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Metaphysics (Aristotle)
Metaphysics (Greek: των μετὰ τὰ φυσικά, "those after the physics"; Latin: Metaphysica) is one of the principal works of Aristotle, in which he develops the doctrine that he calls First Philosophy. The work is a compilation of various texts treating abstract subjects, notably substance theory, different kinds of causation, form and matter, the existence of mathematical objects and the cosmos, which together constitute much of the branch of philosophy later known as metaphysics.
Many of Aristotle's works are extremely compressed, and many scholars believe that in their current form, they are likely lecture notes. Subsequent to the arrangement of Aristotle's works by Andronicus of Rhodes in the first century BC, a number of his treatises were referred to as the writings "after ("meta") the Physics", the origin of the current title for the collection Metaphysics. Some scholars, such as Eduard Zeller, Werner Jaeger, and Jonathan Barnes, have interpreted the expression “meta” to imply that the subject of the work goes “beyond” that of Aristotle’s Physics or that it is metatheoretical in relation to the Physics.. But other scholars, including Alexander Grant, W. D. Ross, and contemporary commentators such as those cited in modern bibliographies, believe that “meta” referred simply to the work’s place in the canonical arrangement of Aristotle’s writings, which is at least as old as Andronicus of Rhodes or even Hermippus of Smyrna. In other surviving works of Aristotle, the metaphysical treatises are referred to as "the [writings] concerning first philosophy"; which was the term Aristotle used for metaphysics.
It is notoriously difficult to specify the date at which Aristotle wrote these treatises as a whole or even individually, especially because the Metaphysics is, in Jonathan Barnes' words, "a farrago, a hotch-potch", and more generally because of the difficulty of dating any of Aristotle's writings. The order in which the books were written is not known; their arrangement is due to later editors. In the manuscripts, books are referred to by Greek letters. For many scholars, it is customary to refer to the books by their letter names. Book 1 is called Alpha (Α); 2, little alpha (α); 3, Beta (Β); 4, Gamma (Γ); 5, Delta (Δ); 6, Epsilon (Ε); 7, Zeta (Ζ); 8, Eta (Η); 9, Theta (Θ); 10, Iota (Ι); 11, Kappa (Κ); 12, Lambda (Λ); 13, Mu (Μ); 14, Nu (Ν).
Books Zeta, Eta, and Theta are generally considered the core of the Metaphysics. Book Zeta (VII) begins by stating that "being" has several senses, the purpose of philosophy is to understand the primary kind of being, called substance (ousia) and determine what substances there are, a concept that Aristotle develops in the Categories. Zeta goes on to consider four candidates for substance: (i) the 'essence' or 'what it is to be' of a thing (ii) the universal, (iii) the genus to which a substance belongs and (iv) the material substrate that underlies all the properties of a thing.
Finally, he concludes book Zeta by arguing that substance is really a cause.
Book Eta consists of a summary of what has been said so far (i.e., in Book Zeta) about substance, and adds a few further details regarding difference and unity.
Book Theta sets out to define potentiality and actuality. Chapters 1–5 discuss potentiality, the potential of something to change: potentiality is "a principle of change in another thing or in the thing itself qua other." In chapter 6 Aristotle turns to actuality. We can only know actuality through observation or "analogy;" thus "as that which builds is to that which is capable of building, so is that which is awake to that which is asleep...or that which is separated from matter to matter itself". Actuality is the completed state of something that had the potential to be completed. The relationship between actuality and potentiality can be thought of as the relationship between form and matter, but with the added aspect of time. Actuality and potentiality are distinctions that occur over time (diachronic), whereas form and matter are distinctions that can be made at fixed points in time (synchronic). Finally, chapters 7–9 discuss the interaction of potentiality and actuality with their respective object's subject/substrate. Chapter 10 is primarily about logic.
The Metaphysics is considered to be one of the greatest philosophical works. Its influence on the Greeks, the Muslim philosophers, Maimonides, the scholastic philosophers and even writers such as Dante was immense.
