this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
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[–] Binette@lemmy.ml 44 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Metaphysics isn't looking for a black cat that isn't there. It's assuming that there is a black cat even though there might not be one, because flashlights don't exist yet.

[–] Mango@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Metaphysics is about how things that don't exist affect what does exist. Things that don't exist include law, money, superstition, and belief. Santa clause isn't real, but everyone acting like he's real makes for a very real effect.

Metaphysics is telling everyone there's a black cat so they step more carefully.

[–] Tlaloc_Temporal@lemmy.ca 2 points 4 months ago

What about superstitions about black cats being the reason everyone is looking in the first place?

[–] Binette@lemmy.ml 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

No but like stuff like Santa and money ins't part of metaphysics. It's like an attempt to answer stuff because we don't have the tools to know certain stuff. God would be metaphysics, but not Santa because we know we made Santa up, but the existence of some supreme being (while not exactly how we portray him) is unable to be unproven or proven

[–] Mango@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

You're talking about theology, not metaphysics.

[–] Binette@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I meant as in trying to figure out how the universe came to be etc. Not the study of religions.

Like yeah could of been "god" but it also could've been nothing at all, or something else

[–] Mango@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yeah that's not what metaphysics is.

[–] Binette@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yeah it is

metaphysics, branch of philosophy whose topics in antiquity and the Middle Ages were the first causes of things and the nature of being. In postmedieval philosophy, however, many other topics came to be included under the heading “metaphysics.” (The reasons for this development will be discussed in the body of the article.)

Read more: https://www.britannica.com/topic/metaphysics/Problems-in-metaphysics

[–] Mango@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Robert Anton Wilson would disagree.

[–] Binette@lemmy.ml 0 points 4 months ago