes  (edited) Metaphysics deals in things that science cannot address. Metaphysics, to me, seems like a rational construct that can be used to understand being -- but as soon as metaphysics attempts to make sense of something observable, it puts itself at risk of being refuted by new observations. This raises the perennial question as to whether metaphysical arguments have any truth value whatsoever -- and Derrida and Levi-Strauss and Lyotard and Wittgenstein would probably answer that they do not. |
I agree with you. Metaphysics deals, primarily, with the 'inner landscape' of consciousness.
The typical scientific approach deals with (outer) 'how it works' and the metaphysical approach deals primarily with (inner) 'how to work it'. There is, of course, some overlap but these (above) are the main differences.
Regarding Levi-Strauss and Lyotard and Wittgenstein..... My opinion (based upon metaphysical research, experimentation and study) is that metaphysics is 'self proving', however, what the individual discovers as 'personally valid' (re: metaphysics) often cannot translate to universal principles. As such, metaphysics, to the casual investigator, can and often does, seem like a 'tower of babble' scenario.
An example of a 'metaphysical' result, that may not have any universal application, is..... A person's living space has always been cluttered and messy. The 'messy/cluttered person' starts to practice meditation (stilling the mind). After a few months of dedicated meditation practice, and a measure of success, the formerly 'messy' person's living space has become, gradually, transformed into a neat and orderly presentation (i.e., the person has become more tidy and the living space reflects this). This result is not scientifically quantifiable but, nevertheless, raises a metaphysical issue/observation, being that there appears to be a correlation between a disciplined mind and orderliness. Science would say 'it seems reasonable but we can't prove the connection'. Metaphysics would say that there is a direct correlation between 'inner states' of consciousness and a person's immediate personal environment. The 'giant step' of metaphysics, in this instance, would be to hypothesize that 'outer conditions' reflect/mirror 'inner conditions'!
A 'reasonable' statement but scientifically unprovable to a certainty. Never-the-less, to the meditator, the result becomes a 'personal law' of metaphysics.
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