Philosophy of Being and Knowledge

Metaphysics (Philosophy of Being)

The History of Metaphysics

Metaphysics is only possible within a worldview that acknowledges the reality of being. While most people on Earth believe in the existence of something, there are also worldviews that assert the non-existence of anything. For example, Buddhists believe that everything perceived by humans is merely an illusion. In such a framework, if nothing exists, then the concept of being—and thus metaphysics—becomes irrelevant. In Western philosophy, however, the belief in existence is a universally accepted axiom. If something exists, then the study of being is conceivable.

The first metaphysical concepts in Western philosophy emerged in Ancient Greece. Greek philosophers concluded that true being does not align with the observable world but is merely expressed through it. Parmenides argued that to reach true being, one must transcend the world of everyday experience through intellectual effort. While worldly things arise, change, and perish, true being is eternal and unchanging. Plato extended Parmenides' thoughts by asserting that nothing comes into being without an idea. For instance, before a carpenter builds a table, he must first conceive of it in his mind; likewise, an architect must draft a plan before constructing a building. Thus, everything that exists is an embodiment of some plan. Plato termed these plans "ideas," which are eternal and immutable, irrespective of their manifestation in the world. For example, a triangle remains a triangle even if no physical triangular objects exist, and its defining properties remain unchanged. Being is comprehended solely by reason; for example, the Pythagorean theorem can only be understood through reason, not through empirical observation.

In Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, metaphysics took another significant step. If true being is the foundation of all that exists and cannot be grasped through experience, and if all that exists is created by God, then true being must be God, expressed through His creation. This led to the identification of the subjects of metaphysics with those of theology in medieval philosophy. The task of philosophy, and particularly metaphysics, was seen as preparatory for the study of theology, thus making philosophy a servant to theology by providing its intellectual foundation.

Early modern metaphysics evolved into expansive philosophical systems, each with its distinct features. Thinkers of this era, like their predecessors, sought the foundation of all existence but deviated from traditional concepts, approaching the task creatively. René Descartes posited two substances as the foundation of all existence: soul and body. Benedict Spinoza declared that only God is truly existent, while spirit and body are merely modes of God's expression.

In the 17th century, the notion emerged that metaphysics had diverged from its true subject. Metaphysics was supposed to study being as such, i.e., the principle according to which something exists, but instead began to examine existing things. This prompted the introduction of the concept of ontology, distinguishing between metaphysics, which studies existence, and ontology, which studies being itself. Thus, the term "ontology" entered philosophical terminology.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel believed that the foundation of all existence is the Absolute Spirit, and history is merely an expression of Spirit. In Hegel’s philosophy, fixed and unchanging being disappears; nothing is permanent—everything is subject to change. What the intellect can grasp are the patterns of these changes. Hence, in Hegel’s philosophy, the study of metaphysics concerns not a fixed and unchanging being, but becoming; philosophy of being is replaced by the philosophy of development, focusing on the development of Spirit. Hegel formulated the principles of Spirit’s development and called them dialectics.

One of the innovations of modern times was the emergence of materialism, a philosophical direction asserting that only matter exists. If only matter exists, then seeking foundations of all existence beyond matter becomes meaningless. For materialists, the subject of metaphysics is matter. Since natural sciences study the material world and its laws, metaphysics in this worldview becomes a platform for integrating scientific results into a coherent whole.

In the 19th century, Marxism emerged as a philosophical direction founded by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Although Marxists were materialists, they understood matter differently from their predecessors. For Marxists, matter encompassed not just physical objects but also society. Thus, Marxist philosophy includes two branches: dialectical materialism, studying the general principles of matter's development, and historical materialism, studying societal development. Since society is a form of matter, it follows the same laws governing matter’s development. These laws are dialectics, which Marxists inherited from Hegel. While Hegel saw dialectics as principles of Spirit’s development, Marx, rejecting the concept of Spirit, argued that matter and society develop dialectically. For Marx, as for Hegel, nothing is permanent or unchanging; everything evolves over time, and thus philosophy should focus not on static being but on the dynamic unfolding of matter.

The most popular philosophical direction of the 20th century, especially in English-speaking countries, is analytical philosophy. Adherents of this approach placed language at the center of philosophical discourse. People know only what they can express through linguistic means. This implies that language underpins worldview. By analyzing language, philosophy can purify human understanding of illusory problems. Within analytical philosophy, ontology merges with the philosophy of language, studying not existence itself but the possibility of speaking about existence. This forms the basis of analytical ontology.

Not all philosophers agree that metaphysics is necessary or feasible. During the Enlightenment, empiricism arose, a philosophical direction asserting that knowledge comes solely from experience. Some empiricists argued that only what can be known exists, and since they believed knowledge comes only from experience, only what can be observed in experience exists. In other words, what one can see, hear, or sense exists, while what cannot be perceived in experience does not. Since metaphysics relies not on empirical data but on what can be grasped solely by reason, it is deemed impossible within this worldview. Consequently, criticism of metaphysics is based on its method. If empiricists accept only empirical knowledge, and metaphysics relies on reason, then it is deemed impossible. This critique of metaphysics was echoed by followers of all forms of empiricism, from English Enlightenment thinkers to neopositivists.