Editing Metaphysics (section)

== Definition ==
Metaphysics is the study of the most general features of [[reality]], including [[existence]], [[Subject and object (philosophy)|objects]] and their [[Property (philosophy)|properties]], possibility and necessity, [[space]] and [[time]], change, [[Causality|causation]], and the relation between [[matter]] and [[mind]]. It is one of the oldest branches of [[philosophy]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Carroll|Markosian|2010|pp=1–3}} | {{harvnb|Koons|Pickavance|2015|pp=1–2}} | {{harvnb|McDaniel|2020|loc=§ 0.3 An Overview of Metaphysics and Other Areas of Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Mumford|2012|loc=§ What Is an Introduction?}} }}</ref>{{efn|Philosophers engaged in metaphysics are called ''metaphysicians'' or ''metaphysicists''.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Mumford|2012|loc=§ 10 What Is Metaphysics?}} | {{harvnb|Carroll|Markosian|2010|p=2}} }}</ref> Outside the academic discourse, the term ''metaphysics'' is sometimes used in a different sense for the study of [[occult]] and [[paranormal]] phenomena, like metaphysical healing, [[Aura (paranormal)|auras]], and the [[Pyramid power|power of pyramids]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Carroll|Markosian|2010|p=1}} | {{harvnb|Turner|1911|loc=[[:s:Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Metaphysics|I. The Name]]}} }}</ref>}}

The precise nature of metaphysics is disputed and its characterization has changed in the course of history. Some approaches see metaphysics as a unified field and give a wide-sweeping definition by understanding it as the study of "fundamental questions about the nature of reality" or as an inquiry into the [[essence]]s of things. Another approach doubts that the different areas of metaphysics share a set of underlying features and provides instead a fine-grained characterization by listing all the main topics investigated by metaphysicians.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Carroll|Markosian|2010|pp=1–4}} | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=1–2}} | {{harvnb|McDaniel|2020|loc=§ 0.3 An Overview of Metaphysics and Other Areas of Philosophy}} | {{harvnb|Mumford|2012|loc=§ 10 What Is Metaphysics?}} | {{harvnb|Ney|2014|pp=9–10}} | {{harvnb|Van Inwagen|Sullivan|Bernstein|2023|loc=Lead Section, § 1. The Word 'Metaphysics' and the Concept of Metaphysics}} }}</ref> Some definitions are descriptive by providing an account of what metaphysicians do while others are normative and prescribe what metaphysicians ought to do.<ref>{{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|p=2}}</ref>

Two historically influential definitions in [[ancient philosophy|ancient]] and [[medieval philosophy]] understand metaphysics as the science of the [[first cause]]s and as the study of being {{em|qua}} being, that is, the topic of what all beings have in common and to what fundamental categories they belong. In the modern period, the scope of metaphysics expanded to include topics such as the distinction between mind and body and [[free will]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=1–4}} | {{harvnb|Van Inwagen|Sullivan|Bernstein|2023|loc=Lead Section, § 1. The Word 'Metaphysics' and the Concept of Metaphysics}} }}</ref> Some philosophers follow [[Aristotle]] in describing metaphysics as "first philosophy", suggesting that it is the most basic inquiry upon which all other branches of philosophy depend in some way.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Koons|Pickavance|2015|pp=8–10}} | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=2–3}} }}</ref>{{efn|For example, the metaphysical problem of causation is relevant both to [[epistemology]], as a factor involved in perceptual knowledge, and [[ethics]], in regard to moral responsibility for the consequences caused by one's [[Action (philosophy)|actions]].<ref>{{harvnb|Koons|Pickavance|2015|pp=8–10}}</ref>}}

[[File:Kant gemaelde 1.jpg|thumb|alt=Oil painting showing Kant from the front against a dark background in a sitting position, leaning on a table with pens and ink and wearing brown formal dress|[[Immanuel Kant]] conceived metaphysics from the perspective of [[critical philosophy]] as the study of the principles underlying all human thought and experience.]]

