--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In metaphysics, the notion that earth and…" description: "\"In metaphysics, the notion that earth and all that's on it is a mental construct is the product of people who spend their lives inside rooms. It is an ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a73/edward-abbey-254_constructs_in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and_1317131.png" --- # In metaphysics, the notion that earth and all that's on it… ![“In metaphysics, the notion that earth and all that's on it is a mental construct is the product of people who spend their lives inside rooms. It is an indoor philosophy.” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a73/edward-abbey-254_constructs_in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and_1317131.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a73/edward-abbey-254_constructs_in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and_1317131.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a73/edward-abbey-254_constructs_in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and_1317131.png) > “In metaphysics, the notion that earth and all that's on it is a mental construct is the product of people who spend their lives inside rooms. It is an indoor philosophy.” [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Viewing Earth as a mental construct reflects a detached, scholarly mindset disconnected from nature. **In simple terms:** Ideas can be overly abstract. Key Takeaway Ground philosophy in lived experience. Themes environment philosophy reality Mood contemplative analytical Type philosophical environmental When to use this quote - education - policy making - personal reflection Key Concepts Constructivism ecology Questions to Reflect On - How does detachment affect environmental action? - Can theory and practice be balanced? A Different Perspective Abstract thinking can inspire innovative solutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Metaphysics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphysics/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) ## Related quotes > [Christendom is not primarily a mental construct. It is above all a fact, indeed the longest historical experience the Church has had. Hence the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustavo-gutierrez/christendom-is-not-primarily-a-mental-construct-it-is-above-all-a/) [Gustavo Gutiérrez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustavo-gutierrez/) > [ Whether or not science can be applied to that mental construct \[i.e. the designed entity\] is a matter of availability. If there is body… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-petroski/whether-or-not-science-can-be-applied-to-that-mental-construct-i-e/) [Henry Petroski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-petroski/) > [“Human beings, on the other hand, are symbolic creatures. Inside their heads they break down the outside world into a mass of mental symbols,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-tattersall/human-beings-on-the-other-hand-are-symbolic-creatures-inside-their/) [Ian Tattersall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-tattersall/) > [It's pretty much a fact that our entire universe is a mental construct. We don't actually deal with reality directly. We simply compose a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/it-s-pretty-much-a-fact-that-our-entire-universe-is-a-mental/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Confidence is so important, and that's entirely a mental construct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-hardy/confidence-is-so-important-and-that-s-entirely-a-mental-construct/) [Dan Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-hardy/) > [“Disruption of our mental construct can be deeply disorienting. Still, it may also provide an opportunity for growth and reevaluation, prompting us to rebuild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-pevernagie/disruption-of-our-mental-construct-can-be-deeply-disorienting-still/) [Erik Pevernagie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-pevernagie/) > [Metaphysics is a cobweb that the mind weaves around things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/metaphysics-is-a-cobweb-that-the-mind-weaves-around-things/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Philosophy first constructs a scheme of happiness and then tries to fit the world to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/philosophy-first-constructs-a-scheme-of-happiness-and-then-tries-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The second commandment is "Thou shall not construct any graven images." Is this really the pinnacle of what we can achieve morally? The second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-second-commandment-is-thou-shall-not-construct-any-graven-images/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [To me the female principle is, or at least historically has been, basically anarchic. It values order without constraint, rule by custom not by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/to-me-the-female-principle-is-or-at-least-historically-has-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Want to talk third wave feminism, you could cite Ariel Levy and the idea that women have internalized male oppression. Going to spring break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/want-to-talk-third-wave-feminism-you-could-cite-ariel-levy-and-the/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Charming Alnaschar visions! it is the happy privilege of youth to construct you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/charming-alnaschar-visions-it-is-the-happy-privilege-of-youth-to/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [My thinking was that today's spectator is so well-versed in film language that all theories about suspense, as argued by Dreyer and Hitchcock, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-dumont/my-thinking-was-that-today-s-spectator-is-so-well-versed-in-film/) [Bruno Dumont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-dumont/) > [I reject the idea there are just two sides. I think that with the amount of ideas and thoughts there are, it's not even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/i-reject-the-idea-there-are-just-two-sides-i-think-that-with-the/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-language-possesses-utility-only-insofar-as-it-can-construct/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) ## More by Edward Abbey > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Apuleius married a rich widow, then wrote \_The Golden Ass\_.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/apuleius-married-a-rich-widow-then-wrote-the-golden-ass/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/except-for-the-scale-of-the-operation-there-was-nothing-unusual-about/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [By the age of eighteen, a human has acquired enough joy and heartache to provide the food of reflection for a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/by-the-age-of-eighteen-a-human-has-acquired-enough-joy-and-heartache/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Our institutions are too big; they represent not the best but the worst characteristics of human beings. By submitting to huge hierarchies of power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/our-institutions-are-too-big-they-represent-not-the-best-but-the/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [No man-made structure in all of American history has been hated so much, by so many, for so long, with such good reason, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/no-man-made-structure-in-all-of-american-history-has-been-hated-so/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Where all pretend to be thinking alike, it's likely that no one is thinking at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/where-all-pretend-to-be-thinking-alike-it-s-likely-that-no-one-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Nobody has so many friends