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Difference between revisions of "Metaphysics"
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* What are the ultimate material components of the Universe? | * What are the ultimate material components of the Universe? | ||
* What is the ultimate reason for the existence of the Universe? Does the cosmos have a purpose? | * What is the ultimate reason for the existence of the Universe? Does the cosmos have a purpose? | ||
==Applied metaphysics== | |||
Although metaphysics as a philosophical enterprise is highly hypothetical, it also has practical application in most other branches of philosophy, science, and now also information technology. Such areas generally assume some basic ontology (such as a system of objects, properties, classes, and space-time) as well as other metaphysical stances on topics such as causality and agency, then build their own particular theories upon these. | |||
"Social" branches of philosophy such as philosophy of morality, aesthetics and philosophy of religion (which in turn give rise to practical subjects such as ethics, politics, law, and art) all require metaphysical foundations, which may be considered as branches or applications of metaphysics. For example, they may postulate the existence of basic entities such as value, beauty, and [[Yahweh|God]]. Then they use these postulates to make their own arguments about consequences resulting from them. When philosophers in these subjects make their foundations they are doing applied metaphysics, and may draw upon its core topics and methods to guide them, including ontology and other core and peripheral topics. As in science, the foundations chosen will in turn depend on the underlying ontology used, so philosophers in these subjects may have to dig right down to the ontological layer of metaphysics to find what is possible for their theories. For example, a contradiction obtained in a theory of God or Beauty might be due to an assumption that it is an object rather than some other kind of ontological entity. | |||
[[Category:Philosophy]] | [[Category:Philosophy]] | ||