Occultism is the metaphysics of dunces.
Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe upon instinct, but to find these reasons is no less an instinct.1893 Appearance and Reality, preface.
The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any otheranimals. Some of their most esteemed inventions have no other apparent purpose, for example, the dinner party of more than two, the epic poem, and thescience of Metaphysics.'Minority Report'. Collected in Notebooks (1956).
Science cannot exist without some small portion of Metaphysics.1931The Universe in the Light of Modern Physics, ch.7.
It's so hard to believe in anything anymore. I mean, it's like, religion, you really can't take it seriously, because it seems so mythological, it seems so arbitrary...but, on the other hand, science is just pure empiricism, and by virtue of its method, it excludes Metaphysics. I guess I wouldn't believe in anything any more if it weren't for my lucky astrology mood watch.steve martin
I think Metaphysics is good if it improves everyday life; otherwise forget it.Ch. 20 (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974))
Ptolemy... against the champions of this or that cosmology of the heavens... had dared to claim that it is legitimate to interpret the facts of astronomy by the simplest geometrical scheme which will 'save the phenomena,' no matter whose Metaphysics might be upset. His conception of the physical structure of the earth, however, prevented him from carrying through in earnest this principle of relativity, as his objections to the hypothesis that the earth moves amply show.ptolemy
The mathematical framework of quantum theory has passed countless successful tests and is now universally accepted as a consistent and accurate description of all atomic phenomena. The verbal interpretation, on the other hand – i.e., the Metaphysics of quantum theory – is on far less solid ground. In fact, in more than forty years physicists have not been able to provide a clear metaphysical model.fritjof capra
It has never been in my power to study anything, mathematics, ethics, Metaphysics, gravitation, thermodynamics, optics, chemistry, comparative anatomy, astronomy, psychology, phonetics, economics, the history of science, whist, men and women, wine, metrology, except as a study of semeiotic .charles sanders peirce
People wonder why the novel is the most popular form of literature; people wonder why it is read more than books of science or books of Metaphysics. The reason is very simple; it is merely that the novel is more true than they are.By K.G. Chesterton in Chesterton G. K. (December 2007). Heretics. Lulu.com. pp. 63–. ISBN 978-1-4245-0795-5.
A more detailed, but still uncontroversial comprehensive, definition is that philosophy is rationally critical thinking, of a more or less systematic kind about the general nature of the world (Metaphysics or theory of existence), the justification of belief (epistemology or theory of knowledge), and the conduct of life (ethics or theory of value). Each of these three elements...Anthony Quinton (born 1925) in: Ted Honderich ed. (1995) The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press
Now these two questions Does there exist a material reality distinct from sensible appearances? and What is the nature of reality? do not have their source in experimental method, which is acquainted only with sensible appearances and can discover nothing beyond them. The resolution of these questions transcends the methods used by physics; it is the object of Metaphysics. Therefore, if the aim of physical theories is to explain experimental laws, theoretical physics is not an autonomous science; it is subordinate to Metaphysics.pierre duhem
God is growth, God is structure/knowledge, God is everything and nothing simultaneously. And, rather heretically for the Abrahamic religions, to perceive i.e. to cognate i.e. to be of matter i.e. to be structured energy generating a gravimetric field is an aspect of God relating to another aspect of God through light, which is of course God. In this, the underlying Metaphysics are most definitely Pandeist.Niall Douglas, Freeing Growth - A Neo-Capitalist Manifesto, 2009, page 8.
Ptolemy... against the champions of this or that cosmology of the heavens... had dared to claim that it is legitimate to interpret the facts of astronomy by the simplest geometrical scheme which will 'save the phenomena,' no matter whose Metaphysics might be upset. His conception of the physical structure of the earth, however, prevented him from carrying through in earnest this principle of relativity, as his objections to the hypothesis that the earth moves amply show.Edwin Arthur Burtt, The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science (1924)
Madame de Staël thought it was pride in man to endevour to penetrate the secret of the universe; and speaking of the higher Metaphysics she said: "I prefer the Lord's Prayer to it all."Anne Louise Germaine de Staël, in Albertine-Adrienne Necker de Saussure, Sketch of the Life, Character and Writings of Baroness de Staël-Holstein (1820), p. 329
Hinduism has produced the profoundest Metaphysics that we know of.Count Hermann Keyserling, The Huston Smith Reader.