Metaphysical Import Research Articles

Covid-19, the Eucharist and spreading disease through Christianity’s holiest rite

During the Covid-19 pandemic in the USA, churches were faced with a question of medical and metaphysical importance: can Christianity’s rite of Holy Communion spread Covid-19? This article examines Christian responses to Covid-19 through a case study of five of Christianity’s multifaceted Covid eucharistic policies, arguing that the responses of churches in times of crisis reflect a nuanced understanding of the metaphysical theories surrounding the Eucharist. The goal of this article is to serve as a primer on the relationships between beliefs of the Eucharist and Covid-19 in American churches, seeking to provide an overview and facilitate further inquiry into modern concerns of Christianity’s holiest rite and the spread of disease.

The Hidden Metaphysics of J. M. E. McTaggart’s Paradox: Influence on The Analytic Philosophy of Time

This paper discusses the various interpretations of McTaggart’s paradox that have been proposed throughout the 20th and the 21st centuries. It is argued that the traditional interpretation of McTaggart’s paradox, one which states that no metaphysical assumptions are required, is unfounded, but is nevertheless vital to the development of the analytic philosophy of time. To support such a position, various works of McTaggart and R. Ingthorsson are cited, aiming to show the intention of the creator of the paradox. It is argued that if McTaggart’s metaphysical premises are accepted, the potential number of interpretations gets narrowed down; however, it is also shown that many of the critiques and discussions arising from the analytic philosophy of time’s discourse can be relatively easily resolved. It is thus concluded that an interpretation of McTaggart’s paradox that includes his metaphysical premises not only makes the paradox itself less ambiguous, but it also shows the importance of metaphysics to the analytic philosophy of time.

CRITICISMS ON ONTOLOGICAL RELATIVISM OF MODERN SCIENCE BY SYED MUHAMMAD NAQUIB AL-ATTAS AND SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR

Postmodern approaches to science introduce various methods, and result in multiple explanations and competing theories. This has exacerbated the science war in philosophy of science. The ongoing disputes known as ‘science war’ is a consequence of ontological disputes within the philosophical branch of metaphysics. Even though science had denied the importance of metaphysics in its practice, this paper argues that the recognition of philosophy specifically that in regards to metaphysics is a solution to the confusion arising from relativism of knowledge. As part of a preliminary attempt to confront this problem, this paper focuses on the criticisms of Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas and Seyyed Hossein Nasr on the ontology of modern science, which issues from the denial of metaphysics by modern scientists. Their views on ontology are part of both scholars’ Islamic philosophy of science. This is a qualitative research based on historical, doctrinal and comparative analysis of the primary works by the two scholars. The arguments are presented within the scope of philosophy of science based on the framework of the Islamic intellectual tradition. Thus, we find that a wider and transcendental epistemology is possible for understanding the multiple levels of reality subsumed within the metaphysics of Islam, which opens the door to reality and truth.

Construction of Contemporary Russian Identity in 21st Century Vampire Literary Narratives

The article examines the construction of contemporary Russian identity within and through the 21st-century Vampire Narrative. It focuses specifically on the construction of geographical places (such as Russian villages, Moscow or America) as a means to map the world and construct Russian identity. The analysis concentrates on two literary works: a vampire dilogy by Victor Pelevin (Empire V [2006] and Batman Apollo [2013]) and Oleg Divov’s novel Night Watcher (2004). They are put into their historical and contemporary context and submitted to structural analysis. Tlostanova’s theory of Secondary Empire is then applied. Both works are profoundly patriarchal and colonial towards further, more Eastern Others, but Russian identity is constructed, above all, in relation to the collective West. Russianness gets metaphysical importance as the only actually valuable attitude to the world. The reasoning bears features of resistance and imperialism (masked as resistance).

