Metaphysics

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality: the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, cause and effect, necessity and possibility.[1]

Part of a series on
Philosophy
Plato Kant Nietzsche Buddha Confucius Averroes
Branches Aesthetics Epistemology Ethics Language Logic Metaphilosophy Metaphysics Mind Political Religious Scientific Social
Periods Ancient Ancient Egyptian Ancient Greek Medieval Modern Contemporary Analytic Continental
Traditions Traditions by region African Ethiopia Eastern philosophy Chinese Indian Indonesia Japan Korea Vietnam Indigenous American Aztec philosophy Middle Eastern philosophy Iranian Western American British French German Italian Russian Traditions by religion Buddhist Confucian Christian Hindu Islamic Jain Jewish Taoist philosophy
Literature Aesthetics Epistemology Ethics Logic Metaphysics Political philosophy
Philosophers Aestheticians Epistemologists Ethicists Logicians Metaphysicians Philosophers of mind Social and political philosophers Women in philosophy
Lists Index Outline Years Problems Publications Theories Glossary Philosophers
Philosophy portal
v t e

Metaphysics is considered one of the four main branches of philosophy, along with epistemology, logic, and ethics.[2] It includes questions about the nature of consciousness and the relationship between mind and matter, between substance and attribute, and between potentiality and actuality.[3]

Metaphysics studies questions related to what it is for something to exist and what types of existence are there. Metaphysics seeks to answer, in an abstract and fully general manner, the questions of: What is it that exists; and What it is like.[4]