
The field of philosophy is divided into two major categories: Epistemology and metaphysics. Epistemology deals with the interpretation of the physical world and its knowledge; metaphysics deals with the knowledge of transcendence. In order to be a philosopher one must have the following characteristics.
Philosophy requires logical structure
A philosophy must have a logical structure. Logic is the use of language to express claims about the world. Several philosophers declare that logic is the foundation of all knowledge and all philosophy. A number of philosophers contrast logic with metaphysics, thus reducing metaphysics to philosophy. Descartes’ philosophy of metaphysics is named rationalist.
The most common branches of philosophy are naturalism and romanticism. Naturalism suggests that everything in the universe is orderly and comprehensible. Man is an coincidental product of his environment. He does not possess supernatural powers. Philosophy of metaphysics is similar to naturalism, but differs in the belief that there is an ideal object. Metaphysics can be a purely abstract view of reality.
Metaphysics is a popular philosophy with several variations
One of the popular metaphysical philosophy is pragmatism. It is based on a principle of maximizing personal value. Supporters of pragmatism include Voltaire, Bentham and Leibniz. Metaphysics popular subsets includes utilitarian philosophy, aesthetics, naturalism, pragmatism and romanticism. Some metaphysicians deny the possibility of a personal God and insist that ethics only arise out of a concern for other people.
Metaphysics that was popular among the philosophers of ancient India is Jain metaphysics. Jains metaphysics concerns itself with space and time.
An argumentative philosophy is the philosophy of religion. It concerns itself with the quest of knowledge of God. A philosophy of metaphysics popular among theists is theism. A more atheistic philosophy of metaphysics is atheist metaphysics.
A number of philosophers support the idea that moral values originate with human minds and not with divine beings. Others argue that moral concepts are necessary and independent of God’s will. Still others hold that all truth is subjective. A philosophy of metaphysics popular among theists is atheistic metaphysics.
An ethical philosophy is the study of rightness or wrongness. A popular philosophy of metaphysics among the philosophers of antiquity is Epicurus’ philosophy of aesthetics. An ethical philosophy of metaphysics of a non-theist may be named pragmatism. Some other important philosophies of metaphysics are neo-Platonic, idealism, and nominalism.
An explanation of why some things are good for some people and other things are bad for some people by means of metaphysics. The metaphysics of ethics is a part of the philosophy of naturalism. Naturalism is the philosophy that denies the possibility of God’s existence. Other metaphysical philosophies include nominalism, essentialism, skepticism and teleology.
A philosophy of metaphysics concerns itself with knowledge of God. Some philosophers have held that there is no knowledge in the world apart from what can be known and learned. Other philosophers believe that knowledge of the world is independent of faith, but depends upon personal acquaintance and motivation. Some other philosophers believe that knowledge of the world are independent of teleology, but rely on the existence of a real world.
An interesting type of philosophy of metaphysics is monistic metaphysics. Monistic metaphysics is similar to many of the older philosophy of religion. In monistic metaphysics, the beliefs and opinions of the metaphysicists are equivalent to those of the religious people. However, unlike religion, metaphysics does not require belief, but only faith.
There are many different schools of metaphysics in the world today. Two of the most prominent metaphysics are eliminism and externalism. Eliminism is the philosophy that believes that all the objects and substances existing in the physical world are made up of a mind or a soul. Externalism is the philosophy that belief in a single, independent reality is the only basis for knowledge. Both metaphysicists deny the possibility of knowledge through experience.
A common theme in all the various branches of philosophy of metaphysics is the idea that knowledge is independent of the senses and the body. For instance, in philosophy of science, those scientists who believe the theory of evolution are said to be ignorant of the facts they find through the senses. However, the facts they find through the senses prove their theory right. Philosophy of metaphysics is constantly interacting with the other branches of natural philosophy.