Editing Metaphysics (section)

== History ==
{{main|History of metaphysics}}

[[File:Yin yang.svg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|alt=Symbol of yin and yang. It has a circular shape split into two swirling halves. One half is black with a white dot inside. The other half is white with a black dot inside.|The [[taijitu]] symbol shows [[yin and yang]], which are two correlated forces discussed in Chinese metaphysics to explore the nature and patterns of existence.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Perkins|2023|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Littlejohn|loc=§ 5. Fundamental Concepts in the Daodejing}} }}</ref>]]

Metaphysics originated in the ancient period from speculations about the nature and origin of the cosmos.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=183}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} }}</ref> In [[ancient India]], starting in the 7th century BCE, the [[Upanishads]] were written as religious and philosophical texts that examine how [[Brahman|ultimate reality]] constitutes the ground of all being. They further explore the nature of the [[Ātman (Hinduism)|self]] and how it can reach [[moksha|liberation]] by understanding ultimate reality.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Perrett|2016|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=q7wwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 7–10]}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Indian Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Andrea|Overfield|2015|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=x5-aBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 70–71]}} }}</ref> This period also saw the emergence of [[Buddhism]] in the 6th century BCE,{{efn|The precise date is disputed.<ref>{{harvnb|Velez|loc=§ 1a. Dates}}</ref>}} which denies the existence of an independent self and understands the world as a [[Saṃsāra|cyclic process]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Perrett|2016|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=q7wwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 7–10]}} | {{harvnb|Velez|loc=Lead Section, § 3. The Buddha's Cosmology and Metaphysics}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Indian Philosophy}} }}</ref> At about the same time{{efn|According to traditional accounts, [[Laozi]] as the founder of Daoism lived in the 6th century BCE but other accounts state that he may have lived in the 4th or 3rd centuries BCE.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Dynes|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pxjOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA60 60]}} | {{harvnb|Littlejohn|loc=§ 2. Classical Sources for Our Understanding of Daoism}} }}</ref>}} in [[ancient China]], the school of [[Daoism]] was formed and explored the natural order of the universe, known as [[Dao]], and how it is characterized by the interplay of [[yin and yang]] as two correlated forces.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Littlejohn|loc=§ 5. Fundamental Concepts in the Daodejing}} | {{harvnb|Dynes|2016|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=pxjOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA60 60–61]}} | {{harvnb|Wang|Bao|Guan|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gSfXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 3]}} }}</ref>

In [[ancient Greece]], metaphysics emerged in the 6th century BCE with the [[pre-Socratic]] philosophers, who gave rational explanations of the cosmos as a whole by examining the [[first principle]]s from which everything arises.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=183}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} | {{harvnb|Kirk|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=uewoLyIw_DQC&pg=PA308 308–310]}} }}</ref> Building on their work, [[Plato]] (427–347 BCE) formulated his [[theory of forms]], which states that eternal forms or ideas possess the highest kind of reality while the material world is only an imperfect reflection of them.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=184–185}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} | {{harvnb|Graham|loc=§ 3b. Metaphysics}} }}</ref> [[Aristotle]] (384–322 BCE) accepted Plato's idea that there are universal forms but held that they cannot exist on their own but depend on matter. He also proposed a system of categories and developed a comprehensive framework of the natural world through his theory of the [[four causes]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=185–187}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} | {{harvnb|Graham|loc=§ 4a. Terminology, § 4f. Metaphysics}} }}</ref> Starting in the 4th century BCE, [[Hellenistic philosophy]] explored the [[Logos|rational order]] underlying the cosmos and the laws governing it.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} | {{harvnb|Graham|loc=§ 5a. Epicureanism, § 5c. The Stoics}} }}</ref> [[Neoplatonism]] emerged towards the end of the ancient period in the 3rd century CE and introduced the idea of "the One" as the transcendent and ineffable source of all creation.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=187–188}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|pp=590–591}} | {{harvnb|Graham|loc=§ 5. Post-Hellenistic Thought}} }}</ref>{{efn|Influential Neoplatonists include [[Plotinus]], [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]], [[Iamblichus]], [[Hypatia]], and [[Proclus]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Wildberg|2021|loc=§ 1. Historical Orientation: Antiquity}} | {{harvnb|Remes|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=MKrCBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 2, 25]}} }}</ref>}}

