Peter jones writes:
> Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
>
> > Peter Jones writes:
> >
> > > > > All physical theories are theories of matter (mass/energy).
> > > >
> > > > True, but they are not theories of what matter *actually is*.
> > >
> > > Hence the need for a metaphysical account of
> > > matter-as-Bare-Substance to complement the
> > > physicst's account of matter-as-behaviour.
>
> > That would be like theology.
>
> Theology uses the vocabulary of traditional metaphysics, but not all
> traditional
> metaphysics is theology
Theology is a subset of metaphysics. Metaphysics does not deal with
purely logical and/or empirical facts. This means you could come up with
any metaphysical theory consistent with the logical and empirical facts,
no matter how silly, and no-one would be able to rebutt it. For example,
I could say that friction is the result of tiny, undetectable demons who
try to grab my finger as I slide it against an object. Sure, there's no way
to prove these demons do or don't exist, but I'm going to believe in them
anyway as a metaphysical theory.
Stathis Papaioannou
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Received on Fri Aug 25 2006 - 07:46:42 PDT