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Metaphysics (Aristotle)
Metaphysics (Greek: των μετὰ τὰ φυσικά, "those after the physics"; Latin: Metaphysica) is one of the principal works of Aristotle, in which he develops the doctrine that he calls First Philosophy. The work is a compilation of various texts treating abstract subjects, notably substance theory, different kinds of causation, form and matter, the existence of mathematical objects and the cosmos, which together constitute much of the branch of philosophy later known as metaphysics.
Many of Aristotle's works are extremely compressed, and many scholars believe that in their current form, they are likely lecture notes. Subsequent to the arrangement of Aristotle's works by Andronicus of Rhodes in the first century BC, a number of his treatises were referred to as the writings "after ("meta") the Physics", the origin of the current title for the collection Metaphysics. Some scholars, such as Eduard Zeller, Werner Jaeger, and Jonathan Barnes, have interpreted the expression “meta” to imply that the subject of the work goes “beyond” that of Aristotle’s Physics or that it is metatheoretical in relation to the Physics.. But other scholars, including Alexander Grant, W. D. Ross, and contemporary commentators such as those cited in modern bibliographies, believe that “meta” referred simply to the work’s place in the canonical arrangement of Aristotle’s writings, which is at least as old as Andronicus of Rhodes or even Hermippus of Smyrna. In other surviving works of Aristotle, the metaphysical treatises are referred to as "the [writings] concerning first philosophy"; which was the term Aristotle used for metaphysics.
It is notoriously difficult to specify the date at which Aristotle wrote these treatises as a whole or even individually, especially because the Metaphysics is, in Jonathan Barnes' words, "a farrago, a hotch-potch", and more generally because of the difficulty of dating any of Aristotle's writings. The order in which the books were written is not known; their arrangement is due to later editors. In the manuscripts, books are referred to by Greek letters. For many scholars, it is customary to refer to the books by their letter names. Book 1 is called Alpha (Α); 2, little alpha (α); 3, Beta (Β); 4, Gamma (Γ); 5, Delta (Δ); 6, Epsilon (Ε); 7, Zeta (Ζ); 8, Eta (Η); 9, Theta (Θ); 10, Iota (Ι); 11, Kappa (Κ); 12, Lambda (Λ); 13, Mu (Μ); 14, Nu (Ν).
Books Zeta, Eta, and Theta are generally considered the core of the Metaphysics. Book Zeta (VII) begins by stating that "being" has several senses, the purpose of philosophy is to understand the primary kind of being, called substance (ousia) and determine what substances there are, a concept that Aristotle develops in the Categories. Zeta goes on to consider four candidates for substance: (i) the 'essence' or 'what it is to be' of a thing (ii) the universal, (iii) the genus to which a substance belongs and (iv) the material substrate that underlies all the properties of a thing.
Finally, he concludes book Zeta by arguing that substance is really a cause.
Book Eta consists of a summary of what has been said so far (i.e., in Book Zeta) about substance, and adds a few further details regarding difference and unity.
Book Theta sets out to define potentiality and actuality. Chapters 1–5 discuss potentiality, the potential of something to change: potentiality is "a principle of change in another thing or in the thing itself qua other." In chapter 6 Aristotle turns to actuality. We can only know actuality through observation or "analogy;" thus "as that which builds is to that which is capable of building, so is that which is awake to that which is asleep...or that which is separated from matter to matter itself". Actuality is the completed state of something that had the potential to be completed. The relationship between actuality and potentiality can be thought of as the relationship between form and matter, but with the added aspect of time. Actuality and potentiality are distinctions that occur over time (diachronic), whereas form and matter are distinctions that can be made at fixed points in time (synchronic). Finally, chapters 7–9 discuss the interaction of potentiality and actuality with their respective object's subject/substrate. Chapter 10 is primarily about logic.
The Metaphysics is considered to be one of the greatest philosophical works. Its influence on the Greeks, the Muslim philosophers, Maimonides, the scholastic philosophers and even writers such as Dante was immense.