Metaphysics is often considered a philosophy that deals with the seeking of knowledge and truth regarding the nature of existence. This then must also be recognized as an integral part of all the sciences. Each seeks to discover a truth and the nature of that which is being studied, observed and researched. All this scientific work is done in an attempt to gain knowledge and a better understanding of that subject. McMahon goes on to add “…..the more speculative, in the higher sense of that word, a science is – and what can be more speculative than Metaphysics? -the more entitled is it, as a science, to the respect and approval and genuine admiration of the world.” (13)
Man, wanting to know the nature of the human body, began the science of Biology. His desire to explore the nature of the stars and universe began the science of Astronomy. Curiosity about the planet on which man lives initiated the science of Geology. Each began with a metaphysical notion, the need to know each particular property through inquiry into their intrinsic nature.
Metaphysics is often considered to be a process that includes mere theory and abstract thought. This is because it is considered to conceptualise that which is beyond the physical. The Oxford Dictionary gives the root meaning of the word metaphysics stating, “meta…a behind, after, or beyond (metaphysics)” (558) and “physics…branch of science dealing with the properties and interaction of matter and energy.” (671) Metaphysics although considered a philosophy is also a science dealing with the nature of existence, with emphasis on that which is beyond the physical. In particular it deals with energy which is beyond matter on the level that it is an unseen physical force. We see the resulting impact of energy yet do not necessarily see the energy that created the resultant matter.
As metaphysics deals with that which is beyond the physical it is often aligned with what is considered spiritual and the nature of the spiritual self. Many call that which is self, that which can’t be seen, as the spirit or soul of a person. The spirit self is often aligned with the mind, the unseen self beyond matter, the mind that is beyond the physical brain. Science has proven that the entire universe is made up of only two properties, matter and energy. Simply put that which we can see are the solid objects, matter, and that which we cannot see, energy.
Metaphysicians, also, refer to this energy as spirit or soul. From the Bible in Genesis 1:30 it is revealed, “And to every beast of the earth and to every fowl of the air and to every thing that moves upon the earth, in which there is a living soul, …… and it was so.”
http://biblehub.com/genesis/1-30.htm
Much of science begins in theory which man attempts to prove or disprove, seeking all the while to better understand the subject and to discover a truth. Is this not metaphysics? Is this not a branch of science? Or is science but the birth child of metaphysics, the matriarch of the modern day sciences?
The time has come to elevate metaphysics to its rightful place as the highest form of scientific endeavour, seeking truth, knowledge and acknowledging the highest pursuit in science, that of our personal nature and the nature of our existence, our spiritual self. McMahon quotes Aristotle reinforcing, “And these highest objects of knowledge….. these form the subject-matter about which metaphysical science, is conversant, and maybe contemplated under the heads of causes, universals, entity, materiality, immateriality, existence, form the most insignificant traces of it up to absolute existence, that is, the Supreme Being.” (14)