Philosophy: Metaphysics

Do we have free will?

Truth of being

When looking down the path of the question “Do we have free will?” I would suggest starting with Truth of being. This has to do with reality, genuineness, authenticity, and actuality of any entity (which includes a human). This will start you down the path of how real humans are, which you can connect to include if ones free will is truly real.

Humanism

You can then go down the path of Humanism which talks about our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives with a personal fulfilment that makes us want to do the greater good. This is when we start to test a specific part of our free will. Do I actually have the free will to be a good person or a bad person, if I don’t, does that mean I lack free will in other areas.

Determinism

Finally, you can look at Determinism, which is about how all events, including human’s actions, are determined by causes external to the will. Which is where one can decided if we do or do not have free will, do I choose or is it already a predetermined event every time.

Although I did not mention God this meme relates to the ideas of Determinism, saying that all our actions are predetermined by God, so how could we as people have free will.

This meme uses a similar idea of Humanism like I did. With it using the idea of having the free will to do good and evil as a talking point to whether we truly have the free will to be good people.

What is the meaning of life?

Cosmology

Our world is massive and for many that can feel intimidating and make them question “what is the meaning of life?”. To answer this question from a philosophical view point I would suggest starting with Cosmology, which looks at the origin and general structure of the universe. To ask what our lives mean it can be good to start back at the very beginning to get a sense of how we have gotten to where we are.

Modal Realism

It can help ground us to see how our world was made, once coming to terms with those ideas we can start to look at Modal Realism. This is the theory that all possible world that could exist do exist, which will help put into perspective just how big the multiverse might be. We have learned about our universe, and we can now learn about who we are in every other universe, if you believe that you are not the only you.

Law of Causality

Once you realize how small you might be in the multiverse, we can look on the other end of the spectrum with Law of Causality. This states that every effect has a cause and you as a person are an effect. Meaning that according to this theory you have a cause, everything you do has a cause. Meaning that everything you do has meaning, everything you do in life has meaning, the meaning of your life is everything you do. This is only if this is the way you interpret this path.

This image can be seen as showing off the law of causality in connection to the meaning of life. I mention that using the law of causality could be see as saying that every action that you take is the meaning of your life because they all have a cause/reason. This image shows multiple different theories of philosophy all having there own meaning of life, showing that the multiple actions you take all have reason to be the meaning of your life.

This image shows a figure talking about the multiple universes that they have lived through. With them saying that even though they didn’t figure out in one universe what the meaning of there life is they can figure it out in the next. They then show many different photos of who this person was in their past lives. This can be connected to Modal realism which is the idea that every world that can exist does exist. There are many worlds they have lived in and in none of them have they found their meaning if life yet, which might show many that we are small in this vast multiverse we might live in.

Does the world really exist?

Epistemology

To start with the philosophical path of asking the question “does the world really exist?” I would suggest that you start with Epistemology which is the theory of knowledge, focusing on methods, validity and scope. We as people are taught that world exists. So, starting by opening your mind with questions about your knowledge is a good way to start on this path.

Cosmogony

Question if your knowledge is true then transition to Cosmogony which is about the scientific theories concerning the origins of the cosmos and universe. Once you question your knowledge you can re-educate yourself on the start of the universes start from a more philosophical point of view.

Law of Causality

After creating your own idea of how the universe started you can then investigate Law of Causality which is the idea that every effect has a cause. The effect of the start of the universe had a cause was it to create the world or was it for another reason, a reason that is the world does not exist.

This image of Garfield and friends could be interpreted under the idea of cosmology as they are presenting an idea about how our universe has formed. They are saying that, yes, we were born into the world, but it doesn’t exist anymore. Which could be a scientific theory that when we were born the universe did exist but over time it has disappeared, like Garfield says the world I was born into no longer exists.

This image, attached to an article talking about people who do not believe in Canada, could be seen as being apart of the epistemology, as it is someone questioning the knowledge of if Canada exists. There not questioning the entire world yet but this is the start. Questioning your knowledge on one country can lead to questioning your knowledge about the entire world.

Does God exist?

Theology

Gods existence is debated by people all around the world, to start ones philosophical outlook I would suggest Theology first. Theology looks at interpretations of religion, God and belief. This can start your overall outlook on what God is and how you can interpret it.

Deism

Next you can look at Deism, a path that will let you look at the belief in God based on reason rather than a revelation or being taught religion. This can give you an outlook on the philosophical thought behind believing in God.

Atheism

After you will want to look at Atheism a path that leads you down the disbelief in God or the idea that gods’ belief is just speculation. You can then use both Deism and Atheism to pick between whether God exists or not.

This meme is showing the ideas of Atheism. The person in the meme is questioning the reality of what they have been told God has done. He is seeing issues with the idea of God, so he turns to Atheism to say that God does not exist.

This meme can be interpreted as falling under the idea of Deism. It can be seen as someone saying they weren’t taught to believe in God or to believe in an exact religion, but they had something happen to them that made them start to believe in God.

What is consciousness?

Epistemology

To start down the path of answering the question “what is consciousness?” we can start in a similar way as the last question with Epistemology. Which again is the theory of knowledge, we need to question out knowledge of what consciousness is. Is our knowledge surrounding consciousness true or should we be thinking differently.

Dualistic Theory

This image from Pinterest shows the idea of the Dualistic theory, which says our mind and body are separate. As this image says we are not our body but our consciousness, which shows that we might be separate from our body and we just are consciousness, which is one way to answer our question.

After opening your mind, you can move onto Dualistic Theory, this is the theory that body, and mind are distinct as well as separable from one another. We can use this to ground the idea that our consciousness is separate from our physical being.

Ontology

Finally, once we separate mind from body we can investigate Ontology the study of existence, being, and reality. Our consciousness is all about our existence, being, and reality. Now that your mind is open, you know your mind is separate from your body, as well know what truly makes up one’s consciousness, you can answer the question “what is consciousness?”.

This image from Pinterest can be interpreted as an epistemology way of looking at consciousness. In the photo it is saying that they are questing the knowledge of what consciousness is, by showing us that one body is what we think consciousness is and the other body shows what consciousness actually is.

Metaphysical question

First Theory plus connected paragraph

Second Theory plus connected paragraph

Third Theory plus connected paragraph