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andtheconceptofmetaphysics.

2.Theproblemsofmetaphysics:

the“old”metaphysics

2.1Thecategoriesofbeing

2.2Substance

3.Theproblemsofmetaphysics:

the“new”metaphysics

3.1Modality

3.2Problemsofspaceandtime

3.3Problemsaboutthementalandthephysical

3.4Theproblemoffreewill

3.5Problemsofmaterialconstitution

4.TheNatureofMetaphysics

5.IsMetaphysicsPossible?

Bibliography

OtherInternetResources

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Theword…metaphysics?

isnotoriouslyhardtodefine.Twentieth-centurycoinageslike…meta-language?

and…metaphilosophy?

encouragetheimpressionthatmetaphysicsisastudythatsomehow“goesbeyond”physics,astudydevotedtomattersthattranscendthemundaneconcernsofNewtonandEinsteinandHeisenberg.Thisimpressionismistaken.Theword…metaphysics?

is

derivedfromacollectivetitleofthefourteenbooksbyAristotlethatwecurrentlythinkofasmakingup“Aristotle'

sMetaphysics.”Aristotlehimselfdidnotknowtheword.（Hehadfournamesforthebranchofphilosophythatisthesubject-matterofMetaphysics:

…firstphilosophy?

…firstscience?

…wisdom?

and…theology?

.）AtleastonehundredyearsafterAristotle'

sdeath,aneditorofhisworks（inallprobability,AndronicusofRhodes）entitledthosefourteenbooks“Tametataphusika”—“theafterthephysicals”or“theonesafterthephysicalones”—,the“physicalones”beingthebookscontainedinwhatwenowcallAristotle'

sPhysics.ThetitlewasprobablymeanttowarnstudentsofAristotle'

sphilosophythattheyshouldattemptMetaphysicsonlyaftertheyhadmastered“thephysicalones,”thebooksaboutnatureorthenaturalworld—thatistosay,aboutchange,forchangeisthedefiningfeatureofthenaturalworld.

ThisistheprobablemeaningofthetitlebecauseMetaphysicsisaboutthingsthatdonotchange.Inoneplace,Aristotleidentifiesthesubject-matteroffirstphilosophyas“beingassuch,”and,inanother,as“firstcauses.”Itisanice—andvexed—questionwhattheconnectionbetweenthesetwodefinitionsis.Perhapsthisistheanswer:

Theunchangingfirstcauseshavenothingbutbeingincommonwiththemutablethingstheycause—likeusandtheobjectsofourexperience,theyare,andtheretheresemblanceceases.（ForadetailedandinformativerecentguidetoAristotle'

sMetaphysics,seePolitis（2004）.）

TheGreekpluralnoun-phrase…tametataphusika?

becameinMedievalLatinthesingularnoun…metaphysica?

—muchastheGreekplural…tabiblia?

（…thebooks?

）becametheLatinsingular…biblia?

（…thebible?

）.ThewordwasusedbothasatitleforAristotle'

sbook（nowthoughtofasasingleentity）andasthenameofthe“science”thatwasitssubject-matter.Thewordfor…metaphysics?

ineverymodernEuropeanlanguage（…lamé

taphysique?

…dieMetaphysik?

…lametafisica?

…）isanadaptationoftheLatinwordtotheorthographicandphoneticrequirementsofthatlanguage.Thisistrueevenofthenon-Indo-Europeanlanguages（likeFinnishandHungarian）thatarespokeninEurope.Workswritteninsomenon-Europeanlanguages,however,usewordsconstructedfromnativematerialsbothtotranslatetheEuropeanword…metaphysics?

andtorefertowritingsintheirownphilosophicaltraditionswhosesubject-matterissimilartothesubject-matterofWesternmetaphysics.Forexample,theChinesephrasethatisthecustomarytranslationof…metaphysics?

isanallusiontoastatementintheIChing:

“thatwhichisabovematteristheTao”;

thephrasecanbeliterallytranslatedas…[thatwhichisabovematter]-ology?

thefinalwordofthephrasebeinga“disciplinemarker”thatperformsmuchthesamefunctionastheEnglishsuffix…-ology?

.ThewordthatistheusualArabictranslationof…metaphysics?

means…thescienceofdivinethings?

