Metaphysics, If You Dare

If you just want something to think about let's get metaphysical. I consult, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The very first sentence informs me it is not easy to say what metaphysics is and I
begin wondering why it is I must ask questions which have no easy answers.

So I put on the classic R.E. M. song," It's the End of the World as We Know It and I Feel Fine". And off I go exploring metaphysics realizing only that I might not reach a conclusion tonight. Skimming along to the next paragraph of the Encyclopedia of philosophy there it is again, the great oxymoron," the word metaphysics is notoriously hard
to define." Like a pilgrim in search of the Indies, I'm beginning to wonder why I came, but I have
a vague feeling this journey will take many "decades" to complete.

At the very most, I'm going to wind up butchering the word metaphysics, but I look at it this
way, I'll have plenty of help from qualified scholars. When all else fails ask Wikipedia.
And I quote," metaphysics, a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental
nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined." Quite clearly this is the
end of my perception of things as I know it.

Perhaps we should consult god and so I spin, Loosing My Religion, yet another classic R.E.M. tune and proceed. I'm confronted by Christian Metaphysics: Trinity, Incarnation and Creation by Timothy A Mahoney. He says,"being is a realm of multiplicity and beyond being is the realm of utter simplicity." He tells me according to Plotinus one must distinguish the realm of becoming from the realm of true being. As I struggle to understand metaphysics, I'm reminded a minister once told me the seven days it took god to create the world in Genesis perhaps doesn't match our concept of seven days. I suddenly realize it may take a lifetime and a great deal of study to define metaphysics. After all not even religion can offer a definition in fifteen seconds or less.

I ask my husband," hey, honey what is metaphysics?" Upfront I instruct him it's not a yes or no, right or wrong answer. Besides by now where metaphysics is concerned I know I'm not going to get one. That much I figured out on my own. He responds," I don't know if I can answer that." This from the man who truly knows it all. Right away I get the feeling this won't take long. Finally he speaks, "You have to have an open mind." After a short pause he rephrases the question making it his own," doesn't that have to do with the spirit world?"

I find myself in the matrix bookstore listening to Incubus .In an article titled, Spiritual Metaphysics..the Overlord of Realities, A.O. Klime says of metaphysics,"

As long as it's secrets remain elusive, it contains nothing."
Then I'm reminded of the catch phrase for Seinfeld," It's the show about nothing."

O.k. I'm satisfied.. for now.

　

　

My Sources:

Timothy A Mahoney, Christian Metaphysics: Trinity, Incarnation and Creation
Spiritual Metaphysics..Overlord of Reality A.O Klime
Matrix Bookstore