metaphysician

One who heuristically solves or defines problems in reality and asks about the thought and material used in its scientific principle to come up with a theory.

The Metaphysician describes a piece of wood by its chemical properties and tries to watch it burn in a fire. They wonder about how it burns and what a flame is and how that is made. The idea is physics, how does it work. In variant they look at anything that has not been proven in the unknown. "Prote, hyle,?" They say.

by Poiler November 24, 2013

Metaphysics

I am not a philosophy major as you'd have to be an idiot to major in philosophy. Thus, the below statements are verified by the fact that they're understandable by general people and make actual sense, not that they sound fancy.

Definition 1. Logical analysis to determine the nature of the reality that observable, scientific reality exists within. Absolutely (necessarily) separated from empirical analysis of observable, scientific reality (these are 'physics').

'Meta' means 'around', 'before', 'encompassing all within'. 'Meta topics' in any forum are discussion of the forum itself, rather than specific contents the forum is meant to discuss. 'Metadiscussion' as a topic, is discussion of discussion. 'Meta analysis' of scientific journals is scientific analysis of all scientific data.

Physics is the study of change in the Universe.

Metaphysics, just literally read, means logical or empirical analysis to determine the nature of the reality within which all that is analysed by physics, the Universe, is.

Definition 2. Goddamn anything you want. Anything that isn't metaphysics by the above definition and is still called metaphysics, is metaphysics because someone said it is.

Anyone wanting to add to the definitions: listing examples isn't providing a definition. Philosophy is nothing if not comprehensible, ie. either using language that's clearly defined, or using language that's all of: literally interpretable, logically cohesive, and warranted in actual use.

Person 1: "I'm studying metaphysics"
Person 2: "Why?"

by Geraurban September 29, 2021

Metaphysics

The science of the metaphysical. How the gods scientifically exist, scientifically created so called 'magic', how their 'magic' isn't really magic but science that is beyond humanity's current capacity to comprehend and how the gods use science to control the laws of nature (science).

(Please study the Kardashev Scale Theory to understand how all this could be possible).

(e.g. 1: 'Some say that the gods were extraterrestrials who looked the same as the humans, were so technologically advanced that they scientifically became immortal conscious simulations living in their own matrix (powered by the stars/a super-computer), control the laws of nature and hack into other's minds to appear to them').

Note: The science of metaphysics is like the most difficult maths equation in the universe. Metaphysics is so complex that it's currently something only the gods and their divine children can understand.

by DianaLuciusDeCollis August 24, 2022

Metaphysics (Physics of Physics)

In this specific, modern context, it's the study of the fundamental assumptions, interpretations, and unsolved conceptual puzzles within physics itself. It's not the ancient philosophical field of "metaphysics" (the study of being), but a pragmatic examination of physics' own foundations. It asks: What does quantum mechanics actually tell us about reality? What is the nature of space and time? How do we interpret the mathematical formalism? It’s the troubleshooting manual for when the math works perfectly but the story it tells seems insane.

Example: The endless debates over the Copenhagen Interpretation vs. the Many-Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics are Metaphysics (Physics of Physics). The equations predict outcomes identically; the fight is over what the math means for the nature of reality—a question physics itself, as a tool, is unequipped to answer.

by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026

Metaphysics of the Laws of Physics

A branch of philosophy that examines the metaphysical foundations, implications, and assumptions of physical laws—asking what kind of entities laws are, what it means for a law to "exist," how laws relate to the phenomena they govern, and whether laws are discovered or invented. The metaphysics of physical laws investigates questions like: Are laws necessary or contingent? Do they exist independently of the universe, or are they patterns within it? Are they prescriptive (telling nature what to do) or descriptive (summarizing what nature does)? Do laws have causal power, or do they just describe regularities? This inquiry reveals that physics itself doesn't answer these questions—it assumes answers and gets to work. Understanding the metaphysics of laws is essential for knowing what we're talking about when we talk about physical law, and for recognizing that different metaphysical assumptions lead to different understandings of what physics discovers.

Metaphysics of the Laws of Physics Example: "His metaphysics of physical laws work asked whether the laws existed before the universe—or whether they're just patterns the universe happened to settle into. The question sounds strange because physics doesn't ask it, but it's fundamental to what we think laws are."

by Dumu The Void March 19, 2026

Hard Problem of Metaphysics

The problem of its own possibility. Metaphysics seeks to describe the fundamental nature of reality (being, time, causality, objects). The hard problem is that any such description must be made from within reality, using a human mind, which is a product of that reality. We are like cells in a body trying to describe human anatomy from the inside, using only cellular language. Our concepts (like "cause" or "substance") may be projections of our cognitive architecture, not features of the world-in-itself. Therefore, metaphysics may tell us more about how human minds must think than about how reality must be.

*Example: A metaphysician argues brilliantly that time is an illusion, a block universe. But they still must make their dinner reservation for 7 PM, live with the anxiety of deadlines, and experience the undeniable flow of their own consciousness. The hard problem: The metaphysical theory, even if logically coherent, is existentially inert. It cannot be lived. This suggests metaphysics may be an elaborate, self-consistent language game, decoupled from the reality it purports to explain. We are building castles of abstraction on a foundation (our own perception) we cannot inspect without using the very tools we're inspecting.* Hard Problem of Metaphysics.

by Enkigal January 24, 2026

Hard Problem of Spirituality and Metaphysics

The Hard Problem of Spirituality and Metaphysics concerns the difficulty of explaining subjective spiritual experiences, metaphysical meaning, and existential significance using objective, physical descriptions. Similar to the hard problem of consciousness, it asks why inner experiences of transcendence, purpose, or “the sacred” exist at all, and whether they correspond to real structures beyond the physical world. The problem challenges reductionist explanations, suggesting that spiritual phenomena may involve extraphysical dimensions, emergent metaphysical properties, or irreducible aspects of reality that resist empirical measurement.

Hard Problem of Spirituality and Metaphysics — Example

Two individuals undergo near-identical neurological states, yet one experiences a profound sense of transcendence while the other does not. No physical measurement explains the difference. The hard problem arises in explaining why spiritual meaning emerges subjectively and whether such experiences correspond to real metaphysical structures rather than being purely neurological artifacts.

by AbzuInExile January 24, 2026