Myth of Metaphysical Neutrality: How Denying Ontology Distorts Science, AI, and Understanding Itself
Open MIND May 28, 2026 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18394598 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that apparent metaphysical neutrality in scientific and technological culture is typically unexamined physicalism, and that distinguishing humility from evasion and methodological naturalism from physicalism clarifies why metaphysics is inescapable. Proposes that pretending otherwise is epistemically irresponsible and that ontological commitments should be explicit and revisable. |
Abstract
Abstract: The difference between holding a commitment provisionally and pretending to have none is the difference between intellectual humility and intellectual evasion — and what passes as metaphysical neutrality in contemporary scientific and technological culture is almost always the latter. This essay argues that the posture of neutrality, examined carefully, turns out to be unexamined physicalism: a specific ontological thesis functioning as invisible background because it does not experience itself as a framework at all. The essay's contribution is conceptual disambiguation. It distinguishes humility from evasion; separates methodological naturalism (a rule of inquiry) from physicalism (an ontological thesis about what exists); and clarifies why physicalism is itself a metaphysical position rather than the absence of one. The costs of the confusion are concrete: they shape research programs across consciousness studies, clinical psychology, medicine, and AI alignment; they thin the felt reality of ethics and meaning; and they narrow our understanding of what minds and worlds can be. This essay does not advocate for any particular metaphysical system, and its empirical applications are developed in companion essays. The claim is that metaphysics is inescapable, that pretending otherwise is epistemically irresponsible, and that intellectual honesty requires making ontological commitments explicit and revisable. Keywords: metaphysical neutrality · physicalism · hidden assumptions · methodological naturalism · AI alignment · epistemic responsibility · scientific ontology · humility versus evasion Part of the Return to Consciousness research program — 30 philosophical essays exploring consciousness-first metaphysics. Full project: https://returntoconsciousness.org/