Metaphysics is defined as the study of ultimate reality. But what is the nature of that ultimate reality? Is it only material? Is it non-material? The word "metaphysics" comes from the root words "meta" meaning beyond and "physics" meaning the physical world. But is there a reality beyond the physical world? The various answers to this question have produced various metaphysical theories.

IDEALISM

This is the view that the only reality is the ideal world. A well known exponent of this view was Plato, a philosopher in ancient Greece (428-347 B.C.). Plato believed that the physical world around us is not real; it is constantly changing and thus you can never say what it really is. There is a world of ideas which is a world of unchanging and absolute truth. This is reality for Plato. Does such a world exist independent of human minds? Plato thought it did, and whenever we grasp an idea, or see something with our mind's eye, we are using our mind to conceive of something in the ideal world. There are a number of proofs of this ideal world. The concepts of geometry, such as the concept of a circle, which is a line equidistant from a point, is something which does not exist in the physical world. All physical circles, such as wheels, drawings, etc. are not perfectly round. Yet our mind has the concept of a perfect circle. Since this concept could not come from the physical world, it must come from an ideal world. Another proof is that from moral perfection. We can conceive of a morally perfect person, even though the people we know around us are not morally perfect. So where does someone get this idea of moral perfection? Since it could not have been obtained from the world around us, it must have come from an ideal world. Platonism has been an extremely influential philosophy down through the centuries.

DUALISM

Dualism is the philosophy that there are two kinds of reality: material and immaterial. There is a physical world as well as a non-physical or spiritual world. There is a problem in showing how the physical world and ideal world are related. Are physical objects imperfect copies of ideal objects?

In each person there is a dualism according to this philosophy. This is the dualism of mind and body. There is a common expression which speaks of "mind over matter" which assumes this dualism. But a problem arises when trying to explain how the two substances can interact. As an example, in movies about ghosts (which are non-physical) if a person tries to strike a ghost their hand goes past the ghost because there is no way to interact with such a being. So while the dualistic view is commonly held there are serious philosophical problems with such a view.

MATERIALISM

On this view only the world of matter is real. Thoughts, ideas and other non-physical things are merely movements of physical matter or chemical reactions. There is no reality beyond the physical.

THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

Here is a metaphysical problem which has puzzled thinkers through the centuries. It is stated this way:

 If the first two premises are true must the conclusion be true? Some answers to this have tried to deny the first premise by appealing to our free will as the source of evil. This however does not account for natural disasters and similar types of evil.

Others have tried to deny the second premise by saying that these calamities are not really evil; they build our character and make us stronger.

Others have accepted the conclusion and often postulate another being, such as a devil, who has power in the universe.

GOD

There are a number of logical arguments given for the existence of God. These arguments rely only on human reasoning; they do not invoke religious faith. They were proposed by philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) and Saint Anselm (1033-1109) during the Middle Ages in Europe.

 The Argument from Design:

 The Ontological Argument:

 All three of the above arguments have been analyzed and criticized a great deal. They do show how human reasoning tries to grapple with the concept of a supreme being.

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