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Full Idea
Physic should contemplate that which is inherent in matter, and therefore transitory; and metaphysic that which is abstracted and fixed
Clarification
'Physic' here is 'physics' (not 'medicine')
Gist of Idea
Physics studies transitory matter; metaphysics what is abstracted and necessary
Source
Francis Bacon (The Advancement of Learning [1605], II.VII.3)
Book Ref
Bacon,Francis: 'Advancement of Learning/New Atlantis' [OUP 1966], p.108
A Reaction
He cites the ancients for this view, with which he agrees. One could do worse than hang onto metaphysics as the study of necessities, but must then face the attacks of the Quineans - that knowledge of necessities is beyond us.