metaphysics
the branch of philosophy that treats of first principles, includes ontology and cosmology, and is intimately connected with epistemology.
philosophy, especially in its more abstruse branches.
the underlying theoretical principles of a subject or field of inquiry.
(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.
Origin of metaphysics
1Words Nearby metaphysics
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use metaphysics in a sentence
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.
Your Guide to the Many Meanings of Quantum Mechanics - Facts So Romantic | Sabine Hossenfelder | September 3, 2020 | Nautilus“All these questions of physics and metaphysics have changed because physics have changed,” says Sánchez.
Vatican Science on Christmas and Creationism | Christopher Dickey | December 22, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThey are read as being about blackness, as both color and mental state, or even as metaphysics.
He is, perhaps, the first crime writer since Christopher Marlowe to have a degree in metaphysics.
Why You Should Read Ken Bruen the Master of Irish Noir | Allen Barra | March 17, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTFor Schwartz, the car was a veritable metaphysics of social and psychological meaning.
The author has avoided technicalities, and has also resisted the temptation of the psychologist to indulge in metaphysics.
Man And His Ancestor | Charles Morrismetaphysics and natural philosophy expressed the genius of Europe; he substricts the religion of Asia as the base.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John LordWith Aristotle, ethics formed only one branch of attention; his main inquiries were in reference to physics and metaphysics.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I | John LordAll that I had ever read in psychology and metaphysics came back to me.
My New Curate | P.A. SheehanBesides these spoils, the poet of to-day revels in the results of later metaphysics.
The Arena | Various
British Dictionary definitions for metaphysics
/ (ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪks) /
the branch of philosophy that deals with first principles, esp of being and knowing
the philosophical study of the nature of reality, concerned with such questions as the existence of God, the external world, etc
(popularly) abstract or subtle discussion or reasoning
Origin of metaphysics
1Derived forms of metaphysics
- metaphysician (ˌmɛtəfɪˈzɪʃən) or metaphysicist (ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪsɪst), noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for metaphysics
The field in philosophy that studies ultimate questions, such as whether every event has a cause and what things are genuinely real.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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