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'''Natural philosophy''' is a branch of metaphysical philosophy treating the natural world, that is, real entities belonging to grades of being inferior in power to man, the angels and God.

'''Natural philosophy''' is a branch of metaphysical philosophy treating the natural world, that is, real entities belonging to grades of being inferior in power to man, the angels and God.

"Metaphysical" is a word meant to distinguish an anciently established division between two different types of knowledge.  In Western Civilization's earliest surviving complete philosophical work, the ''Charmides'' by [[Plato]], the distinction is drawn between bodies of knowledge that produce a physical result, and those that do not.  Natural philosophy has been categorized as a theoretical or "metaphysical" rather than a practical branch of philosophy (like, for example, ethics).  Bodies of knowledge that guide arts and draw upon the philosophical knowledge of nature may produce practical results, but these subsidiary sciences (e.g. architecture or medicine) go beyond natural philosophy.

"Metaphysical" is a word meant to distinguish an anciently established division between two different types of knowledge.  In Western Civilization's earliest surviving complete philosophical work, the ''Charmides'' by [[Plato]], the distinction is drawn between bodies of knowledge that produce a practical result, and those that do not.  Natural philosophy has been categorized as a theoretical, speculative or "metaphysical" rather than a practical branch of philosophy (like, for example, ethics).  Bodies of knowledge that guide arts and draw upon the philosophical knowledge of nature may produce practical results, but these subsidiary sciences (e.g. architecture or medicine) go beyond natural philosophy.

==Methods of natural philosophy==

==Methods of natural philosophy==