Keith Ward on Philosophy
No thinking person can escape some sort of metaphysics [1]. The question of metaphysics is important and unavoidable — and I think the reason why many people are materialists [2] is that they do not take the metaphysical question seriously enough.
[Existing and thinking] is a bit like riding a bicycle. If you just keep peddling, you will get along nicely. But if you ask yourself exactly how you keep your balance, you will probably fall off while you are trying to work it out. Most philosophers are like cyclists who fall off their bicycles, because they cannot work out exactly how they manage to stay on them… And philosophy is born.
(Philosopher Keith Ward, More Than Matter?)
[1] Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with what is real or the nature of reality. It is the study of the ultimate and fundamental reality.
[2] In philosophy the theory of Materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena (including consciousness) are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance.
Keith Ward’s website here.