Metaphysics is traditionally understood as a study of mind-independent features of reality. Starting with [[Immanuel Kant]]'s [[critical philosophy]], an alternative conception gained prominence that focuses on conceptual schemes rather than external reality. Kant distinguishes transcendent metaphysics, which aims to describe the objective features of reality beyond sense experience, from the [[Critical philosophy|critical perspective]] on metaphysics, which outlines the aspects and principles underlying all human thought and experience.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=1–2, 6–7}} | {{harvnb|Bengtson|2015|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4CnxCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 23]}} | {{harvnb|Wood|2009|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=i7PG-Vk824UC&pg=PA354 354]}} }}</ref> Philosopher [[P. F. Strawson]] further explored the role of conceptual schemes, contrasting descriptive metaphysics, which articulates conceptual schemes commonly used to understand the world, with revisionary metaphysics, which aims to produce better conceptual schemes.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Heyndels|Bengtson|Mesel|2024|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_wvjEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 4]}} | {{harvnb|MacDonald|2008|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=JjRG56XeyIcC&pg=PA18 18]}} }}</ref>

Metaphysics differs from the individual sciences by studying the most general and abstract aspects of reality. The individual sciences, by contrast, examine more specific and concrete features and restrict themselves to certain classes of entities, such as the focus on physical things in [[physics]], living entities in [[biology]], and cultures in [[anthropology]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Mumford|2012|loc=§ 10 What Is Metaphysics?}} | {{harvnb|Ney|2014|p=xiii}} | {{harvnb|Tahko|2015|pp=206–207}} }}</ref> It is disputed to what extent this contrast is a strict dichotomy rather than a gradual continuum.<ref>{{harvnb|Tahko|2015|pp=203–205}}</ref>

===Etymology===
The word ''metaphysics'' has its origin in the ancient Greek words {{tlit|grc|[[Meta (prefix)|metá]]}} ({{lang|grc|[[wikt:μετά|μετά]]}}, meaning {{gloss|after}}, {{gloss|above}}, and {{gloss|beyond}}) and {{tlit|grc|phusiká}} ({{lang|grc|[[wikt:φυσικά|φυσικά]]}}), as a short form of {{tlit|grc|ta metá ta phusiká}}, meaning {{gloss|what comes after the physics}}. This is often interpreted to mean that metaphysics discusses topics that, due to their generality and comprehensiveness, lie beyond the realm of physics and its focus on empirical observation.<ref name=":0"/> Metaphysics may have received its name by a historical accident when [[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Aristotle's book]] on this subject was published.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hamlyn|2005|p=590}} | {{harvnb|Mumford|2012|loc=§ 10. What Is Metaphysics?}} | {{harvnb|Pols|1993|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=sv84Gi7C9jgC&pg=PA203 203]}} | {{harvnb|Lowe|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Las3AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127 127]}} }}</ref> Aristotle did not use the term ''metaphysics'' but his editor (likely [[Andronicus of Rhodes]]) may have coined it for its title to indicate that this book should be studied after Aristotle's book published on [[Physics (Aristotle)|physics]]: literally {{gloss|after physics}}. The term entered the English language through the Latin word {{lang|la|[[wikt:metaphysica|metaphysica]]}}.<ref name=":0">{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hoad|1993|pp=291, 351}} | {{harvnb|Cohen|Reeve|2021|loc=Lead Section}} | {{harvnb|Carroll|Markosian|2010|pp=1–2}} | {{harvnb|Mumford|2012|loc=§ 10. What Is Metaphysics?}} | {{harvnb|Politis|2004|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=d-GjOoZNnGsC&pg=PA1 1]}} }}</ref>

