IN DEFENSE OF METAPHYSICS

 

Metaphysics is far from having disappeared, despite the innumerable announcements of his death. Perhaps it is in the background and distant from fashions, especially those that advocate that we live in a post-metaphysical time. Against postmodernity, it persists; it is even discovered that many of the philosophical turns that seek to leave it behind are based on its reaffirmation, on an underlying movement that is generally intended to be hidden. Where does this condition come from, which forces one to return again and again to perform a metaphysical gesture? What are the grounds and reasons for their presence? Why do we find in the currents that most strongly reject it a metaphysical nucleus that animates and sustains them?

The theoretical production in this field is certainly far from being comparable to other areas of philosophy; for example, compared to the proliferation of ontologies; However, the bibliography on metaphysics remains updated, with new approaches, developments and challenges, even without taking into account those studies that have this orientation, without making it explicit.    (Bliss & Miller, 2021) (Marmodoro & Mayr, 2019) (Miller, 2022) (Thomasson, 2025)

The imperialist attitude of erasing metaphysics based on a conceptualization that is, precisely, metaphysical, is at the base of the main currents that postulate its overcoming. These philosophical approaches carry out a double conceptual movement; On the one hand, they reduce an entire field of long duration and extension to a single component, which becomes omniexplanatory. Once this extreme and absolute reduction has been made, a new privileged origin is postulated, from which all reality is reconstructed. Of course, it is an origin that bases itself from nothing or, in other cases, that claims to be completely groundless.

Heidegger, probably the initiator of this current in the twentieth century, reduces 25 centuries of Western philosophy and thought to a single fact, which would be the cause of all the evils and misunderstandings of the world. Denying the immense richness and variety of Western philosophy, the forgetfulness of being becomes the metaphysical core that has to be denied and overcome. For his part, Derrida, following this trail, locates in the denunciation of onto-theo-teleology the possibility of thinking, placing in place of this metaphysical principle the deconstruction based on differentialism. It postulates the non-existence of a beginning that refers to a privileged being or entity, and considers that, in the absence of an origin, we have before us a trace of itself, a trace of the trace. Thus, Derrida seeks to erase the deep debates that are contained in that onto-theo-teleology that, if we look at it closely, refuses to lose the multiplicity that makes it up.  (Heidegger, 2014) (Derrida, 1971)(Gersh, Neoplatonism After Derrida: Parallelograms, 2006)

These imperialist orientations that invade philosophy also penetrate other areas. In the case of Jean-Luc Marion, the gesture of absolute reduction becomes the apophatic perspective, which denies any positive approach by means of reason to God and to transcendent phenomena. God, following certain Neoplatonic currents, is located outside of being; it cannot be said that it exists or that it does not exist, because it is an absolute exteriority. Of course, it is not an atheistic position, but the reintroduction of divinity into the human sphere, by the exclusive way of experience. The risks of irrationalism are not without being present in these orientations. (Marion, 2010)

Finally, I refer to decolonial thought, part of cultural studies, which incorporates in its theory this first absolute and negative gesture: the exclusion of everything that comes from Europe and the West. Regardless of their differences or their history, all Western thought is denied because it is considered Eurocentric. From this radical division arises decolonial metaphysics with a pure origin, which, by the mere fact of being located outside Europe, puts within its reach the truth of the world and the overcoming of the epistemic and epistemological limits of Eurocentrism. The negative consequences of this approach have not only had repercussions on the understanding of reality, but also lead to political and ideological disarmament. (Mignolo, 2003)

Let us now see, in a synthetic way, the reasons why metaphysics is still present and, moreover, it is indispensable for an adequate development of all philosophy and, of course, for an adequate understanding of reality. Let us begin with the philosophical problems that require a metaphysical approach for their correct treatment.

The treatment of time, with debates about its existence and the relationship between persistence and flow, as well as questions of the ontological status of the past, present and future; the function of reason in the face of the rise of irrationalism, together with the qualification of the type of rationality that should be defended; the debate on essence, beyond substantialist interpretations and their capacity to explain, phenomena, which are presented in the duality between essence and manifestation; the elucidation of relations, which can be considered as the only ones that really exist or, on the contrary, only as part of a larger ontological framework; finally, the revival of mereology that accounts for the relationships between the whole and the parts, and the way in which they structure reality. Of course, this is only part of the problems that contemporary metaphysics deals with.    (, 2021) (Erice Sebares, 2020)(Glazier, 2022)(Heil, 2021)(Wallace, 2023)

Science and technology make up knowledge and practices without which the world, as we know it, could not exist; for this reason, the confusion between the critique of the capitalist hijacking of science and the adoption of romantic or irrational positions that lead to the denial of its rationality must be avoided. Now, science by no means exhausts the entire sphere of knowledge or provides complete explanations of the world. Moreover, each science leaves unresolved fundamental questions that it cannot explain, in addition to producing a series of questions that require a metaphysical debate to resolve them. (Morganti, 2024)

For this reason, there are a series of metaphysical approaches to the sciences, from the debate around material objects to the discussion of abstract objects, going through the philosophical questions raised by chemistry or biology. One of the most fertile terrains for metaphysical debates is contemporary physics, due to the discussions provoked in the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, which are fundamentally counterintuitive and question the image we have about reality. (Sattig, 2021) (Liggins, 2024) (Seifert, 2023) (Torza, 2023)(Ney, 2021)

