DOCSLIB.ORG

Gellera, Giovanni (2012) Natural Philosophy in the Graduation Theses of the Scottish Universities in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Gellera, Giovanni (2012) Natural Philosophy in the Graduation Theses of the Scottish Universities in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century Gellera, Giovanni (2012) Natural philosophy in the graduation theses of the Scottish universities in the first half of the seventeenth century. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3285/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Natural Philosophy in the Graduation Theses of the Scottish Universities in the first half of the seventeenth century Giovanni Gellera Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities Faculty of Arts University of Glasgow March 2012 © Giovanni Gellera 2012 2 Abstract The graduation theses of the Scottish universities in the first half of the seventeenth century are at the crossroads of philosophical and historical events of fundamental importance: Renaissance and Humanist philosophy, Scholastic and modern philosophy, Reformation and Counterreformation, the rise of modern science. The struggle among these tendencies shaped the culture of the seventeenth century, and the graduation theses are part of this narrative. Graduation theses are a product of the Scholasticism of the modern age, which survived the Reformation in Scotland and decisively influenced Scottish philosophy in the seventeenth century, including the reception of early modern philosophy. We can therefore speak of a ‘Scottish Scholasticism’, characterised by an original reception and interpretation of the long traditions of Scholastic philosophy and Aristotelianism. The aim of the thesis is the analysis of the general physics of the graduation theses: the two central theories are prime matter and movement. Natural philosophy is a particularly interesting case, and the main features of the graduation theses are the reception of Scholasticism alongside innovation within Scholasticism. Graduation theses adhere to the Scholastic tradition, especially Scotism, while being innovative in their opposition to Catholic forms of Scholasticism. In particular, natural philosophy reveals the influence of the Reformed confession of faith of the Scottish universities in central aspects of Scholastic philosophy, such as the theory of accidents and natural theology. Scottish Scholasticism can be further qualified as an example of ‘Reformed Scholasticism’. From the point of view of the historiography of Scholasticism, the Reformed character of the natural philosophy of the graduation theses provides interesting insights, and helps to understand Protestant Scholasticism. 3 I declare that, except where explicit reference is made to the contribution of others, this thesis is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of Glasgow or any other institution. Signature Printed name 4 Acknowledgements Of all the people with whom I shared the past three years and whom I thank for their friendship and companionship, some have had a direct impact on my research. I would like to thank, in primis, my supervisor Alexander Broadie. He has been a careful, insightful and inspiring reader of theses pages. I am grateful for the best possible supervision, and for much more. My parents and my brother, who have gave me moral and financial support in these years. Without them, my Ph.D. research would have been impossible. Two of my closest friends, Francesca and Samuel, with whom I have shared the upsides and downsides of a Ph.D. I thank them for our conversations, for their suggestions and for not having forgotten our classical studies in high school... Steven J. Reid at the University of Glasgow, who has helped me a lot during our conversations on early modern Scotland and Scottish universities, providing me with fundamental knowledge of the subject. Christelle LeRiguer at the University of Glasgow, for helping me with any bureaucratic aspect of my research, and more. I also wish to thank Joseph Marschall, librarian of the Special Collections at Edinburgh University, and Joanna Parker, librarian of the Special Collections at Worcester College, Oxford. Both have been very helpful with archival material. And, last but not least, Verena, for being so important to me in all the rest that matters... 5 Contents List of abbreviations .............................................................................................8 Introduction ...........................................................................................................9 1. Natural philosophy in the graduation theses in Scotland in the first half of the seventeenth century ......................................................................................9 2. Theses philosophicae : type of text and historical background.......................14 3. Protestant Scholasticism ...............................................................................20 3.1 The Theses philosophicae and the historiography of Scholasticism........21 3.2 The doctrine of the Fall: a religious premise to natural philosophy ..........24 4. Outline of the thesis.......................................................................................27 Part I, chapter 1 ...................................................................................................28 Materia prima: quod sit et quid sit .....................................................................28 1. The relevance of prime matter in Scholastic natural philosophy....................28 2. Prime matter: quod sit ...................................................................................30 