Metaphysics: What is, Epistemology: How do you know, Ethics: So what?; this is how Branden summed up thes fields. The physical laws are the rules of nature observed in an ORDERLY and PREDICTABLE universe which govern that universe. Knowledge of these laws, or knowledge of anything is only possible in a universe in which things are what they are and do what they do. By discovering identities of objects(The Law of identity) and the behavior of these identities(The Law of Causality) man is able, through a volitional process of identifying and integrating his sensory data, to form concepts of a physical laws that explains, and will always explain the action of a certain entities under certain conditions. Now that man has conceptual knowledge of the behavior of an entity, i.e. that copper conducts electricity by means of electron displacement, which is a metaphysical absolute, or a physical law, he can and should use this knowledge for his purpose of creating a circuit which will provide his light bulb with power and henceforth supply him with light by virtue of which he is able to continue producing or taking pleasure in the appearance of his beautiful wife. The physical law that this man discovered through reason, the nature of the conductivity of copper, is a metaphysical absolute which existed in nature that was apprehended by a man's mind in a method appropriate to the knowledge desired by a being capable of aquiring this knowledge in a method appropriate to itself. The circuit is man-made but would be impossible without the existace of this law and a conciousness capable of grasping it and integrating it. What you are missing Baal is that A is A and that existance exists independent of conciousness and it also exists as SOMETHING. The things the we make are not a product of a physical process, but a MENTAL process. The universe is not chaotic, it is orderly and knowable by an objective conciousness, a conciousness in proper realtion to reality with knowledge of reality set as it's goal. If it is unknowable, how do you know? Existence is finite and everthing that is can be reduced to irreducable primaries called axioms. The reason quantum physics is so incomprehensible and at a stand still is because of shotty metaphysics. Heisenberg says that an electron can be in two place at once. This is in essence saying the something exists and does not exist at the same time. Even if scientists could create a device capable of detecting the smallest unit of matter that would still not change the fact that existence exists as something and that the universe operates by physical laws. If this were not true we would not be here discussing this.
