After having studied in the course of Philosophy of Science the question of the knowledge of the material reality or physical world (epistemological perspective), we will now try to consider the question of the nature of the physical world (ontological perspective), that is, we will try to study the physical being, sensitive and mobile, just as an being, that is, from the specific perspective of metaphysics. In fact, in the philosophical knowledge of the physical world proper to the philosophy of nature, we are faced with a “middle science”, which is materially physical and formally metaphysical.
To carry out this study, we will use both the inductive method (from the properties of the physical entity, known from direct experience and science, to metaphysical principles), and the deductive method (application of metaphysical notions and principles to the notions and principles of contemporary physics and mathematics). In order to do this, we will have to briefly present the most significant scientific theories, to try to understand their philosophical value and meaning, and to address the philosophical problems they have raised.
First of all, we will study the simplest and most general properties of the material being, then we will proceed to consider the most complex and specific ones, finally arriving at the consideration of the material substance, its essence and its ontological structure.