Please explain to a beginner: what is metaphysics?
@jowehler I don't think there is any criterion, beyond the trivial semantic one: metaphysical questions are the questions studied by metaphysicians. Pick up an anthology or a journal and look at how papers are categorized--the questions above are the kind of thing you'll see under the heading "metaphysics". –

What is the difference between the spiritual and the metaphysical
The metaphysical evidence or not preceptive to five gross senses--eyes, ears, nose, etc.--but it is clear to your intellect. You can't deny the consciousness of your thoughts. Don't think metaphysical level is bogus. Gedankenexperiment or thought experiment is a very good example of a valid and highly valued type of metaphysical activity. That ...

epistemology - What exactly is metaphysical possibility? - Philosophy ...
Therefore, we know that (p ∨ ¬p) is metaphysically necessary. Metaphysical possibility is defined in an analogous manner: Definition 5. (Metaphysical possibility m). Formula φ of propositional modal language is metaphysically possible (symbolically: m φ) iff it is true in Carnapian models at some valuation. Example.

What is the difference between metaphysics, supernaturalism, and ...
But this suggests that there is a metaphysical reality - a summum bonum or true good - that provides a foundation for ethics, which would be at odds with naturalism's overall rejection of supernatural or transcendent realities. In this quote, metaphysics and supernaturalism are somehow equated.

What is the difference between metaphysics and ontology?
So, a metaphysical conclusion we can draw from this is: "The world is such that matter is governed by physical laws." This is a metaphysical conclusion because it describes a way that reality is - laws are a property of reality (and further, reality is the kind of reality that can have laws).

What exactly makes something (an event) metaphysically (i.e. not ...
Metaphysical possibility does not supervene on the way our actual world is, that would be nomic possibility, perhaps, what is allowed by the actual laws of nature. Proponents of metaphysical possibility do not offer cogent criteria as to what limits it beyond logical possibility, it is rather something vague conjectured to lie between logical ...

When choosing between competing metaphysical theories to determine ...
If you can figure out among the three approaches to metaphysical theory for which you have a preference, then you can get busy devoting yourself to the appropriate tradition. Of course, this self-actualizing approach to considering metaphilosophy is part of the way of conceiving experiential data called existentialism. Thus, if you have any ...

metaphysics - What is the criteria for a metaphysical truths ...
Metaphysical truths are usually truths that predicate the "true being", if one believes in such a thing. So to Plato existence of the ideal realm is a metaphysical truth, and to Aristotle of the unmoved mover, to Christians God and angels, etc. Necessity and universality are neither necessary nor sufficient.

What are some real-life applications of metaphysics?
The natural kinds feature for instance in metaphysical ontologies of diseases or mental disorders, this is ethically sensitive and potentially controversial:"If we take the example of chemical elements as paradigmatic, we may think of natural kinds as determining the intrinsic, essential features of the world, and as drawing sharp, immutable ...

Are the laws of physics brute facts or metaphysical necessities?
Metaphysical necessity is contrasted with other types of necessity. For example, the philosophers of religion John Hick and William L. Rowe distinguished the following three: factual necessity (existential necessity): a factually necessary being is not causally dependent on any other being, while any other being is causally dependent on it.