2.1 Argument from natural philosophy ...........................................................31 2.2 Other arguments: per eminentiam and per negationem ..........................32 3. Prime matter: quid sit.....................................................................................34 3.1 Prime matter and God..............................................................................35 3.2 Prime matter and actus entitativus ...........................................................37 3.3 Essence and existence............................................................................41 4. Prime matter as receptive entitative act.........................................................43 5. Conclusion.....................................................................................................47 Part I, chapter 2 ...................................................................................................48 De potentiis materiae primae .............................................................................48 1. Partim Receptiva : prime matter and form......................................................49 1.1 The problem of the rational soul ..............................................................50 1.2 Prime matter as openness towards form .................................................52 1.3 Prime matter’s potency as appetitus ........................................................56 1.3.1 Appetitus and bonum ........................................................................56 1.3.2 Different theories on the nature of appetitus .....................................59 2. Partim Eductiva : prime matter and eductio formae ........................................62 2.1 Traditional theory of eductio in the Theses ..............................................63 2.2 Dalrymple 1646: criticism of regents on eductio ......................................66 3. Conclusion.....................................................................................................70 Part I, chapter 3 ...................................................................................................72 De proprietatibus materiae primae ....................................................................72 1. Prime matter as incorruptible and ungenerated.............................................75 1.1 Resolutio in materiam primam and forma mistionis .................................76 1.1.1 Resolutio and animate beings ...........................................................78 6 1.1.2 Resolutio and corruption in general...................................................80 1.2 Rejection of form of mixture: different theory of resolutio .........................81 2. Prime matter and quantity .............................................................................84 2.1 Relation between prime matter and quantity............................................86 2.2 Prime matter: quantity and accidents.......................................................87 2.3 Unity of the compound.............................................................................89 3. Conclusion.....................................................................................................93 Part I, chapter 4 ...................................................................................................94 De Transubstantiatione ......................................................................................94 1. Preliminary remarks.......................................................................................94
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Aquinas' Principle of Individuation
    Aquinas' Principle of Individuation Patrick W. Hughes Denison University Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Thirteenth Century Catholic theologian and philosopher was one of the first Medieval philosophers to attempt to reconcile the newly re-introduced Aristotelian system with the Catholic religious thought ofthe day. Aquinas' numerous commentaries on Aristotle and his adoption of the Aristotelian thought form the basis for the whole of Aquinian metaphysics (as well as the basic Aristotileanism which pervades Aquinas' whole systematic philosophy), In this paper I will deal with a specific yet fundamental principle ofAquinianmetaphysics-the principle of individuation. On first reading of the Aquinian texts, the principle of individuation appears to be stated succinctly, yet further investigation into the concept of individuation reveals problems and ambiguities. As it is necessary for an understanding of the problem of individuation in the Aquinian system, I will start off with the basic ontology ofAquinas and then will proceed with one interpretation of the ambiguities which exist in the texts regarding the principle of individuation. I will then give a counter interpretation that Aquinas might level against my interpretation and the problems ofmy interpretation; finally, I will analyze any problems that arise from the Aquinian response. 1. Primary Substance in Aristotle and Aquinas The difficulty in dealing with systematic philosophy is that it is difficult to know where to begin, since each concept is built upon previous concepts and all of the concepts are fundamentally interrelated. Neverthe­ less, I shall start by explicating Aquinas' fundamental ontology. Aquinas, following Aristotle, points out that the world is made up of individual things-or what Aquinas calls "primary substances", Socrates, Rover, and the pine tree in my yard are all existing individual primary substances in the world.
