THE HISTORY OF METAPHYSICS AND ITS RELEVANCE TO THE SOCIETY
Abstract
From the beginning of Western philosophy until the 18th century, the most important part of philosophy was metaphysics. But today, metaphysics has been criticized by philosophers and scientists. For example, Martin Heidegger says metaphysics should be rejected since it is not adequate enough to study human beings and Being. A. J. Ayer a logical positivist remarks that all metaphysical statements are nonsensical since it cannot be verifiable. Kant says metaphysics cannot be a science because the subject matter cannot be experimented but it is only possible as a natural disposition. Others who are not scientists and philosophers misconceive the notion of metaphysics that metaphysicians are occultists and this is negative and problematic. However, despite the attack and criticism leveled against metaphysics and its foundation, metaphysics is indispensable in the society. Our method is textual and logical analysis. It means we are to look critically at the books written on metaphysics to see the contributions to the society.
