 The philosophy of nature lies, therefore, between the sciences and metaphysics; it is to be distinguished from metaphysics, which deals with all being qua being, but also from the (empiriological) sciences, which deal with sensible being qua observable or measurable. Because it seeks principles that underlie all physical objects, it follows from reflections on and goes beyond science; because it still refers to such objects and acknowledges that its conclusions need to be consistent with verification by the senses, however, it is not metaphysics.