What if we could know SOMETHING about EVERYTHING?

But this isn't a what-if question. We can. How? By studying metaphysics.

For the benefit of those beginners in philosophy who truly love and wish to attain wisdom, we will be providing, over the next few weeks, a summary of the principle tenets of the first philosophy—that is, the metaphysics—that we subscribe to.

But why metaphysics?

As we have mentioned in our introductory, this blog is dedicated to those who love and strive for wisdom. Since metaphysics takes as its subject-matter all things that are insofar as they are, it is an inquiry into what it is to be, that is, it is an investigation into the very order of being. Now, given that, as the Philosopher said, it is the mark of the wise man to order (sapientis est ordinare), then an inquiry into the order of all things that are (omnia entia) is apprehending order most universally. As such, the man who knows his metaphysics has knowledge of the order of everything, which, in a way, makes metaphysics seem like the most powerful science. On the other hand, however, metaphysics tells us little of the specifics of the beings under inspection; it restricts itself to treating being as being, and, as a result, does not inform anything of particulars. The Philosopher makes the case in the first book of the Metaphysics, however, that the intellect can only know universals anyway; for this reason he classes someone who knows more, even if generally, over and above those who know less, but know things more specifically. Whether the Philosopher’s account of wisdom is valid we will examine later; for now, our focus is introducing the reader to metaphysics. But before this, a word must be said of the metaphysical system chosen for exposition.

There are, naturally, as in any branch of philosophy, contending schools of metaphysicians. If the reader is serious about his commitment to philosophy, it is worth his time to familiarize himself with them. At the same time, however, a reader unfamiliar with any of the principles of metaphysics would find it immensely difficult even to approach those debates; metaphysics has a very technical language of its own, and, although the terms used therein may appear familiar, their meanings are usually much more restricted than what they usually mean to the layperson. Now, each contending school has its own terminological variations; yet, nearly all schools are anchored in the same metaphysical tradition, or, even if they have departed from it, almost always make explicit reference to it and frequently borrow terms from it. This is the tradition that started with Aristotle. He is the one we frequently reference as “the Philosopher,” not simply out of admiration, but because the title is most appropriately his, since he was the first to treat the question of being qua being. For this reason, the bulk of the metaphysics we will be exposing is, quite candidly, Aristotelian.