Distinguishing two (unsound) arguments for quantum social science

Quantum mechanics supersedes classical mechanics, and social science, some argue, should be responsive to this change. This paper finds that two rather different arguments are currently being used to argue that quantum mechanics is epistemically relevant in social science. One, attributed to Alexander Wendt, appeals to the presence of quantum physical effects in the social world. The other, attributed to Karen Barad, insists on the importance of quantum metaphysics even when quantum effects are negligible. Neither argument, however, is sound. Consequently, the paper concludes that neither of them offers compelling arguments for the view that quantum mechanics has epistemic relevance for social science.

Popper’s Propensity Interpretation of Quantum Physics as a form of Modal Metaphysics

With the emergence of quantum physics in the 1920s, the major philosophical question was, do the unobservables in quantum system have ontological status or are mere instruments for scientific prediction? The Copenhagen interpretation developed an instrumentalist thesis, contending that the unobservables are tools for making predictions concerning the observables. Thus, we cannot have knowledge of the quantum particles. However, Popper attempts a realist and an objective interpretation. As such, he criticizes the Copenhagen interpretation, developing the propensity view, which accords ontological status to subatomic particles. The main thrust of our argument in this paper is that by replacing probability possibilities with propensities, Popper positions himself as a proponent of the metaphysics of modality. It is then our objective to establish the parallelism between Popper’s Propensity Interpretation and Modal Metaphysics. To establish this contention we proceeded analytically: firstly by situating the seismic shift from macro to quantum physics, secondly by examining Popper’s critique of the Copenhagen Interpretation and thirdly by attempting a demonstration of the correlation between Popper’s propensity interpretation and modal metaphysics. The merit of this paper resides in its elucidation of the importance of metaphysics in science. It is a double challenge at the same time for antimetaphysical philosophy of science and for antiscientific metaphysics, to rethink the relationship between Metaphysics and science and invest in finding how both disciplines nurture each other. Finally, it is hoped that policy makers in Philosphy and science uses our findings to revamp the conceptualisation and practice of interdisciplinarity.

Принципы метафизики как основания физики

The author’s generation was taught a negative attitude towards metaphysics, which was interpreted as an idealistic, outdated, even harmful teaching. At pre­sent, the attitude towards metaphysics is changing significantly. Moreover, the modern development of fundamental physics forces metaphysics to return a key role in the understanding of the world. The article presents arguments in­dicating the relevance of the revision of ideas about the foundations of funda­mental physics. The solution to this problem corresponds to a topic that has long been attributed to metaphysics. Nowadays there is little recognition of the importance of metaphysics – the time has come to formulate the key principles of metaphysics on the basis of the achievements of physics (and not only) and follow them in the formation of new foundations of fundamental physics. The text of this article provides a justification for this statement in connection with the urgent problem of revising the foundations of physics according to an “unusual plan for many”. The analysis of the current state of physics made it possible to identify key metaphysical principles, and also forced us to ad­dress the problem within the framework of a relational approach to physics, the ideas of which were laid down in the works of G. Leibniz and E. Mach. It is noted that by now a mathematical apparatus has already been developed, which made it possible to begin solving the problem on the basis of a rela­tional-metaphysical approach to physical reality. The main features of this ap­paratus are briefly characterized and the results of a fundamental nature al­ready obtained are shown.

