METAPHYSICS, &c. 



ONTOLOGY ; the doctrine of the general affec- 

 tions of substances existing.* 



The objects of metaphysical speculation are 

 the immaterial properties of an immaterial 

 being ; intangible even when concrete (not 

 abstracted), demonstrable only as far as pro- 

 bability can reach, and incapable of any em- 

 blematical representation. 



Stagnation of Metaphysics. 



Many persons deny that metaphysics have made 

 any progress since the time of Aristotle, although 

 they have undergone various changes. 



Voltaire compared metaphysics to a minuet, in 

 which the parties, after all their turnings and wind- 

 ings, end on the spot where they began. 



* This definition is taken from Dr. Johnson, but it certainly 

 does not convey any clear idea of the term. The next explanation 

 is from a valuable periodical work, and is scarcely more intelli- 

 gible, yet it is, perhaps, as much so as the science it describes, 

 which in modern times appears to have died a natural death, 

 although the last, and possibly the best, of Metaphysicians (D. S.) 

 be still alive. 



Young men generally commence life with metaphysics, but 

 when they approach thirty, usually quit them as hopeless. On the 

 other hand, men who take to reading late in life, often get bewil- 

 dered in metaphysical speculations, and are astonished at their 

 own ingenuity and discoveries. 



