The study of the primordial principles of existence, identity and change, space and time, causation, necessity, and possibility is known as metaphysics. It addresses issues such as the nature of consciousness and the mind-matter interaction. The term "metaphysics" is derived from two Greek words that imply "after, behind, or among [the study of] the natural." The word may have been originated by the first-century editor who compiled several short sections of Aristotle's works into the treatise we now know as Metaphysics (, meta ta physika, lit. 'after the Physics,' another of Aristotle's works).

Metaphysics is the study of what it means for something to exist and what kinds of existence exist. Metaphysics aims to provide abstract and all-encompassing answers to the following questions:
  • What is there?
  • What is it like?
Existence, objects and their attributes, space and time, cause and effect, and possibility are all subjects of metaphysical inquiry. Along with epistemology, logic, and ethics, metaphysics is considered one of the four major disciplines of philosophy.