The Structure of Being in Aristotle's Metaphysics / Edition 1

by Jiyuan Yu

Overview

In his Metaphysics, Aristotle claims that he is seeking to establish a science of being. Being, at the most general level, is divided by Aristotle into the following four types: 1. Accidental being 2. Being as truth 3. Potential/actual being l 4. Per se being Per se (kath hauto) being can also be translated as "being in its own right" or "intrinsic being". This type of being has been referred to by Aristotle in different ways. The list of per se beings includes substance, quantity, quality, place, time, etc. , and this is also the list ofcategories. At Meta. ix. l, 1045b28 Aristotle calls this list the "categories of being" (hai kategoriai tou ontos). At Meta. vi. 2, 1026a36 and ix. 1O, 1051a33-b2 per se being is called "being with reference to the figures ofpredication" (ta schemata tes kategorias, or "figures ofcategories,,). 2 Of these four types of being, accidental being is briefly treated in Meta. vi. 2-3 and there Aristotle claims that the study of accidental being can be dismissed on the grounds that accidental being is indeterminate and cannot be 3 the object ofknowledge. He also does not pay much attention to being as truth and treats it briefly in two short texts: Meta. viA and ix. 1O.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781402015373
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	09/30/2003
Series:	The New Synthese Historical Library , #52
Edition description:	2003
Pages:	238
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

1 Per se Being and Potential/actual Being.- i. Per se being.- ii. Potential/actual being.- iii. The scope of the focal structure of being.- 2 From Being to Substance.- i. The focal connection of per se beings.- ii. Potential/actual being and substance.- iii. The science of being.- 3 Hylomorphism and Its Two Approaches.- i. The composition of substance.- ii. Two hylomorphic approaches.- iii. The new start of Metaphysics vii. 17.- iv. Re-grouping the central books.- 4 Subject, Form, and Essence.- i. Substance and subject.- ii. Form and subject.- iii. Substance and essence.- iv. The identity of form and essence.- 5 Form: Tode ti and Toionde.- i. Primary reality and knowledge.- ii. Separation, tode ti, and toionde.- iii. Tode ti, particularity, and individuality.- iv. Separation.- v. Tode ti and definition.- vi. Form as toionde.- vii. The universal and toionde.- viii. The ending of Metaphysics vii.- 6 Substantial Potentiality and Actuality.- i. Kinesis and energeia.- ii. Substantial generation.- iii. Substantial activity.- iv. Substantial unity.- 7 Actuality and the Prime Mover.- i. From actual form to the Prime Mover.- ii. The Prime Mover and eternity.- iii. The Prime Mover and the world order.- 8 The Unity of Aristotle’s Metaphysics.- Index of Passages.- Name Index.