Post a Comment On: Bruce Charlton's Notions

Metaphysics (that is, the philosophy of fundamental assumptions) seems to be a matter of dichotomies: of Either/ Or.

But Modern Man is impatient of metaphysics, and especially of metaphysical argument.

So the idea here is to clarify the Either/ Or by stating the metaphysical dichotomy very briefly, illustrating it with a personal example from my life - and then leaving the choice to the reader.

In particular I wish to expose the fact that metaphysics is non-optional. We have always made metaphysical assumptions - and these underpin the way we use evidence and indeed what we recognise as facts; but these metaphysical assumptions are usually unexamined and often denied.

This is just plain wrong.

When a person's metaphysical assumptions are bad, as is the case for almost everybody in The West, then that person's life will be bad - and what is more, they will be utterly trapped in that badness.

Hence, metaphysics is perhaps the single most important topic in the modern world.