    [Show full text]
  • The Concept Of'nature'in Aristotle, Avicenna and Averroes
    doi: 10.1590/0100-512X2015n13103cb THE CONCEPT OF ‘NATURE’ IN ARISTOTLE, AVICENNA AND AVERROES* Catarina Belo** [email protected] RESUMO O presente artigo trata da ‘natureza’ enquanto objeto da física, ou da ciência natural, tal como descrita por Aristóteles na “Física”. Também trata das definições da natureza, especificamente a natureza física, fornecidas por Avicena (m. 1037) e Averróis (m. 1198) nos seus comentários à “Física” de Aristóteles. Avicena e Averróis partilham da conceção da natureza de Aristóteles enquanto princípio de movimento e repouso. Enquanto para Aristóteles o objeto da física parece ser a natureza, ou aquilo que existe por natureza, Avicena defende que é o corpo natural, e Averróis afirma que o objeto da física, ou ciência natural, consiste nas coisas naturais, apresentando uma ênfase algo diferente. Palavras-chave Natureza, física, substância, Aristóteles, Avicena, Averróis. ABSTRACT This study is concerned with ‘nature’ specifically as the subject-matter of physics, or natural science, as described by Aristotle in his “Physics”. It also discusses the definitions of nature, and more specifically physical nature, provided by Avicenna (d. 1037) and Averroes (d. 1198) in their commentaries on Aristotle’s “Physics”. Avicenna and Averroes share Aristotle’s conception of nature as a principle of motion and rest. While according to Aristotle the subject matter of physics appears to be nature, * An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Medieval Congress 2008, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, 7-10 July 2008. I am grateful for the comments on my paper by the other congress participants. ** Associate Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy – The American University in Cairo.
    [Show full text]
  • Form, Essence, Soul: Distinguishing Principles of Thomistic Metaphysics
    FORM, ESSENCE, SOUL: DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THOMISTIC METAPHYSICS JOSHUA P. HOCHSCHILD I. INTRODUCTION What is the difference between the substantial form, the essence, and the soul of a living material substance? Each of these three items would normally be considered in a course in Thomistic philosophy. In my experience, there reaches a point where students begin to wonder how these terms are related and even whether it is necessary to de­ scribe the metaphysical principles of things in so many different ways. I have found it useful, for my own understanding and my teaching, to exploit, even to foster, some potential confusions precisely in order to focus on them, and in the process illuminate certain distinctions and insights in Thomistic philosophy. II. CONFUSIONS Presentations of Thomistic metaphysics can tend to present the substantial form, essence, and soul as if they are basically the same thing. Aquinas himself, after all, sometimes treats "form" as syn­ onymous with "essence,"1 and they seem to serve the same basic metaphysical task: both are causes not only of a thing's being the kind of thing it is, but of its just being.2 And, as causes, the causality exercised by both the essence and the form is formal, not material or efficient.3 As for the soul, Aquinas of course adopts its Aristotelian 1 Aquinas, De Ente et Essentia, ch. 1: "Dicitur etiam forma secundum quod per formam significatur certitudo uniuscuiusque rei, ut <licit Avicenna in II Metaphysicae suae." 2 Aquinas, De Ente et Essentia, ch. 1: "Et hoc est quod Philosophus frequenter nominat quod quid erat esse, id est hoc per quod aliquid habet esse quid." De Principiis Naturae, ch.
