A Comparative Study Between Metaphysics and Logic

SANSKRIT(SOFT CORE: SANS 438) ASSIGNMENT

CHINMAYEE MISHRA
REG NO. 12374012 | DEPT OF PHYSICS

A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN METAPHYSICS AND LOGIC

METAPHYSICS
What is Metaphysics?
Metaphysics is a traditional branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world. In our life, many questions concerning our life come to our mind which goes unanswered by the so-called progressive scientists. Some of such questions areWhat is the meaning of Life? What is my purpose? What is God? What is reality? Why am I here? How did I get here? Who and what am I? What will happen when I die? How can I experience abundance in the areas of health, wealth and happiness? Metaphysics tried to answer such questions which science, so far, hasnt been able to answer in any satisfactory way. Metaphysics is a broad ranging philosophy, NOT science! It is closely related to spirituality but beyond any religion of this world. Earlier, before the advent of modern science, even the scientific questions were addressed by metaphysics. Science generally meant knowledge so science can be also considered a part of metaphysics! Some neo-physicists disclaim the existence of metaphysics while other science philosophers embrace metaphysics. The term metaphysics is derived from the Greek Ta Meta ta Physkia which means the books after the books on nature. When a librarian was cataloguing Aristotles works, he did not have a title for the material he wanted to shelve after the material called nature (Physkia) so he called it after nature. Originally, this wasnt even a subject at all it was a collection of notes on different topics, but specifically topics removed from normal sense perception and empirical observation.

Types of Metaphysics
Any of the following subjects or their combinations have been considered as part of metaphysics time and again by various Meta-physicists (Metaphysicists are those who study Metaphysics.)Philosophy, Religion, God, Parapsychology, Mysticism, Yoga, ESP, Dreams, Jungian Psychology, Astrology, Meditation, Self-Help Studies, Positive Thinking, Life after Death, Laws of the Universe, Love, Reincarnation, Enlightenment, etc Most of the above subjects fall into the category of Spiritual Metaphysics.

But Metaphysics still can be centrally divided into two types. 1. Ontology 2. Cosmology

METAPHYSICS

ONTOLOGY
THEOLOGY UNIVERSAL SCIENCE

Ontology Ontology deals with questions concerning what entities exist or can be said to exist, and how such entities can be grouped, related within a hierarchy, and subdivided according to similarities and differences. Some philosophers, notably of the Platonic school, contend that all nouns (including abstract nouns) refer to existent entities. Other philosophers contend that nouns do not always name entities, but that some provide a kind of shorthand for reference to a collection of either objects or events. In this latter view, mind, instead of referring to an entity, refers to a collection of mental events experienced by a person; society refers to a collection of persons with some shared characteristics, and geometry refers to a collection of a specific kind of intellectual activity. Between these poles of realism and nominalism, there are also a variety of other positions; but any ontology must give an account of which words refer to entities, which do not, why, and what categories result. When one applies this process to nouns such as electrons, energy, contract, happiness, space, time, truth, causality, and God, ontology becomes fundamental to many branches of philosophy.

The first occurrence in English of "ontology" as recorded by the OED (Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, 1989) appears in Nathaniel Bailey's dictionary of 1721, which defines ontology as 'an Account of being in the Abstract' - though, of course, such an entry indicates the term was already in use at the time. It is likely the word was first used in its Latin form by philosophers based on the Latin roots, which themselves are based on the Greek. Ren Descartes, with "je pense donc je suis" or "cogito ergo sum" or "I think, therefore I am", argued that "the self" is something that we can know exists with epistemological certainty. Descartes argued further that this knowledge could lead to a proof of the certainty of the existence of God, using the ontological argument that had been formulated first by Anselm of Canterbury. Certainty about the existence of "the self" and "the other", however, came under increasing criticism in the 20th century. Sociological theorists, most notably George Herbert Mead and Erving Goffman, saw the Cartesian Other as a "Generalized Other", the imaginary audience that individuals use when thinking about the self. According to Mead, "we do not assume there is a self to begin with. Self is not presupposed as a stuff out of which the world arises. Rather the self, arises in the world" The Cartesian Other was also used by Sigmund Freud, who saw the superego as an abstract regulatory force, and mile Durkheim who viewed this as a psychologically manifested entity which represented God in society at large. Theology Cosmology is the study of the origins and eventual fate of the universe. Physical cosmology is the scholarly and scientific study of the origin, evolution, structure, dynamics, and ultimate fate of the universe, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order, studied by scientists. Religious cosmology (or mythological cosmology) is a body of beliefs based on the historical, mythological, religious, and esoteric literature and traditions of creation and eschatology. Physical cosmologists propose that the history of the universe has been governed entirely by physical laws. Between the domains of religion and science stands the philosophical perspective of metaphysical cosmology. This ancient field of study seeks to draw intuitive conclusions about the nature of the universe, man, a supernatural creator, and/or their relationships based on the extension of some set of presumed facts borrowed from spiritual experience and/or observation. Metaphysical cosmology has also been described as the placing of man in the universe in relationship to all other entities. This is exemplified by the observation made by Marcus Aurelius of a man's place in that relationship: "He who does not know what the world is does not know where he is, and he who does not

