Physis

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Physis (φύσις) is a Greek theological, philosophical, and scientific term usually translated into English as "nature".

In origin the word is related to the natural growing of plants and animals, and to the Greek word for plants generally.

In medicine the word physis is used for the growing part of a bone, an illustration of how vital growth is to its nature. It is the physis that makes a child grow. A defining characteristic of childhood is growth. The choice of such a fundamental word for such a fundamental part of the skeleton is not surprising.

The earliest known use of the word is in Homer's Odyssey, where it refers, just as in later Greek rationalist writings, to the properties of a thing (in this case it was a plant). The philosopher and commentator Leo Strauss 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 dharma and tao.) From the concept of nature, comes philosophy, and ultimately, the West.

Since Aristotle, the physical (the subject matter of physics) has often been contrasted with metaphysical (the subject of metaphysics), which Aristotle referred to as "first philosophy". According to the now defunct physicist Wolfgang Pauli in quantum physics a future description of nature will probably comprises physis and psyche. In modern times, metaphysics is associated with the supernatural or immaterial world, perhaps because the concept of "laws of nature" implied in modern science are hardly perceived to imply metaphysical beliefs and reasoning.