Metaphysics is unavoidable in human life
and metaphysical assumptions predate rational self-conscious reflection. Though
most people spend little or no time pondering metaphysical questions as such,
there is no one who does not adopt one metaphysical stance or another. What I
mean by a metaphysical stance is a position that assumes certain realities that
go beyond empirical tests and all possible observations. These assumptions have
practical consequences for the way a person experiences the world and projects
him or herself into it. It is part of our 'being in the world'. Philosophers,
of course, have explicitly considered metaphysical questions. What is Being?
Reality? Metaphysical Substance? How are appearances related to what is? How do
reason and logic function in arguing metaphysical theories?
One unavoidable metaphysical concern is
the problem of mind-body dualism. The ancient Western philosophical tradition
largely treats mind and body as separate, though the concept of 'mind' is
modern. The ancient distinction is between body and soul. Bodies can
disintegrate, but souls move on to whatever awaits them after leaving the body.
Some are described as going to Hades as gibbering shades, some to the Blessed
Isles, others to the River Tartarus, Heaven, Hell or Paradise. Some are said to
pass from body to body in successive reincarnations. Can we prove that such
views are logically impossible?
Other-worldly religions perpetuate a
commitment to metaphysical dualism for the simple reason that if this were not
true, then there would be no 'other world', no afterlife, no other body to
inhabit. Dualism is an unavoidable metaphysical view for those who believe and
have faith in the existence of life after death. It is right that believers in the afterlife speak of
belief and faith, because no metaphysical view can be proved beyond doubt.
Descartes provoked the modern problem by
casting the mind-body distinction as one between Divinely created secondary
metaphysical substances. This idea permitted the continuance of mental life
beyond the destruction of the body. He deferred to revelation at the cost of
logical consistency in his philosophy. Today's debate about mind-body dualism
takes up a naturalistic rather an a religious perspective. From this
perspective, dualism can hardly be understood.
Sometimes a gap opens up between one
metaphysical orientation and another. People looking at each other from
opposite sides of this gap, over time, start speaking, as it were, different
languages. We really stop being able to understand one another. It is like the
lack of understanding we find in two intransigent ideologically-minded
political parties. At this point, argument loses its grip. It is useless to
attack someone who is not standing on the same metaphysical ground as oneself.
The best we can do is to profess ignorance of metaphysical matters and start
asking questions about the different views and their practical implications.
The situation is complex, but the basic
idea is that the rejection of metaphysics is itself a metaphysical position.
Even my own non-dogmatic skepticism is a profession of faith in the benefits of
lightening the load of beliefs I carry. There are still plenty of things that I
believe provisionally on the basis of experience, but I do not have to go on to
make a leap of faith to one of the alternative metaphysical narratives that
history has thrown my way.
To conclude, let us return to mind-body
dualism. Accept it or reject it, one is willy-nilly entering into a personal
contract with a metaphysical view. Furthermore, no matter what view is adopted,
it will have practical consequences and affect one's life and lived experience.
So, from the naturalistic position of most Western university philosophy
departments, what is the practical consequence of dropping mind-body dualism?
The main one is that we will no longer be able to speak of mind continuing
after the end of the body.
Accepting dualism, on the other hand, which it is always
possible to do with faith and belief, legitimizes one or another of the myriad
narratives that deal with the next life. For many believers, there is a
heavenly judge who sees how law-abiding one has been. However, one's
consciousness changes upon the thought that one is being observed. In one
story, Saint Peter is always looking on, never sleeping, recording in his book
one's good and bad deeds and intentions. This puts a burden on those who accept
mind-body dualism that is absent from those who do not. I hope this shows that
practical metaphysics is not a contradiction in terms, but a necessity. It is
best to be actively conscious of the role that practical metaphysics plays in
all our lives.
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