Darin Mulligan, age 14, of Wilmington, Del., for his question:
CAN YOU EXPLAIN METAPHYSICS?
Metaphysics is the name given to research about the eternal, universal nature of things. The natural scientist deals with the kinds of fundamental and basic properties that make up matter. The metaphysician, or philosopher who deals with metaphysics, studies the basic kinds of things and properties that make up the entire cosmos or universe.
Traditionally, metaphysics is subdivided into two branches: ontology and cosmology.
Ontology deals with questions about the ultimate nature of things; whether a thing is one or many, or of what kind.
Cosmology considers the type of organization of the world. If ail things are determined, cosmology seeks to find out how, or by what method. If they are not, cosmology then tries to find out what caused the breakdown of determinism.
Cosmology also tries to discover whether things are arranged in some hierarchy or ascending order. If they are, it then tries to discover the apex or top of that hierarchy and how things ascend to various levels.
One of the doctrines of metaphysics is idealism. Idealism asserts that mind or spirit is in some sense basic to everything that exists. Most religions are based on idealistic ontologies. Absolute idealism asserts that there is only one universal spirit, of which ail things are manifestations.
Supernaturalism, a form of idealism, believes in the existence of something (God) beyond nature. Naturalism, opposed to supernaturalism, insists that there is only nature and that ail things are to be explained in materialistic or scientific terms.
Many questions metaphysicians raise cannot be answered by experimental observation in a laboratory. The laboratory method of solving questions assumes that nature is such that it can be observed in a laboratory.
Metaphysics tries to justify its conclusions either by generalizing from the natural sciences or by inferring, or drawing conclusions, from the process of knowing on the nature of things known.
Some metaphysicians have insisted that there is a process of knowing that reveals to us the structure of things in general, or knowledge by acquaintance or intuition.
The progress of natural science and the diversity of answers to metaphysical questions have caused some philosophers to insist that these questions are meaningless because they cannot be answered.
For example, we know of no way to answer the question, "Is reality mind or matter?" once and for all. Therefore, these philosophers consider it a meaningless question.
Other philosophers try to discover means of replying to metaphysical questions. They say that such questions are not really about the universe as it is, but about our methods of talking about the universe.