View source for Metaphysics (Aristotle)

{{Short description|One of the principal works of Aristotle}}
{{italic title}}
'''''Metaphysics''''' ([[Ancient Greek|Greek]]: των μετὰ τὰ φυσικά, "those after the physics"; [[Latin]]: ''Metaphysica''<ref>[http://www.isnature.org/Files/Aristotle/ ''Aristotelis Opera''] by [[August Immanuel Bekker]] (1837).</ref>) is one of the principal works of [[Aristotle]], in which he develops the doctrine that he calls ''First Philosophy''.{{efn|sometimes referred to as ''Wisdom'', sometimes as , and sometimes as ''Theology''}} The work is a compilation of various texts treating abstract subjects, notably [[substance theory]], different kinds of [[Causality|causation]], [[hylomorphism|form and matter]], the existence of [[mathematical objects]] and the [[cosmos]], which together constitute much of the branch of [[philosophy]] later known as [[metaphysics]].

== 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.<ref>E.g. J.A.K. Thomson, The Ethics of Aristotle, (Penguin, 1953) p. 13 and E. Barker The Political Thought of Plato and Aristotle (Dover, 1959) p. 65.</ref> 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''"{{efn|[[:wikt:μετὰ|μετὰ]] τὰ [[:wikt:φυσικός|φυσικά]]}}, the origin of the current title for the collection ''Metaphysics''. Some{{who|date=January 2023}} 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{{who|date=January 2023}} 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.<ref>[[W. D. Ross]], ''Aristotle's Metaphysics'' (1953), vol. 1, p. xxxii.</ref> In other surviving works of Aristotle, the metaphysical treatises are referred to as "the [writings] concerning first philosophy";{{efn|τὰ περὶ τῆς πρώτης φιλοσοφίας e.g., in ''[[Movement of Animals]]'' 700b9}} which was the term Aristotle used for metaphysics.{{efn|He called the study of nature or [[natural philosophy]] "second philosophy"<ref>''Metaphysics'' 1037a15</ref>}}

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.<ref>Jonathan Barnes, "Life and Work" in ''The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle'' (1995), pp. 18-22."Farrago": Barnes, "Metaphysics" in ''The Cambridge Companion to Aristotle'', p. 68.</ref> 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 ==
[[File:Ephesus37.jpg|thumb|upright=1|Wisdom personified as a deity in the [[Library of Celsus]] in [[Ephesus]]. Aristotle discusses the nature of wisdom, or first philosophy, which he defines as the study of first principles and causes.]]
=== 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]] and from [[memory]], arguing that knowledge is acquired from memory through experience.<ref>981a</ref> It then defines "[[wisdom]]" (''[[Sophia (Wisdom)|sophia]]'') as a knowledge of the [[first principles]] (''[[arche]]'') or [[Causality|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 monism|material monists]] of the [[Ionian School (philosophy)|Ionian school]] and continuing up until [[Plato]].
*'''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 regress|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 [[On Generation and Corruption|created or destroyed]] require a cause, and that thus there must be a primary cause that is [[Eternity of the world|eternal]], an idea he develops later in Book Lambda.
*'''Book III or Beta''' lists the main problems or puzzles (''[[aporia]]'') of philosophy.<ref>[[Robert Maynard Hutchins]] (1952), ''[[Great Books of the Western World]]'' 8: Aristotle, p. 495.</ref>
*'''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]], [[nature]], [[one]], and [[Quantifier (linguistics)|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{{efn|1025b27}}—and do not have a target (τέλος ''[[telos]]'', "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 "[[Accident (philosophy)|accidents]]" (κατὰ συμβεβηκός), those attributes that do not depend on [[techne|(τέχνη)]] or exist by necessity, which Aristotle believes do not deserve to be studied as a science.
[[File:Meta-moerbeke jpeg031-part.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|Book 7 of the Metaphysics: From a manuscript of [[William of Moerbeke]]'s translation]]

