In philosophy, that which attempts to explain what things are all about, "the first principle of things or existence." Sometimes used as a synonym for ontology. William Hasker suggests that metaphysics deals with three main questions: 1) What is real? 2) What is ultimately real? and 3) What is human's place in what is real?
The word is derived from the Greek words meta, 'above,' 'beyond,' and physis, 'nature.' The term was originally applied to those of Aristotle's writings after those works (and, therefore, seeking to explain what) he had written on the natural sciences.
In more popular writings the adjective is often used loosely to describe what is abstruse, abstract, fanciful, or what is not clearly understood.
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