Metaphysics came from the Greek words “ta meta ta physika” which means

“after the physics” or “the (works) after the physical (works)”. This metaphysics is

also called ontology, which focuses on the nature of being. It deals with the

question of being. That simple and phenomenal question, “What is it?”, made the

minds of the Greeks, and even ours, sparkle. This subject matter can be described

in a variety of ways. As for Aristotle, it is the “first philosophy” or “wisdom,” the

study of “being qua being”, owing to the fact that it deals with the search for the

first principles and causes.

In metaphysics, Aristotle says that all men by nature desire to know. It is

therefore natural for men to desire knowledge, especially in accordance with our

senses. Queries in people’s minds happen whenever they see, hear, taste, smell,

and feel new things. One thing is certain to happen to an individual, and that is to

think of the causes which have awed him.

The age-old question, What is being?, is equivalent to the question, “What is

Substance?” Thereby Aristotle pulls the plug on the question, What is being? and

concludes that being is substance. St. Thomas Aquinas’ opinion on this is that

being is that which exists through any nature. This refers to determining something

as a being by knowing the fundamental aspects of being without which it could not

be. It is the same as stating “to be or not to be” concerning a thing. In other
words, before determining a thing as a being, there are many aspects that should

first be considered.

Aristotle gives 10 categories to categorize nearly everything in the world. The first

is the Substance which, according to him, is the way to understand the nature of

being. Here is an illustration providing the concept of being of Aristotle in

correlation with St. Thomas.

Looking at the illustration, we can say that it all starts with substance and,

obviously, there’s a complexity of branches that start from substance which,

according to St. Thomas, is “that which is.” There are at least four substances, as
later conceived by a follower of Aristotle, Porphyry, namely, mineral, plant,

animal, and man, altogether composing the hierarchy of substances. All four are

hylemorphic beings, beyond which there is the spirit which, according to St.

Thomas, is non-hylemorphic because non-material. All this substantiates the idea

that “natures with which physics is concerned are identical in fact with the

substances which are the subjects of inquiry in metaphysics.”

Substance is, then, the first category. Aside from substance, Aristotle gives nine

categories to classify different forms, and these are quantity, quality, time, place,

action, passion, relation, passion, posture, and habit. Almost everything that falls

under these categories is considered to be a being. To give an example, that which

is a tree is said to exist and, thus, it is a being or, in other words, it is a substance.

This substance tree exists by itself, while its accidents subsist on it, so we say that

the tree is a centuries-old tree that stands at Christ the King Mission Seminary,

bearing fruits and so on...

Metaphysics deals also with the study of causes. For all we know, Aristotle

rejects the Theory of Forms Plato, according to which there is another world apart

from its earthly existence. Aristotle says that things exist only where they are

predicated to be. Furthermore, there is no other world than this world, and there is

no such thing as a world of forms or ideas. Thereby Aristotle provides four causes

to explain change and support his claim about substance. The first course he
identifies to be the material cause, which is what something is made up of. For

example, the table is made out of wood; thus, the material cause of the table is

wood. The second cause is the formal cause, which is what makes a thing one

thing rather than other things. For example, what makes the chair a chair is the

essence of it, and that is its “chairness.”

The third cause is the efficient cause which sets the object in motion. It can also be

described as the mover of something. For example, the carpenter is responsible for

making the chair, and therefore the carpenter is its efficient cause. The final cause

is about the purpose or reason of something that is in existence. In other words,

asking for the final cause is to ask why things exist. Why is there a chair? It is

made for people to sit on.

By these four causes, namely, material, formal, efficient, and final causes,

we can now conclude that these are the supporting ideas that would complement

Aristotle’s metaphysics and theory of universals. As we delve unto these fine

points of metaphysics, one can see that we are likewise treading along the path of

cosmology since the discussions on causes and substances are simultaneously

cosmological discussions. Ergo, at this very end, we can argue that Metaphysics is

the queen of all sciences.

Michael Vince S. Alvarez