''Metaphysics'' (
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
: των μετὰ τὰ φυσικά, "those after the physics";
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
: ''Metaphysica'') is one of the principal works of
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
, 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
Substance theory, or substance–attribute theory, is an ontological theory positing that objects are constituted each by a ''substance'' and properties borne by the substance but distinct from it. In this role, a substance can be referred to as ...
, different kinds of
causation,
form and matter, the existence of
mathematical objects and the
cosmos
The cosmos (, ; ) is an alternative name for the universe or its nature or order. Usage of the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity.
The cosmos is studied in cosmologya broad discipline covering ...
, which together constitute much of the branch of
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
later known as
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
.
Date, style and composition
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 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 others 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
ritingsconcerning 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).
Outline

Books I–VI: Alpha, little Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon
*Book I or Alpha begins by discussing the nature of knowledge and compares knowledge gained from the
senses
A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditionally identified as su ...
and from
memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembe ...
, arguing that knowledge is acquired from memory through experience. It then defines "
wisdom
Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...
" (''
sophia'') as a knowledge of the
first principles
In philosophy and science, a first principle is a basic proposition or assumption that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption. First principles in philosophy are from first cause attitudes and taught by Aristotelians, and nuan ...
(''
arche
In philosophy and science, a first principle is a basic proposition or assumption that cannot be deduced from any other proposition or assumption. First principles in philosophy are from first cause attitudes and taught by Aristotelians, and nuan ...
'') or
causes of things. Because those who are wise understand the first principles and causes, they know the ''why'' of things, unlike those who only know ''that'' things are a certain way based on their memory and sensations. The wise are able to teach because they know the ''why'' of things, and so they are better fitted to command, rather than to obey. He then surveys the first principles and causes of previous philosophers, starting with the
material monists of the
Ionian school and continuing up until
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
.
*Book II or "little alpha": Book II addresses a possible objection to the account of how we understand first principles and thus acquire wisdom, that attempting to discover the first principle would lead to an
infinite series of causes. It argues in response that the idea of an infinite causal series is absurd, and argues that only things that are
created or destroyed require a cause, and that thus there must be a primary cause that is
eternal, an idea he develops later in Book Lambda.
*Book III or Beta lists the main problems or puzzles (''
aporia
In philosophy, an aporia () is a conundrum or state of puzzlement. In rhetoric, it is a declaration of doubt, made for rhetorical purpose and often feigned. The notion of an aporia is principally found in ancient Greek philosophy, but it also p ...
'') of philosophy.
*Book IV or Gamma: Chapters 2 and 3 argue for its status as a subject in its own right. The rest is a defense of (a) what we now call the
principle of contradiction, the principle that it is not possible for the same proposition to be (the case) and not to be (the case), and (b) what we now call the principle of excluded middle: ''tertium non datur'' — there cannot be an intermediary between contradictory statements.
*Book V or Delta ("philosophical lexicon") is a list of definitions of about thirty key terms such as
cause
Causality is an influence by which one event, process, state, or object (''a'' ''cause'') contributes to the production of another event, process, state, or object (an ''effect'') where the cause is at least partly responsible for the effect, ...
,
nature
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...
,
one
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
, and
many.
*Book VI or Epsilon has two main concerns. The first concern is the hierarchy of the sciences: productive, practical or theoretical. Aristotle considers theoretical sciences superior because they study beings for their own sake—for example, Physics studies beings that can be moved—and do not have a target (τέλος ''
telos
Telos (; ) is a term used by philosopher Aristotle to refer to the final cause of a natural organ or entity, or of human art. ''Telos'' is the root of the modern term teleology, the study of purposiveness or of objects with a view to their aims, ...
'', "end, goal"; τέλειος, "complete, perfect") beyond themselves. He argues that the study of being ''qua'' being, or First Philosophy, is superior to all the other theoretical sciences because it is concerned with the ''ultimate'' causes of ''all'' reality, not just the secondary causes of a part of reality. The second concern of Epsilon is the study of "
accidents" (κατὰ συμβεβηκός), those attributes that do not depend on
(τέχνη) or exist by necessity, which Aristotle believes do not deserve to be studied as a science.
Books VII–IX: Zeta, Eta, and Theta
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
''Ousia'' (; ) is a philosophical and theological term, originally used in ancient Greek philosophy, then later in Christian theology. It was used by various ancient Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle, as a primary designation for philoso ...
'') 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
Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...
' or 'what it is to be' of a thing (ii) the universal, (iii) the
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
to which a substance belongs and (iv) the material
substrate that underlies all the properties of a thing.
* He dismisses the idea that matter can be substance, for if we eliminate everything that is a property from what can have the property, such as
matter
In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic pa ...
and the shape, we are left with something that has no properties at all. Such 'ultimate matter' cannot be substance. Separability and 'this-ness' are fundamental to our concept of substance.
* Aristotle then describes his theory that ''essence'' is the criterion of substantiality. The essence of something is what is included in a ''secundum se'' ('according to itself') account of a thing, i.e. which tells what a thing is by its very nature. You are not musical by your very nature. But you are a human by your very nature. Your essence is what is mentioned in the definition of you.
