Commentary on Metaphilosophy IEP Part 1

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, amen. A commentary on the article titled “Metaphilosophy” from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The first question of the nature of philosophy has been answered in my writing titled “What is Philosophy?” I will so answer the next 2 questions, “What is philosophy for?” and “How should philosophy be done?” These questions concern the subject as mentioned in the title of the article, that is metaphilosophy, the study of the nature of philosophy.

Metaphilosophy is an intersectional science, it is intersectional as it not only studies what philosophy is in itself, but it also studies the relationship between philosophy and the world. In brief, philosophy is for the attainment of goodness for mankind. In acknowledgement of theism, philosophy is for the union of man and God as the Supreme Goodness for all beings. For people outside of the Catholic Church, philosophy has the purpose of leading man into the Catholic Church. For those within the Catholic Church, philosophy has the purpose of deepening one’s understanding of the Faith and also for increasing sanctification.

Philosophy is done by argumentation. That is the simple answer. However, the Catholic answer would be philosophy is done in union with the Work of God. Therefore, any philosophical work should be done in a state of prayer and so offered up to God. In fact, philosophy itself is prayer, as it is a means of understanding God better so we can love Him more. Rightly ordered philosophy discloses the nature of God as comprehensible through Natural Revelation and brings us closer to God and enlightens further the understanding of the Catholic Faith. Any philosophy which fails to do just that is disordered.

The analysis of propositions are one part of philosophy but not the entirety of it. Let us first understand what is an analysis of propositions. Analysis can be interpreted as simply thorough examination, or a more precise kind of examination, that is the simplification or breaking down of something into its constituent parts. Propositions are the true abstract form of statements which lie behind the symbols of the statements. Propositions are specifically those kinds of statements which can either be true or false. That is they can be compared with reality and so determined to be in conformity or in contradiction with reality.

What is precisely the analysis of propositions then? It is simply the examination or breakdown of those statements which can be compared with reality. In what way do we analyze propositions, or that is for what purpose? It is not stated, but I infer that it is done to understand the proposition better, what meaning it reveals and of course, to determine the truth of such propositions. Within the greater context of what philosophy is, the study of important truths, the analytic proposal of philosophy certainly has a role. Philosophy is indeed in a sense the study of which propositions are true and why they are true. However, not all propositions are important, so the keyword of “important” is still needed.

The analysis of propositions, which is at the heart of philosophical activity, is in a sense mysticism. It is an intellectual way to grasp through God’s nature as allowed by Natural Revelation. The mystical understanding of philosophy declares that philosophy is a grace of God and any understanding we reach of God in philosophy is from His grace alone. Without His grace, we would know and understand nothing about Him and about the world. I understand that this thought is not so related with the material, but it just pops up in my mind. So I add it to the commentary anyway.

Logic is indeed important to philosophy and is the primary way to reveal the truth. In fact, it is the sole way to reveal all truth and verify all propositions. Any philosophical way which betrays logic and relies solely on mystical revelation is a proper treason to God and His Truthfulness as logic is the revealed tool of God to discover Him and verify His Supernatural Revelation. Can the deep structure of the world be revealed through analysis of propositions though? And what is the deep structure of the world precisely?

We shall assume the world to be the contingent reality apart from God as the Reality of Existence. Yet the world can also be used to mean everything, which includes God. Therefore what is the deep structure of the world? Structure means a particular arrangement of things. However it can also refer to the order of relationships among different things. As such, the deep structure of the world is interpreted as the the fundamental, foundational, or deep order of relationships in the world. It can also be understood as the order of relationships which governs the world. Now there are 2 structures which can be uncovered, the structure of the created world, which is the relationship among the created objects themselves, or the relationship between God and the created world.

The analysis of propositions reveals the logical laws which governs propositions and so it is inferred that these logical laws also govern the created order and the total order of the world. The relationship of the elements of a proposition reflects the relationships of the reality represented by the proposition. Therefore, the proposition is a reflection of actual or possible reality which then applies to the whole created world and perhaps even to the whole of reality including God. Using logic and uncovering logical precepts of the order of relationships we understand the real relationships of the world which is based on logic, the laws of reasoning and thought.

Philosophy is inherently moral, at least this is what Dave Ward said in his course module. So the idea that philosophy shall be separated from ethics or can say little about ethics is strange. All things we do have an ethical implication and so in our objective relationship to God as the Supreme Goodness. Philosophy’s summit is God, and so since God is Supreme Goodness, it is surely moral and shall reveal to us not only the metaphysical structures of the world but also the real moral structures of the world, or to say teleological structure of the world. The statement of being progressive as a philosophical movement is even stranger compared to the analytical conception of philosophy. What kind of progress is expected in the absence of ethics?

