Metaphysical Interpretations of Reality
Does the world really exist?
Info
"Has anyone seen the world, without a body?" -Ramana Maharshi
Why is there something, rather than nothing?
The big questions about existence:
Info
What is consciousness?
"Conciousness is a precondition of being." -Carl Jung
Info
Does God exist?
"If god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."-Voltaire
Info
Does any of this actually matter?
Info
“If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.” -Joss Whedon
Distribution
Clients
Strategy
Does any of this actually matter?
If, as explored in the last slide, there is a god, life matters because we live to please said divine being.
Religion
real world model
Edward Herbert believed that we can worship this supreme being by living a virtuous life, in order to forgive our sins and have rewards in the next world. This is what makes life matter- rewards in the next life.
Sophia Bricker
claims that “believers will find great joy and spiritual fullness in living to glorify God.”
Mind & Matter
If thoughts can alter a physical reality, does the act of questioning make life matter?
“A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it”
Marcus Aurelius
If life is made up of thoughts, then I can make it matter by thinking it matters.
Determinism
- If life is already predetermined, then we are just clogs in a bigger machine. But, that machine must be there for a reason- Therefore, our existence matters.
We as beings don’t matter, but our existence does.
- If free will is real, then we can be meaningless beings making random decisions.
Info
Why is there something, rather than nothing?
Properties
If the opposite of something is nothing, then what is nothing?
For this arguments purpose, we can assume that there is such a thing as something. The world around us is something (whether it is tangible, or only an ideal, it is something). However, this begs the question- Is it possible to have nothing. Einstein claimed that, even in an empy container, there is still something: air, energy, protons. Therefore, it's impossible for nothing to exist. In that case, nothing is only a property which describes something. Is it possible for a property to exist on its own, without the thing it describes?
Quote
Necessity & Possibility
While attempting to prove the existence of god, Thomas Aquina developed these necessities:
That which does not exist begins to exist only through something already existing. Assume that everything is contingent.
Info
Religion
If, at one point, there was nothing, most religions attest that a devine being must have created the something. But why?
Islam's Allah created us to serve and worship him. If we obey him, we are in turn entitled to his honours and rewards
Christianity's god created us to share love with eachother and him, and to experience his goodness.
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What is consciousness?
Matter
The brain is a physical thing. It contains the physical neurons and their energy. But can matter really create an abstract entity like the mind? But, consciousness requires more than a brain: our eyes, ears, and taste buds are neccessary, in order to perceive the world and be conscious. Scientists doubt that a brain alone could be conscious. Is consciousness matter (over mind) if it relies on and exists only because of matter?
Necessity
Panpsychism, for example, states the consciousness is not restricted to the human mind. Instead, consciousness is a fundamental characteristic of the universe, and exists -to some degree- in all entities.
"Whether we conceive nature under the attribute of Extension, or under the attribute of Thought … we shall find one and the same order, or one and the same connection of causes" -Baruch Spinoza
David Chalmers called this the "hard problem of consciousness.":
Is the world perceived as it really is or is it only our interpretation of it? In other words, is reality objective or subjective?
Mind
This 'combination problem' originated from William James
In opposition to matter, it is hypothesized that consciousness can be reduced to many "little" concious entities or feelings. These together form the conciousness we experience.
"Take a hundred of them [feelings], shuffle them and pack them as close together as you can (whatever that may mean)...There would be a hundred-and first-feeling there, if, when a group or series of such feelings were set up, a consciousness belonging to the group as such should emerge."
Does god exist?
If there was a point where the universe didn't exist, how did it start existing?
Change
For something (the absence of the universe) to change (become something), a cause needs to inflict said change. If there is a scientific explanation (Big Bang) for this change, then there is no need for god's existence, other than providing humans answers to complicated questions.
Abstract Objects
If reality is only what I perceive of it, what makes a god less real than all else?
"Ideas are ..simply ..modes of thought, there is no recognizable inequality among them: they all appear to come from within me"
-Descartes
Religion/ Free Will
God is also subjective; the concept of a higher, all knowing entity stems from religious roots, rather than practical ones.
If god knows all that happens and all that will happen, do we have free will?
Info
If we don't have the will to not commit sins, why does god punish us for them? To what degree is god responsible for our hardships?
Does The World Really Exist?
Existence
When the 'world' means everything that we can perceive, then denying its existence is akin to denying one's conciousness. One can't deny their mind, while simultaneously using it; in turn, can you not deny the world's existence, when you, a part of the world, are only thinking because of its existence?
Something has to exist. The study of cosmogony explores how the universe came to be. If, at one point, the universe became existent, then does a 'world' not have to exist? This world doesn't have to be restricted to ours. We can't absolutely determine if this is real, but there has to be a world somewhere.
Cosmogony
Time
In this respect, would the world's existent be entirely reliant on time? If the world ever stopped existing, we, in turn, would also not exist. If existence is only what we can prove to be true, and we no longer exist to prove its nonexistence, will the world ever truly cease to exist?
According to Maimonides, Aristotle claims that...
"this being as a whole, such as it is, has never ceased to be and will never do so."
Got an idea?
Use this space to add awesome interactivity. Include text, images, videos, tables, PDFs... even interactive questions! Premium tip: Get information on how your audience interacts with your creation:
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- Let the communication flow!
Got an idea?
Use this space to add awesome interactivity. Include text, images, videos, tables, PDFs... even interactive questions! Premium tip: Get information on how your audience interacts with your creation:
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- Activate user tracking;
- Let the communication flow!