* Aristotle then considers, and dismisses, the idea that substance is the universal or the genus, criticizing the Platonic
theory of Ideas.
* Aristotle argues that if genus and
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
are individual things, then different species of the same genus contain the genus as individual thing, which leads to absurdities. Moreover, individuals are incapable of definition.
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
In philosophy, potentiality and actuality are a pair of closely connected principles which Aristotle used to analyze motion, causality, ethics, and physiology in his ''Physics'', ''Metaphysics'', '' Nicomachean Ethics'', and '' De Anima''.
Th ...
. 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
Synchrony and diachrony are two complementary viewpoints in linguistic analysis. A ''synchronic'' approach - from ,("together") + ,("time") - considers a language at a moment in time without taking its history into account. In contrast, a ''diac ...
), whereas form and matter are distinctions that can be made at fixed points in time (
synchronic
Synchronic may refer to:
* ''Synchronic'' (film), a 2019 American science fiction film starring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan
*Synchronic analysis, the analysis of a language at a specific point of time
*Synchronicity, the experience of two or m ...
).
Books X–XIV: Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, and Nu
*Book X or Iota: Discussion of unity, one and many, sameness and difference.
*Book XI or Kappa: Briefer versions of other chapters and of parts of the ''Physics''.
*Book XII or Lambda: Further remarks on beings in general, first principles, and God or gods. This book includes Aristotle's famous description of the
unmoved mover
The unmoved mover () or prime mover () is a concept advanced by Aristotle as a primary cause (or first uncaused cause) or " mover" of all the motion in the universe. As is implicit in the name, the moves other things, but is not itself moved by ...
, "the most divine of things observed by us", as "the thinking of thinking".
*Books XIII and XIV, or Mu and Nu:
Philosophy of mathematics
Philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of mathematics and its relationship to other areas of philosophy, particularly epistemology and metaphysics. Central questions posed include whether or not mathem ...
, in particular how numbers exist.
Legacy
The ''Metaphysics'' is considered to be one of the greatest philosophical works. Its influence on the
Greeks
Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...
, the
Muslim philosophers,
Maimonides
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...
thence the
scholastic philosophers and even writers such as
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
was immense.
In the 3rd century,
Alexander of Aphrodisias
Alexander of Aphrodisias (; AD) was a Peripatetic school, Peripatetic philosopher and the most celebrated of the Ancient Greek Commentaries on Aristotle, commentators on the writings of Aristotle. He was a native of Aphrodisias in Caria and liv ...
wrote a commentary on the first five books of the Metaphysics, and a commentary transmitted under his name exists for the final nine, but modern scholars doubt that this part was written by him.
Themistius
Themistius ( ; 317 – c. 388 AD), nicknamed Euphrades (, "''eloquent''"), was a statesman, rhetorician and philosopher. He flourished in the reigns of Constantius II, Julian, Jovian, Valens, Gratian and Theodosius I, and he enjoyed the favo ...
wrote an epitome of the work, of which book 12 survives in a Hebrew translation.
The
Neoplatonists
Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common i ...
Syrianus and
Asclepius of Tralles also wrote commentaries on the work, where they attempted to synthesize Aristotle's doctrines with Neoplatonic cosmology.
Aristotle's works gained a reputation for complexity that is never more evident than with the ''Metaphysics'' —
Avicenna
Ibn Sina ( – 22 June 1037), commonly known in the West as Avicenna ( ), was a preeminent philosopher and physician of the Muslim world, flourishing during the Islamic Golden Age, serving in the courts of various Iranian peoples, Iranian ...
said that he had read the ''Metaphysics'' of Aristotle forty times, but did not understand it until he also read
al-Farabi
file:A21-133 grande.webp, thumbnail, 200px, Postage stamp of the USSR, issued on the 1100th anniversary of the birth of Al-Farabi (1975)
Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi (; – 14 December 950–12 January 951), known in the Greek East and Latin West ...
's ''Purposes of the Metaphysics of Aristotle''.
The flourishing of Arabic Aristotelian scholarship reached its peak with the work of
Ibn Rushd (Latinized: Averroes), whose extensive writings on Aristotle's work led to his later designation as "The Commentator" by future generations of scholars.
Maimonides
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...
wrote the
Guide to the Perplexed in the 12th century, to demonstrate the compatibility of Aristotelian science with Biblical revelation.
The
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...
(1202–1204) facilitated the discovery and delivery of many original Greek manuscripts to
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...
.
William of Moerbeke
William of Moerbeke, Dominican Order, O.P. (; ; 1215–35 – 1286), was a prolific medieval translator of philosophical, medical, and scientific texts from Greek into Latin, enabled by the period of Latin Empire, Latin rule of the Byzanti ...
's translations of the work formed the basis of the commentaries on the ''Metaphysics'' by
Albert the Great,
Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...
and
Duns Scotus
John Duns Scotus ( ; , "Duns the Scot"; – 8 November 1308) was a Scottish Catholic priest and Franciscan friar, university professor, philosopher and theologian. He is considered one of the four most important Christian philosopher-t ...
