Metaphysical Reasoning

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Metaphysical Reasoning

Does God Exist?

Religion and Spirituality

The questioning of there being a God from a religious perspective is very biased. Many religions believe there is a God, some believe in multiple Gods, some don’t believe in God. David Hume explains it well, he says God's being is “so different, and so much superior” to human nature that we are not able to form any clear or distinct idea of his nature and attributes.

“Can we influence the physical world with the use of thinking?” Why does the idea of God exist if no living person has actually seen him. It is the use of mind and matter, creating something with the power of believing, whether or not it is physical it may be out there to some extent. That is religion, using faith to make something come real. If it’s not real then why are there churches and why does 93% of the world believe in a higher power? If God exists in peoples head then it shouldn’t even matter if he exists at all. The power of faith is enough to make people be good and follow teachings around being a good person.

Necessity vs Possibility

The idea of this is that the necessary truth is always correct and the possible truth is possibly true. Thomas Aquinas makes the argument that the existence of God is Proven. He says “Possibility is having the tendency to stop existing or being contingent. Necessity is a form from itself, which could not possibly have failed to exist.” The possibility of God existing is proven because if it were a necessity it would have to exist. If God never existed, then God still exists.

Does any of this - even my act of questioning - actually matter?

Identity and Change

We can consider identity and change from observing Aristotle's law of identity. Something must be identical to itself, if not, it would never exist. To find out if anything matters, we must find out if anything exists. If something observable exists it means it has an identity and it is a reality.

Existance and Consciousness

From an existence and consciousness perspective, the question of whether anything actually matters depends on the given person’s philosophical perspective. Here are two possible perspectives:Existentialism: If one subscribes to the existentialist philosophy, then the meaning and purpose of life are not predetermined but rather created by individuals through their actions and choices. Consciousness theory: If one subscribes to the consciousness theory, then consciousness is the fundamental aspect of reality, and everything that exists is a manifestation of consciousness.

Mind and Matter

From a mind and matter perspective, the question of whether anything actually matters depends on one's philosophical perspective. There is the dualistic perspective. If one believes that mind and matter are separate substances, then it is possible to argue that some things matter to the mind but not to matter. For example, one's emotions, thoughts, and beliefs may matter to the mind but not necessarily to matter. There is also the Monism perspective. If one believes that mind and matter are not separate substances but rather different aspects of the same underlying reality, then it is possible to argue that everything matters to some extent.

What is the meaning of life?

Cosmology and Cosmogony

Another abstraction is Cosmology and Cosmogony. This is the study of the universe. The universe holds all life inside of it. This abstraction questions where the universe had a starting point or a continuation point. Does this relate at all to the meaning of life? If you are religious then yes. This questions why the universe even exists at all. Does life matter if none of this is real. Would knowing the universe is not real destroy religion? In my opinion, no. Knowing our place in this universe is important but I believe it is irrelevant to living a meaningful life.

We can also look at the meaning of life from a deterministic vs free will perspective. If the world is purely deterministic, then there is no meaning to life. Every decision, every thought a person may have has no true affect on what is actually happening making life completely meaningless. On the other hand, if the world has pure free will, the meaning of life is very important because choices and actions determine how a person spends their life and they have the option to live a meaningful life or to not.

Theology

We can observe this from a theological perspective. Looking at the question from a christian religious perspective, the meaning of life has an exact definition. God gave us free will and the ability to live so we must serve his will. As humans, we are made in the image and likeness of God so we must spend our lives fulfilling his teachings. This perspective is not broad enough however because there are hundreds of religions and billions of people

Does the world really exist?

Necessity and Possibility

From a necessity perspective, it is reasonable to argue that the world exists because if it did not exist, then nothing else could exist either. For example, if there were no world, there would be no space, time, matter, or energy. Therefore, the existence of the world is necessary for the existence of anything else.From a possibility perspective, it is also reasonable to argue that the world exists because its existence is logically possible. There is nothing inherently contradictory or impossible about the idea of a world that exists, so it is reasonable to believe that it does exist.

Identity and Change.

An identity is something that can be distinguished from another and be defined. Change is something that makes an identity differ. According to Aristotle, “the law of identity states that each thing is identical with itself.” So for the world, it changes very often, but it has an identity so it does exist.

Existence and Consciousness

We can question our existence and question if the world is real but we have to use our brains to do so. Descartes says “If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” To find the answer to the questions of life, we must question everything

Do we have free will?

Consciousness

Consciousness plays a big role in the belief of free will. Consciousness is “the quality or state of being aware especially of something within oneself.” Free Will is not possible without consciousness. We need to be able to have awareness to even think to make a choice. The two go hand in hand, the consciousness of a human being is the ability to be aware and we need awareness to make real choices.

Spirituality and Religion

In the world of theology, from a christianity perspective, we do have free will. From the beginning of time with Adam and Eve, humans have had free will. Adam and Eve were given everything in life but they still chose to sin and eat the forbidden fruit. This suggests that we do have free will because if God is all powerful then he could have prevented us from sin.

Determinism and Free Will

The idea that everything that happens has been predetermined and cannot be controlled, it will occur regardless of the choices or actions people make. A philosopher named Jawahharlal Nehru said “Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.” Basically he is suggesting that the attributes and upbringing of humans is determined at a young age but freewill comes into play as you grow. Nobody gets to choose where or when they are born but they can choose what they want to do with their lives.