Meanwhile, in [[Indian Buddhism]], the [[Madhyamaka|Madhyamaka school]] developed the idea that all phenomena are [[Sunyata|inherently empty]] without a permanent essence. The consciousness-only doctrine of the [[Yogācāra|Yogācāra school]] stated that experienced objects are mere transformations of consciousness and do not reflect external reality.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Indian Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Depraz|Varela|Vermersch|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=iYJy_2909NAC&pg=PA212 212]}} | {{harvnb|Shun'ei|2014|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1C4qAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 5–6]}} }}</ref> The [[Āstika and nāstika|Hindu school]] of [[Samkhya]] philosophy{{efn|The ideas underlying Samkhya philosophy arose as early as the 7th and 6th centuries BCE but its classical and systematic formulation is dated 350 CE.<ref name="auto1">{{multiref | {{harvnb|Ruzsa|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Indian Philosophy}} }}</ref>}} introduced a metaphysical dualism with [[Purusha|pure consciousness]] and [[Prakṛti|matter]] as its fundamental categories.<ref name="auto1"/> In China, the school of [[Xuanxue]] explored metaphysical problems such as the contrast between being and non-being.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Chai|2020|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=LSAAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA19 19]}} | {{harvnb|Robinet|2013|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=R3Sp6TfzhpIC&pg=PA274 Chongxuan]}} }}</ref>

[[File:Boethius.jpeg|thumb|alt=Medieval illustration showing Boethius from the front against a light background in a sitting position, dressed in green clothes with a red cloak|[[Boethius]]'s theory of universals influenced many subsequent metaphysicians.]]

Medieval Western philosophy was profoundly shaped by ancient Greek thought as philosophers integrated these ideas with [[Christian philosophy|Christian philosophical teachings]]. [[Boethius]] (477–524 CE) sought to reconcile Plato's and Aristotle's theories of universals, proposing that universals can exist both in matter and mind. His theory inspired the development of nominalism and conceptualism, as in the thought of [[Peter Abelard]] (1079–1142 CE).<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=188–189}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Boethius, § Abelard}} | {{harvnb|Marenbon|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DYSVbvnDL8IC&pg=PA6 6]}} | {{harvnb|Sweeney|2016|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=orIYDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 10–11]}} }}</ref> [[Thomas Aquinas]] (1224–1274 CE) understood metaphysics as the discipline investigating different meanings of ''being'', such as the contrast between substance and [[Accident (philosophy)|accident]], and principles applying to all beings, such as the [[principle of identity]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Brown|loc=§ 5. Metaphysics}} | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=189}} }}</ref> [[William of Ockham]] (1285–1347 CE) developed a methodological principle, known as [[Ockham's razor]], to choose between competing metaphysical theories.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=190}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Ockham}} }}</ref> Arabic–Persian philosophy flourished from [[Islamic Golden Age|the early 9th century CE to the late 12th century CE]], integrating ancient Greek philosophies to interpret and clarify the teachings of the [[Quran]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=Arabic–Persian Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Adamson|Taylor|2004|pp=1–3}} }}</ref> [[Avicenna]] (980–1037 CE) developed a comprehensive philosophical system that examined the contrast between existence and essence and distinguished between contingent and necessary existence.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Ibn Sina (Avicenna)}} | {{harvnb|Lizzini|2021|loc=Lead Section, § 3. Essence and Existence, § 4. Modality and Existence}} }}</ref> [[Medieval India]] saw the emergence of the [[Monism|monist]] school of [[Advaita Vedanta]] in the 8th century CE, which holds that everything is one and that the idea of many entities existing independently is an [[Maya (religion)|illusion]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Indian Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Perrett|2016|loc=§ The Medieval Period of Indian Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Dalal|2021|loc=Lead Section, § 2.3 Two-Tiered Reality}} | {{harvnb|Rangaswami|2012|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=2snhxaaWDAYC&pg=PA114 114]}} }}</ref> In China, [[Neo-Confucianism]] arose in the 9th century CE and explored the [[Li (neo-Confucianism)|concept of li]] as the rational principle that is the ground of being and reflects the order of the universe.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Berthrong|loc=Lead Section, § 4. Traits, Themes and Motifs}} | {{harvnb|Wu|2022|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zRVmEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 56]}} | {{harvnb|Smart|2008|p=99}}}}</ref>

