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Metaphysics All men by nature desire to know (p. 51). So does Aristotle begin The Metaphysics, a book, or rather a collection of lectures. It is the book of the greatest importance for an understanding of the philosophy of Aristotle, and has had a tremendous influence on the European thought. The word Metaphysics derives from the Greek meta ta physical (after the things of nature). In medieval and modern philosophy metaphysics has also been taken to mean the study of things transcending nature.
That is, existing separately from nature and having more intrinsic reality and value than the things of nature- giving meta a philosophical meaning that it did not posses during the period of Classical Greece (p. 153). This simply means that in ancient times the word metaphysics only meant after physics, but as time went on it took on a philosophical meaning -- things that go beyond mere physical attributes. The term has had a religious and a spiritual connotation and refers generally to the field of philosophy dealing with various things and their state of being. Metaphysic is thus, according to Aristotle Wisdom par excellence and the philosopher or lover of wisdom is he who desires knowledge about the cause and nature of Reality. Thusly wisdom deals with the principles and causes of things, that means it is an abstract science, not dealing with the senses.
Sense perception is common to all and therefore easy and no mark on Wisdom (p. 169). But, though it is the most abstracted of sciences, it is according to Aristotle the most exact of the sciences. Therefore metaphysics deals with knowledge at the highest level of abstraction. It is the study of the most basic element of motion. It is willing to look at the existence of ourselves with a questioning eye. To Aristotle metaphysics was the study of Being and its principles and causes.
There were a few people in the classical period that contributed to the development metaphysics, among them were Parmenides, Plato and of course the father of metaphysics, Aristotle. The history of metaphysics goes far back to the sixth century BC. It starts with the Ionic cosmologists wondering about the physical universe, the matter and substance of its make up, and the laws present in nature. We first must begin with Promenades, since most of the concepts seen in Aristotle's writing are plainly visible in his writings. Parmenides believed that there are principles, for example, non contradiction and a principle of sufficient reason, also, what necessity impelled it, if it did spring from Nothing, to be produced later or earlier? Thus it must be absolutely, or nothing at all (p. 169).
Philosophy, was therefore conceived as a deductive science like mathematics for instance. It is also a contradictory contrast between apparent reality and true reality. Like the natural scientist, the metaphysician gives an account of the universe; unlike the scientist, he does not base his account on observations and experiments. His account is based primarily on analysis of concept; if he does appeal to the evidence of the senses, he appeals to something that is familiar, not to new evidence that he is adding to knowledge (160). Parmenides believed that typical characteristics of metaphysics were distinct philosophical inquiry. It is the conception of philosophy which attempts to understand the universe by means of logical investigation, appealing to meanings of terms rather those not base his account on observations and experiments.
It is the conception of philosophy which attempts to understand the universe by means of logical investigation, things we see and touch; moreover they are considered to be the source of existence we see and touch, like a man is the cause of his shadow or of his reflection in a mirror or in a pool of water (p 32). One can discern metaphysics as an independent method in the works of Plato, but should keep in mind that in early Greek thought Wisdom was an observation of the true picture of cosmos. This is why philosophical method did not differ from the scientific method. In a score of his dialogues, Plato gave a description of the highest sort of knowledge, rising from empirical reality to the nonmaterial ideas following the hierarchical latter of concepts, and descending back to the world of the senses. Plato's metaphysics means the theory of Ideas, which are present on Pheado, and have had a lot of influence in history of thought.
Plato argues for the existence of mind or soul as a kind of entity distinct from, and in some sense prior to, physical objects (34). This is evident in Pheado, where the theory of Ideas can be used to prove the immortality of the soul. Plato believed that bodies cannot move themselves whereas the soul can. Thales and early Greek philosophers busied themselves with material cause, trying to discover ultimate meaning of things, but others believed that there was more to thought and life than material cause. Empedocles and Anaxagoras saw that no material element can be the reason why objects manifest beauty and goodness, and so came to the conclusion of the activity of the Mind. In history of philosophy the term metaphysics was used as a synonym of philosophy, and was introduced in the first century BC.
by a man (Adronic of Rodos) who systematized the works of Aristotle. Aristotle is the direct source of what metaphysics is. He constructed a classification of the sciences in which the first in meaning and value place was occupied by the science of being as such. Unlike the second philosophy or physics the first philosophy (called consequently metaphysics) considers being independently from concrete unity of matter and form. It is not connected with the subjectivity of man nor with human activity.
He raised questions, which in short were whether or not metaphysics is a super science proving the assumptions made by the special sciences, and also the assumptions it itself uses whether, in short, it is logically self contained body of knowledge contrasting with the logically incomplete special sciences (p. 155). Aristotle thought that metaphysics is less the capstone of a hierarchy of sciences, than a discussion of problems left over by the special sciences. He believed metaphysics to be a science which explains things as they were already known to be true, rather than as giving reasons for the assumptions we make in sciences and everyday life, thereby supporting the meaning of science and common sense. For Aristotle the most vital question of metaphysics was the concepts of being and unity. Questions such as Are being and unity properties of things, or are they entities or substances of some kind? If being and unity are things in their own right, what kind of things are they? (152 - 153) These questions are brought up in Plato's Parmenides and Sophist.
Metaphysics according to Aristotle was the most valuable of sciences, existing no as a purpose of human life and the source of enjoyment. Aristotle's analysis of being is the prime theme in metaphysics, it is his account of the unive...
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