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For example, if the sentence "some electrons are bonded to protons" is true then it can be used to justify that electrons and protons exist. [112] Quine used this insight to argue that one can learn about metaphysics by closely analyzing [ l ] scientific claims to understand what kind of metaphysical picture of the world they presuppose.
An extended metaphor, also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is the use of a single metaphor or analogy at length in a work of literature. It differs from a mere metaphor in its length, and in having more than one single point of contact between the object described (the so-called tenor) and the comparison used to describe it (the vehicle).
Descartes' metaphysical thought is found in his Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) and Principles of Philosophy (1644). Baruch Spinoza (1632 – 1677) – one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy. He defined "God" as a singular self-subsistent substance, and both matter and thought as attributes of such.
For example, in contrast to the abstract meaning of the universal "dog", the referent "this dog" may mean a particular real life chihuahua. In both cases, the word is about something, but in the former it is about the class of dogs as generally understood, while in the latter it is about a very real and particular dog in the real world.
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy exploring the fundamental questions, including the nature of concepts like being, existence, and reality.Traditional metaphysics seeks to answer, in a "suitably abstract and fully general manner", the questions:
The Aristotelian conceptualization of predication, for instance, focused on the metaphysical configurations that underlie sentences. [12] There are scholars who note that Aristotle's thought on the subject can be distinguished in two levels: ontological (where predicates pertain to things); and, logical (where predicates are something that is ...
The basic idea is that truthbearers (like beliefs, sentences or propositions) are not intrinsically true or false but that their truth depends on something else. For example, the belief that water freezes at 0 °C is true in virtue of the fact that water freezes at 0 °C. In this example, the freezing-fact is the truthmaker of the freezing-belief.
Parable: An extended metaphor told as an anecdote to illustrate or teach a moral or spiritual lesson, such as in Aesop's fables or Jesus' teaching method as told in the Bible. Pun: A verbal device by which multiple definitions of a word or its homophones are used to give a sentence multiple valid readings, typically to humorous effect.