    [Show full text]
  • An Argument for Substantial Form
    An Argument for Substantial Form Steven Baldner St. Francis Xavier University I provide an argument, based on Thomistic principles, for substantial form, understood as the single principle of substantial actuality for any natural substance. To make this argument, I distinguish between substance and accident, between the natural and the artificial, and between ontological and methodological reduction. I respond to two objections to the Thomistic doctrine of substantial form raised by Benjamin Hill: I explain how it is possible for Thomas to account for the presence of elements in compounds and also to account for the fact of natural instances that fail to realize the full reality of the substantial form (“monsters”). I begin by offering my sincere gratitude and appreciation for the excellent paper we have heard from Professor Hill.1 I am going to attempt to argue against some of the conclusions reached by Prof. Hill, but I do so with humility, for, however much I might be convinced of the truth of Thomistic monism, I am even more certain of my own inadequacy to the task of competing with the metaphysical analysis we have already seen. My goal here is not so much to give you better arguments, for I don’t think that I can, as to give you some reason to try to find better arguments yourselves. And perhaps you will do just that in the question period. I shall attempt to do two things in this paper: first, to give an argument for substantial form and second to give replies to some of the objections raised so well by Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • Substance and Artifact in Thomas Aquinas Michael W
    University of St. Thomas, Minnesota UST Research Online Philosophy Faculty Publications Philosophy 2004 Substance and artifact in Thomas Aquinas Michael W. Rota University of St. Thomas, Minnesota, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Rota, Michael W., "Substance and artifact in Thomas Aquinas" (2004). Philosophy Faculty Publications. 19. http://ir.stthomas.edu/cas_phil_pub/19 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy at UST Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UST Research Online. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY QUARTERLY Volume 21, Number 3, July 2004 SUBSTANCE AND ARTIFACT IN THOMAS AQUINAS Michael Rota Introduction urrent interpretations of Aquinas often attribute to him the claim Cthat no artifact is a substance, or, more precisely, the claim that, (A1) No artifact is a substance in virtue of its form. Robert Pasnau, for example, tells us that “Aquinas is committed to the view that all artifacts are nonsubstances with respect to their form.”1 And Eleonore Stump writes: An artifact is thus a composite of things confi gured together into a whole but not by a substantial form. Since only something confi gured by a substantial form is a substance, no artifact is a substance.2 In fact, however, Aquinas’s position on the metaphysical status of ar- tifacts is more nuanced than these standard interpretations suppose. This paper will examine three hitherto overlooked passages in Aquinas’s writings in an attempt to clarify his position, and to show how it (his actual position) can overcome some of the philosophical problems which pose diffi culties for the stronger claims often attributed to him.
    [Show full text]
  • Hylomorphism and Mereology Also Available in the Series
    Hylomorphism and Mereology Also available in the series: The Immateriality of the Human Mind, the Semantics of Analogy, and the Conceivability of God Volume 1: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics Categories, and What Is Beyond Volume 2: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics Knowledge, Mental Language, and Free Will Volume 3: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics Mental Representation Volume 4: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics Universal Representation, and the Ontology of Individuation Volume 5: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics Medieval Skepticism, and the Claim to Metaphysical Knowledge Volume 6: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics Medieval Metaphysics; or Is It “Just Semantics”? Volume 7: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics After God, with Reason Alone-Saikat Guha Commemorative Volume Volume 8: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics The Demonic Temptations of Medieval Nominalism Volume 9: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics Skepticism, Causality and Skepticism about Causality Volume 10: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics Metaphysical Themes, Medieval and Modern Volume 11: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics Maimonides on God and Duns Scotus on Logic and Metaphysics Volume 12: Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics The Metaphysics of
    [Show full text]
  • Aristotle's Theory of Powers