=== Branches ===
The nature of metaphysics can also be characterized in relation to its main branches. An influential division from early [[modern philosophy]] distinguishes between general and special or specific metaphysics.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=3–5, 10}} | {{harvnb|Van Inwagen|Sullivan|Bernstein|2023|loc=§ 1. The Word 'Metaphysics' and the Concept of Metaphysics}} | {{harvnb|Craig|1998}} | {{harvnb|Koons|Pickavance|2015|pp=1–2}} }}</ref> General metaphysics, also called ''[[ontology]]'',{{efn|The term ''[[ontology]]'' is sometimes also used as a synonym of metaphysics as a whole.<ref>{{harvnb|Hawley|2016|p=166}}</ref>}} takes the widest perspective and studies the most fundamental aspects of being. It investigates the features that all entities share and how entities can be divided into different [[categories of being|categories]]. Categories are the most general kinds, such as substance, property, [[Relation (philosophy)|relation]], and [[fact]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=10–14}} | {{harvnb|Van Inwagen|Sullivan|Bernstein|2023|loc=§ 1. The Word 'Metaphysics' and the Concept of Metaphysics}} | {{harvnb|Campbell|2006|loc=The Categories Of Being}} }}</ref> Ontologists research which categories there are, how they depend on one another, and how they form a system of categories that provides a comprehensive classification of all entities.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hofweber|2023|loc=§ 3. Ontology}} | {{harvnb|Campbell|2006|loc=The Categories Of Being}} | {{harvnb|Thomasson|2022|loc=Lead Section}} }}</ref>

Special metaphysics considers being from more narrow perspectives and is divided into subdisciplines based on the perspective they take. [[Metaphysical cosmology]] examines changeable things and investigates how they are connected to form a [[world]] as a totality extending through space and time.<ref name="Loux 2017 3–5, 10">{{multiref | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=3–5, 10}} | {{harvnb|Van Inwagen|Sullivan|Bernstein|2023|loc=§ 1. The Word 'Metaphysics' and the Concept of Metaphysics}} }}</ref> Rational psychology focuses on metaphysical foundations and problems concerning the mind, such as its relation to matter and the freedom of the will. Natural theology studies the divine and its role as the first cause.<ref name="Loux 2017 3–5, 10"/> The scope of special metaphysics overlaps with other philosophical disciplines, making it unclear whether a topic belongs to it or to areas like [[philosophy of mind]] and [[theology]].<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Loux|Crisp|2017|pp=10–11}} | {{harvnb|Craig|1998|loc=§ 2. Specific Metaphysics}} }}</ref>

Starting in the second half of the 20th century, applied metaphysics was conceived as the area of [[applied philosophy]] examining the implications and uses of metaphysics, both within philosophy and other fields of inquiry. In areas like [[ethics]] and [[philosophy of religion]], it addresses topics like the ontological foundations of moral claims and religious doctrines.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|Hawley|2016|pp=165–168}} | {{harvnb|Brumbaugh|1966|pp=[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20124133 647–648]}} }}</ref> Beyond philosophy, its applications include the use of ontologies in [[artificial intelligence]], [[economics]], and [[sociology]] to classify entities.<ref>{{harvnb|Hawley|2016|pp=168–169, 171–172}}</ref> In [[psychiatry]] and [[medicine]], it examines the metaphysical status of [[disease]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Hawley|2016|p=174}}</ref>

{{anchor|Meta-metaphysics}}<!--'Metametaphysics' and 'Meta-metaphysics' redirect here-->
'''Meta-metaphysics'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->{{efn|Some philosophers use the term ''[[metaontology]]'' as a synonym while others characterize metaontology as a subfield of meta-metaphysics.<ref>{{harvnb|Tahko|2018|loc=Lead Section}}</ref>}} is the [[metatheory]] of metaphysics and investigates the nature and methods of metaphysics. It examines how metaphysics differs from other philosophical and scientific disciplines and assesses its relevance to them. Even though discussions of these topics have a long history in metaphysics, meta-metaphysics has only recently developed into a systematic field of inquiry.<ref>{{multiref | {{harvnb|McDaniel|2020|loc=§ 7 Meta-metaphysics}} | {{harvnb|Tahko|2018|loc=Lead Section}} }}</ref>