Human beings have always wondered about the origin and nature of the world that surrounds them. For philosophers, this question is answered through a branch of metaphysics called ontology, which is the science of ‘what is’, of the kinds and structures of objects. In simple terms, ontology seeks the classification and explanation of entities and promotes theories on the nature of being and existence. There have been many ontological approaches throughout history, such as idealism and realism, each of which represents the opposing theory to the other. One of the philosophers who most profoundly influenced the vision of the world in the West is undoubtedly Aristotle, for whom things had their own natural state of being, which changed due to the effect of four different causes. These four causes were the material cause, the formal cause, the efficient cause, and the final cause. The nature of an object was what determined its movement, which could only take place towards a goal.
This way of interpreting reality was questioned by many other thinkers, but it was with Galileo Galilei that we began to radically change perspective. He said that the Universe does not need a cause, but moves forward independently. Today, to the theories of Galileo, Newton and other great scientists are added those of Einstein on relativity, and all subsequent discoveries, thanks to which it is now known that reality, including therefore human beings, is a set of particles governed by laws of physics.
This change of ontology, however, has not seen a parallel change in the language used to describe the world: it is in fact difficult to give up the cause-effect system described by Aristotle because it would mean accepting that life has no meaning in the world beyond its earthly limits, and that any effort we make is practically useless.