The Importance and Role of Metaphysics for Science

در مقالۀ حاضر ابتدا به بررسی دلایل مخالفت با متافیزیک می‌پردازیم. قصد داریم ضمن بررسی این دلایل به موضعی مناسب در قبال جایگاه و نقش و اهمیت متافیزیک برسیم. دیدگاه‌های مختلفی دربارۀ مسئلۀ قدیمی نسبت متافیزیک و علم وجود دارد. با کمک شواهد تاریخی استدلال می‌کنیم که تعامل متافیزیک و علم تعامل پیچیده‌ای است که تنها در پرتو رویکرد نقادانه قابل دفاع است. در این نگرش نقادانه هم باید به نقش و اهمیت متافیزیک در علم توجه داشت و هم در خصوص انتظارات خود از آن تواضع معرفتی داشت. در مقالۀ حاضر ابتدا به بررسی دلایل مخالفت با متافیزیک می‌پردازیم. قصد داریم ضمن بررسی این دلایل به موضعی مناسب در قبال جایگاه و نقش و اهمیت متافیزیک برسیم. دیدگاه‌های مختلفی دربارۀ مسئلۀ قدیمی نسبت متافیزیک و علم وجود دارد. با کمک شواهد تاریخی استدلال می‌کنیم که تعامل متافیزیک و علم تعامل پیچیده‌ای است که تنها در پرتو رویکرد نقادانه قابل دفاع است. در این نگرش نقادانه هم باید به نقش و اهمیت متافیزیک در علم توجه داشت و هم در خصوص انتظارات خود از آن تواضع معرفتی داشت.

An Investigation into the Systematic Meaning of Sensuous-Certainty in Hegel

The quintessential characterization of Hegel's philosophy is that of a circle. In the context of his Phenomenology of Spirit, this means a kind of unity or semblance thereof between sensuous-certainty and absolute knowing. In this paper, I demonstrate the aforementioned unity through a reading of the section on sensuous- certainty, one which is mediated by the work of Jean Hyppolite and Jay Bernstein. Through this approach, I highlight several issues of metaphysical importance, viz., space, time, object, and subject, at the beginning of Hegel's text, as well as delineating an underlying ethical matter of responsibility vis-à-vis the capacity to remember.

The social myth and human domination of nature in Georg Sorel and Stanis\u0142aw Brzozowski

In this article I aim to bring to the fore a problematic trait of Polish philosopher Stanisław Brzozowski’s (1878–1911) thinking, which is his insistence on the metaphysical importance of human domination of nature through work, technology, and maximization of production. The focal point of the article is Brzozowski’s interpretation of Georg Sorel, with an emphasis on Reflections on Violence and the concept of the social myth. I argue that Brzozowski considers the primary strength of the social myth to lie in its contribution to such domination, because its principal trait is to provide man with a sublime feeling of elevation above nature. Furthermore, this feeling becomes a motive force for struggle against nature. In conclusion, I suggest that the perspective of the sublime is a fruitful path for future critical encounters with Brzozowski’s work. The first part of the article stresses the importance of the sublime in Reflections on Violence. Sorel uses this concept throughout his main work to describe the affective nature of the violence of the social myth, which coordinates the inclinations of the masses towards emancipation. The second part discusses how Brzozowski understands the social myth, law, and nationhood from the perspective of human domination of elemental nature.

Le rapport de Ruyer à Whitehead

In “Ruyer’s Relation to Whitehead”, Fabrice Colonna seeks to establish the exact presence of Whitehead in the French philosopher’s work. The indisputable points of connection between the two thinkers, concerning the importance of metaphysics, the critics of the materialistic scheme, the relevance of a renewed platonism, should nevertheless not obscure certain differences in emphasis, which are apparent in the problem of the compounds beings and about certain principles of speculative theology, to which both of them have found deeply original ways.

The importance of metaphysics in the theory of nontrivial physical education – Polish tradition

The sociological cognition of physical education is, in itself complete but insufficient. Within sociological theory we will find explanations of the social and individual functions of physical education. However we find neither 1) justification of the reason for its origins: where does it come from?, why is it here?, nor 2) interpretation of the meaning – what value justifies the meaning ? The first question requires reference to the basics of metaphysics, and the second to the social philosophy and philosophy of culture. Expanding the scope of cognition of physical education by a philosophical thread shows this field of education to be a metaphysical singularity and a cultural universal with a three-stage chain of social causality. In the realities of a pedagogical university, the transformation of a theoretician of physical education into a philosopher of physical education takes place alongside the operation of justifying the sense of being. This is the transition from an explanation of the existence of being in the light of the truth about the cause, to a justification of the rightness of the existence of being in the light of the truth about the good. The intellectualization of the philosophical rationality of a student as a future teacher can increase discreetly the effectiveness of influencing the personality of the student. The aim of the considerations is to show the importance of metaphysical thinking in expanding the explicative range of physical education theory: from the trivial to the non-trivial.

