Topics in Ancient Philosophy - A

Aristotle’s Metaphysics IV

The Aristotelian treatise that has come down to us with the title Metaphysics has the following structure: the first book (Α) presents the authoritative views of earlier thinkers on the subject with which Aristotle’s planned science will be concerned; the third book (Β) expounds the difficulties, or problems, which the planned science must address; the fourth book (Γ) solves some of those problems, outlines the strategy be means of which the remaining problems must be addressed, and begins implementing that strategy; the remaining books implement the rest of the strategy. Thus, the fourth book is the beginning of the pars construens of Aristotle’s ontological project. This position endows it with a special importance. This importance is however matched by the book’s difficulty, which is due to two factors: on the one hand, the argument of Aristotle in these pages are extremely abstract and obscure (even by Aristotle’s standards); on the other hand, some of the theses and the methods adopted here by Aristotle are connected with what he says in other treatises but seem not to match them. The present course will go through the fourth book of the Metaphysics chapter by chapter and will unravel some of the difficulties it presents to the reader. Particular attention will be given to Aristotle’s defense of the Principle of Non-Contradiction, which occupies the largest portion of the book. 

-

In presence

-

-