This is a branch of philosophy
that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts
such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space. An
abstract theory or talk with no basis in reality.
Metaphysics can be described as all of the following:
• Branch of philosophy –
philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those
connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.
Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its
critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument.
• Academic discipline –
branch of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university
level. Disciplines are defined(in part), and recognized by the academic
journals in which research is published, and the learned societies and academic
departments or faculties to which their practitioners belong.
Branches of metaphysics
Cosmology – a
central branch of metaphysics that studies the origin, fundamental structure,
nature, and dynamics of the universe.
•
Physical cosmology –
study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the Universe and is
concerned with fundamental questions about its formation, evolution, and
ultimate fate.
•
Big Bang cosmology (standard) –
cosmology based on the Big Bang model of the universe. The Big Bang is a
theoretical explosion from which all matter in the universe is alleged to have
originated approximately 13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago.
•
Non-standard cosmology –
any physical cosmological model of the universe that has been, or still is,
proposed as an alternative to the Big Bang model of standard physical
cosmology.
•
Plasma cosmology – a
non-standard cosmology whose central postulate is that the dynamics of ionized
gases and plasmas, rather than gravity, play the dominant roles in the
formation, development, and evolution of astronomical bodies and large-scale
structures in the universe.
Religious cosmology –
body of beliefs based on the historical, mythological, religious, and esoteric
literature and traditions of creation and eschatology.
•
Biblical cosmology –
biblical writers' conception of the Cosmos as an organized, structured entity,
including its origin, order, meaning and destiny.
•
Buddhist cosmology –
description of the shape and evolution of the Universe according to the
Buddhist scriptures and commentaries.
•
Hindu cosmology – In
Hindu cosmology the universe is cyclically created and destroyed. The Hindu
literature, such as Vedas, and Puranas, cite the creation of the universe. They
describe the aspects of evolution, astronomy, etc.
•
Jain cosmology –description
of the shape and functioning of the physical and metaphysical Universe (loka)
and its constituents (such as living beings, matter, space, time etc.)
according to Jainism, which includes the canonical Jain texts, commentaries and
the writings of the Jain philosopher-monks.
•
Taoist cosmology –
cosmology based on the School of Yin Yang which was headed by Zou Yan (305 BC –
240 BC). The school's tenets harmonized the concepts of the Wu Xing (Five
Phases) and yin and yang. In this spirit, the universe is seen as being in a
constant process of re- creating itself, as everything that exists is a mere
aspect of qi, which, "condensed, becomes life; diluted, it is indefinite
potential".
•
Esoteric cosmology –
cosmology that is an intrinsic part of an esoteric or occult system of thought.
Esoteric cosmology maps out the universe with planes of existence and
consciousness according to a specific worldview usually from a doctrine.
Ontology – a
central branch of metaphysics. Ontology is the study of the nature of being,
becoming, existence, or reality, as well as the basic categories of being and
how they relate to each other. In simpler terms, ontology investigates what
there is.
•
Mereotopology –deals with the relations among
wholes, parts, parts of parts, and the boundaries between parts.
•
Meta-ontology – investigates what we are
asking when we ask what there is.
Meta metaphysics –
branch of metaphysics concerned with the foundations of metaphysics (which is
concerned primarily with the foundations of reality). It asks: "Do the questions
of metaphysics really have answers? If so, are these answers substantive or
just a matter of how we use words? And what is the best procedure for arriving
at them—common sense? Conceptual analysis? Or assessing competing hypotheses
with quasi-scientific criteria?"
Philosophy of religion
•
Philosophical theology –
branch of theology and metaphysics that uses philosophical methods in
developing or analyzing theological concepts.
•
Natural theology – branch
of theology and metaphysics the object of which is the nature of the gods, or
of the one supreme God. In monotheistic religions, this principally involves
arguments about the attributes or non-attributes of God, and especially the
existence of God
-
arguments which are purely philosophical, and
do not involve recourse to any supernatural revelation.