"Metaphysics" is a series of treatises written by Aristotle in the 4th century BCE, organized into a set of fourteen books after the philosopher's death by Andronicus of Rhodes, who also gave the title *Metaphysics* to the collection.

The term "metaphysics" is never used by Aristotle in any of these books; he refers instead to "first philosophy," the "science of first causes," "first principles," and the purpose of all that exists, while it exists.

This work is one of Aristotle’s main contributions and the first major exploration of metaphysics itself. Its investigation focuses not on any particular being but on being in general—that is, what can be said about anything that exists purely by virtue of its existence, not due to any specific attribute it may have.

The work also discusses different types of causes, form and matter, the existence of mathematical objects, and God. It studies the whole, the general, rather than merely parts, and this exploration is not limited to what is transcendent. For example, if someone believes that only what exists in the sensible world has reality and that this world is entirely material, they are assuming a metaphysical stance by dealing with the entirety of being rather than its parts, addressing the nature of being itself.

In *Metaphysics*, Aristotle defines four causes of things, explained below in simplified terms:

- **Formal Cause** — the form or essence of the thing (an object is defined by its form).

- **Material Cause** — the matter from which a thing is made (the substance that comprises the object).

- **Efficient Cause** — the origin of the thing (what or who made the object possible).

- **Final Cause** — the reason for something's existence (the purpose of the object).