.UnliketheChinesephraseandtheArabicword,however,theEuropeanwordsderivedfrom…metaphysica?

carrynointernalindicationsoftheirmeaning.（Thewordhas,aswehaveseen,anetymology,butasissooftenthecase,etymologyisnoguidetomeaning.）Itisuncontroversialthatthesewordsallmeanexactlywhat…metaphysics?

meansinEnglish—or,lessparochially,thatalltheEuropeanwordsderivedfrom…metaphysica?

meanexactlythesamething.Butwhatisitthattheyallmean?

Cantheoriginofthewordhelpustoanswerthisquestion?

Canwesaythattheword…metaphysics?

isanameforthat“science”（thatepisteme,thatscientia,thatstudy,thatdiscipline）whosesubject-matteristhesubject-matterofAristotle'

sMetaphysics?

Ifwedosaythis,weshall

becommittedtosomethesisintheneighborhoodofthefollowingtheses:

“Thesubject-matterofmetaphysicsis…beingassuch?

”;

“Thesubject-matterofmetaphysicsisthefirstcausesofthings”;

“Thesubject-matterofmetaphysicsisthatwhichdoesnotchange.”Anyofthesethreethesesmighthavebeenregardedasadefensiblestatementofthesubject-matterofwhatwascurrentlycalled“metaphysics”tilltheseventeenthcentury,when,rathersuddenly,manytopicsandproblemsthatAristotleandtheMedievalswouldhaveclassifiedasbelongingtophysics（therelationofmindandbody,forexample,orthefreedomofthewill,orpersonalidentityacrosstime）begantobe“reassigned”tometaphysics.Onemightalmostsaythatintheseventeenthcentury“metaphysics”begantobeacatch-allcategory,arepositoryofphilosophicalproblemsthatcouldnotbeotherwiseclassified:

“notepistemology,notlogic,notethics…”.（Itwasataboutthattimethattheword“ontology”wasinvented—tobeanameforthescienceofbeingassuch,anofficethattheword…metaphysics?

couldnolongerfill.）Theacademicrationalistsofthepost-Leibnizianschoolwereawarethattheword…metaphysics?

hadcometobeusedinamoreinclusivesensethanithadoncebeen.ChristianWolffattemptedtojustifythismoreinclusivesenseofthewordbythisdevice:

whilethesubject-matterofmetaphysicsisbeing,beingcanbeinvestigatedeitheringeneralorinrelationtoobjectsinparticularcategories.Hedistinguishedbetween“generalmetaphysics,”（orontology）thestudyofbeingassuch,andthevariousbranchesof“specialmetaphysics,”whichstudythebeingofobjectsofvariousspecialsorts,suchassoulsandmaterialbodies.（Hedoesnotassign“firstcauses”togeneralmetaphysics,however:

thestudyoffirstcausesbelongstonaturaltheology,abranchofspecialmetaphysics.）Itisdoubtfulwhetherthismaneuverisanythingmorethanaverbalploy.Inwhatsense,forexample,isthepractitionerofrationalpsychology（thebranchofspecialmetaphysicsdevotedtothesoul）engagedinastudyof“being”?

Hasasouladifferentsortofbeingfromthatofotherobjects?

—sothatinstudyingthesoulonelearnsnotonlyaboutitsnature（thatis,itsproperties:

rationality,immateriality,immortality,itscapacityorlackthereoftoaffectthebody…）,butaboutits“modeofbeing,”andhencelearnssomethingaboutbeing?

Itiscertainlynottruethatall,orevenverymany,rationalpsychologistssaidanything,quarationalpsychologists,thatcouldplausiblybeconstruedasacontributiontoourunderstandingofbeing.

Perhapsthisdevelopment,thiswiderapplicationoftheword…metaphysics?

wasduetothefactthattheword…physics?

wascomingtobeanameforanew,quantitativescience,thesciencethatbearsthatnametoday,andwasbecomingincreasinglyinapplicabletotheinvestigationofmanytraditionalphilosophicalproblemsaboutchangingthings（andofsomenewlydiscoveredproblemsaboutchangingthings）.Whateverthereasonforthechangemayhavebeen,itwouldbeflyinginthefaceofcurrentusage（andindeedoftheusageofthelastthreeorfourhundredyears）tostipulatethatthesubject-matterofmetaphysicswastobethesubject-matterofAristotle'

sMetaphysics（orthatitwastobe“thatwhichisabovematter”or“divinethings”）.Itwould,moreover,flyinthefaceofthefactthat,inthecurrentsenseoftheword,thereareandhavebeenparadigmaticmetaphysicianswhodenythattherearefirstcauses—th