Metaphysical Interpretations of Reality
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Transcript
Metaphysical Interpretations of Reality
Does the world really exist?
Info
"Has anyone seen the world, without a body?" -Ramana Maharshi
Why is there something, rather than nothing?
The big questions about existence:
Info
What is consciousness?
"Conciousness is a precondition of being." -Carl Jung
Info
Does God exist?
"If god did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."-Voltaire
Info
Does any of this actually matter?
Info
“If nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.” -Joss Whedon
Distribution
Clients
Strategy
Does any of this actually matter?
If, as explored in the last slide, there is a god, life matters because we live to please said divine being.
Religion
real world model
Edward Herbert believed that we can worship this supreme being by living a virtuous life, in order to forgive our sins and have rewards in the next world. This is what makes life matter- rewards in the next life.
Sophia Bricker
claims that “believers will find great joy and spiritual fullness in living to glorify God.”
Mind & Matter
If thoughts can alter a physical reality, does the act of questioning make life matter?
“A man’s life is what his thoughts make of it”
Marcus Aurelius
If life is made up of thoughts, then I can make it matter by thinking it matters.
Determinism
- If life is already predetermined, then we are just clogs in a bigger machine. But, that machine must be there for a reason- Therefore, our existence matters.
We as beings don’t matter, but our existence does.Info
Why is there something, rather than nothing?
Properties
If the opposite of something is nothing, then what is nothing?
For this arguments purpose, we can assume that there is such a thing as something. The world around us is something (whether it is tangible, or only an ideal, it is something). However, this begs the question- Is it possible to have nothing. Einstein claimed that, even in an empy container, there is still something: air, energy, protons. Therefore, it's impossible for nothing to exist. In that case, nothing is only a property which describes something. Is it possible for a property to exist on its own, without the thing it describes?
Quote
Necessity & Possibility
While attempting to prove the existence of god, Thomas Aquina developed these necessities:
That which does not exist begins to exist only through something already existing. Assume that everything is contingent.
Info
Religion
If, at one point, there was nothing, most religions attest that a devine being must have created the something. But why?
Islam's Allah created us to serve and worship him. If we obey him, we are in turn entitled to his honours and rewards
Christianity's god created us to share love with eachother and him, and to experience his goodness.
Got an idea?
Use this space to add awesome interactivity. Include text, images, videos, tables, PDFs... even interactive questions! Premium tip: Get information on how your audience interacts with your creation:
What is consciousness?
Matter
The brain is a physical thing. It contains the physical neurons and their energy. But can matter really create an abstract entity like the mind? But, consciousness requires more than a brain: our eyes, ears, and taste buds are neccessary, in order to perceive the world and be conscious. Scientists doubt that a brain alone could be conscious. Is consciousness matter (over mind) if it relies on and exists only because of matter?
Necessity
Panpsychism, for example, states the consciousness is not restricted to the human mind. Instead, consciousness is a fundamental characteristic of the universe, and exists -to some degree- in all entities.
"Whether we conceive nature under the attribute of Extension, or under the attribute of Thought … we shall find one and the same order, or one and the same connection of causes" -Baruch Spinoza
David Chalmers called this the "hard problem of consciousness.":
Is the world perceived as it really is or is it only our interpretation of it? In other words, is reality objective or subjective?
Mind
This 'combination problem' originated from William James
In opposition to matter, it is hypothesized that consciousness can be reduced to many "little" concious entities or feelings. These together form the conciousness we experience.
"Take a hundred of them [feelings], shuffle them and pack them as close together as you can (whatever that may mean)...There would be a hundred-and first-feeling there, if, when a group or series of such feelings were set up, a consciousness belonging to the group as such should emerge."
Does god exist?
If there was a point where the universe didn't exist, how did it start existing?
Change
For something (the absence of the universe) to change (become something), a cause needs to inflict said change. If there is a scientific explanation (Big Bang) for this change, then there is no need for god's existence, other than providing humans answers to complicated questions.
Abstract Objects
If reality is only what I perceive of it, what makes a god less real than all else?
"Ideas are ..simply ..modes of thought, there is no recognizable inequality among them: they all appear to come from within me"
-Descartes
Religion/ Free Will
God is also subjective; the concept of a higher, all knowing entity stems from religious roots, rather than practical ones.
If god knows all that happens and all that will happen, do we have free will?
Info
If we don't have the will to not commit sins, why does god punish us for them? To what degree is god responsible for our hardships?
Does The World Really Exist?
Existence
When the 'world' means everything that we can perceive, then denying its existence is akin to denying one's conciousness. One can't deny their mind, while simultaneously using it; in turn, can you not deny the world's existence, when you, a part of the world, are only thinking because of its existence?
Something has to exist. The study of cosmogony explores how the universe came to be. If, at one point, the universe became existent, then does a 'world' not have to exist? This world doesn't have to be restricted to ours. We can't absolutely determine if this is real, but there has to be a world somewhere.
Cosmogony
Time
In this respect, would the world's existent be entirely reliant on time? If the world ever stopped existing, we, in turn, would also not exist. If existence is only what we can prove to be true, and we no longer exist to prove its nonexistence, will the world ever truly cease to exist?
According to Maimonides, Aristotle claims that...
"this being as a whole, such as it is, has never ceased to be and will never do so."
Got an idea?
Use this space to add awesome interactivity. Include text, images, videos, tables, PDFs... even interactive questions! Premium tip: Get information on how your audience interacts with your creation:
Got an idea?
Use this space to add awesome interactivity. Include text, images, videos, tables, PDFs... even interactive questions! Premium tip: Get information on how your audience interacts with your creation: