Sana Farooqui

February 6, 2008
English (Honors) 12th
Ms. Maffei

What is metaphysics? Who was Aristotle?

The literal definition of the word metaphysics is “ the branch of philosophy that examines the

nature of reality, including the relationship between mind and matter, substance and attribute, fact and

value” (www.dictionary.com). “Aristotle defines metaphysics as “the knowledge of immaterial being,

or of being in the highest degree of abstraction. He refers to metaphysics as first philosophy”

(Wikipedia).

Aristotle lived from 384 to 322 B.C and was born in Northern Greece. He initially studied

medicine but then joined Plato's academy in which he learned philosophy. When Plato died, he did not

bequeath the academy to Aristotle but to his nephew, Speusippus. Aristotle married Pythias thereafter

he married another woman named Herpyllis. Herpyllis bore Aristotle a son whose name was

Nichomachus. Later, Aristotle taught his Philip's son, Alexander, who later became the king. Alexander

was known as 'Alexander the Great' because of his many conquests. In Athen's, Aristotle opened up his

own school, the Lyceum in 335 BC. Aristotle wrote many pieces of writings of which only about 30 to

150 works survived. Aristotle studied every possible subject like anatomy, astronomy, economics,

embryology, geography, geology, meteorology, physics, and zoology. In philosophy, he learned and

wrote about various different subjects. Some of Aristotle's famous works were Physics, Metaphysics,

Politics, Poetics, and much more. Aristotle died in Euboea and influenced many great writers.

Work Cited

The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Aristotle (384-322 BC).

<http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aristotl.htm>

Wikipedia. Aristotle. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle#Metaphysics>