The Metaphysical Grounding of Logical Operations: John Dewey’s Theory of Qualitative Continuity

Abstract In John Dewey’s logical theory, qualities or qualitative relations account for the capacity to distinguish and associate the objects of reflective thought; they are antecedent to reflective analysis and necessary for coherent processes of inquiry. In Dewey’s writings that are specifically “metaphysical” in orientation, he is much more vague about the function of qualities, but does call them “generic traits of existence.” As such, they appear to be central to his mature ontological theory. In order to more fully understand the metaphysical import of qualitative relations, I first examine the details of Dewey’s logical theory, and then generalize those details in accordance with Dewey’s larger theory of nature. The end result is a novel interpretation of Dewey’s metaphysics.

Pussy Riot and Chögyam Trungpa: Reinventing Crazy Holiness for Post-Modernity

The purpose of this paper is to explore the contemporary postmodern appropriation and reinvention of the practice of “crazy holiness” in Russian Orthodoxy and Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting points of contact and discontinuities between the traditions. The first section of the essay will discuss the Russian phenomenon of yurodstvo, a term used to indicate radical ascetics known for their idiosyncratic behavior and their outspoken criticism of religious and political authorities. The recent phenomenon of the punk group Pussy Riot will then be presented as a contemporary rendition of yurodstvo, in a post-theological context where religious rituals and practices are devoid of their metaphysical import. The second section of the essay will introduce the Tibetan phenomenon of the smyon pa, crazy yogins known for their erratic speech and behavior, but also for their readiness to criticize institutional hypocrisy and corruption. The figure of Chogyam Trungpa (1939–1987), a former Tibetan monastic who started the Shambala tradition of Buddhism, is then presented as a contemporary version of smyon pa; his behavior—despite unfortunate and unjustifiable instances of abuse—similarly enabled practitioners to access the truth of the dharma. This paper presents Pussy Riot and Chogyam Trungpa as postmodern instantiations of crazy holiness—for a post-metaphysical and post-religious world where the divine no longer indwells traditional practices but can be still accessed and displayed through performative subversion.

The Deontological Foundation of Neo-Confucian Virtue Ethics

I show that Neo-Confucianism is practiced in two ways: (1) deontologically and (2) as a virtue ethical theory. When fully appreciated, Neo-Confucianism is a virtue ethical theory, but to set out on the path of the sage and behave like a junzi, Neo-Confucianism must first be practiced deontologically. I show this by examining the importance of Neo-Confucian metaphysics to ethical practice and by drawing out the major practical differences between “lesser learning” and “higher learning.” In my view, Neo-Confucianism can be practiced deontologically because some adherents may never move to practicing Neo-Confucianism as a virtue theory.

Rationality and Normativity: A Defence of the Metaphysical Foundation of Social and Ethical Values

This paper evaluated the role of metaphysics as the critical determinant of both ethical and social values. It is concerned with the philosophical problem of determining the principle underlying the different value opinions, social interactions, perceptions and judgements. The objective of the paper derives from the main concern of modern theory of value which is to find out the nature and significance of value in society. Consequently, the problem of the relations between value and existence; and value and social realities become of great significance on metaphysical grounds. The method of the study is essentially textual analysis. As a branch of philosophy, metaphysics conducts the most general investigation possible into the nature of reality, what is existence (being), and what (fundamentally distinct) types of thing exist. Some people have the idea that the subject matter of metaphysics is pure speculation with little practical relevance to mankind and society. Against this backdrop, this paper sought to establish the importance of metaphysics in the broader spectrum of human existence. In conclusion, the thesis of this paper is that metaphysics can provide a foundation for ethical and social values and that without metaphysics no rational justification may be given to these values.Key words: Metaphysics, ethics, values, society, person

