THE METAPHYSICS OF CHANGE: A PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

All things are subject to change and nothing abides or remains the same forever, says Heraclitus. Change is inherent in every aspect of reality or being. It is the most pervasive element in nature and an important inevitable denominator in all material being. In fact, change occurs in every sphere of human life and activity. The understanding of change is very important for an adequate or proper understanding of the world we live in as well as how to adapt in it. Many disciplines – science, religion, psychology, etc. - study and address change, but it is important we understand the metaphysics of change and its principles from a philosophical perspective, which critically examines the “spirit” of change. Here, we need to understand, in the first place, why things must change, that is, why it is in the nature of all material beings to experience change. How and when things change, and to what they change into are not the primary concern or focus of this paper. This research seeks to understand the metaphysical reason why things undergo change. This, the paper argues, is defined in the fact that change is a natural principle and part of the being-ness of all beings. It is in the nature of all things to undergo change. God, for instance, does not change because it is not in his nature to change. The question - why change - is largely neglected by scholars, and to understand it implies to come to grips with the reason and metaphysics of change, which will enable one to always embrace change rather than shy away from it whenever it comes, and learn to change alongside with change itself.