In the early modern period and following renewed interest in Platonism during the [[Renaissance]], [[René Descartes]] (1596–1650) developed a substance dualism according to which body and mind exist as independent entities that causally interact.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=591}} | {{harvnb|Dehsen|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cU7cAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 51]}} }}</ref> This idea was rejected by [[Baruch Spinoza]] (1632–1677), who formulated a monist philosophy suggesting that there is only one substance with both physical and mental attributes that develop side-by-side without interacting.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=190}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=591}} }}</ref> [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]] (1646–1716) introduced the concept of possible worlds and articulated a metaphysical system known as [[monadology]], which views the universe as a collection of [[Monad (philosophy)|simple substances]] synchronized without causal interaction.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=190–191}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=591}} | {{harvnb|Look|2020|loc=§ 4. Metaphysics: A Primer on Substance}} | {{harvnb|Menzel|2023|loc=1. Possible Worlds and Modal Logic}} }}</ref> [[Christian Wolff (philosopher)|Christian Wolff]] (1679–1754), conceptualized the scope of metaphysics by distinguishing between general and special metaphysics.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Svare|2006|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=60MsUE3K2ekC&pg=PA15 15]}} | {{harvnb|Hettche|Dyck|2019|loc=§ 5. Metaphysics}} }}</ref> According to the [[idealism]] of [[George Berkeley]] (1685–1753), everything is mental, including material objects, which are [[Esse est percipi|ideas perceived by the mind]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=192}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=591}} }}</ref> [[David Hume]] (1711–1776) made various contributions to metaphysics, including the [[Humeanism#Causality and necessity|regularity theory of causation]] and the idea that there are no necessary connections between distinct entities. Inspired by the [[empiricism]] of [[Francis Bacon]] (1561–1626) and [[John Locke]] (1632–1704), Hume criticized metaphysical theories that seek ultimate principles inaccessible to sensory experience.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Morris|Brown|2023|loc=§ 3. Philosophical Project, § 5. Causation, § 6. The Idea of Necessary Connection}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|pp=591–592}} | {{harvnb|Waxman|2006|p=488}} }}</ref> This critical outlook was embraced by [[Immanuel Kant]] (1724–1804), who tried to reconceptualize metaphysics as an inquiry into the basic principles and categories of thought and understanding rather than seeing it as an attempt to comprehend mind-independent reality.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=192–193}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=592}} | {{harvnb|Wood|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=i7PG-Vk824UC&pg=PA354 354]}} | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=1–2, 6}} }}</ref>

Many developments in the later modern period were shaped by Kant's philosophy. [[German idealism|German idealists]] adopted his idealistic outlook in their attempt to find a unifying principle as the foundation of all reality.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=193}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=592}} | {{harvnb|Critchley|2001|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=syhsLJ1eMOEC&pg=PA31 31]}} }}</ref> [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]]'s (1770–1831) idealistic contention is that reality is conceptual all the way down, and being itself is rational.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Houlgate|2005|p=106}} | {{harvnb|Stern|2008|p=172}} }}</ref> He inspired the [[British idealism]] of [[Francis Herbert Bradley]] (1846–1924), who interpreted Hegel's concept of [[Absolute idealism|absolute spirit]] as the all-inclusive totality of being.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=193}} | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=592}} | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Idealism}} }}</ref> [[Arthur Schopenhauer]] (1788–1860) was a strong critic of German idealism and articulated a different [[The World as Will and Representation|metaphysical vision]], positing a [[Voluntarism (philosophy)#Metaphysical voluntarism|blind and irrational will as the underlying principle of reality]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Grayling|2019|loc=§ Schopenhauer}} | {{harvnb|Janaway|1999|pp=[https://academic.oup.com/book/2954/chapter-abstract/143638920?redirectedFrom=fulltext 248–249]}} | {{harvnb|Barua|2018|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=mqVFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 2–3]}} }}</ref> Pragmatists like [[C. S. Peirce]] (1839–1914) and  [[John Dewey]] (1859–1952) conceived metaphysics as an observational science of the most general features of reality and experience.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|p=194}} | {{harvnb|Misak|2008|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=p30osmyc2xoC&pg=PA406 Scientific Realism, Anti-Realism, and Empiricism]}} }}</ref>

[[File:ANWhitehead.jpg|thumb|alt=Photo showing Alfred North Whitehead from the front against a dark background looking at the camera, dressed in formal dark-colored attire with a high-collared white shirt below|[[Alfred North Whitehead]] articulated the foundations of [[process philosophy]] in his work ''[[Process and Reality]]''.]]

