Select your language

author: Ihor Komisar


Urgency of the research. The relevance of this study is due to the fundamental importance of the problem of the nature of knowledge in philosophy, which encompasses the search for the basic principles that determine human understanding of reality. The metaphysics of knowledge expands the framework of epistemological analysis, addressing ontological issues that underlie the possibility of knowledge. In the modern world, where scientific and technological advances transform the concept of knowledge and reality, the study of the metaphysical foundations of knowledge not only deepens philosophical understanding, but also offers new conceptual approaches to the interpretation of reality.

Target setting. The problem of the metaphysical foundations of knowledge is to determine its nature, limits, and connection with reality and being. This requires an analysis of the ontological and epistemological assumptions of various philosophical traditions that shape the modern understanding of knowledge as a process integrated into the context of human existence.

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. In studying this issue, we relied on the works of Plato, Aristotle, R. Descartes, I. Kant, H. Hegel, M. Heidegger, W. Quine, A. Whitehead, as well as modern researchers such as V. Petrushenko, A. Guay, T. Pradeu, M. Esfeld, A. Bryant, and others.

The research objective. The objective of the research is to identify the ontological foundations of knowledge, analyze key metaphysical concepts, and assess their impact on the modern philosophical understanding of the connection between knowledge, reality, and being.

The statement of basic material. The article studies the metaphysical foundations of knowledge through a comparative analysis of classical, modern, and contemporary philosophical approaches. The main metaphysical concepts, such as the dualism of knowledge and reality, the immanence of knowledge in the material world, the role of subjectivity, the dialectical development of knowledge, existential involvement in being, and the procedural nature of knowledge, are considered. The author focuses on the fact that the metaphysical approach to knowledge contributes to deepening the understanding of its nature, limits, and epistemic validity, which expands the modern vision of reality and existence.

Conclusions. Metaphysical concepts of knowledge play a key role in the philosophical understanding of the nature of cognition, its limits, and its connection to reality. From classical dualistic approaches to modern dynamic and relational models, the metaphysics of knowledge reveals it as a multidimensional process that integrates ontological, epistemological, and existential aspects, contributing to the formation of a holistic understanding of reality and being.

Keywords: metaphysics, knowledge, dualism, immanence, subjectivity, dialectics, cognition, reality

 


References:

  1. Dekart, R., 2001. Mirkuvannia pro metod, shchob pravylno spriamovuvaty svii rozum i vidshukovuvaty istunu v naukakh. Kyiv: Tandem.
  2. Kistiakivskyi, B.O., 1996. Filosofiia naukovoho idealizmu. Vybrane. Kyiv: Abrys.
  3. Krymskyi, S.B., 2008. Zapytai filosofskykh smysliv. Kyiv: Vydavets PARAPAN.
  4. Petrushenko, V., 2008. Chomu – metafizyka? Do pytannia pro prychyny ta naslidky metafizychnoho renesansu v suchasnii filosofii. Natsionalnyi universytet "Lvivska politekhnika".
  5. Prokopovych, F., 1994. Naturofilosofiia, abo fizyka. U: Istoriia filosofii Ukrainy. Khrestomatiia: navchalnyi posibnyk. Kyiv: Lybid, s. 560.
  6. Aristotle, 1999. Nicomachean ethics. Translated by T. Irwin. 2nd ed. Hackett Publishing Company. (Original work published ca. 350 B.C.E.).
  7. Bryant, A., 2018. Keep the chickens cooped: The epistemic inadequacy of free-range metaphysics. Synthese, 197, pp. 1841–1846.
  8. Descartes, R., 1993. Meditations on first philosophy. Translated by D.A. Cress. Hackett Publishing Company. (Original work published 1641).
  9. Esfeld, M., 2020. A proposal for a minimalist ontology. Synthese, 197, pp. 4936–4950.
  10. Guay, A., Pradeu, T. 2020. Right out of the box: how to situate metaphysics of science in relation to other metaphysical approaches. Synthese197, 1847–1866. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-017-1576-8
  11. Hegel, G.W.F., 1977. Phenomenology of spirit. Translated by A.V. Miller. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1807).
  12. Heidegger, M., 1962. Being and time. Translated by J. Macquarrie and E. Robinson. Harper & Row. (Original work published 1927).
  13. Kant, I., 1998. Critique of pure reason. Translated by P. Guyer and A.W. Wood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1781).
  14. McLean, G.F. and Meynell, H.A. (eds.), 1988. The nature of metaphysical knowledge. 4. University Press of America; International Society for Metaphysics.
  15. Moore, A.W., 2012. The evolution of modern metaphysics: Making sense of things. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  16. Plato, 2000. The Republic. Translated by G.M.A. Grube and C.D.C. Reeve. Hackett Publishing Company. (Original work published ca. 380 B.C.E.).
  17. Quine, W.V.O., 1960. Word and object. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
  18. Whitehead, A.N., 1978. Process and reality. Corrected edition. Edited by D.R. Griffin and D.W. Sherburne. Free Press. (Original work published 1929).