4/2/2023 0 Comments Meta physics![]() ![]() Concepts such as ‘good’ or ‘mind’ tried to replace gods and other supernatural entities as the cause and purpose – the alpha and omega – of earthly existence. Philosophers claimed that metaphysical concepts gave birth to and support all that exists, bestowing upon this world its ultimate meaning and purpose.Īt its inception in Ancient Greece, metaphysics was, arguably, a secularization of religious thinking. The substantive and persistent nature of these concepts is understood as superior to everything in this world. Metaphysics is the species of philosophy that takes concepts as its objects, treating them as if they exist independently of our capacity to formulate them in our minds and inhabit a plane of existence beyond ours. Courtesy: © Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints Verk, Stockholm photograph: Albin Dahlström/Moderna Museet 4, Youth, 1907, oil and tempera on paper mounted on canvas, 3 × 2.3 m. So, even though there are countless ways in which critical thought is opposed to mysticism, the two are also bound by their shared opposition to all varieties of dogmatic thinking, of accepting this reality as the only one worth being real. This, arguably, is why metaphysics and art are fundamentally paradoxical.īut the paradox slackens (a touch) if we consider a feature common to both mysticism and reason: a refusal to accept what is generally presented as being all there is. ![]() Yet, it’s hard to reconcile how mystical beliefs can exist, much less thrive, on the same intellectual plane as critical thinking. Both entertain radically opposing forms of thought: mysticism and reason. There are curious parallels between metaphysics and art. Perhaps this is why I’ve recently been thinking about metaphysics. But, when our days are as punishing as they are now, when ordinary forms of concernment feel insufficient, our thoughts naturally turn to extraordinary means to deal. In my experience, otherworldly feelings have typically been the product of food poisoning. I’ve never found it pleasing to imagine that a transcendental source of power guides and influences this world. ![]() It’s as surprising as it is paradoxical that metaphysics is on my mind. ![]()
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