Priority in Aristotle's Metaphysics

342 Pages·2011·1.67 MB·English

by  Michail Peramatzis

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Priority in Aristotle s Metaphysics
OXFORD ARISTOTLE STUDIES
GeneralEditors
JuliaAnnasandLindsayJudson
PUBLISHEDINTHESERIES
DoingandBeing
AnInterpretationofAristotle’sMetaphysicsTheta
JonathanBeere
Space,Time,Matter,andForm
EssaysonAristotle’sPhysics
DavidBostock
AristotleonMeaningandEssence
DavidCharles
TimeforAristotle
UrsulaCoope
AristotleonTeleology
MonteRansomeJohnson
OnLocation
Aristotle’sConceptsofPlace
BenjaminMorison
OrderinMultiplicity
HomonymyinthePhilosophyofAristotle
ChristopherShields
Aristotle’sTheoryofSubstance
TheCategoriesandMetaphysicsZeta
MichaelV.Wedin
Aristotle’sDeInterpretatione
ContradictionandDialectic
C.W.A.Whitaker
’
Priority in Aristotle s
Metaphysics
Michail Peramatzis
1
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Preface and Acknowledgements
TheaimofthisbookisnotonlytounderstandAristotle’sviewofthepriorityrelations
between fundamental and derivative parts of reality but also to assess whether his
preferred prior and posterior candidates can satisfy these relations. But my project is
not exclusively to interpret Aristotle. It is also to link Aristotelian problems, ideas,
and arguments with philosophical issues which are central to modern discussions of
substance,essentialism,modality,causation,and explanation.Thesuccess ofthistype
of project is a thorny affair. It depends on striking the appropriate balance between
carrying through rigorous exegetical work, engaging in acute philosophical criticism,
andavoidingthepitfallsofanachronism.Itremainstobejudgedbythereaderwhether,
and if so in what measure, the present study attempts or manages to achieve this
arduoussortofbalancingact.
Thehistoryofthismonographgoesbackallthewaytomypostgraduatestudiesat
Christ Church and the Philosophy Faculty of the University of Oxford. One of the
chaptersofmyD.Phil.thesiscontainsafirstapproximationtotheviewofontological
priority set out in Part II of this book. The greatest part of the work, however, was
done after completing my D.Phil. studies, when I was awarded a Junior Research
FellowshipatChristChurch.IamindebtedtoLindsayJudson,whowasmymentorat
ChristChurchbutwhoalsodiscussedwithmesignificantpartsofthefirstdraftofthe
book.IwouldalsoliketoextendmywarmthankstoallthepeopleofChristChurch
who made me feel welcome and provided an idyllic environment for my work
throughouttheeightyearsofmyD.Phil.andmyJRF.
I was extremely fortunate to work closely with David Charles not only for my
doctoral thesis but also during my post-doctoral Fellowship at Oxford. A lot of the
viewsandargumentsofthisbookhavebeenimmenselyinfluencedbydiscussionsIhad
withhiminseminars,conferences,orunofficialdiscussiongroups.Workingwithhim
during my eight years in Oxford was highly enjoyable and exciting, intense, and
rewarding. Other members of discussion groups held in Oxford at various times
include Lucas Angioni, David Bronstein, Laura Castelli, Atsushi Kawatani, Scott
O’Connor, Hiro Ogino, and Nathanael Stein. I am grateful to all of them for their
helpfulcommentsandcriticism.
Partsofthisbookwerepresentedatseminars,conferences,orworkshopslongbefore
theyreachedtheirpresentshape.Averybriefpaper,whichcontainstheseedsforPartI
of the book, was presented in 2007 at the Oxford Ancient Philosophy Workshop
organized by Terry Irwin and David Charles. I am indebted to the convenors and
all the participants for their questions and remarks. Parts of chapters 8, 10, and 12
were presented at the Conference on Priority in Aristotle’s Metaphysics held at the
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
UniversityofCampinasin2008,whilepartsofchapter7havetheirancestorsinapaper
