Metaphysics (from Greek, 'the things after the physics', from the ordering of Aristotle's works), is the branch of philosophy which studies the most general categories and concepts which are presupposed in descriptions of ourselves and the world. Examples are causality, substance, ontology, time, and reality. Metaphysical questions have a very broad scope. Whereas the physical scientist might ask 'How does x cause y?', the metaphysician asks ' What does it mean for anything to cause anything else?' Whereas the chemist might investigate particular substances, the metaphysician asks what it means to be a substance, and whether there is one basic substance, or many. Metaphysical questions can become the subject of more specialised philosophical inquiry. We can ask whether our actions are subject to causality, which gives rise to the problem of free will. And the question of whether our mental experiences involve a separate substance from body is a major issue in the philosophy of mind.
Although metaphysics dates back to the ancient Greeks, there have been occasions on which its status as a legitimate inquiry have been questioned. The rise of science in the 17th century led to attempts by philosophers such as Hume and Locke to limit the claims of metaphysics, and earlier this century scientifically minded philosophers such as the logical positivists claimed that metaphysical assertions were meaningless. Research Metaphysics
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