A traditional branch of philosophy tries to explain what being and the world around it are all about. But the word “metaphysics” is hard to define. Traditionally, metaphysics tries to answer two basic questions in the broadest terms possible:
- What is there?
- How does it feel?
A person who studies metaphysics is called a metaphysician. A metaphysician tries to explain the basic ideas that people use to understand the world, such as existence, objects, and their properties, space and time, cause and effect, and the possibility of something happening.
Ontology is one of the most important parts of metaphysics. It investigates the basic categories of being and how they relate to each other. Cosmology is another important part of metaphysics. It is the study of the Universe’s beginning, basic structure, nature, and how it changes over time. Some philosophers say that epistemology is also a big part of metaphysics, but other philosophers disagree.