. They were also used by modern scholars for Greek editions, as William had access to Greek manuscripts that are now lost.
Werner Jaeger lists William's translation in his edition of the Greek text in the Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis (Oxford 1962).
Textual criticism
In the 19th century, with the rise of
textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may rang ...
, the ''Metaphysics'' was examined anew. Critics, noting the wide variety of topics and the seemingly illogical order of the books, concluded that it was actually a collection of shorter works thrown together haphazardly. In the 20th century two general editions have been produced by W. D. Ross (1924) and by W. Jaeger (1957). Based on a careful study of the content and of the cross-references within them,
W. D. Ross concluded that books A, B, Γ, E, Z, H, Θ, M, N, and I "form a more or less continuous work", while the remaining books α, Δ, Κ and Λ were inserted into their present locations by later editors. However, Ross cautions that books A, B, Γ, E, Z, H, Θ, M, N, and I — with or without the insertion of the others — do not constitute "a complete work".
Werner Jaeger further maintained that the different books were taken from different periods of Aristotle's life.
Everyman's Library
Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It began in 1906. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent (itself later a division ...
, for their 1000th volume, published the ''Metaphysics'' in a rearranged order that was intended to make the work easier for readers.
Editing the ''Metaphysics'' has become an open issue in works and studies of the new millennium. New critical editions have been produced of books Gamma, Alpha, and Lambda. Differences from the more-familiar 20th Century critical editions of Ross and Jaeger mainly depend on the
stemma codicum of Aristotle's Metaphysics
The stemma codicum of Aristotle's ''Metaphysics'' is a visual representation with the shape of a family tree, which is the standard one in stemmatics. It is meant to show the relationships of the surviving manuscripts of the Greek text, with spec ...
, of which different versions have been proposed since 1970.
[Silvia Fazzo, "Lo Stemma Codicum della Metafisica di Aristotele", ''Revue d'histoire des textes'', XII, 2017, 35-58.]
Editions and translations
* Greek text with commentary: ''Aristotle's Metaphysics''.
W. D. Ross. 2 Vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924. Reprinted in 1953 with corrections.
* Greek text: ''Aristotelis Metaphysica.'' Ed.
Werner Jaeger. Oxford Classical Texts. Oxford University Press, 1957. .
* Greek text with English: ''Metaphysics.'' Trans. Hugh Tredennick. 2 vols. Loeb Classical Library 271, 287. Harvard U. Press, 1933–35. , .
* ''Aristotle's Metaphysics.'' Trans. Hippocrates Gorgias Apostle. Bloomington: Indiana U. Press, 1966.
*
*
*
Ancient and medieval commentaries
* (rpt. Notre Dame, Ind.: Dumb Ox, 1995).
Notes
Citations
References
* ''Wolfgang Class: Aristotle's Metaphysics, A Philological Commentary'':
** Volume I: Textual Criticism, , Saldenburg 2014;
** Volume II: The Composition of the Metaphysics, , Saldenburg 2015;
** Volume III: Sources and Parallels, , Saldenburg 2017;
** Volume IV: Reception and Criticism, , Saldenburg 2018.
*
Copleston, Frederick, S.J. ''A History of Philosophy: Volume I Greece and Rome'' (Parts I and II) New York: Image Books, 1962.
*
Further reading
*
Ackrill, J. L., 1963, ''Aristotle: Categories and De Interpretatione'', Oxford:
Clarendon Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
.
* Alexandrou, S., 2014, ''Aristotle's'' Metaphysics ''Lambda: Annotated Critical Edition'', Leiden:
Brill.
* Anagnostopoulos, Georgios (ed.), 2009, ''A Companion to Aristotle'', Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
* Elders, L., 1972, ''Aristotle's Theology: A Commentary on Book Λ of the'' Metaphysics, Assen: Van Gorcum.
* Gerson, Lloyd P. (ed.) and
Joseph Owens, 2007, ''Aristotle's Gradations of Being in Metaphysics E-Z'', South Bend: St Augustine's Press.
*
Gill, Mary Louise, 1989, ''Aristotle on Substance: The Paradox of Unity'', Princeton: Princeton University Press.
External links
Available bundled with Organon and other works– can be downloaded as .epub, .mobi and other formats.
English translationan
original Greekat Perseus. Translation by Hugh Tredennick from the
Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...
.
English translationby
W. D. Ross at
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
's Internet Classics Archive.
Averroes' commentaryon the ''Metaphysics'', in Latin, together with the 'old' (Arabic) and new translation based on
William of Moerbeke
William of Moerbeke, Dominican Order, O.P. (; ; 1215–35 – 1286), was a prolific medieval translator of philosophical, medical, and scientific texts from Greek into Latin, enabled by the period of Latin Empire, Latin rule of the Byzanti ...
at
Gallica.
Aristotle: Metaphysicsentry by Joe Sachs in the
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The ''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''IEP'') is a scholarly online encyclopedia with around 900 articles about philosophy, philosophers, and related topics. The IEP publishes only peer review, peer-reviewed and blind-refereed original p ...
*
* A good summary of scholarly comments at
Theory and History of Ontology*
{{Authority control
Metaphysics literature
Works by Aristotle