The first thing to say about Aristotle’s metaphysics is that its very name has become misleading. The original Ancient Greek text is using the term “metaphysics” with the meaning “principles of physics” or “principles of reality.” In Aristotle’s writings, “metaphysics” has nothing to do with the supernatural, the occult, or hidden forces of nature. On the contrary, Aristotle understood metaphysics as a method for the analysis and understanding of reality, a method devoid of any magical elements. I deeply regret that his “metaphysics” are regarded by some people with the same distrust as magical incantations, occult secrets, and random intuitions. Unfortunately, Aristotle himself contributed to discouraging people from reading his work on metaphysics by defining it as “the study of the being qua being.” Instead, he could have defined the term simply as “the study of the principles of reality.” The truth is that Aristotle’s work on metaphysics constitutes his second most important contribution to philosophy. Only his theory of causality takes precedence in terms of significance. Metaphysics studies the principles underlying the world and all its elements. Its principles apply equally to minerals, plants, man-made objects, animals and human beings. Like his theory of causality, metaphysics place Aristotle far above all other ancient philosophers, in particular far above his teacher Plato, who had concentrated on the search for abstract, unchanging ideas. Instead of looking for otherworldly abstractions, Aristotle’s metaphysics rely on empirical observation; they rely on inputs from our senses and in our intellectual capacity to assess those inputs. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-philosophy-of-metaphysics/

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