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Metaphysics & Philosophy Discussion

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Philosophy

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What is Metaphysics and what does this branch of Philosophy cover?

Metaphysics is not easy to explain. Early philosophers claimed that metaphysics was similar to,

alchemy or astrology, to be defined by its subject-matter: metaphysics was the school of thought

that studied existence or “things that do not change”. It is not possible anymore to define

metaphysics such a way. There are many philosophical problems that are now seen as

metaphysical problems (or partly metaphysical problems) that are in no way related to existence

or “things that do not change” —the problem of free will, or the problem of the difference

between the mental and the physical for example.

The word, Metaphysics, lacks a clear synonym or definition. Although that some would

conclude that the word implies that metaphysics is a study that goes beyond physics, a study

devoted to things that surpass the ordinary concerns of Einstein and Newton, this is a common

misconception. The word ‘metaphysics’ is resultant from a shared title of the fourteen books by

Aristotle that are currently known as Aristotle's Metaphysics. “First Philosophy”, “First

Science”, “Wisdom”, and “Theology” are the four branches that are in ‘metaphysics’ according

to Plato. One hundred years after the death of Aristotle, an editor of his work named those before

mentioned books “Ta Meta Ta Phusika”.The title was intended to caution students of Aristotle's

philosophy that they should attempt Metaphysics only after they had mastered “physics” or “the

physical”.

This is the probable answer to what is Metaphysics; it is about things that do not change. As far

as what this branch of philosophy covers, it clearly covers all the things that are “beyond” or

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“above” things that change, things that are of “the physical” realm. Metaphysics contributed to

and developed many schools in philosophy, even modern philosophy; it is arguably the

foundation of philosophy, and without it there would be no modern philosophy.

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What is Metaphysics and what does this branch of Philosophy cover? Metaphysics is not easy to explain. Early philosophers claimed that metaphysics was similar to, alchemy or astrology, to be defined by its subject-matter: metaphysics was the school of thought that studied existence or “things that do not change”. It is not possible anymore to define metaphysics such a way. There are many philosophical problems that are now seen as metaphysical problems (or partly metaphysical problems) that are in no way related to existence or “things that do not change” —the problem of free will, or the problem of the difference between the mental and the physical for example. The word, Metaphysics, lacks a clear synonym or definition. Although that some would conclude that the word implies that metaphysics is a study that goes beyond physics, a study devoted to things that surpass the ordin ...
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Tags: philosophy metaphysics subjectmatter Modern Philosophy astrology