=== Books VII–IX: Zeta, Eta, and Theta ===
Books Zeta, Eta, and Theta are generally considered the core of the ''Metaphysics''.{{cn|date=January 2023}} 
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 theory|substance]]'' (''[[ousia]]'') and determine what substances there are, a concept that Aristotle develops in the ''[[Categories (Aristotle)|Categories]]''.{{sfn|Cohen|loc=5}}
Zeta goes on to consider four candidates for substance: (i) the '[[essence]]' or 'what it is to be' of a thing (ii) the universal, (iii) the [[genus]] to which a substance belongs and (iv) the material [[Hypokeimenon|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 [[hyle|matter]] 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.<ref>1029a</ref>
* Aristotle then describes his theory that ''essence'' is the criterion of substantiality.{{efn|Chapter 4-12}} 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 forms|theory of Ideas]].{{efn|Chapter 13-15}}{{clarify|date=January 2023}}
* Aristotle argues that if genus and [[Species (metaphysics)|species]] 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.{{efn|Chapter 17}}{{sfn|Cohen|loc=11}}

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]]. Chapters 1–5 discuss potentiality,{{efn|δύναμις, ''dunamis''}} the potential of something to change: potentiality is "a principle of change in another thing or in the thing itself qua other."{{efn| 1046a9}} 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".<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Aristot.Met.9.1046a 1048b1–4]</ref> 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 ([[:wikt:diachronic|diachronic]]), whereas form and matter are distinctions that can be made at fixed points in time ([[:wikt:synchronic|synchronic]]).

=== 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 most divine of things observed by us", as "the thinking of thinking".
*'''Books XIII and XIV, or Mu and Nu''': [[Philosophy of mathematics]], in particular how numbers exist.

== Legacy ==
The ''Metaphysics'' is considered to be one of the greatest philosophical works. Its influence on the [[Greek philosophy|Greeks]], the [[Islamic philosophy|Muslim philosophers]], [[Maimonides]] thence the [[Scholasticism|scholastic]] philosophers and even writers such as [[Dante]]<ref>S. Fazzo, 'Sì come rota ch'igualmente è mossa'. Dalla Metafisica di Aristotele al Paradiso di Dante, Storie e linguaggi, Vol 4, N° 2 (2018)</ref> was immense. 

In the 3rd century, [[Alexander of Aphrodisias]] wrote a commentary on the first five books of the Metaphysics,<ref>Donald J. Zeyl, [[Daniel Devereux]], Phillip Mitsis, (1997), ''Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy'', page 20.</ref> and a commentary transmitted under his name exists for the final nine, but modern scholars doubt that this part was written by him.<ref>William W. Fortenbaugh, R. W. Sharples, (2005), ''Theophrastus of Eresus, sources for his life, writings, thought and Influence'', page 22. BRILL</ref> [[Themistius]] wrote an epitome of the work, of which book 12 survives in a Hebrew translation.<ref name="catalogus">{{cite journal|last1=Todd|first1=Robert B.|title=Themistius|journal=[[Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum]]|date=2003|volume=8|page=59|url=http://catalogustranslationum.org/PDFs/volume08/v08_themistius.pdf|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> The [[Neoplatonists]] [[Syrianus]] and [[Asclepius of Tralles]] also wrote commentaries on the work, where they attempted to synthesize Aristotle's doctrines with Neoplatonic cosmology.<ref>''Monad And Dyad As Cosmic Principles In Syrianus'', ''Soul And The Structure Of Being In Late Neoplatonism'', H.J. Blumenthal and A.C. Lloyd, [[Liverpool University Press]], 1982, pp. 1–10.</ref> 

