Metaphysics as an Aristotelian science

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METAPHYSICS AS AN ARISTOTELIAN SCIENCE
Ian Hamilton Bell
A thesis subrnitted in conformity with the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
Graduate Department of Philosophy,
University of Toronto
O Copyright by Ian Hamilton Bell 1998
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Metquhysics as an Aristotelian Science. Ooctor of Philosophy, 1998. Ian Hamilton Bell,
Depart ment of Philosoph y, Uiiiversity of Toronto.
The dissertation's primary task is to discem to what extent the investigations
contained in Aristotle's Metaphysics conform to the model of science (kniaripq)
developed in the Posterior Analylics. It concludes that the Metaphysics substantially
follows the model of the Analyrics in studying the causes and attnbutes of a specific
nature, although it makes significant departures especially in its conception of the
principles of being and substance.
Two introductory chapters discuss respectively Aristotle's conception of science in
the Attalyiics and the problems one is likely to face in attempting to apply this conception
to the Metaphysics. Chapter 3 clarifies the meaning of the phrase "science of being qua
being" by reference to the Posterior Analytics, and introduces the concept of npo%~v
equivocity. Chapter 4 considers the role of dialectic in metaphysics with particular
reference to the pnnciple of noncontradiction. Chapter 5 argues that the second part of
Meta. 4.2 introduces a demonstrative science of the per se attributes of being and unity.
Chapter 6 introduces the investigation into the principles and causes of being
(Meta. 6.1)a nd reviews the aporias about the principles (Mela. 3.3-6). Chapter 7 offers a
hypothesis to explain Aristotle's identification of the science of being with first philosophy.
The last two chapters (8 and 9) argue that Aristotle is pursuing this investigation in the
central books of Metaphysics, but his pursuit of the investigation there is incomplete.
This lnterpretation provides an alternative to those of T. H. Irwin and Walter
Lesd, who argue that metaphysics is a second-order discipline and not a science afier the
mode1 of the Analylics. It finds explicit support in recent wû:k by Robert Bolton and Alan
Code, while widening the range of issues to include the attributes of being and the
importance of first philosophy for understanding the nature of being. It supports many of
the conclusions of Joseph Owens's, Urbain Dhondt's, and Frede and Patzig's work on the
object of metaphysics. There are also substantial discussions of the contributions of
G. E. L. Owen, J. G. Stevenson, Theodore Scaltsas, and John Thorp.
Acknowledgments
1 should like to thank first of al1 my supervisor, Lloyd Gerson, and my advisor,
Stephen Dumont. 1 am most grateful to my external reader Michael Ferejohn, and to Brad
Inwood, Thomas Robinson, and James Momson for their comments, suggestions, and
corrections. The starting point for this dissertation was a master's thesis on APo. 2.1- 10
written at the Cat holic University of Arnerica under the supe~sionof Kurt fr itzl, O .P.
and Jean de Groot. 1 am indebted to Errol Katayama, Inna Kupreeva, Ze'ev Perelmuter,
and especially Stephen Walker for much useful discussion, and to my parents for their
support. The dissertation was researched and written while 1 was the recipient of a Social
Sciences and Humanities Doctoral Fellowship.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 : Wisdom and Science
Chapter 2: Methodological Preliminaries
Chapter 3: Being qua Being and the Nature of Being
Chapter 4: Dialectic and the Common Axioms
Chapter 5: The Attributes of Being
Chapter 6: The Pnnciples of Being qua Being
Chapter 7: The Science of Being and First Philosophy
Chapter 8: The Central Books
Chapter 9: Separate Form as a Principle of Being
Conclusion
Bibliograp hy
Major Discussions of Ariçtobiian Texts
Major discussions of Aristotelian texts are listed by chapter and section. If a section is not
listed, it is because no specific text is the primary focus of that section.
Chapter 1:
1: NE 6.1-7, Meta. 1.1-2
III: APo. 1.1-2, 1.7.,1 .10, 2.8
IV: APo. 1.4, 1.6, 1.11, 1.24
V: APo. 1.7, 1.9, 1.27, 1.32
VI: APo. 2.1-2.
Chapter 2:
1: Meta. 1 . N O
II: Meta. 3.2
III: Meta. 3.3.998b17-27
Chapter 3:
1: APo. 1.4, Meta. 4.1, 6.1, 13.3
III: Meta. 4.2.1003a33-blg
IV: Meta. 4.2.1O O3bl6-1 9, 1004a2-9,4.3.1005a32-b21,0 .2.1053b22-4,6.1.1026a23-32,
12.6-7
Chapter 4:
1: TOP. 1.1-2, 1.14
II: NE 7.1.1145b2-7
III: EE 1.6.1216b26-39
IV:M eta. 3.1
vii
V-VIII:M eta. 4.3-8
Chapter 5:
1-111: Meta. 4.2.1003b19-1005a18
IV:M eta. 10.2-8
Chapter 6:
1: Meta. 6.1.1025b3-18
II: APo. 2.1-2
HI-IX:M eta. 3.3-6
Chapter 7:
1: Phys. 1.9.192a34-b22,. 2.194alS b15 , 2.7.198a28-b4
II-IV:M eta. 6.1.1O 2Sb 1 8-1 O26a32
V: EE 8.2.1236a16-29M, eta. 4.2.1005a2-116,. 1.1026a23-32
Chapter 8:
1: Meta. 7.6
II: Mefa. 7.10-11
III: Phys. 2.2.193b22-19 4a 12, DA 403a3-b1 9, Mera. 6.1.1025b28-O12 6a6, 7.11 .1 OZ6b2 1 -
32, Meta. 7.12-13,8 .2-3.
IV: Meta. 7.1, 7.3
V-VI:M eta. 7.17,8 .6.1045a36-b7
VU:M eta. 8.3.lO43aXl-b4,1 043 b 10-1 3
VIE DA 2.1,2 .4.415b8-15M, eta. 8.1-3.
Chapter 9:
1: Meta. 12
III: GC 2.10.336b25-337a1,D A 2.4.41S aZ-b7,G A 2.1.731 b24-732a1,M eta.
12.5.1071a27-9,1 3.3.1087a7-18