know for what purpose the world exists, does not know who he is, nor what the world is." Religious Cosmology is what we are interested in. Religious and mythological cosmology deals with the world as the totality of space, time and all phenomena. Historically, it has had quite a broad scope, and in many cases was founded in religion. The ancient Greeks did not draw a distinction between this use and their model for the cosmos. However, in modern use it addresses questions about the Universe which are beyond the scope of science. It is distinguished from religious cosmology in that it approaches these questions using philosophical methods (e.g. dialectics). Modern metaphysical cosmology tries to address questions such as:

What is the origin of the Universe? What is its first cause? Is its existence necessary? 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? Does the existence of consciousness have a purpose? How do we know what we know about the totality of the cosmos? Does cosmological reasoning reveal metaphysical truths?

The Four Central Problems

However, there are four central problems that we must first understand if we are to correctly understand metaphysics and its relation to science. This is important as it does lead to a simple solution for describing physical reality. Logical Truths Vs Truths of Physical Reality Although logic from principles is necessary and certain, it does not mean that the things we assume to exist (as stated by our principles) actually exist in reality. An example of this is the assumption that light is a 'particle' (photon). While it is true that light energy is emitted and absorbed in discrete amounts, it is a further theoretical assumption that light is a 'particle'. (As the Wave Structure of Matter explains, light is actually caused by standing wave interactions, which cause the discrete standing wave states and thus discrete energy states of matter found in quantum theory.) As Einstein writes; The skeptic will say: "It may well be true that this system of equations is reasonable from a logical standpoint. But this does not prove that it corresponds to nature." You are right, dear skeptic. Experience alone can decide on truth. ... Pure logical thinking cannot yield us any knowledge of the empirical world: all knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it. (Albert Einstein, 1954)

Our Senses are Incomplete and Deceptive Representations of the Mind Further difficulties arise because our senses also deceive us. Philosophers have known for thousands of years that our mind represents our senses, thus the world we see and taste and touch is different (naive real) to the real world which causes our senses. Basically, we never see the hidden connection between things, only the effects of that connection. e.g. When we drop a rock, we see it fall to the earth, but we do not see the connection between the rock and the earth (we give it a name, gravity, but this does not explain the causal connection). Likewise, our sense of color is an obvious example of how our mind represents a certain frequency of light. If we are to describe Reality then it must be founded on real things which exist and cause our senses, not on the naive real representation of our senses. Thus Science, by being empirically founded, is not well suited to describing Reality itself. As Aristotle and Hume wrote; Rather, they start this, displaying it to the senses, .... and go on to offer more or less rigorous demonstrations of the per se attributes of their proprietary genera. This sort of procedure is inductive (empirical) and it is as plain as a pikestaff that it does not amount to a demonstration of essence or of what it is to be a thing. ... But also philosophy is not about perceptible substances (they, you see, are prone to destruction) (Aristotle, Metaphysics) When we look about us towards external objects, and consider the operation of causes, we are never able, in a single instance, to discover any power or necessary connexion; any quality, which binds the effect to the cause, and renders the one an infallible consequence of the other. ... experience only teaches us, how one event constantly follows another; without instructing us in the secret connexion, which binds them together, and renders them inseparable. (David Hume, 1737) We Only See the Discrete and Separate Aspect of Reality When we see things, we are actually seeing a discrete energy exchange (light quanta) so we do not directly observe what matter is, we only see it when it changes its energy state (wave function. Science is Empirically Founded on our Sense of Many Things (Matter) Finally, science is founded on the observation of matter and its interconnected motions (many things). Since the time of Newton's Mechanics, Space and Time have been a 'background stage' in which matter 'particles' move about. So science is founded on observations of many material things we experience, and space has been largely ignored. However, as explained below, this then means that we must add 'forces / fields' to connect the matter 'particles' in space and time. The problem is that by working from the many things we experience, we have ignored the one thing (space) that these many things (matter) exist in.

