What Is Metaphysics?

Question 1

What are thoughts about?

Answer 1

Thoughts are about something, objects or events in the world. They are directed towards things

Question 2

What is consciousness?

Answer 2

Consciousness is the “subjective phenomenon of awareness”, what the world is like or how it feels

Question 3

What is ontology?

Answer 3

Ontology is about what exists and what doesn’t — general metaphysics

Question 4

What is metaphysics?

Answer 4

It is the fundamental nature of reality. What is the relationship between mind and matter? Do concepts like time and space have an objective existence?

Question 5

What is intentionality?

Answer 5

It is the property of being directed towards things, it is the capacity of the mind to represent objects

Question 6

What is an intentional object?

Answer 6

It is what an intentional state represents

Question 7

What is an aspectual shape?

Answer 7

It is the way the object is represented

Question 8

What is qualia?

Answer 8

Qualia is a phenomenal property of experience e.g the experience of hunger, love etc.

Question 9

Why is qualia intrinsic?

Answer 9

Qualia or phenomenal properties of experince are intrinsic, because their identity is fixed by how the experience is in itself e.g pain wouldn’t be pain if it didn’t feel painful, no matter what it is or isn’t caused by. What is important is the experience of pain itself

Question 10

Is qualia intentional/non-intentional?

Answer 10

Non-intentional, because they are intrinsic properties. You don’t get to choose your experience

Question 11

What does it mean for qualia to be introspectively accessible?

Answer 11

Qualia are properties of consciousness, we are aware of them. Therefore what it is like to smell coffee is something that we can know by being conscious of the smell of coffee. We can ‘access’ qualia through introspection by turning our attention to conscious experience