Essay 20-Metaphysics I

Opening

From essay 4 up to essay 19 we have discussed various philosophical concepts which all fall under a basic branch of philosophy, that is metaphysics. Metaphysics serve as the most fundamental study in all sciences, as it establishes existences and general properties of all things. It lays the foundations for further philosophical studies by presenting the foundational realities behind each philosophical study. This essay will specifically cover the most fundamental metaphysics as presented by the 16 essays.

Discussion

It is to be noted that as opposed to the analytic nature of the previous essays, this essay will be synthetic in nature, it will combine separate concepts into united metaphysical concepts. As such summarization and conciseness will be prioritized over absolute linguistic clarity. This essay will be divided into 2 primary concepts, the concept of existence and the concept of objects. Other concepts are treated as derivations of these 2 concepts and will be discussed synthetically with the 2 primary concepts.

The first concept is existence, in which we obtain knowledge of how to determine existence and the criterion of existence. The only criterion of existence is presence in reality, however let us consider it deeper. Presence can include properties which have consequences towards other objects or towards consciousness or both at the same time. For example, if X causes a noticeable change in Y which we can consciously experience.

This allows us to make judgements of existence, that certain objects do not exist in the actual world if the expected consequences do not show in our experience. For example, if we imagine a red car which we can sense at point X in world Y, but the reality shows that there is no red car at point X in world Y, then the red car at point X in world Y does not exist at all, though it exists sufficiently in imagination such that we can imagine it.

However, if in fact, the object does not possess properties which can lead to changes of other objects or an effect in the conscious experience, but is present in reality, then it still exists. For other objects, then we can determine their existence through their effect on our consciousness in the form of conscious experience or through comparisons with the total experience. This results in a general principle of experience; experience of any kind is sufficient proof for the existence of some kind of object.

An important concept of existence is that it is eternal, immutable, and unchangeable. Nothing can be created nor can it be destroyed. What exists does so without beginning or end, and what does not exist does so without beginning or end. There are 2 key arguments in support of this idea, that is the dissociation of nothingness and the fact of reality. Dissociations of nothingness means that nothingness cannot be directly associated with any object, as such nothing can come out of it or come into it. That would create a relationship or association with nothingness which violates the idea of nothingness.

One might argue by claiming a pseudo nothingness, and this is where the facts of reality come in. The fact of reality states that what happens in the past, in the present, and in the future are all predetermined and recorded as facts in reality, or in other words, as the truth. The truth of the past is preserved and cannot be changed at all. If an object “once” existed, then the fact that it existed in the past is forever eternal and immutable. As such in truth the object never ceases to exist, rather it simply changes in form.

This has notable implications for the idea of change, in which change is not any form existential change, rather it is the process of objects entering and leaving the actual realm, that is the realm of reality accessible by the conscious being. This seems simple enough, but upon the introduction and understanding of the concept of objects and properties, they will be necessarily more complicated than simply the idea of normal change. Yet I believe a deeper understanding of reality will never result in an easy and simple path, it will always be complicated.

We now move to the concept of object, which is basically a limited and unique part of reality. The object itself is complex like its reality, and is made up of smaller objects known as properties. The object must be defined to the smallest detail, for if we do not define it such way, then we may end up with multiple “identical” objects. As such what we have defined is not an individual object but a category of objects.

A category is basically a group of objects defined based on a particular similarity they all have. When we define objects only categorically, they will appear to be the same objects, but they are the same only in the sense that they belong to the same category. We would have reached a true individual object when we cannot possibly have 2 duplicates of that object with identical properties and unknown differences. If there are still 2 duplicates observed, then there is a difference yet to be identified, clear to our conscious experience but undetected and unknown.

The scope of an object is far and wide despite its limitations, as it reaches every object which has relationships with it. Most commonly such extrinsic properties are defined in terms of spatial-temporal properties. However, we may apply further important properties such as the object’s relationship with our conscious experience, such as the problem of actuality. In that sense, an object in actual form and an object in non-actual form are absolutely separate objects.

This is why the concept of change is necessarily complicated as we must apply layers upon layers of actuality and identify how such change actually happens. Such complexities will be discussed in future essays, as this essay serves only to synthesize what is known. As per reality goes, the scope of an object does extend upon the entirety of reality, however, it is the scope of the internal existence which is limited, or the intrinsic category, that is fundamentally limited.

We then have the concept of absolute and relative object, which by the findings of the previous essays has only revealed the deeper lack of such absolute object. Supposedly an absolute object is an object which cannot interact with others. Yet the meaning of interaction is yet to be explored and it is realized that the concept of absolute object combined with the idea of change will create complexities which require independent essays to discuss.

An alternative is that absolute objects are simply a way to identify the highest levels of dynamic objects which will only change among certain objects and not other objects. For example, XYZ will only cycle between such objects, and ABC will only cycle between such objects as well. Upon the case that XYZ has A, then A has always been part of the object. The other concept of absolute object would be more complicated and require a deeper discussion.

Closing

There are 2 fundamental concepts of metaphysics presented in the 16 essays, that is the concept of existence and the concept of objects. Both entangle themselves in interesting and complex ways and lead to further complexities which warrant its own essay. There are questions still unanswered, such as the problem of absolute objects, and as such it is important that we continue in this philosophical journey to answer and resolve all questions about reality.