Book Cover -- Half-Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Aristotle's Metaphysics -- 1 What is the Metaphysics about? The question, 'What is being?' -- 2 Sources of the question, 'What is being?' -- 3 A central distinction in the Metaphysics: Being in general versus primary being (prote ousia) -- 4 Three candidates for primary being: The particular -- the universal -- and the essence -- 5 Does Aristotle assume essentialism in the Metaphysics? -- 6 The structure and unity of the Metaphysics -- 7 About this companion to the Metaphysics -- 2 Metaphysics As The Science Of The Ultimate Explanations Of All Things -- 1 Metaphysics as the science of the ultimate explanations and principles of all things -- 2 How explanatory knowledge differs from sense perception and experience -- Alternative interpretation -- 3 Aristotle's general conception of explanations and explanatory knowledge -- i The search for explanations and what it is based on -- ii The nature and requirements of explanations -- iii The relation of metaphysics to the other sciences -- 4 The theory of the four basic explanations and causes of changing things -- i A summary of the theory -- ii Aristotle's conception of matter as potentiality -- iii Aristotle's review of his predecessors regarding the four basic causes -- 3 Aristotle's Method In Metaphysics -- 1 Aristotle's method of searching in metaphysics The method based on aporiai -- 2 The source of the aporiai in metaphysics -- 3 The list of aporiai and how they structure the Metaphysics -- 4 A brief review of the fifteen aporiai -- First Aporia (996a18-b26) -- Second Aporia (996b26-997a15) -- Third Aporia (997a15-25) -- Fourth Aporia (997a25-34) -- Fifth Aporia (997a34-998a19) -- Sixth Aporia (998a20-b13) -- Seventh Aporia (998b13-999a23 23) -- Eighth Aporia (999a24-b24) -- Ninth Aporia (999b24-1000a4).

Tenth Aporia (1000a5-1001a3) -- Eleventh Aporia (1001a 4-b25) -- Twelfth Aporia (1001b 26-1002b11) -- Thirteenth Aporia (1002b12-32) -- Fourteenth Aporia (1002b32-1003a5) -- Fifteenth Aporia (1003a5-17) -- 4 Metaphysics As The Science Of Being Qua Being -- 1 Metaphysics as the science of being qua being -- 2 The problem of how there can be a science of being qua being -- and the solution in terms of the distinction between primary being and non-primary being -- Alternative interpretation -- 3 How Aristotle introduces the distinction between primary being and non-primary being -- 4 Primary being as the ultimate subject of predication: the theory of the Categories -- The theory of primary being in Aristotle's earlier work: the Categories -- A central problem with Aristotle's theory of the Categories -- 5 Is metaphysics about all things, about primary being, or about God? -- 5 The Defence Of The Principle Of Non-Contradiction -- 1 Aristotle's characterization of the principle of non-contradiction (PNC) -- 2 Aristotle's overall aim in considering PNC -- 3 Why PNC cannot itself be demonstrated -- 4 Aristotle's conception of PNC as a metaphysical principle -- 5 Is PNC transcendental, i.e. is it true of things because it is true of thought? -- 6 How can one deny PNC? -- 7 The consequences of denying PNC: It is impossible to think and speak about things -- 8 The defence of PNC and the defence of the view that things have an essence -- 9 Does Aristotle succeed in showing that there are no true contradictions? -- 6 The Response To Phenomenalism And Relativism -- 1 How phenomenalism and relativism present a challenge to Aristotle's defence of the principle of non-contradiction conceived as a metaphysical principle -- 2 The characterization of phenomenalism and relativism -- 3 The aim of considering phenomenalism and relativism.

4 The relation between phenomenalism, relativism and the denial of PNC -- i General -- ii Tracing the source of phenomenalism and of the denial of PNC -- iii A central consequence of phenomenalism and the denial of PNC: relativism -- 5 How far does Aristotle succeed in defending PNC conceived as a metaphysical principle? -- 7 The Search For Primary Being -- 1 The question at the centre of the Metaphysics: 'What is primary being?' (prote ousia, often simply ousia) (VII. 1-2) -- 2 Initial suggestions and candidates for what primary being may turn out to be (VII. 1) -- First suggestion -- Second suggestion -- 3 Three main candidates for primary being: the ultimate subject of predication -- the universals -- and the essence (VII. 3) -- 4 Primary being and separation (ontological independence) (VII. 1) -- 5 Aristotle's answer: primary being is the essence of each thing -- i A summary of Aristotle's account of primary being -- ii Primary being is not simply the ultimate subject of predication (VII. 3) -- iii What in general is the essence of each thing, and what things have an essence? (VII. 4-5) -- iv Primary being with regard to each thing is the essence of that thing (VII. 1, 6 and 17) -- v Primary being with regard to each thing is both (1) the essence of that thing and (2) the ultimate subject of predication with regard to that thing (VII. 6) -- Alternative interpretation -- vi Primary being is changeless being (VII. 7-9) -- vii Primary being with regard to each changing thing is its essence and its form (VII. 10-12) -- viii No universal is a primary being (VII. 13-16) -- Alternative interpretation -- ix Is the essence and the form of each particular thing a universal, a particular, or both? -- x Primary being and the primary object of knowledge -- 8 The Ultimate Cause Of Change: God -- 1 The project of book XII and its place in the Metaphysics.

2 Changing, changeless and transcendent things -- 3 The ultimate cause of change, and the outermost heaven -- 4 The argument for the everlasting, uniform and circular motion of the outermost heaven -- 5 The argument for the ultimate cause of change -- 6 The causation distinctive of the ultimate cause of change -- 7 The ultimate cause of change as the object of thought and desire of the cosmos -- 8 The activity of the ultimate cause of change: thinking -- 9 The ultimate cause of change, and the rational order of the cosmos -- 10 Why transcendence? -- 11 Is Aristotle's God relevant to the basic question of metaphysics: 'What is it for something, anything, to be?'? -- 9 The Criticism Of Plato's Theory Of Forms -- 1 Plato's and Aristotle's shared project: the theory of essence -- 2 Central differences between Plato's and Aristotle's theories of essence -- 3 Aristotle's diagnosis of the source of Plato's theory of essences as separate forms -- 4 The issue of separation, and different types of separation -- 5 Aristotle's criticism, based on his own theory of essence -- 6 Aristotle's criticism, based on Plato's theory of essence: the third-man argument -- 7 Aristotle's criticism of Plato's separate forms, and his own separate God -- Conclusion -- Further Reading -- On Chapter 1 -- On Chapter 2 -- On Chapter 3 -- On Chapter 4 -- On Chapters 5 and 6 -- On Chapter 7 -- On Chapter 8 -- On Chapter 9 -- Bibliography -- Translations of the Metaphysics -- Other -- Index.

Aristotles' 'Metaphysics' is one of the most important texts in Ancient Philosophy. This GuideBook looks at the Metaphysics thematically and takes the student through the main arguments found in the text. The book introduces and assesses Aristotle's life and the background to the Metaphysics, the ideas and text of the Metaphysics and Aristotle's philosophical legacy.

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Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2018. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.