The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to metaphysics:
Metaphysics – 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?
What is ultimately there or what if it was never there? What is it like?
Nature of metaphysics
Metaphysics can be described as all of the following:
Branch of philosophy – philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.Jenny Teichmann and Katherine C. Evans, Philosophy: A Beginner's Guide (Blackwell Publishing, 1999), p. 1: "Philosophy is a study of problems which are ultimate, abstract and very general. These problems are concerned with the nature of existence, knowledge, morality, reason and human purpose."A.C. Grayling, Philosophy 1: A Guide through the Subject (Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 1: "The aim of philosophical inquiry is to gain insight into questions about knowledge, truth, reason, reality, meaning, mind, and value." Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument.Anthony Quinton, in T. Honderich (ed.), The Oxford Companion to Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 666: "Philosophy is rationally critical thinking, of a more or less systematic kind about the general nature of the world (metaphysics or theory of existence), the justification of belief (epistemology or theory of knowledge), and the conduct of life (ethics or theory of value). Each of the three elements in this list has a non-philosophical counterpart, from which it is distinguished by its explicitly rational and critical way of proceeding and by its systematic nature. Everyone has some general conception of the nature of the world in which they live and of their place in it. Metaphysics replaces the unargued assumptions embodied in such a conception with a rational and organized body of beliefs about the world as a whole. Everyone has occasion to doubt and question beliefs, their own or those of others, with more or less success and without any theory of what they are doing. Epistemology seeks by argument to make explicit the rules of correct belief formation. Everyone governs their conduct by directing it to desired or valued ends. Ethics, or moral philosophy, in its most inclusive sense, seeks to articulate, in rationally systematic form, the rules or principles involved." Academic discipline – branch of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined (in part), and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and the learned societies and academic departments or faculties to which their practitioners belong.
Branches of metaphysics Physical cosmology – study of the largest-scale structures and dynamics of the Universe and is concerned with fundamental questions about its formation, evolution, and ultimate fate. Big Bang cosmology (standard) – cosmology based on the Big Bang model of the universe. The Big Bang is a theoretical explosion from which all matter in the universe is alleged to have originated approximately 13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago. Non-standard cosmology – any physical cosmological model of the universe that has been, or still is, proposed as an alternative to the Big Bang model of standard physical cosmology. Plasma cosmology – a non-standard cosmology whose central postulate is that the dynamics of ionized gases and plasmas, rather than gravity, play the dominant roles in the formation, development, and evolution of astronomical bodies and large-scale structures in the universe. Religious cosmology – body of beliefs based on the historical, mythological, religious, and esoteric literature and traditions of creation and eschatology. Abrahamic cosmology – The cosmology of all Abrahamic religions, including the Biblical cosmology of Judaism and Christianity, and Islamic cosmology. Based on the ancient writings from each of these respective religions, it entails a conception of the cosmos as an organised, structured entity, including its origin, order, meaning and destiny. Buddhist cosmology – description of the shape and evolution of the Universe according to the Buddhist scriptures and commentaries. Hindu cosmology – In Hindu cosmology the universe is cyclically created and destroyed. The Hindu literature, such as Vedas, and Puranas, cite the creation of the universe. They describe the aspects of evolution, astronomy, etc. Jain cosmology – description of the shape and functioning of the physical and metaphysical Universe (loka) and its constituents (such as living beings, matter, space, time etc.) according to Jainism, which includes the canonical Jain texts, commentaries and the writings of the Jain philosopher-monks. Taoist cosmology – cosmology based on the School of Yin Yang which was headed by Zou Yan (305 BC – 240 BC). The school's tenets harmonized the concepts of the Wu Xing (Five Phases) and yin and yang. In this spirit, the universe is seen as being in a constant process of re-creating itself, as everything that exists is a mere aspect of qi, which, "condens Zoroastrian Cosmology – In Zoroastrian Cosmology, based on contents of ancient scriptures such as Avesta and Bundahishn, the universe is created by an uncreated and omniscient deity, and is in a perpetual state of conflict with the evil spirit. African Cosmology – African cosmology generally views the universe as a spiritually ordered and interconnected reality in which the physical and spiritual realms are unified, originating from a supreme creator. It emphasizes balance, harmony, and relationality among humans, ancestors, spiritual beings, and nature, with moral conduct seen as essential to sustaining cosmic order and communal well-being.
