Among the principle issues impacting metaphysics and its subdivisions (religion, philosophy, spirituality, and science), are the notions of identity and change; free will; the nature of the mind, and the nature of time. Because metaphysics is dealing with concepts and notions that extend beyond reality, this philosophical discipline will force the end user to delve into uncharted and less tangible territory. After all, these issues are truly subjects or things or concepts that transcend the physical world. And through metaphysics, we try to find a relationship between such concepts as time, space, causation, probability, existence, property, and beyond. In examining the nature of the world through metaphysical issues, one is forced to look at the very nature of being, or the nature of the world, in hopes of figuring out what our place is here in existence.
Identity and change deals with the notion that everything is in relation to itself. In theory, if two things are identical, then they will each contain the same properties that each other possesses. Philosophers working in the area of metaphysics, strive to provide an explanation for the fact that things may develop different properties at different time, and the fact despite change, things or objects stay in existence.
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The notion of free will is a metaphysical and philosophical issue whereby people can elect to take a particular course of action from amongst a variety of alternative choices. Because this in effect, becomes a volitional act, there is often a debate over the extent to which free will intersects moral responsibility. Indeed, it is possible that one acts out of free will, they are in effect, fulfilling their moral requirement to be responsible for their own actions. This is tempered of course by the fact that people often choose a particular course of action only to have its success or failure turn on factors beyond their own dominion and control. There are also limits to how much one can choose to do.
The nature of mind is similarly amorphous and hard to conceptualize in a vacuum. Visualizing one’s reflection in a mirror is a good starting point, metaphorically, for an exploration of the nature of one’s mind. Related are examinations of how one feels or what one sees. This involves how we observe and how we perceive things within ourselves and within our world, and could involve both subconscious and conscious thought, at spiritual, intellectual, or intuitive level. The mental and emotional realms are invoked and together with the foregoing, form the basis for this inquiry into the nature of mind.
Lastly there is the issue of the nature of time, which is equally obtuse. Time has to exist, at least conceptually if there is to be an earlier than time and a later than time. Along with time comes motion, also continuous and closely tied to the notion of time. From a scientific viewpoint, one can consider physics and the constant study of movement. It may well be that we need to understand motion and duration in terms of the amount time measured, and vice versa.
- Smart, J. J. (2000). The Mind/Brain Identity Theory. Retrieved August 21, 2016, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mind-identity/
- Spirit Science and Metaphysics. (n.d.). Retrieved August 21, 2016, from http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/
