Metaphysical propositions gain truth-value as technology makes them physically realizable

Evidence

But if this is the situation, then the case of metaphysics, and especially of the meaningfulness and truth of metaphysical propositions, is a historical case. That is, historical rather than purely epistemological conditions determine the truth, the cognitive value of such propositions. Like all propositions that claim truth, they must be verifiable; they must stay within the universe of possible experience. This universe is never co-extensive with the established one but extends to the limits of the world which can be created by transforming the established one, with the means which the latter has provided or withheld. The range of verifiability in this sense grows in the course of history. Thus, the speculations about the Good Life, the Good Society, Permanent Peace obtain an increasingly realistic content; on technological grounds, the metaphysical tends to become physical. — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 808

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to Marcuse’s earlier argument about the end of utopia and to the chapter’s building case that technological rationality has its own negation. Also maps onto contemporary discussions of ‘the utopia is achievable’ debates in the attention economy. — connects to: Modern physics reframes reality as instrumentality rather than being — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the…, 565; Scientific truth rests on a dialectical proof rule and a metaphysical non-deception rule — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on…, 216; Technology reveals fundamental truths about human existence beyond mere usefulness — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 1020 (+3 more)
• QUESTION: This posits that technological progress expands the range of verifiable metaphysical propositions — worth chasing how this interacts with the one-dimensional thesis that technological society represses transcendence.

Broader Connections

• Scientific truth rests on a dialectical proof rule and a metaphysical non-deception rule #expands (0.85) — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 216
• Physics’ pursuit of objectivity paradoxically de-materialized nature #exemplifies (0.85) — Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man, 575
• Technology reveals fundamental truths about human existence beyond mere usefulness #expands (0.80) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 1020
• Performative utterances create reality rather than admit truth-valuation #complicates (0.75) — Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition, 136
• Positivist truths are linguistic illusions grown canonical through use #corroborates (0.75)