    Aristotle’s Theory of Powers by Umer Shaikh A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Philosophy) in the University of Michigan 2019 Doctoral Committee: Professor Victor Caston, chair Professor Sara Abhel-Rappe Professor David Manley Professor Tad Schmaltz Umer Shaikh [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8062-7932 © Umer Shaikh 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ....................................... v Chapter 1 Introduction ................................... 1 1.1 The Question ............................... 1 1.2 Powers and Dispositions ......................... 2 1.3 Remark on Translation and Texts .................... 3 1.4 Preliminary Answers ........................... 3 1.4.1 Powers are Efficient Causes ................... 4 1.4.2 Powers and Change ....................... 5 1.4.3 Being in Potentiality and Possibility .............. 6 1.4.4 The Foundation of Modality .................. 8 1.4.5 Possibilities from Powers .................... 9 1.4.6 Conclusion ............................ 11 1.5 Remarks About Scope of Discussion and About the Development of the δύναμις Concept ........................... 12 1.5.1 Scope ............................... 12 1.5.2 Δύναμις in Various Texts .................... 12 1.5.3 Previous Attempts to Find Consistency ............ 18 1.5.3.1 Kenny .......................... 18 1.5.3.2 Hintikka ......................... 21 1.5.4 Drawing Some Morals ..................... 22 2 Powers and Efficient Causation ......................... 24 2.1
    [Show full text]
  • Aristotle on Primary Substance
    24.200: Ancient Philosophy Prof. Sally Haslanger November 1, 2004 Aristotle on Primary Substance I. Substance in the Categories In the Categories, Aristotle takes primary substances to be ordinary individuals like Socrates. We noted in connection with this view that a primary substance must be what is both ontologically and epistemically basic, i.e., they must be those things on which the existence of everything else depends, and on which our systematic knowledge depends. Aristotle's view in the Categories that primary substances are ordinary concrete individuals depended on his acceptance of what we called the subject criterion. I.e., primary substances are the primary logical subjects, i.e., they are that in which properties (qualities, quantities, etc.) inhere, and which are themselves the members of kinds (species). "A substance --that which is called a substance most strictly, primarily, and most of all-- is that which is neither said of a subject nor in a subject." (Cat. 2a11) Primary substances are also the subjects of change: "It seems most distinctive of substance that what is numerically one and the same is able to receive contraries [i.e., contrary properties]." (Cat. 4a10) (E.g., a single individual may become hot, having been cold, or may change from being 5' tall to being 5'2" tall.) In his discussion of change in Physics I: 7-9, Aristotle feels the need to accommodate both the demand that in any change something remain through that change, and the demand that there be something "new" as a product of the change. To handle these demands, he distinguishes three "elements" in any change: the matter, the form, the lack.
    [Show full text]
  • Hyman, Arthur/ Averroes' 'De Substantia Orbis': Critical Edition Of
    MEDIEVAL ACADEMY BOOKS, NO. 96 CORPUS PHILOSOPHORUM MEDII AEVI AVERROIS HEBRAICUS CORPUS PHILOSOPHORUM MEDII AEVI ACADEMIARUM CONSOCIATARUM AUSPICIIS ET CONSILIO EDITUM OPERA AVERROIS Ediderunt HENRICUS AUSTRYN WOLFSON V't SHLOMO PINES THE MEDIEVAL ACADEMY OF AMERICA AND THE ISRAEL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES AVERROES' DE SUBSTANTIA ORBIS Critical Edition of the Hebrew Text with English Translation and Commentary by ARTHUR HYMAN Cambridge, Massachusetts and Jerusalem 1986 ISBN 965-208-071-3 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 85-61823 Copyright ©1986 by the Medieval Academy of America Printed in Israel In 1931, the Medieval Academy of America undertook the publication of Averroes' Commentaries on Aristotle in accordance with H.A. Wolfson's "Plan for the publication of a Corpus Commentariorum Averrois in Aristotelem"', published in Speculum, VI (1931), pp. 412-427. In 1977, the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities undertook to publish the Hebrew translations of the works of Averroes. The present volume is a joint publication of both academies. It is the last to be published in the framework of the Medieval Academy series of Corpus Commentariorum Averrois in Aristoielem. S. Pines CONTENTS Preface 7 Introduction 13 CONCERNING THE SUBSTANCE OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE BY AVERROES Chapter One 39 Chapter Two 74 Chapter Three 99 Chapter Four 112 Chapter Five 120 Chapter Six 123 Bibliography 139 Index of References 144 Index of Names and Subjects 148 Hebrew Section see p. 7 PREFACE Averroes is primarily known for his many commentaries on Aristotle's works and for his Tahdfut al-Tahafut, "The Incoherence of the Incoherence." He was also the author of a number of independent treatises dealing with a variety of philosophical and theological topics.