Aristotle's works gained a reputation for complexity that is never more evident than with the ''Metaphysics'' — [[Avicenna]] said that he had read the ''Metaphysics'' of Aristotle forty times, but did not understand it until he also read [[al-Farabi]]'s ''Purposes of the Metaphysics of Aristotle''.{{blockquote|I read the Metaphysics [of Aristotle], but I could not comprehend its contents, and its author's object remained obscure to me, even when I had gone back and read it forty times and had got to the point where I had memorized it. In spite of this I could not understand it nor its object, and I despaired of myself and said, "This is a book which there is no way of understanding." But one day in the afternoon when I was at the booksellers' quarter a salesman approached with a book in his hand which he was calling out for sale. (...) So I bought it and, lo and behold, it was Abu Nasr al-Farabi's book{{efn|probably the Kitab al-huruf, ed. by Muhsin Mahdi as Alfarabi's Book of Letters (Beyrouth, 1969)}} on the objects of the Metaphysics. I returned home and was quick to read it, and in no time the objects of that book became clear to me because I had got to the point of having memorized it by heart.<ref>William E. Gohlam (ed.). The Life of Ibn Sina, Albany, State of New York University Press, 1974, pp. 33-35).</ref>}}

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]] wrote the [[The Guide for the Perplexed|Guide to the Perplexed]] in the 12th century, to demonstrate the compatibility of Aristotelian science with Biblical revelation.

The [[Fourth Crusade]] (1202–1204) facilitated the discovery and delivery of many original Greek manuscripts to [[Western Europe]]. [[William of Moerbeke]]'s translations of the work formed the basis of the commentaries on the ''Metaphysics'' by [[Albert the Great]], [[Thomas Aquinas]] and [[Duns Scotus]]. 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).<ref>Cited by Foster, in his translation of Aquinas' commentary on the ''De Anima'', Indiana 1994.</ref>

== Textual criticism ==
In the 19th century, with the rise of [[textual criticism]], 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".<ref>''Aristotle's Metaphysics'' (1953), vol. 1, p. xxiii.</ref> [[Werner Jaeger]] further maintained that the different books were taken from different periods of Aristotle's life. [[Everyman's Library]], for their 1000th volume, published the ''Metaphysics'' in a rearranged order that was intended to make the work easier for readers.{{clarify|date=January 2023}}

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,<ref>Myriam Hecquet, ''Aristote, Métaphysique Gamma'', Peeters 2008</ref> Alpha,<ref>(Oliver Primavesi, ''Aristotle Metaphysics Alpha'', OUP 2012)</ref> and Lambda.<ref>(Silvia Fazzo, ''Il libro Lambda della Metafisica di Aristotel''e, "Elenchos", Bibliopolis 2012, and Stefan Alexandru, ''Aristotle's Metaphysics Lambda'', Philosophia Antiqua, Brill 2014)</ref> Differences from the more-familiar 20th Century critical editions of Ross and Jaeger mainly depend on the [[stemma codicum of Aristotle's Metaphysics]], of which different versions have been proposed since 1970.<ref>(Silvio Bernardinello, ''Eliminatio codicum della Metafisica di Aristotele'', Padua, Antenore, 1970)</ref><ref>(Dieter Harlfinger, "Zur Überlieferungsgeschichte der Metaphysik", in Pierre Aubenque (ed.), ''Essais sur la métaphysique d'Aristote'', Paris, Vrin, 1979)</ref><ref>Silvia Fazzo, "Lo Stemma Codicum della Metafisica di Aristotele", ''Revue d'histoire des textes'', XII, 2017, 35-58.</ref>

