metaphysics

[ met-uh-fiz-iks ]

noun

, (used with a singular verb)

1. the branch of philosophy that treats of first principles, includes ontology and cosmology, and is intimately connected with epistemology.
2. philosophy, especially in its more abstruse branches.
3. the underlying theoretical principles of a subject or field of inquiry.
4. (initial capital letter, italics) a treatise (4th century b.c.) by Aristotle, dealing with first principles, the relation of universals to particulars, and the teleological doctrine of causation.

metaphysics

/ ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪsɪst; ˌmɛtəfɪˈzɪʃən; ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪks /

noun

1. the branch of philosophy that deals with first principles, esp of being and knowing
2. the philosophical study of the nature of reality, concerned with such questions as the existence of God, the external world, etc
3. See descriptive metaphysics
   See descriptive metaphysics
4. (popularly) abstract or subtle discussion or reasoning

metaphysics

1. The field in philosophy that studies ultimate questions, such as whether every event has a cause and what things are genuinely real.

Derived Forms

• metaphysician, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of metaphysics¹

First recorded in 1560–70; from Medieval Latin metaphysica, from Medieval Greek (tà) metaphysiká (neuter plural), Greek tà metà tà physiká “the (works) after the Physics ”; with reference to the arrangement of Aristotle's writings

Word History and Origins

Origin of metaphysics¹

C16: from Medieval Latin, from Greek ta meta ta phusika the things after the physics, from the arrangement of the subjects treated in the works of Aristotle

Example Sentences

Today, metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that, loosely speaking, deals with those assumptions which physicists make in the constructions of theories that are not grounded in empirical evidence.

From Nautilus

“All these questions of physics and metaphysics have changed because physics have changed,” says Sánchez.

From The Daily Beast

They are read as being about blackness, as both color and mental state, or even as metaphysics.

From The Daily Beast

He is, perhaps, the first crime writer since Christopher Marlowe to have a degree in metaphysics.

From The Daily Beast

For Schwartz, the car was a veritable metaphysics of social and psychological meaning.

From The Daily Beast

The author has avoided technicalities, and has also resisted the temptation of the psychologist to indulge in metaphysics.

From Project Gutenberg

Metaphysics and natural philosophy expressed the genius of Europe; he substricts the religion of Asia as the base.

From Project Gutenberg

With Aristotle, ethics formed only one branch of attention; his main inquiries were in reference to physics and metaphysics.

From Project Gutenberg

All that I had ever read in psychology and metaphysics came back to me.

From Project Gutenberg

Besides these spoils, the poet of to-day revels in the results of later metaphysics.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• attitude
• doctrine
• idea
• ideology
• logic
• outlook
• reasoning
• system
• tenet
• theory
• thinking
• thought
• truth
• view
• viewpoint
• wisdom