The beginning of Aristotle's Metaphysics, one of the foundational texts of the discipline
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the fundamental structure of reality. It is often characterized as first philosophy, implying that it is more basic than other forms of philosophical inquiry. Metaphysics is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of reality, but some modern theorists understand it as an inquiry into the conceptual schemes that underlie human thought and experience.
Many general and abstract topics belong to the purview of metaphysics. It investigates existence and being, the features all entities have in common, and their division into categories of being. An influential contrast is between particulars, which are individual unique entities, like a specific apple, and universals, which are general repeatable entities that characterize particulars, like the color red. Modal metaphysics examines what it means for something to be possible or necessary. The nature of space and time is another broad topic, with metaphysicians discussing how to conceive them and how to conceptualize change. A closely related issue concerns the essence of causality and its relation to the laws of nature. Other topics include how mind and matter are related, whether everything in the world is predetermined, and whether there is free will.
Metaphysicians employ various methods to conduct their inquiry. Traditionally, they rely on rational intuitions and abstract reasoning but have more recently also included empirical approaches associated with scientific theories. Due to the abstract nature of its topic, metaphysics has received criticisms questioning the reliability of its methods and the meaningfulness of its theories. Metaphysics is relevant to many fields of inquiry that often implicitly rely on metaphysical concepts and assumptions.
The origin of metaphysics lies in antiquity with speculations about the nature of reality and the universe, like those found in the Upanishads in ancient India, Daoism in ancient China, and pre-Socratic philosophy in ancient Greece. The subsequent medieval period in the West discussed the nature of universals as shaped by ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle. The modern period saw the emergence of many rationalist and idealist systems of metaphysics. In the 20th century and contemporary period, metaphysics was once declared meaningless, then revived with various criticisms of earlier theories and new approaches to metaphysical inquiry.
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the fundamental structure of reality. It is often characterized as first philosophy, implying that...
self-cultivation. Major branches of philosophy are epistemology, ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epistemology studies what knowledge is and how to acquire it. Ethics...
The Metaphysics of Morals (German: Die Metaphysik der Sitten) is a 1797 work of political and moral philosophy by Immanuel Kant. It is also Kant's last...
The term Metaphysical poets was coined by the critic Samuel Johnson to describe a loose group of 17th-century English poets whose work was characterised...
Introduction to Metaphysics may refer to: Introduction to Metaphysics "Introduction to Metaphysics" (essay), a 1903 essay by Henri Bergson Introduction...
In Islamic philosophy, Sufi metaphysics is centered on the concept of وحدة, waḥdah, 'unity' or توحيد, tawhid. Two main Sufi philosophies prevail on this...
extraordinary". Obsolete uses include "of, relating to, or dealing with metaphysics". As a noun, the term can mean "a supernatural being", with a particularly...
Doctor of Metaphysics (PhD, Ph.D., or DMETA; Latin: Metaphysica doctor or doctor Metaphysica), also called a Metaphysical Science Doctorate, is a purported...
Modal metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that investigates the metaphysics underlying statements about possible or a priori statements. Modal logic...
following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to metaphysics: Metaphysics – traditional branch of philosophy concerned witlh explaining the...
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (1785; German: Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten; also known as the Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Grounding...
The history of metaphysics examines how theories about the most general features of reality ("metaphysics") have developed throughout history. Cognitive...
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being. It investigates what types of entities exist, how they are grouped into categories, and...
the world', and λογία (logia) 'study of') is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term cosmology...
beholder. This includes a number of positions within epistemology and metaphysics which express that a given thing instead exists independently of knowledge...
pág. 10 Peter van Inwagen (May 2018). Metaphysics (4th ed.). Taylor and Francis. ISBN 9780429963575. metaphysics must be distinguished from sacred or revealed...
logical positivism, Saul Kripke, David Lewis, and others led a revival in metaphysics. Analytic philosophy was deeply influenced by what is called Austrian...
The Review of Metaphysics is a peer-reviewed academic journal of philosophy. It was established by Paul Weiss and the first issue was published in September...
significant developments in the fields of philosophy of religion, logic, and metaphysics. The high medieval Scholastic period was disparagingly treated by the...
philosophy, also known as philosophical idealism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality...
Feminist metaphysics aims to question how inquiries and answers in the field of metaphysics have supported sexism. Feminist metaphysics overlaps with fields...
Metaphysics of presence (German: Metaphysik der Anwesenheit) is a view that holds the entire history of Western philosophy, with its language and traditions...
The Metaphysical Club was a name attributed by the philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, in an unpublished paper over thirty years after its foundation,...
extends across the entire range of contemporary philosophical topics, from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political philosophy, the philosophy...
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