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
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