Physics and metaphysics are two different methods of describing reality. Metaphysics is concerned with what is beyond science and sometimes replaces scientific knowledge. In the past, physics that contradicted metaphysical knowledge was considered heretical. However, there is now greater acceptance of scientific ideas. The discovery of quantum particles has caused people to reevaluate the relationship between physics and metaphysics. Some draw ideas from modern physics about interconnectedness, but most scientists view them as metaphors.
Simply put, the relationship between physics and metaphysics is that they are two different methods of interacting and attempting to describe reality. These two disciplines have not always existed in harmony, as metaphysics is concerned with what its practitioners – usually philosophers and theologians – consider to be beyond the realm of science and sometimes replace scientific knowledge. In the modern era, many people have attempted to draw links between physics and metaphysics. These links have limited support within the mainstream scientific community.
The Greek word meta can mean both “after” and “beyond.” Metaphysics is a term coined by Aristotle, who used it to simply mean the facts that he wrote after writing about physics. In modern usage, however, metaphysics has come to refer to the study of objects outside the purview of purely scientific knowledge. Central questions of metaphysics include questions about ontology, the study of existence, and epistemology, the study of how humans acquire knowledge.
In the Western world before the scientific revolution, metaphysics was considered the primary source of knowledge about the world. Any theory in physics that seemed to contradict metaphysical knowledge – in this case religion – was considered heretical. The most famous example of this conflict between physics and metaphysics was in the life of 16th-century scientist Galileo Galilei, who proposed that the Earth revolved around the sun, rather than the other way around. He spent much of his life under house arrest because of this belief.
Since that time, however, there has been a greater acceptance of scientific ideas that may appear to contradict metaphysical beliefs and experiences. The work of Galileo and later physicists, such as Isaac Newton, has stood up to further scrutiny relatively well. As a result, many metaphysicians are willing to change their beliefs, without completely discarding them, in response to scientific advances.
The discovery of quantum particles, special relativity and other modern physical phenomena has caused many people to reevaluate their knowledge of the relationship between physics and metaphysics. Quantum particles, unlike larger units of matter, behave in ways that are unpredictable and that extend preexisting categories of light and matter. Some theorists have argued that the existence of quantum particles denies deterministic metaphysics, although others disagree. Many people have drawn ideas from modern physics about the interconnectedness of all objects, which may inform their metaphysical hypotheses or spiritual experiences. Most scientists, however, simply view them as metaphors rather than reality.
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