At the turn of the 20th century in [[analytic philosophy]], philosophers such as [[Bertrand Russell]] (1872–1970) and [[G. E. Moore]] (1873–1958) led a "revolt against idealism", arguing for the existence of a mind-independent world aligned with common sense and empirical science.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Griffin|2013|pp=383, 396, 399–402}} | {{harvnb|Peters|2021|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=UakWEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 31–32]}} }}</ref> [[Logical atomism|Logical atomists]], like Russell and the early [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] (1889–1951), conceived the world as a multitude of atomic facts, which later inspired metaphysicians such as [[D. M. Armstrong]] (1926–2014).<ref>{{multiref| {{harvnb|Proops|2022|loc=Lead Section}}| {{harvnb|Klement|2019|loc=Lead Section}}| {{harvnb|Mumford|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kGGmBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA100 100]}}}}</ref> [[Alfred North Whitehead]] (1861–1947) developed [[process philosophy|process metaphysics]] as an attempt to provide a holistic description of both the objective and the subjective realms.<ref>{{multiref| {{harvnb|Desmet|Irvine|2022|loc=§ 6. Metaphysics}}| {{harvnb|Palmer|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZT2pI9IMiYUC&pg=PA175 175]}}}}</ref> 

[[Rudolf Carnap]] (1891–1970) and other [[Logical positivism|logical positivists]] formulated a wide-ranging criticism of metaphysical statements, arguing that they are meaningless because there is no way to [[Verificationism|verify them]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=592}} | {{harvnb|Hart|1998|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Dharamsi|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DFbJDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA368 368]}} }}</ref> Other criticisms of traditional metaphysics identified misunderstandings of [[Ordinary language philosophy|ordinary language]] as the source of many traditional metaphysical problems or challenged complex metaphysical deductions by appealing to common sense.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hancock|2006|pp=194–195}} | {{harvnb|Morris|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sfElDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 15]}} | {{harvnb|Baldwin|2010|loc=§ 2. The Refutation of Idealism, § 6. Common Sense and Certainty}} }}</ref>  

The decline of logical positivism led to a revival of metaphysical theorizing.<ref>{{harvnb|Broadbent|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_GSFCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA145 145]}}</ref> [[Willard Van Orman Quine]] (1908–2000) tried to naturalize metaphysics by connecting it to the empirical sciences. His student [[David Lewis (philosopher)|David Lewis]] (1941–2001) employed the concept of possible worlds to formulate his [[modal realism]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hylton|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=n5XX3CwWh2MC&pg=PT348 348]}} | {{harvnb|Oddie|2006|p=170}} | {{harvnb|Parent|loc=§ 2. Lewis' Realism}} }}</ref> [[Saul Kripke]] (1940–2022) helped revive discussions of identity and [[Scientific essentialism|essentialism]], distinguishing [[Metaphysical necessity|necessity]] as a metaphysical notion from the [[Epistemology|epistemic]] notion of ''[[A priori and a posteriori|a priori]]''.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Ahmed|2010|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=dkkdCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 3]}} | {{harvnb|Gutting|2009|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4WuaB_0nu8wC&pg=PA31 31–32]}} }}</ref>

In [[continental philosophy]], [[Edmund Husserl]] (1859–1938) engaged in ontology through a phenomenological description of experience, while his student [[Martin Heidegger]] (1889–1976) developed [[fundamental ontology]] to clarify the meaning of being.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Smith|2018|loc=Lead Section, § 5. Phenomenology and Ontology, Epistemology, Logic, Ethics}} | {{harvnb|McLean|2003|p=[https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-concepts/metaphysics 550]}} | {{harvnb|Taminiaux|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kcJzeXpHctYC&pg=PA154 154]}} }}</ref> Heidegger's philosophy inspired [[Jacques Derrida]]'s (1930–2004) criticism of metaphysics.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Gilje|Skirbekk|2017|loc=Derrida, Foucault, and Rorty – Deconstruction and Critique}} | {{harvnb|Reynolds|loc=Lead Section}} }}</ref> [[Gilles Deleuze]]'s (1925–1995) approach to metaphysics challenged traditionally influential concepts like substance, essence, and identity by reconceptualizing the field through alternative notions such as multiplicity, event, and difference.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Smith|Protevi|Voss|2023|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Roberts|2016a|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=UKW5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA149 149]}} }}</ref>