Footnote zw9

zw9. One of Russell's teachers was J.M.E. McTaggart, a Hegelian who argues, according to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, that scientific claims do not aim to express the fundamental nature of reality.

For example, science tells us about the laws governing the part of the universe known as ‘matter’ are mechanical. Science does not go on to tell us whether these laws are manifestations of deeper laws, or the will of God (McTaggart, 1906, 13-4). In fact, McTaggart argues that the consistency of science would be unaffected if its object of study ─ matter ─ turned out to be immaterial. To learn about the ultimate nature of the world, we must look to metaphysics, not science.

Metaphysics is defined as "the systematic study of the ultimate nature of reality."

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