The elimination of metaphysics is the elimination of God and since God is a certain truth under the logical laws and facts of the world, then any philosophical movement that rejects God by rejecting metaphysics shall be rejected as well and criticized or attacked or destroyed until it remains an object of historical study. The study of philosophy at the level of natural language has always been the natural way of studying philosophy. Yet the logical forms ought to be preserved as they are the definitive laws of reasoning and thought and thus of Truth.

Philosophy is indeed a way to protect us against dangerous illusions, but that illusion is precisely the idea that metaphysics and God is that illusion. As such, rightly ordered philosophy must protect us from sinful or disordered philosophy, that is any philosophical movement which rejects the rationality of God and His Truthfulness. It is indeed a therapy against what now counts as philosophy, that is all of the secular creations of mankind. I also reemphasize that philosophy is the governor of science, not the other way around. For science or any scientific method is based on certain philosophical presuppositions accepted in a dogmatic way. It is not the other way around.

Philosophy indeed must descend to the practical level of real problems, whatever that means. Real problems can be conventionally interpreted as real state of affairs which contradict the good state of affairs, state of affairs which reflect God to us. As philosophy is directed to God and to lead men to God. As such it must have a say on both the understanding of God and also the understanding of how to reach God in our mortal lives, preparing for the eternal life with God.

On the idea that philosophy promotes social, cultural, and political goals. In a way, yes, but these goals and ideals come from reasoning itself, which leads to God and God leads to society, culture, and politics in the ideal state of affairs. So philosophy is not subject to human desires of rejecting God, but philosophy is subject to God’s desires of fulfilling the true desire of mankind that is union with God. So the hierarchy is God, reason, and finally the social, cultural, and political goals mentioned.

Philosophy is indeed a broad enterprise, it can be defined as the union of all sciences, the theistic philosophy, or the intersection of the prior. Philosophy must not be aimed at dissolving classical problems, as the ancient problems are commonly the true problems of mankind. That problem is precisely the contradiction between man and God called sin which originates in mankind. It is our problem when we start calling the immutable the problem, instead of calling us the problem as we are the ones that are mutable. Furthermore, as far as classical philosophical problems of man’s destiny and God is concerned, they are already solved. Man simply rejects the clear solution by rejecting reason in the end.

Philosophy indeed requires greater rigor to be a proper foundational science that can govern all of science in a rightly ordered way. This rigor can be achieved through logical formalization of all philosophy and rightly ordering it according to the reality of God. Philosophy as a way to God is indeed a personal affair, but it should not be private. For God has revealed to us that we are desired to be communal in being, not individual. Then philosophy while good alone is even better done together, perhaps with a teacher and a community of students. Otherwise one can be led astray. I have no idea what precisely is the humanitarian hopes of the Enlightenment, but I hypothesize it has something to do with anthropocentrism which has to be rejected totally and entirely.

What is the ideal of authenticity? Authenticity can be interpreted in the atheistic existential way or in the theistic way. The atheistic way is all about being free from authority and defining our existence ourselves. The theistic way is all about submitting to the reasonable authority which is the source of our actual identity and being aligned with that Supreme Authority as only in God can we truly be ourselves. The maximum actualization of the self is only found in God and not in the vanities of the created world.

I have suspicions that emancipatory social theory is just a façade to reject God. If it is then it is under anathema of God. This seems to fall in line with the philosophical movement to submit to the authority of the passions instead of the other way around. Emancipatory social theory can be valid under correct attempts to right injustice. However, nowadays it is used to falsely rebel against the authority of reason and thus of God to let mankind do whatever he wants in spite of God. This is a false movement and philosophy must be uprighted to be the source of authority and not the submissive object to the authority of passions.

The postmetaphysical thinking is a disaster. It is not even in waiting, it is a true disaster. The moment people begin to leave metaphysics and thus God is the moment people begin to travel into death, destruction, and damnation. Metaphysics is not the ills of modernity, it is precisely the only antidote to modernism, assuming metaphysics here means God. The final statement about loosening the grip of metaphysics is bad. Clarification to further understand the metaphysical truths of God and His order is good, but loosening the grips of Him on the world is simply disastrous. Philosophy indeed needs to have ethical and political import, but the relationship is clear, it is philosophy governing ethics and politics, not the other way around. This concludes part 1 of the commentary.