Ontology – a central branch of metaphysics. Ontology is the study of the nature of being, becoming, existence, or reality, as well as the basic categories of being and how they relate to each other. In simpler terms, ontology investigates what there is. Mereotopology – deals with the relations among wholes, parts, parts of parts, and the boundaries between parts. Meta-ontology – investigates what we are asking when we ask what there is. Philosophy of space and time – Universal science – Philosophy of modality Philosophy of persons Metametaphysics – branch of metaphysics concerned with the foundations of metaphysics (which is concerned primarily with the foundations of reality). It asks: "Do the questions of metaphysics really have answers? If so, are these answers substantive or just a matter of how we use words? And what is the best procedure for arriving at them—common sense? Conceptual analysis? Or assessing competing hypotheses with quasi-scientific criteria?" Philosophical theology – branch of theology and metaphysics that uses philosophical methods in developing or analyzing theological concepts. Natural theology – branch of theology and metaphysics the object of which is the nature of the gods, or of the one supreme God. In monotheistic religions, this principally involves arguments about the attributes or non-attributes of God, and especially the existence of God - arguments which are purely philosophical, and do not involve recourse to any supernatural revelation. Religious metaphysics Sufi metaphysics Al Akbariyya – branch of Sufi metaphysics based on Andalusian Sufi gnostic and philosopher Ibn Arabi's teaching. Noetic theory – Philosophy of causation – Philosophy of objects – Realism and anti-realism – Philosophy of properties –
History of metaphysics
Aristotle's Metaphysics History of cosmology Cosmology in medieval Islam Historical cosmologies Timeline of cosmological theories History of ontology
Metaphysical theories
Metaphysical concepts
Analogy of the divided line Arche Balance (metaphysics) Basic limiting principle Best of all possible worlds Bradley's regress Conatus Concrescence (process philosophy) Creativity (process philosophy) Datum (process philosophy) Élan vital Eternal objects Evidential existentiality Four causes Hume's fork Hyle Identity (philosophy) Immanence Immaterial force Information Inherence Lifeworld Matter (philosophy) Meaning (existential) Meinong's jungle Metakosmia Monad (philosophy) Moral universe Motion (physics) Natural law Necessary and sufficient condition Nexus (process philosophy) Ontic Ousia Physical body Physis Plane of immanence Plenitude principle Popper's three worlds Reduction (philosophy) Relational space Res extensa Stoic Categories Subject (philosophy) Substantial form Teleonomy Transcendence (philosophy) Transcendentals Unity (concept) Value (ethics) Virtuality World disclosure
Entity
Entity Abstract object Abstraction Actual entity Actus essendi Being Category of being Emergence Essence Everything Existence Non-physical entity Nothing Notion (philosophy) Object (philosophy) Particular Pattern Potentiality and actuality Principle Property (philosophy) Quantity Reality Universal (metaphysics) Universalizability Unobservable
Mind
Mind Active intellect Choice Cogito ergo sum Concept Experience Geist Idea Incorporeality Intellect Intention Mental representation Mental substance Perception Philosophy of self Qualia Quality (philosophy) Soul Thought Vertiginous question
Time
Time A-series and B-series Absolute time and space Causal closure Causality Duration (philosophy) Epiphenomenon Growing block universe Phenomenon
Truth
Truth Aletheia Supervenience Truth-value link Truthmaker
Metaphysical philosophies
Absolute idealism Absurdism Accidentalism (philosophy) Action theory (philosophy) Actualism Anti-realism Aristotelianism Atomism B-theory of time British idealism Bundle theory Compatibilism Conceptualism Corpuscularianism Counterpart theory Determinism Dualistic cosmology Dynamism (metaphysics) Dysteleology Endurantism Epistemicism Essentialism Eternalism (philosophy of time) Exemplification theory Existentialism Fragmentalism Free will illusionism Hard determinism Hindu idealism Humanistic naturalism Hylomorphism Hylozoism Idealism Identityism Incompatibilism Indefinite monism Indeterminism Irrealism (philosophy) Libertarianism (metaphysics) Literary nominalism Logical atomism Logical holism Material monism Materialism Mechanism (philosophy) Meliorism Mereological essentialism Mereological nihilism Metaphysical naturalism Metaphysical nihilism Metaphysical solipsism Modal fictionalism Modal realism Moderate realism Monism Naturalism (philosophy) Necessitarianism Nihilism Nominalism Non-essentialism Noneism Object-oriented ontology Objective idealism Objectivism Open individualism Organicism Perdurantism Phenomenalism Philosophical realism Physicalism Pirsig's metaphysics of Quality Platonic idealism Platonic realism Pluralism (philosophy) Predeterminism Process philosophy Projectivism Quietism Rational mysticism Reductionism Revisionary materialism Scientific realism Scotistic realism Simulation hypothesis Solipsism Speculative realism Spiritualism (philosophy) Subjectivism Substance theory Synechism Teleology Temporal finitism Theory of everything (philosophy) Theory of Forms Transcendental idealism Trope (philosophy) Tychism Voluntarism (metaphysics)
Metaphysics organizations