== 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. {{ISBN|978-0-19-814513-4}}.
* Greek text with English: ''Metaphysics.'' Trans. Hugh Tredennick. 2 vols. Loeb Classical Library 271, 287. Harvard U. Press, 1933–35. {{ISBN|0-674-99299-7}}, {{ISBN|0-674-99317-9}}.
* ''Aristotle's Metaphysics.'' Trans. Hippocrates Gorgias Apostle. Bloomington: Indiana U. Press, 1966.
* {{cite book|translator-last=Hope|translator-first=Richard|title=Aristotle - Metaphysics|location=Ann Arbor|publisher=U. Michigan P.|year=1960|orig-date=1952}}
* {{cite book|translator-last=Sachs|translator-first=Joe|title=Aristotle's Metaphysics| edition=2|location=Santa Fe, NM| publisher=Green Lion P.|year=2002|isbn =1-888009-03-9}}
* {{cite book|translator-last=Lawson-Tancred|translator-first=Hugh|title=Aristotle. The Metaphysics|location=London|publisher=Penguin|year=2004|orig-date=1998|series=Penguin Classics|isbn=978-0-140-44619-7}}

=== Ancient and medieval commentaries ===
* {{cite book | translator-first1 = Thomas | translator-last1 = Aquinas | translator-first2 = John P. | translator-last2 = Rowan | url = https://dhspriory.org/thomas/Metaphysics.htm | title = Commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics | language = el, la, en | website = Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. | publisher = [[Regnery Publishing|Henry Regnery Company]] (Library of Living Catholic Thought) | location = Chicago | year = 1961 | volume = 3 | edition = 1st | oclc = 312731 <!-- DUPLICATE url= | url = https://archive.org/details/AquinasCommentaryOnTheMetaphysics/page/n21/ --> | others = William of Moerbeke | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20111028095410/https://dhspriory.org/thomas/Metaphysics1.htm | archive-date = October 28, 2011 | url-status = live}} (rpt. Notre Dame, Ind.: Dumb Ox, 1995).

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* ''Wolfgang Class: Aristotle's Metaphysics, A Philological Commentary'':
** Volume I: Textual Criticism, {{ISBN|978-3-9815841-2-7}}, Saldenburg 2014;
** Volume II: The Composition of the Metaphysics, {{ISBN|978-3-9815841-3-4}}, Saldenburg 2015;
** Volume III: Sources and Parallels, {{ISBN|978-3-9815841-6-5}}, Saldenburg 2017;
** Volume IV: Reception and Criticism, {{ISBN|978-3-9820267-0-1}}, Saldenburg 2018.
* [[Frederick Copleston|Copleston, Frederick, S.J.]] ''A History of Philosophy: Volume I Greece and Rome'' (Parts I and II) New York: Image Books, 1962.
* {{cite book|translator-first=Hugh |translator-last=Lawson-Tancred |title=Aristotle's Metaphysics |publisher=Penguin |year=1998 |isbn=0140446192}}

