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Metaphysics is a traditional branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world that encompasses it,〔Geisler, Norman L. "Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics" page 446. Baker Books, 1999.〕 although the term is not easily defined.〔(Metaphysics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) ).〕 Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:〔What is it (that is, whatever it is that there is) like? 〕 # Ultimately, what ''is there''? # What ''is it like''? A person who studies metaphysics is called a ''metaphysicist''〔''(Random House Dictionary Online )'metaphysicist''〕 or a ''metaphysician''.〔''(Random House Dictionary Online )'metaphysician''〕 The metaphysicist attempts to clarify the fundamental notions by which people understand the world, e.g., existence, objects and their properties, space and time, cause and effect, and possibility. A central branch of metaphysics is ontology, the investigation into the basic categories of being and how they relate to each other. Another central branch of metaphysics is cosmology, the study of the origin, fundamental structure, nature, and dynamics of the universe. Some include epistemology as another central focus of metaphysics, but others question this. Prior to the modern history of science, scientific questions were addressed as a part of metaphysics known as natural philosophy. Originally, the term "science" (Latin ''scientia'') simply meant "knowledge". The scientific method, however, transformed natural philosophy into an empirical activity deriving from experiment unlike the rest of philosophy. By the end of the 18th century, it had begun to be called "science" to distinguish it from philosophy. Thereafter, metaphysics denoted philosophical enquiry of a non-empirical character into the nature of existence.〔Peter Gay, ''The Enlightenment'', vol. 1 (''The Rise of Modern Paganism''), Chapter 3, Section II, pp. 132–141.〕 Some philosophers of science, such as the neo-positivists, say that natural science rejects the study of metaphysics, while other philosophers of science strongly disagree. ==Etymology== The word "metaphysics" derives from the Greek words μετά (''metá'', "beyond", "upon" or "after") and φυσικά (''physiká'', "physics").〔In the English language, the word comes by way of the Medieval Latin ''metaphysica'', the neuter plural of Medieval Greek ''metaphysika''.() Various dictionaries trace its first appearance in English to the mid-sixteenth century, although in some cases as early as 1387.()〕 It was first used as the title for several of Aristotle's works, because they were usually anthologized after the works on physics in complete editions. The prefix ''meta-'' ("after") indicates that these works come "after" the chapters on physics. However, Aristotle himself did not call the subject of these books "Metaphysics": he referred to it as "first philosophy." The editor of Aristotle's works, Andronicus of Rhodes, is thought to have placed the books on first philosophy right after another work, ''Physics'', and called them (''ta meta ta physika biblia'') or "the books that come after the (on ) physics". This was misread by Latin scholiasts, who thought it meant "the science of what is beyond the physical". However, once the name was given, the commentators sought to find intrinsic reasons for its appropriateness. For instance, it was understood to mean "the science of the world beyond nature" (''physis'' in Greek), that is, the science of the immaterial. Again, it was understood to refer to the chronological or pedagogical order among our philosophical studies, so that the "metaphysical sciences" would mean "those that we study after having mastered the sciences that deal with the physical world" (St. Thomas Aquinas, ''Expositio in librum Boethii De hebdomadibus'', V, 1). There is a widespread use of the term in current popular literature which replicates this understanding, i.e. that the metaphysical equates to the non-physical: thus, "metaphysical healing" means healing by means of remedies that are not physical.'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「metaphysics」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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