Metaphysics is necessary

[Surendra Darathy]

... in order to roll out of bed in the morning.

That's the proposition, anyway, facetious or not.

The mind experiences awaking from troubled dreams only to find that it is not trapped in the body of a giant cockroach.

Slowly but surely (in a matter of a few seconds, for minds not recovering from general anaesthesia), the mind reconnects with a past and a future, however illusory those concepts may be.

Of course we could try existing in an eternal present moment... But wait...

Gosh, it says, I need to get showered and dressed and get to work, or I might get sacked. And crash and burn and die and burn.

But wait: Am I just imagining all that? Is anything real? Does existence exist? What is existence?

(Mind thinks about this for a couple of hours in the eternal present moment)

Gosh. I seem to be getting hungry... Maybe I need to eat breakfast, or something. What is the ontology of "breakfast"?

Is "breakfast" something beyond the reach of my mind? Or can I conjure it up with mind-stuff. I might have to conjure up a spoon for my cereal. One that's not too bent.

On and on it goes, until hunger overcomes the mind, and it rolls out of bed, inside an illusory body not at all unlike that of a cockroach. Usually, this is done in time to get to work, so that the mind has some mentalmoney with which to buy some more energy pills.

Thus, the first metaphysical test: The world exists independently of my mind and the mind journeys outward into it or risks being bored to death.

Wait! What could "death" be? Is it an imaginary state of not existing? Or is it just not thinking that I don't exist, which still actually entails some existence, since if I don't realize I don't exist, then I must still exist.

Come on guys. I obviously need some help with this. I'm just no good at metaphysics.

[charlou]

Did I really just read that or am I imagining there's an elephant in that snake?

[Bruce Burleson]

Who are you and what have you done with Surendra?

You are experiencing the sound of your own wheels making you crazy, the infinite reflections found in two opposing mirrors.

You came closest to the sun when you mentioned boredom. We got too much stuff up there between the ears and we don't know what to do with it. But ain't it fun being human?

[Bruce Burleson]

... in order to roll out of bed in the morning.

That's the proposition, anyway, facetious or not.

My dog rolls out of bed in the morning. I smell his metaphysics soon thereafter. Instinct, habit, necessity - that gets you out of bed. Not metaphysics. Go to India and look at the untouchables, and ask why they get out of bed in the morning. It's what you do.

[jamest]

Is metaphysics necessary? Err, no, not if you're completely happy to immerse yourself in the everyday possibilities that human life seems to present. Go to school; get some fun; get some girls; get some grades; get a job; bag a wife; get some kids; get a dog; grab a holiday or two; get some insurance; acquire a car or two; retire and play bowls; die. Lovely.
But is that it? Is that all that existence is about?

I think that those of us who immerse ourselves into metaphysics, do so because we want answers to these questions and we want to see if the answers would make any difference to our existence.

[SpeedOfSound]

Is metaphysics necessary? Err, no, ..

Good. At least you understand this much.

[Feck]

Is metaphysics necessary? Err, no, not if you're completely happy to immerse yourself in the everyday possibilities that human life seems to present. Go to school; get some fun; get some girls; get some grades; get a job; bag a wife; get some kids; get a dog; grab a holiday or two; get some insurance; acquire a car or two; retire and play bowls; die. Lovely.
But is that it? Is that all that existence is about?

I think that those of us who immerse ourselves into metaphysics, do so because we want answers to these questions and we want to see if the answers would make any difference to our existence.

All that thinking and you got the wife and the Dog in the wrong order ....

[jamest]

All that thinking and you got the wife and the Dog in the wrong order ....

In a few years, it might even be possible to marry your dog.

[SpeedOfSound]

All that thinking and you got the wife and the Dog in the wrong order ....

In a few years, it might even be possible to marry your dog.

I'm not so optimistic. The gay marriage plot to push through doggie matrimony is not working as we planned. Right now I can't get Muffie on my insurance plan and we can still be arrested for having sex in our own backyard.

[Feck]

You would have thought the mormons would have been on-side after the amendments to allow them to marry more than one bitch

[Surendra Darathy]

... in order to roll out of bed in the morning.

Instinct, habit, necessity - that gets you out of bed.

Wait, let me get this straight: You're saying that necessity is necessary? In some sense, Hume must be kidding.

Naah. Too simple. That Kant be it. I been Schopenauer round for some wisdom that could sustain me, and haven't found my Nietzsche yet. Now, he was one who couldn't Heideggerate idea for long.

You've been asleep at the wheel, or taking a Carnap. Just wanted to get the ball Rawling. Don't mind me. I just like to Plato the crowd.

But is that it? Is that all that existence is about?

Well, that is my understanding of metaphysics, which can all be reduced to the thought, "There must be more to this than meats the I." There just hasta be! Hasta seem-pray!

All that thinking and you got the wife and the Dog in the wrong order ....

At least you can still order the dog around. Suppose you get too busy at the office, and your wife gets lonely. With a dog, you'll have the problem licked in no time.

As Groucho said, "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." Back to metaphysics.

[JimC]

Is metaphysics necessary? Err, no, not if you're completely happy to immerse yourself in the everyday possibilities that human life seems to present. Go to school; get some fun; get some girls; get some grades; get a job; bag a wife; get some kids; get a dog; grab a holiday or two; get some insurance; acquire a car or two; retire and play bowls; die. Lovely.
But is that it? Is that all that existence is about?

I think that those of us who immerse ourselves into metaphysics, do so because we want answers to these questions and we want to see if the answers would make any difference to our existence.

To me, you seem to be referring to philosophy in general rather than metaphysics specifically.

[jamest]

Is metaphysics necessary? Err, no, not if you're completely happy to immerse yourself in the everyday possibilities that human life seems to present. Go to school; get some fun; get some girls; get some grades; get a job; bag a wife; get some kids; get a dog; grab a holiday or two; get some insurance; acquire a car or two; retire and play bowls; die. Lovely.
But is that it? Is that all that existence is about?

I think that those of us who immerse ourselves into metaphysics, do so because we want answers to these questions and we want to see if the answers would make any difference to our existence.

To me, you seem to be referring to philosophy in general rather than metaphysics specifically.

To a certain extent, since any aspect of philosophy has the potential to impact upon one's life. Though imo, metaphysics has the potential to effect the greatest impact.

[jamest]

Well, that is my understanding of metaphysics, which can all be reduced to the thought, "There must be more to this than meats the I." There just hasta be! Hasta seem-pray!

Metaphysics is probably best defined as the endeavour to discover whether that thought is correct.

[Matthew Shute]

Friends and captives, I have this metaphysical notion that everything is contained and constrained within the Everloving EverythingnessTM. Nothing that is not anything is not encapsulated and enclosed in the EETM. Everybody can deny it, but none can deny it: the whole caboodle, in a sense, IS the Everloving EverythingnessTM! And so, there is no escape. There isn't not no escape, neither. Even if the great Double ETM is not necessary, it is unavoidable and inevitable. You can't run away from it, and you can't falsify it; it resides within the tiniest cell. The tiniest mouse resides within the tiniest cell, serving its time, and the mouse itself is integrated within the EETM, as is time itself. And I ask you: could there be time without the Terrific Timeness of TimeTM, a mere subsidiary of the Everloving EverythingnessTM? I don't think so. And you won't need to think much. Simply accept your place, your Oneness with the One EverythingnessTM, and everything can be all once more...