Against Deflationary Semanticism in Metaphysics

Semanticism, often using the problem of persistence as its flagship, had argued that metaphysics disputes are merely verbal and can be resolved by appeal to ordinary language. Hence, metaphysics is not a substantive discipline. This position threatens the importance of metaphysics as the basis of all rational activities. This paper identified the absurdity and inconsistencies in semanticism. This is with the aim of showing that metaphysics is a substantive branch of philosophy. The paper made use of relevant texts. Data collected from these texts were subjected to close reading. The paper used the methods of conceptual analysis, critical analysis and philosophical argumentation to acheive its objective. The paper concludes that, contrary to the position of Semanticism, there is no sufficient evidence that metaphysical disputes are mere verbal disputes, as Semanticism fails to show that ordinary language can resolve metaphysical disputes. Subsequently, metaphysics is a substantive branch of philosophy.

Mere Metaphysics: An Ecumenical Proposal

AbstractThis is the second part of an essay that appeared in Modern Theology in October, 2018, entitled “After Heidegger and Marion: The Task of Christian Metaphysics Today.” Whereas the first part made a case for the importance of metaphysics to Christian theology (specifically in the form of an analogical, proto‐Christological metaphysics), and hinted at its ecumenical potential, the point here is twofold: first, to provide a more detailed argument for analogical metaphysics as the kind of metaphysics Christianity in fact implies; secondly, to elaborate its ecumenical potential – now, though, more specifically, with regard to the Christian East. Whereas the previous essay sought to overcome while respecting the difference between Catholic analogy and Reformed dialectics by arguing for a dialectical analogy as the proper form of Christian metaphysics, here the specific task is to show a formal compatibility between the analogical metaphysics of the Christian West and the sophiological metaphysics of the Christian East. Accordingly, the goal is to show that there is such a thing as a mere metaphysics – a common metaphysics – of the Christian tradition, notwithstanding real differences and mutually enriching emphases.

Intellectualism and the argument from cognitive science

ABSTRACTIntellectualism is the claim that practical knowledge or ‘know-how’ is a kind of propositional knowledge. The debate over intellectualism has appealed to two different kinds of evidence, semantic and scientific. This paper concerns the relationship between intellectualist arguments based on truth-conditional semantics of practical knowledge ascriptions and anti-intellectualist arguments based on cognitive science and propositional representation. The first half of the paper argues that the anti-intellectualist argument from cognitive science rests on a naturalistic approach to metaphysics: Its proponents assume that findings from cognitive science provide evidence about the nature of mental states. We demonstrate that this fact has been overlooked in the ensuing debate, resulting in inconsistency and confusion. Defenders of the semantic approach to intellectualism engage with the argument from cognitive science in a way that implicitly endorses this naturalistic metaphysics, and they even rely on it to claim that cognitive science supports intellectualism. In the course of their arguments, however, they also reject that scientific findings can have metaphysical import. We argue that this situation is preventing productive debate about intellectualism, which would benefit from both sides being more transparent about their metaphilosophical assumptions.

Gender and the realms of time and space in Heschel's The Sabbath

AbstractThe Sabbath is a work by Abraham Joshua Heschel about the theological and metaphysical importance of the Jewish day of rest, the Sabbath (or Shabbat). This article shows that The Sabbath has often been overlooked and understudied in philosophical understandings of Heschel's work, and it suggests that this is perhaps due to misunderstandings about the differences between the realms of space and time in the work. This article suggests that the dichotomy between space and time ought better to be understood as differing orientations, drawing from the phenomenologist work of Sara Ahmed. Additionally, gender plays a significant role in Heschel's The Sabbath and in a way which has been largely neglected by academic scholarship.