== Further reading ==
* [[Ackrill, J. L]]., 1963, ''Aristotle: Categories and De Interpretatione'', Oxford: [[Clarendon Press]].
* Alexandrou, S., 2014, ''Aristotle's'' Metaphysics ''Lambda: Annotated Critical Edition'', Leiden: [[Brill Publishers|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 (Redemptorist)|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.
<!---
* –––, 1965, “Aristotle's Distinction between ''Energeia'' and ''Kinesis'',” in Bambrough 1965, pp. 121–141.
* –––, 1972, “Aristotle's Definitions of ''Psyche'',” ''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society'', 73: 119–133.
* Addis, L., 1972, “Aristotle and the Independence of Substances,” ''Philosophy and Phenomenological Research'', 54: 699–708.
* Ainsworth, Thomas, 2018, “Priority in Being in Aristotle,” ''Philosophy Compass'', 13: 1–10.
* Albritton, Rogers, 1957, “Forms of Particular Substances in Aristotle's ''Metaphysics'',” ''Journal of Philosophy'', 54: 699–707.
* Allen, R. E., 1969, “Individual Properties in Aristotle's ''Categories'',” ''Phronesis'', 14: 31–39.
* Anagnostopoulos, Andreas, 2011, “Senses of 'Dunamis' and the Structure of Aristotle's 'Metaphysics' Theta,” ''Phronesis'', 56: 388–425.
* Angioni, Lucas, 2014, “Definition and Essence in Aristotle's 'Metaphysics' vii 4,” ''Ancient Philosophy'', 34: 75–100.
* Annas, J., 1974, “Individuals in Aristotle's ''Categories'': Two Queries,” ''Phronesis'', 19: 146–152.
* Cohen, Sheldon M., 1981, “Proper Differentiae, the Unity of Definition, and Aristotle's Essentialism,” ''The New Scholasticism'', 55: 229–240.
* Cohen, Sheldon M., 1984, “Aristotle's Doctrine of the Material Substrate,” ''Philosophical Review'', 93: 171–194.
* Engmann, J., 1973, “Aristotle's Distinction Between Substance and Universal,” ''Phronesis'', 18: 139–155.
* Green, Jerry, 2014, “The Underlying Argument of Aristotle's 'Metaphysics Ζ.3',” ''Phronesis'', 59: 321–342.
* Grene, M., 1974, “Is Genus to Species as Matter to Form? Aristotle and Taxonomy,” ''Synthèse'', 28: 51–69.
* Grice, H. P., 1988, “Aristotle on the Multiplicity of Being,” ''Pacific Philosophical Quarterly'', 69: 175–200.
* Halper, E., 1987, “A Solution to the Problem of Sensible Substance,” ''Journal of Philosophy'', 84: 666–672.
* Kosman, L. A., 1984, “Substance, Being, and Energeia,” ''Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy'', 2: 121–149
* Makin, Stephen, 2004, “What Does Aristotle Mean by Priority in Substance?” ''Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy'', 24: 209–238.
* Malcolm, John, 1993, “On the Endangered Species of the ''Metaphysics'',” ''Ancient Philosophy'', 13: 79–93.
* Modrak, Deborah K., 1979, “Forms, Types, and Tokens in Aristotle's ''Metaphysics'',” ''Journal of the History of Philosophy'', 17: 371–381.
* Sharma, R. 2005. “'What is Aristotle's 'Third Man' Argument against the Forms?” ''Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy'' 28: 123–60.
* Wheeler, S., 1977, “The Theory of Matter from ''Metaphysics'' Ζ, Η, Θ,” ''International Studies in Philosophy'', 13–22.
* White, Nicholas P., 1972, “The Origins of Aristotle's Essentialism,” ''Review of Metaphysics'', 26: 57–85.
* Yu, Jiyuan, 1997, “Two Conceptions of Hylomorphism in Metaphysics ΖΗΘ,” ''Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy'', 15: 119–45.--->

==External links==
{{commons category|Metaphysics (Aristotle)}}
{{wikisource|Metaphysics}}
{{wikisourcelang|el|Μεταφυσικά|Τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσικά}}
* [https://archive.org/details/AristotleOrganon Available bundled with Organon and other works] – can be downloaded as .epub, .mobi and other formats.
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0052 English translation] and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0051 original Greek] at Perseus. Translation by Hugh Tredennick from the [[Loeb Classical Library]].
* [http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/metaphysics.html English translation] by [[W. D. Ross]] at [[MIT]]'s Internet Classics Archive.
* [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k58717k/f2.pagination Averroes' commentary] on the ''Metaphysics'', in Latin, together with the 'old' (Arabic) and new translation based on [[William of Moerbeke]] at [[Gallica]].
* [https://www.iep.utm.edu/aris-met/ Aristotle: Metaphysics] entry by Joe Sachs in the [[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]
* {{cite SEP |url-id=aristotle-metaphysics |title=Aristotle's Metaphysics |last=Cohen |first=S. Marc}}
* A good summary of scholarly comments at: [https://www.ontology.co/being-qua-being.htm Theory and History of Ontology]
* {{librivox book | title=Metaphysics | author=ARISTOTLE}}

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[[Category:Metaphysics literature]]
[[Category:Works by Aristotle]]