Physis is a Greek
theologicalThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
,
philosophicalPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
, and
scientificScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
term usually translated into English as "
natureNature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
". In the Odyssey,
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
uses the word once (its earliest known occurrence), referring to the intrinsic way of growth of a particular species of plant. In other very early uses it had such a meaning: related to the natural growing of plants, animals, and other features of the world as they tend to develop without external influence.
Physis is a Greek
theologicalThe term "theology" literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "discourse", "theory", or "reasoning"...
,
philosophicalPhilosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing these questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on reasoned...
, and
scientificScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
term usually translated into English as "
natureNature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
". In the Odyssey,
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
uses the word once (its earliest known occurrence), referring to the intrinsic way of growth of a particular species of plant. In other very early uses it had such a meaning: related to the natural growing of plants, animals, and other features of the world as they tend to develop without external influence. But in the pre-Socratic philosophers it developed a complex of other meanings.
Since
AristotleAristotle was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology.Together with Plato and Socrates , Aristotle is one of...
, the physical (the subject matter of
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
, properly "natural things") has often been contrasted with metaphysical (the subject of
metaphysicsMetaphysics investigates principles of reality transcending those of any particular science. Cosmology and ontology are traditional branches of metaphysics. It is concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world...
), discussed in Aristotle's works so titled,
PhysicsPhysics is an important work by Aristotle. It is a collection of treatises or lessons that deal with the most general principles of moving things, both living and non-living, rather than physical theories or investigations of the particular contents of the universe...
and
MetaphysicsMetaphysics is one of the principal works of Aristotle and the first major work of the branch of philosophy with the same name. The principal subject is "being qua being", or being understood as being. It examines what can be asserted about anything that exists just because of its existence and...
.
"Physis" was understood by Thoreau as coming from darkness into light, biologically, cosmically, cognitively. (Walden Pond, 'Spring')
Leo StraussLeo Strauss was a German-born American political philosopher who specialized in classical political philosophy...
felt this was a sign of something new in the world which the Greeks discovered – something distinct from the concept of a "way" general to other cultures. (See also
dharmaThe term , is an Indian spiritual and religious term, that means one's righteous duty or any virtuous path in the common sense of the term. A Hindu's Dharma is affected by a person's age, class, occupation, and sex. In Indian languages it can be equivalent simply to "religion", depending on context...
and
taoTao is a concept found in Taoism, Confucianism, and more generally in ancient Chinese philosophy. While the character itself translates as 'way', 'path', or 'route', or sometimes more loosely as 'doctrine' or 'principle', it is used philosophically to signify the fundamental or true nature of the...
, for the development of related notions in other cultures.)
In medicine the element
-physis occurs in such compounds as
symphysisA symphysis is a fibrocartilaginous fusion between two bones. It is a type of cartilaginous joint, specifically a secondary cartilaginous joint.Unlike synchondroses, symphyses are permanent.-Examples:The more prominent symphyses are:* the pubic symphysis...
,
epiphysisThe epiphysis is the rounded end of a long bone, at its joint with adjacent bone. Between the epiphysis and diaphysis lies the metaphysis, including the epiphyseal plate...
, and a few others, in the sense of
a growing. The physis also refers to the "
growth plateThe epiphyseal plate is a hyaline cartilage plate in the metaphysis at each end of a long bone. The plate is found in children and adolescents; in adults, who have stopped growing, the plate is replaced by an epiphyseal line.-Anatomy & Development:Epiphyseal plates are present in growing bones...
," or site of growth at the end of long bones.
See also
- Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
- Nature (philosophy)
Nature is a word used in two major sets of ways, which are inter-connected in a complex way, for reasons related to the history of science, epistemology and metaphysics, particularly in Western Civilization.1...
- Physics
Physics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
- Philosophy of physics
In philosophy, the philosophy of physics studies the fundamental philosophical questions underlying modern physics, the study of matter and energy and how they interact. The philosophy of physics begins by reflecting on the basic metaphysical and epistemological questions posed by physics:...
- Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality in general, as well as of the basic categories of being and their relations...