Mathematics is the only true metaphysics.
William Thomson, as quoted by Silvanus Phillips Thompson- metaphysics
- Metaphysics (Wikipedia)
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality. This includes the first principles of: being or existence, identity, change, space and time, cause and effect, necessity, actuality, and possibility.
There are metaphysical problems, which cannot be disposed of by declaring them meaningless. For, as I have repeatedly said, they are “beyond physics” indeed and demand an act of faith. We have to accept this fact to be honest. There are two objectionable types of believers: those who believe the incredible and those who believe that “belief” must be discarded and replaced by “the scientific method.”
Max Born, Natural Philosophy of Cause and Chance (1964)