Alain Aspect, Nobel Prize winner of the year 2022, in his book If Einstein had known, by reconstructing Einstein's debate, which considered that quantum mechanics is incomplete and that it needs to be complemented by other variables, clearly shows the need for metaphysics, which begins where science runs into the limits of the understanding of reality and cannot provide us with an adequate image of reality and of the world in which we live. The experiments carried out by Aspect demonstrated, with a high degree of certainty, the violation of Bell's equalities and, therefore, the existence of quantum entanglement; that is, the entangled particles are connected in such a way that any change in one immediately affects the other, without fully understanding why this happens.

Alain Aspect points out two major metaphysical problems that run through quantum mechanics: nonlocality and the physical character of the wave function.

Einstein sometimes uses the expression "spooky action at a distance" to describe such a possibility, which is unacceptable to the father of relativity. However, today we must consider it; this is what is called "quantum nonlocality". (Aspect, 2025, p. 315)

We are faced with a reality governed by the theory of relativity that states that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light; or, on the contrary, there are non-local phenomena that question this statement and prove instantaneous action at a distance.

The other equally profound metaphysical debate is in the character assigned to the wave function, which is the one that describes quantum phenomena. It can be argued, following the Copenhagen interpretation, that it is a mere calculation and that the question of whether it is real or not is unimportant, insofar as it works perfectly; or, as an alternative presented by Aspect, the wave function does indeed exist.

My point of view is different because I give a certain physical reality to the wave function, precisely because it allows us to predict the results of the measurements and that is what I expect from physical reality...  (Aspect, 2025, p. 317)

The problems that humanity faces, far from being resolved, have worsened. From the metaphysical perspective, at least three relevant questions emerge from the current situation: first, the fate of humanity as a species, the possibility that it is no longer remote, but current, of its disappearance due to wars, hunger, the climate crisis, the devastation caused by ultra-right governments as the last weapon of capitalism.

Second, the even more challenging issue of the relationship between human beings and nature, which is now broken and that there is no meeting point and resolution, in such a way that harmony is achieved between the two, an appropriate coexistence that allows saving nature and guaranteeing a dignified life for people.

It is not enough to vindicate localisms and fragmentary options; even worse, of relativism. The question of universals is once again placed at the center of philosophical reflection; and, in the first place, of the future of life and of all humanity on Earth. We have to think as a planet, because the answers will only be valid if the answers are global. There are no valid and viable solutions in the medium and long term that are only local.

Third, the questions of identity that have acquired an increasingly great importance and that are expressed in a particularly conflictive way in the explosion of heterosexuality as the dominant paradigm and in the emergence of the most diverse ways of experiencing gender. Thus, the transgender person not only has relevance to his own field but also metaphysically crosses the social order, becoming the Trans* operator who questions the status quo of society as a whole. (Shumener, 2022)

Metaphysics is far from exhausted in the themes indicated. On an even deeper layer it deals with Good, Truth and Beauty, and with luck in contemporary societies. Victor Cousin, following Plato, postulates the unity of these three great guiding principles of all human action.  Beauty has ceased to be a common good and a right of all peoples and individuals; it has become a luxury object that only a minority can access. A good part of contemporary art is locked in its narcissism, where the aesthetics of the work of art depend exclusively on the subjectivity of the artist and the commercial circuits. (Cousin, 1847)

The Truth is, without a doubt, the most attacked of all. As they say in this post-truth era, she is the one who matters the least. The political effectiveness of the discourse, the irresponsibility of affirming anything without scientific support on social networks, the proliferation of right-wing and ultra-right prophets turning the hands of the clock backwards are considered sufficient.

What can be said of Good when evil triumphs worldwide? The interests of capital are imposed throughout the world, leaving no room for safety, by the hand of authoritarian governments. Wars kill innocents on a daily basis; people's rights are trampled on without consideration; Large masses are considered enemies to be eliminated, such as migrants and Palestinians. The triumphs achieved are shattered and we return to an era of darkness and repression.

For this reason, the unity of Good, Truth and Beauty continues to be the task of humanity's present, the one that challenges us and summons us.

So, the urgency of writing new ones is clear Prolegomena to any future metaphysics that will be able to present itself as science (Kant, 1959), which clearly indicates that these crucial metaphysical issues do not constitute a wrong tendency of reason and that, contrary to what Kant considers, they have to do directly with the empirical and with the daily life of peoples and individuals. It is not possible to throw out of metaphysics and, consequently, from reason, the metaphysical principles that make us what we are: Good, Truth and Beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

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Cousin, V. (1847). Philosophy course: On the foundation of the absolute ideas of the true, the beautiful and the good. Society of Authors, Booksellers and Printers of Spain.

Derrida, J. (1971). Of grammatology. Mexico: XXI Century.

Dyke, H. (2021). Time (Elements in Metaphysics). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108935517

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Heil, J. (2021). Relations (Elements in Metaphysics). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108939904

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Mignolo, W. (2003). Local stories, global designs. Madrid: Akal.

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