Understanding Metaphysics: Principles, Reality, and Human Existence
Metaphysics as First Philosophy
The analysis was the object of first philosophy, which was the initial term for what we now call metaphysics. The object of first philosophy was the study of the fundamental principles of reality and of all that exists. As Aristotle stated, first philosophy analyzes the features of reality and seeks to identify their first principles and causes. It considers concrete realities, but does not remain confined to them, analyzing the broader issues that explain why a thing is what it is and what are the principles that constitute it. It is also known as the most general branch of philosophy with the term ontology. For Aristotle, it was the highest form of philosophy.
Classical Metaphysics
Classical metaphysics, characterized by a high level of abstraction, intended to describe the common denominator of reality. It sought to develop maximum generality, since the real traits were the particular aspects of it. It was a knowledge of transcendental type, employing complex concepts. It also created categories that served to distinguish different forms of reality and classify entities into groups.
Metaphysical discourse is argumentative: it is a rational knowledge, with arguments that must be substantiated. It is governed by certain principles or requirements. Two of them, both logical principles that guide metaphysical discourse, were especially important:
- The principle of non-contradiction
- The principle of the excluded middle
The Metaphysical Attitude and its Features
A number of general features characterize what may be termed the metaphysical attitude:
- It is always a knowledge of principles, aiming to analyze the first principles of reality.
- It has a radical character, analyzing the root of reality and trying to find what constitutes the being of concrete things.
- It has a claim to totality; from this perspective, it seeks to overcome the differences of particular things, aiming to analyze all of reality to find its meaning.
- It considers fundamental human reality a reference: it analyzes all the problems we have as a reference to the universe of human beings. Man seeks to make sense of their reality and existence.
Beauty and Symbolic Expression
Artistic creation or a work of art is the activity aimed at the production of beautiful objects. It is a kind of symbolic action and involves both the mastery of technique and intuition. The Western tradition developed the concept of art from the Aristotelian conceptions of techne or Latin ars. This concept included any activity learned by practice. It is a continuum that ranges from practical skill to the intuition of genius, before any practical realization. At some times, art was conceived as a copy of nature and its value was precisely the quality of representation. Plato did not have a very positive concept of art because he considered it a copy of a model. With illustration, this dependence of art with respect to nature was broken. For Hegel, nature is imperfect beauty, and art is superior to nature because it is imbued with the spirit. Diderot was the first to say that nature imitates art.