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EDU
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Links to course-related information:
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Complex Philosophical Concepts: One of the first―and perhaps most complex―set of complex philosophical concepts that students need to grapple with is the set describing what human beings experience and know from how human beings know that they know they are experiencing and knowing these thing. This set pits epistemology (what human beings know) against metaphysics (how human beings know that they know...). Epistemology... Technically, epistemology is defined as "the theory or science that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of knowledge" (McKechnie, 1979, 614). As the dictionary definition suggests, epistemology is the study of what humans know: its origins, nature, methods, and limits. To understand this concept, think about epistemology as the study of "intellectual history." That is, where did what human know come from, what does it mean, what is the process by which this became known, and―don't ever forget this important aspects―do humans know this absolutely or only provisionally? Hence, the distinction between "Truth" and "truth," indicating that much of what humans assert as Truth (capital "T") is, in reality, truth (small "t"). And, as Socrates notes in Meno, a provisional truth at that (a "correct opinion") that is based upon a probability that the provisional truth may be a false (1981, 97-98.85-87). Thus, epistemology might be thought of as "quantitative" in nature. That is, humans can quantify what they know. And, most textbooks and (perhaps) most teachers do precisely that. Typically, what teachers offer students through the curriculum and its courses is epistemological in nature; that is, teachers try to get students to know and understand precisely what human beings know. However, most tests and measures of human knowledge only assess what students. Hopefully, teachers also strive to get their students to understand what it is that human beings know. One important philosophical consideration all of this raises for professional educators is: Do teachers ever suggest to their students that much of what human beings know (and hopefully, understand) is what humans believe to be true, that is, "correct opinions" as Socrates taught? Or, do teachers transmit these ideas as static truths that are not to be questioned? If the latter, so much for developing the students' critical and creative thinking capacities...and schools functioning like information factories and teachers as instructors. Metaphysics... In contrast, metaphysics is "the branch of philosophy that deals with first principles and seeks to explain the nature of being or reality (ontology) and of the origin and structure of the world (cosmology)...popularly, any very subtle, perplexing, or difficult reasoning" (McKechnie, 1979, 1132). The ellipsis in the definition provides the clearest insight into what metaphysics actually inquires into. The focus here is not what humans know (that's epistemology) but how humans know that they know that.... (The statement never really ends because metaphysics probes into and beyond the deepest realms of knowing as these realms become more mysterious and seemingly beyond the grasp of the intellect.) Metaphysics, then, takes the self-conscious turn that epistemology avoids, examining the powers and processes of intellect by which humans have become conscious of the things that they know and act upon in their daily lives. From the point of view of philosophy, however, all of this effort is expended in order to arrive at some basic concepts (i.e., first principles) which provide the substance upon which being is grounded. Thus, as the definition states, metaphysics seeks to explain the nature of being (or reality)―what, epistemologically speaking, humans know and know that they know―in order to arrive at the substance (or "essence") upon which most human "being in the world" is grounded...and, oftentimes, taken tacitly for granted as "the way things are" (or "being"). Metaphysics searches for the Truth undergirding and supporting what human beings assert to be truth. All of this is technical, complicated, and difficult to express simply (which is why many people don't like philosophy). But, understanding these matters is not something beyond the grasp of the average human being. Try this mental experiment: Consider your "true" self, that is, who you really know yourself to be, warts and all. Now, were it possible that I could give you a battery of psychological tests that would factually identify the truth about who you really are, that is, your "being in the world" would you agree that I have captured the "true" you...the "essence" of your "being," that upon which you base your self-consciousness? The obvious response is "No." And, you'd most likely assert that the "true" you is much more elusive and mysterious and complex a phenomenon than can be captured by the facts of my battery of psychological tests. Now, relate this experiment to the concepts of epistemology and metaphysics: Who you are (your "being in the world") tells us what you may know (and again, may not know) about yourself, epistemologically speaking. That is "what" is known about the true you. But, once again, that knowledge (what humans know) is provisional because it may change as a consequence of a variety of factors that undo in the future what humans know today. For example, the pre-Copernican world believed the earth to be flat and believed that to be a true statement about the nature of things. However, with greater insight, methods, and tools, humans came to know something that is more true and unveiled something false...but―and don't forget this―the new "truth" may itself also become less true at some future point. Now, when an individual argues that what others know about them isn't their true self, this individual is asserting something that can't be quantified. For example, can any human being show one's "true" self? No, this is an impossibility. But, contrary to all evidence, most people assert that this "true self" provides a grounding for their human existence. Technically, this is what philosophers call the "substance" (or "essence") of the true self and define as the "first principle" upon which human beings ground their existence in the world" (or "being"). Metaphysics, then, begins at this point by inquiring into the substance upon which being is grounded. Metaphysics does not take this as true or false but inquires into how human beings "know that they know that they know that..." (and, hence, the reason for the ellipsis in the definition, as the mystery of who humans truly are opens up before and beyond them as they make this inquiry not one time but as a perpetual endeavor). The goal of metaphysics is to arrive at an immutable First Principle that serves as the ground of human being in the world. The presumption is tat one will always remain suspicious that what humans assert to be the First Principle may well be a figment of the human imagination for, indeed there may well be no such thing as an immutable First Principle. This is what metaphysics is really all about .
McKechnie, J. L. (Ed.). (1979). Webster's new twentieth century dictionary (second ed.). New York: Simon and Schuster. Plato. (1981). Meno. The five dialogues (G.M.A. Grube, Trans.). Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Co.
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