On Aristotle's Metaphysics 1. Translated by William E. Dooley.

Series: Ancient Commentators on Aristotle. 8vo. 240 pp. Navy cloth, gilt-stamped spine title, dust jacket. Ink ownership signature on ffep. Fine. Translation of Alexander of Aphrodisias' Hypommnema eis to meizon . . . "In Alexander's metaphysical writings, including his commentaries, we find some of the major points of ancient discussion concerning the core, not so much of metaphysics, but of Aristotelian metaphysics. At times, Alexander seems most focused on criticizing contemporaries from an Aristotelian perspective, and at times instead to defend Aristotelianism by elaborating in original ways that address possible criticisms." / "As an example of the second, apologetic feature: in his commentary on the Metaphysics, we find an elaboration of the question whether metaphysics can be a demonstrative science. Alexander makes an effort to show that it is in fact a demonstrative science in the sense of Aristotle's Posterior Analytics, i.e. with its own genus or subject matter, axioms, and derived theorems. As part of this effort, he understands the subject matter of metaphysics, being qua being, as referring to all beings, insofar as they are existent (Bonelli 2001). He also reshapes the concept of common notions, in such a way that in metaphysics common notions may serve as axioms, i.e. provide its fundamental principles. Common notions, which started out, in Aristotle and later the Stoics, as shared starting points for inquiry and argument, are expanded by Alexander to incorporate features of dialectical starting points, points about which there is general agreement, and scientific axioms. They are not innate, but immediately evident to everyone, and serve as indemonstrable starting points for scientific knowledge the prime example for metaphysics being the principle of non-contradiction (de Haas 2021)." / Frede, Dorothea and Marije Martijn, "Alexander of Aphrodisias", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2024 Edition). FROM THE CONTENTS: In the first two chapters of Metaphysics 1, Aristotle asks what is philosophy and in particular philosophical wisdom (sophia), and how is it related to philosophy He answers that it is a knowledge of causes, or rather of explanations, including God, who is a cause or explanation in one of the few distinguishable ways. The remaining eight chapters examine the account given of cause or explanation by his predecessors." / "Alexander of Aphrodisias was the greatest expositor and elabor ator of Aristotle's philosophy. But his commentary on this book has a curious feature: over half is devoted to the two chapters in which Aristotle discusses Plato. From this we learn not only about Alex ander, but also far more than we could from Aristotle's text itself about Aristotle, Plato and Plato's Academy. Aristotle's battery of objections against the theory of Ideas is spelled out, with fragmen tary quotations and paraphrases from four of his lost works, On the Ideas, On the Good, On Philosophy and On the Pythagoreans. There is an expanded account of the 'unwritten doctrines' which Plato developed late in his career, according to which the Ideas are numbers, namely the One and the Indefinite Dyad." / editors. PROVENANCE: David C. Lindberg (1935-2015) was an American historian of science. His main focus was on the history of medieval and early modern science, especially physical science and the relationship between religion and science. Lindberg was the Hilldale Professor Emeritus of History of Science and past director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. ISBN: 0801422353 Dust jacket present.

Product Info

ISBN: 0801422353

ISBN-13: 9780801422355

Publisher: Cornell University Press, (1989).

Year: 1989

Type: Used

Binding: Softcover

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