Combining Texts

Ideas for 'On the Question of Absolute Undecidability', 'Letters to Antoine Arnauld' and 'The Philosophy of Logical Atomism'

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2 ideas

1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 4. Metaphysics as Science

6095	The business of metaphysics is to describe the world [Russell]
	Full Idea: It seems to me that the business of metaphysics is to describe the world.
	From: Bertrand Russell (The Philosophy of Logical Atomism [1918], §III)
	A reaction: At least he believed in metaphysics. Presumably he intends to describe the world in terms of its categories, rather than cataloguing every blade of grass.

1. Philosophy / E. Nature of Metaphysics / 5. Metaphysics beyond Science

12914	Metaphysics is geometrical, resting on non-contradiction and sufficient reason [Leibniz]
	Full Idea: I claim to give metaphysics geometric demonstrations, assuming only the principle of contradiction (or else all reasoning becomes futile), and that nothing exists without a reason, or that every truth has an a priori proof, from the concept of terms.
	From: Gottfried Leibniz (Letters to Antoine Arnauld [1686], 1686.07.4/14 XI)
	A reaction: For the last bit, see Idea 12910. This idea is the kind of huge optimism about metaphysic which got it a bad name after Kant, and in modern times. I'm optimistic about metaphysics, but certainly not about 'geometrical demonstrations' of it.