Philosophy Now Forum

I am currently trying to understand what metaphysics is using this site: http://www.rep.routledge.com/article/N095

So far I'm struggling to get through the article. Does anyone have any advice on how to understand the above article? Any help would be appreciated.

What have you got so far?

Metaphysics is an arena of discourse which proposes to discuss the Truth of Reality or Existence. I think the ariticle says as much.

I tend to use the term in a derrogitive (sp?) Sense. When I say something is metaphysical, I mean it is highly speculative at minimum, but I am usually implying that the idea is hogwash and not based in any validity except that of the author's own self indulgence.

But nevertheless, what I am most interested in is metaphysics. Specifically concerning the question: what is a metaphysical proposition?

How rediculous, huh ? Who'da thunk?

A clear example of what I mean:
(And I love these kind). -

There are many people who love to talk about 'spiritual planes of existance', like where God is or how He or It is involved in the world.
Even better are the people who take mathematical ideas and/or physics ideas and come to some structure of how it all fits together with quarks and e=mc2 and black holes and such, and then they begin to propose some spiritual mandate stemming from their scheme.

So, I guess metaphysics has to do with what people would call 'spiritual' matters. Since a metaphysical assertion usually is only making the sense of the individual. Thus the potential weakness of metaphysical proposal

Arising_uk : I'm up to this part:

"1 General metaphysics
Any attempt on either question will find itself using, and investigating, the concepts of being and existence (see Being; Existence). It will then be natural to ask whether there are any further, more detailed classifications under which everything real falls, and a positive answer to this question brings us to a doctrine of categories (see Categories). "

lancek4: Thanks for the detailed response.

Metaphysics came after Aristotle's Physics...

-Imp

This might be a slightly better intro.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/

just guessing or inventing, metaphysics seek to explain all in absolute terms of their facts existence

where physics mean wills to induce a fact metaphysics are facts that are not sollicitated to happen

Thanks for the replies.