    [Show full text]
  • Phi 260: History of Philosophy I Prof
    Phi 260: History of Philosophy I Prof. Brandon C. Look University of Kentucky Spring 2007 Aristotle’s Metaphysics I. The Nature of Substance According to Aristotle, “there is a science that studies being insofar as it is being.” (1003a21) This is what he elsewhere calls “first philosophy”. And the object of his Metaphysics is just this: to study being in general, to study the nature of existence in its most general aspect. While the special sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics) focus on specific aspects of existent things (things insofar as they are alive, or composed of atoms and bonded in certain ways, or matter, forces, or energy, or measures of quantity), metaphysics looks at the common features of being in all these sciences. In Metaphysics IV.2, Aristotle writes that “being is spoken of in many ways, but always in reference to one thing.” (1003a34) That one thing is substance: “For some things are called beings because they are substances, others because they are attributes of substance, others because they are a road to substance, or because they are perishings or privations or qualities of substance, or productive or generative of substance or of things spoken of with reference to it, or because they are negations of one of these or of substance.” (1003b6-10) It is the job of the philosopher engaged in metaphysics to “grasp the principles and causes of substances.” (1003a19) Or, as he puts it in Book VII, “the old question… ‘What is being?’ is just the question ‘What is substance?’” (1028b3) In Book VII, Chapter 3, we learn that “substance is spoken of, if not in several ways, at any rate in four main cases.
    [Show full text]
  • Aquinas, Descartes and the Unity of Substantial Form James Thomas
    Document généré le 29 sept. 2021 16:27 Laval théologique et philosophique Aquinas, Descartes and the Unity of Substantial Form James Thomas Volume 73, numéro 1, février 2017 Résumé de l'article La doctrine thomiste de l’unité de la forme substantielle explique l’unité près URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1041636ar de l’âme cartésienne avec le corps, mais pour leur indépendance Paul Hoffman DOI : https://doi.org/10.7202/1041636ar a conseillé la lecture pluraliste du composite attribuable à Guillaume d’Ockham et Duns Scot. Principalement pour lier la pensée cartésienne à une Aller au sommaire du numéro tradition éthique plus étendue, je suggère que la doctrine thomiste pourrait être développée pour répondre aux objections de Marleen Rozemond à une lecture scolaire si la forme substantielle est considérée comme l’argument Éditeur(s) d’incliner le conatus ou de l’appétit de l’existence. Faculté de philosophie, Université Laval Faculté de théologie et de sciences religieuses, Université Laval ISSN 0023-9054 (imprimé) 1703-8804 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer cet article Thomas, J. (2017). Aquinas, Descartes and the Unity of Substantial Form. Laval théologique et philosophique, 73(1), 113–124. https://doi.org/10.7202/1041636ar Tous droits réservés © Laval théologique et philosophique, Université Laval, Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur. L’utilisation des 2017 services d’Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d’utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit.
    [Show full text]
  • Aristotle on Substance, Matter, and Form
    Aristotle on Substance, Matter, and Form Metaphysics Γ: the study of being qua being Aristotle often describes the topic of the Metaphysics as “first philosophy.” In Book IV.1 ( Γ.1) he calls it “a science that studies being in so far as it is being” (1003a21). (This is sometimes translated “being qua being.”) What does this mean? “S studies x qua y” means that x is the subject matter of science S, and y is the aspect of x under which S studies it. Thus, physics studies natural objects—things that are subject to change. These are things that come into being and go out of being. So physics studies certain beings (the natural ones), and it studies them in so far as they are subject to change. Metaphysics , on the other hand, studies beings in general (not just changeable ones) and it studies them “qua being”—in so far as they are beings. On this interpretation of “being qua being,” see n. 1 on 1003a21; Aristotle makes clear at 1004b10ff that this is the right interpretation. But in Γ.2 Aristotle reminds us (as he frequently says elsewhere) that “being is said in many ways”. (There were intimations of this in the Categories , where we learned about the ten categories of being.) But this does not mean that the term being is “homonymous” (i.e., equivocal or ambiguous). Rather, the term is applied to one central case, and all other uses of the term are explicated with reference to the central case. G. E. L. Owen has given the label focal meaning to this kind of multivocity.
    [Show full text]