Atheists and Metaphysics

The only thing all atheists have in common is disbelief in gods, so the only thing all atheist metaphysics will have in common is that reality doesn't include any gods and isn't divinely created. Despite that, most atheists in the West tend to adopt a materialistic perspective on reality. This means that they regard the nature of our reality and the universe as consisting of matter and energy. Everything is natural; nothing is supernatural. There are no supernatural beings, realms, or planes of existence. All cause and effect proceeds via natural laws. Some irreligious atheists, like logical positivists, have argued that the agenda of metaphysics is largely pointless and cant accomplish anything. According to them, metaphysical statements cannot be either true or false as a result, they dont really carry any meaning and shouldnt be given any serious consideration. There is some justification to this position, but it is unlikely to convince or impress religious theists for whom metaphysical claims constitute some of the most important parts of their lives. Thus the ability to address and critique such claims can be important. Because atheists typically dismiss the existence of the supernatural, they may dismiss metaphysics as the pointless study of nothing. Because metaphysics is technically the study of all reality, and thus whether there is any supernatural element to it at all, in truth metaphysics is probably the most fundamental subject which irreligious atheists should focus on. Our ability to understand what reality is, what it is composed of, what "existence" means, etc., is fundamental to most of the disagreements between irreligious atheists and religious theists.

LOGIC
What is Logic?
Logic has two senses; it is the study of modes of reasoning (which are valid, and which are fallacious) as well as the use of valid reasoning. In the latter sense, logic is used in most intellectual activities, including philosophy and science, but in the first sense, it is primarily studied in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science. It examines general forms that arguments may take. In mathematics, it is the study of valid inferences within some formal language. Logic is also studied in argumentation theory. Logic was studied in several ancient civilizations, including India, China, Persia and Greece. In the West, logic was established as a formal discipline by Aristotle, who gave it a fundamental place in philosophy. The study of logic was part of the classical trivium, which also included grammar and rhetoric. In the East, logic was developed by Buddhists and Jainists.

Types of Logic

LOGIC
INTERNAL

INDUCTIVE REASONING ABDUCTIVE REASONING DEDUCTIVE REASONING

In another way also logic can be divided as follows.

LOGIC

EXTERNAL

Concept of Logic

Expressed through words

The external Logic, called language, is expressed by deductive methodology. Sentence is distributed and conclusion is undistributed. Conclusion is based on sentences or premises. Methodology works from general to particular and the sentences support the particulars. This Deductive Methodology is also called Syllogism. Sentences are always bigger while conclusion is short because it depends on the sentence. There are a few rules associated with this deductive methodology

1. If the sentence is positive we cannot get negative conclusion. 2. In universe positive sentence subject should change in the predicate and predicate should change into another subject. 3. In case of version positive should change into negative. 4. All can convert into some but some cannot convert into all.

LOGIC

ORIENTALIST

OXIDENTALIST

Epistimology

History of Logic
The orientalists thoughts of logic has been again divided into three parts on the basis of timeline. From 500 BC to 1000 AD, the logic was examined by its meaning which was called Nyaya School of Thoughts. After that examination by evidence was developed which was prominent till the 15th century and it was called Epistemology or Navya School of Thoughts. Then since 16th Century AD a logic was developed which is based on the examination of the meaning of evidence which is called Nyaya Vaishesika School of Thoughts. The oxidentalists logic was developed in the following manner. In Europe, logic was first developed by Aristotle. Aristotelian logic became widely accepted in science and mathematics and remained in wide use in the West until the early 19th century. Aristotle's system of logic was responsible for the introduction of hypothetical syllogism, temporal modal logic, and inductive logic, as well as influential terms such as terms, predicables, syllogisms and propositions. In Europe during the later medieval period, major efforts were made to show that Aristotle's ideas were compatible with Christian faith. During the High Middle Ages, logic became a main focus of philosophers, who would engage in critical logical analyses of philosophical arguments, often using variations of the methodology of scholasticism. In 1323, William of Ockham's influential Summa Logicae was released. By the 18th century, the structured approach to arguments had degenerated and fallen out of favour, as depicted in Holberg's satirical play Erasmus Montanus.

CONCLUSION
Hence from the above discussion we get an idea of comparison between Metaphysics and Logic who are actually two branches of the broad subject called philosophy although both topics have now their own distinct fields of research and studies. Researchers, both from the East and West have always been drawn towards answering the questions that come to a persons mind, questions that eludes our senses with the help of these two subjects. In spite of the rejection of many other researchers about the validity of such studies, they will always have their own valuable eternal existence!