IgavethefollowingyearinthesameplacefortheConferenceonAristotle’sNotionsof
Necessity and Causality in the Posterior Analytics. I would like to thank warmly my
colleagueandfriend,LucasAngioni,notonlyforenablingmetotraveltoBrazilandto
participate in these interesting conferences but also for his invaluable comments and
criticism.ThanksarealsoduetoMarcoZinganoandalltheotherparticipantsfortheir
incisivequestions. Longsections ofchapters 3,4, and5werecondensedinto apaper
which I gave in May 2010 at the Oxford Conference on Aristotle’s Metaphysics.
I received extremely helpful feedback and criticism from many participants, which
improvedsignificantlycentralthesesofthisbook.DuringTrinityTermof2010Igave,
together with David Bronstein, David Charles, and Alan Code, a series of seminars
on Aristotle’s metaphysics in which I had the opportunity to test several views
and arguments set out in the book. I would like to thank all those who attended
and,inparticular,AlanCode,withwhomIco-presentedamarathon-likelastsession
on the priority of particular substances (a precursor to chapter 11). Their insightful
remarks made me reformulate and improve my views immensely. Finally, I would
like to thank the Classics Faculty of the University of Cambridge for their invitation
to give a paper at the ‘B Club’ in November 2010 on the primacy of particular
substances. Thelivelydiscussion withtheparticipantshelped merethinkandreshape
partsofchapter11.
AnearlierversionoftheviewofontologicalpriorityadvancedinPartIIofthebook
was published as an article in the Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy (35, 2008,
pp. 187–248). Parts of chapters 8, 10, 13, 14, and appendix 2 are taken, with slight
changes,fromthatarticle.IwouldliketothanktheeditoroftheOxfordStudies,Brad
Inwood,notonlyforagreeingtopublishsuchalengthyarticlebutmoreimportantly
forhisacutecommentsandcriticism.Thanksarealsoduetotheanonymousreadersof
the Oxford Studies. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the Oxford
UniversityPressandtheseniorcommissioningeditorinPhilosophy,PeterMomtchiloff,
fortheirsupportandpatience.IamalsoindebtedtoStephenMakin,whoreadthefirst
draftofthebookandmadeinvaluableremarks.
M.M.P.
Queen’sUniversity,Belfast
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Contents
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Preliminaries 3
1.2 PriorityinDefinition:Form,Matter,andCompound 6
1.3 OntologicalPriorityin‘BeingWhatSomethingEssentiallyIs’ 11
1.4 AristotelianMethodandMethodologicalNeutrality 16
Part I. Definitional Priority: Form, Matter, and Compound
2. DefinitionalPriorityandDefinitionallyPrimaryItems 23
2.1 PriorityinDefinitionorinAccount 23
2.2 SeparationinDefinitionandtheAsymmetryofDefinitionalPriority 25
2.3 Transitivity 25
2.4 IrreflexivityandFundamentallyPrimaryItems 27
2.5 FormasDefinitionallyPrimary 30
2.6 CanDefinitionallyPosteriorItemsBeIndefinable? 32
2.7 ImportantConsequences 37
3. MatterwithinaForm’sEssence? 39
3.1 PreliminaryRemarks 39
3.2 AnImportantDistinction 40
3.3 TheDominantQuestionofMetaphysicsZ.10–11 42
3.4 InitialExamplesofMetaphysicsZ.10andDifferentTypesofMatter 45
3.5 TheEndofMetaphysicsZ.11andthe‘MatterofForm’
(Metaphysics(cid:2).24) 50
4. NaturalForm,MathematicalForm,andPlatonistErrors 55
4.1 Hyper-MaterialityandHyper-Formality 56
4.2 Abstractability,Separability,andDefinitionalIndependence(PhysicsB.2) 59
4.3 WhatNaturalFormsAreNotLike(I):FormsStudiedbySubordinate
MathematicalSciences(PosteriorAnalyticsA.13) 64
4.4 WhatNaturalFormsAreNotLike(II):MathematicalAbstractionsin
Thought(PhysicsB.2,193b31–5) 70
4.5 WhatNaturalFormsAreNotLike(III):PlatonistForms 74
4.6 PlatonistFormsandChange(MetaphysicsA.9andZ.8) 77
4.7 ConcludingNoteonMathematicalVersusNaturalForm
(DeAnimaA.1) 84