that he can afford to lose one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/nobody-has-so-many-friends-that-he-can-afford-to-lose-one/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“But why, the questioner insists, why do people like you pretend to love uninhabited country so much? Why this cult of wilderness? Why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/but-why-the-questioner-insists-why-do-people-like-you-pretend-to-love/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/civilization-is-a-youth-with-a-molotov-cocktail-in-his-hand-culture/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self- justifying -- a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/all-revolutions-have-failed-perhaps-but-rebellion-for-good-cause-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Me, I'm living under a sword too, as Jack may have told you. An old wino's disease, which could lay me in the grave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/me-i-m-living-under-a-sword-too-as-jack-may-have-told-you-an-old-wino/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Look here, I want to say, for godsake folks get out of them there machines, take off those fucking sunglasses and unpeel both eyeballs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/look-here-i-want-to-say-for-godsake-folks-get-out-of-them-there/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Reason has seldom failed us because it has seldom been tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reason-has-seldom-failed-us-because-it-has-seldom-been-tried/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“What is the essence of the art of writing? Part One: Have something to say. Part Two: Say it well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/what-is-the-essence-of-the-art-of-writing-part-one-have-something-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) [Explore all 807 Edward Abbey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## More Constructs quotes > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-language-possesses-utility-only-insofar-as-it-can-construct/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [I reject the idea there are just two sides. I think that with the amount of ideas and thoughts there are, it's not even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/i-reject-the-idea-there-are-just-two-sides-i-think-that-with-the/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [My thinking was that today's spectator is so well-versed in film language that all theories about suspense, as argued by Dreyer and Hitchcock, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-dumont/my-thinking-was-that-today-s-spectator-is-so-well-versed-in-film/) [Bruno Dumont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-dumont/) > [Charming Alnaschar visions! it is the happy privilege of youth to construct you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/charming-alnaschar-visions-it-is-the-happy-privilege-of-youth-to/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Want to talk third wave feminism, you could cite Ariel Levy and the idea that women have internalized male oppression. Going to spring break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/want-to-talk-third-wave-feminism-you-could-cite-ariel-levy-and-the/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [To me the female principle is, or at least historically has been, basically anarchic. It values order without constraint, rule by custom not by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/to-me-the-female-principle-is-or-at-least-historically-has-been/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [The second commandment is "Thou shall not construct any graven images." Is this really the pinnacle of what we can achieve morally? The second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/the-second-commandment-is-thou-shall-not-construct-any-graven-images/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [Philosophy first constructs a scheme of happiness and then tries to fit the world to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/philosophy-first-constructs-a-scheme-of-happiness-and-then-tries-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [You can see the rider serving the elephant when people are morally dumbfounded. They have strong gut feelings about what is right and wrong,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-haidt/you-can-see-the-rider-serving-the-elephant-when-people-are-morally/) [Jonathan Haidt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-haidt/) > [She and Thomas had helped construct the Maze; at the same time she’d exerted a lot of effort to build a wall holding back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dashner/she-and-thomas-had-helped-construct-the-maze-at-the-same-time-she-d/) [James Dashner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dashner/) > [Today, when we look at a brain, we see an intricate network of billions of neurons in constant, crackling communication, a chemical labyrinth that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-zimmer/today-when-we-look-at-a-brain-we-see-an-intricate-network-of-billions/) [Carl Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-zimmer/) > [Inevitably we construct ourselves. Let me explain. I enter this house and immediately I become what I have to become, what I can become:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-pirandello/inevitably-we-construct-ourselves-let-me-explain-i-enter-this-house/) [Luigi Pirandello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-pirandello/) > [I see stardom very clearly as a construct that's been created in order to sell things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-christie/i-see-stardom-very-clearly-as-a-construct-that-s-been-created-in/) [Julie Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-christie/) > [The movie on the screen is always going to be different from the movie in your head. How it makes you feel is what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ayer/the-movie-on-the-screen-is-always-going-to-be-different-from-the/) [David Ayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ayer/) > [If God had sufficient wisdom and power to construct such a beautiful world as this, then we must admit that his wisdom and power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-pratt/if-god-had-sufficient-wisdom-and-power-to-construct-such-a-beautiful/) [Orson Pratt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-pratt/) Browse all 544 Constructs quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In metaphysics, the notion that earth and all that's on it is a mental construct is the product of people who spend their lives inside rooms. It is an indoor philosophy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Abbey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and-all-that-s-on-it-is-a-mental/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Constructs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and-all-that-s-on-it-is-a-mental/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a73/edward-abbey-254_constructs_in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and_1317131.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a73/edward-abbey-254_constructs_in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and_1317131.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a73/edward-abbey-254_constructs_in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and_1317131.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In metaphysics, the notion that earth and all that's on it is a mental construct is the product of people…” — Edward Abbey", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edward Abbey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In metaphysics, the notion that earth...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and-all-that-s-on-it-is-a-mental/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/in-metaphysics-the-notion-that-earth-and-all-that-s-on-it-is-a-mental/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```