Concept of First Philosophy and the Unity of the Metaphysics of Aristotle

John R. Catan , Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York, Brockport, is a former student of Joseph Owens. Dr. Catan also edited St. Thomas Aquinas on the Existence of God: The Collected Papers of Joseph Owens (SUNY Press, 1980) and edited and translated The Concept of First Philosophy and the Unity of the Metaphysics of Aristotle by Giovanni Reale (SUNY Press, 1979).

"The translation of this careful and persuasive study is a welcome and much-needed addition." — CHOICE"Readers of Philosophy and Rhetoric will find this study a contribution, particularly because Reale's analysis of Aristotelian epistemology is central to both disciplines … Reale, who has already been recognized by Italians, will now illuminate English readers with his scholarship, thanks to this translation." — Philosophy and Rhetoric

• ForewordPreface to the First Edition (1961)Preface to the Second Edition (1965)Preface to the Third Edition (1967)Translator's PrefaceIntroductionThe Aim and Method of the Present StudyI. The Concept of First PhilosophyII. The "Platonic" and "Naturalistic" Requirements in the Metaphysics of AristotleIII. The Literary Unity, the Philosophical Unity, and the Historical Origin of the MetaphysicsIV. The Limits of the Present Work1. The Concept of — or "First Philosophy" and the Inquiry into the Primary Causes in Books A and —First SectionI. — as the Knowledge of the Primary Causes and PrinciplesII. Wisdom as the "Science of Divine Things" or TheologyIII. The Four Causes and the Supremacy of the Formal CauseIV. The Confirmation of the Doctrine of the Four Causes through the Examination of the Doctrine of Preceding PhilosophersV. The Reconfirmation of the Theological Component in the Critique of the Pre-SocraticsVI. —, Ontology, and OusiologySecond SectionThe Meaning, Nature, and Origin of the Theory of the Four CausesI. "Cause" as a Condition, Foundation, or Reason of RealityII. The "Ionic" and "Platonic" Components in the Aristotelian Doctrine of the Four CausesIII. ConclusionsThird Section. Book — as an Appendix of Book AI. The Content of Book -. Philosophy as the Science of TruthII. The Question of the Authenticity of Books2. Book B and the Aporias of the MetaphysicsFirst Section. The Reading and Interpretation of the AporiasI. The Concept and Goal of the AporiasII. The Number and Listing of the AporiasIII. The Expositions of the AporiasSecond Section. The Specification of the Concept of First Philosophy through the AporiasI. The Aetiological or Theory of Principles ComponentII. The Ousiological ComponenetIII. The Ontological ComponentIV. The Theological Component and the Problems of TranscendenceThird Section. The Structure and Meaning of the Aporias and the Contemporary Genetic InterpretationsI. The Origin and Nature of the AporiasII. The Plane of the Solution of the Aporias and Aristotelian Realism. The Inaccuracy of the Genetic Interpretations of Book B.3. First Philosophy and the Science of Being qua Being in Book -I. The Analysis of -.1. The Convergence of Ontology and AetiolgyII. The Exposition of -.2III. Being and Substance: Ontology and OusiologyIV. "First Philosophy" as Theology in -.2-3V. The Significance of the Theological Component in Book -Second Section. The Solution of the First Four Aporias in Book -I. The Solution of the First AporiaII. The Solution of the Second AporiaIII. The Solution of the Third AporiaIV. The Solution of the Fourth AporiaThird Section. The Theory of —- and the Presumed Evolutionary Trajectory of the Metaphysical Thought of AristotleI. The Meaning of —- II. Empiricism, Platonism, and the Theory of —-4. Metaphysics and Theology in Book EFirst Section. The Analysis of E.I. The Repetition of the Aetiological and Ousiological ComponentsII. The Three Theoretical Sciences: Physics, Mathematics, and First Philosophy or TheologyIII. The Reconciliation between Ontology and Theology in E.1Second Section. The Meaning of Being and the Irrelevancy of Some of Them for the Metaphysical InquiryI. The Four Meanings of BeingII. Being as Accident and the Reasons for Its Exclusion from the Metaphyscial InquiryIII. Being as Truth and the Reason for Its Exclusion from the Metaphysical InquiryIV. The Conclusions of E.4 The — Excludes of Itself the —- and the —-Third Section. The Genetic Interpretations of Book E and the Theological Component5. The Concept of First Philosophy in Books Z, H, O and IFirst Section. The Significance of Books, Z, H, O, and I in the Scope of the Metaphysics According to Contemporary ScholarshipSecond Section. Book ZI. The Ontological and Ousiological Component. The Reduction of the Problem of Being to the Problem of —- in Z.1II. The Theological Component in Book Z. General Ousiology and TheologyIII. The Aetiological Component in Book ZThird Section. Book H.I. Ontology and Ousiology in Book H.II. The Aetiological Component in Book HIII. The Theological Component in Book HFourth Section. Book OI. The Doctrine of Act and Potency and the Ontological, Ousiological, and Aetiological ComponentsII. TheDoctrine of Act and Potency and the Theological ComponentFifth Section. Book I and the Object of First Philosophy6. Book K and the Recapitulation of Books A, B, T, and E.First Section. The Comparison between K.1-2 and Books A and BI. A Brief Hint of A Summarized in K.1II. A Comparison between the Aporias of K.1-2 and Those of Book B.III. Conclusions Concerning K.1-2Second Section. The Comparison between K.3-6 and Book T.I. The Content of K.3-6II. The Identity of Conception between K.3-6 and Book T.Third Section. The Comparison between K.7-8 and Book EI. The Content of K.7-8II. The Comparison between K.7-8 and Book EFourth Section. The "excerpts" of the Physics, Books T and E, in K.9-12 and the Meaning of Book KI. K.9-12 and the PhysicsII. The Meaning of Book K in the Scope of the Metaphysics and the Meaning of K.9-12Fifth Section. The Four Determinations of the Concept of First Philosophy in Book K7. Books A, M, and N, concerning Transcendent Substance and the Fourfold Dimension of the Metaphysical InquiryFirst Section. The Four Componenets of Aristotle's Metaphysics in Books M and N.I. Metaphysics as TheologyII. The Ousiological ComponentIII. The Aetiological or Science of Principles Component and its Relationship with Ousiology and Theology in Book AIV. The Presence in Book A of the Ontological Component and its Relationship to the Other ComponentsSecond Section. The Four Components of Aristotle's Metaphysics in Books M and NI. The Theological ComponentII. The Aetiological or Science of Principles ComponentIII. The Ousiological ComponentIV. The Ontological ComponentThird Section. The Genetic Interpretations of A, M, and NI. Book AII. Books M and N8. Observations on Book DeltaI. The Character of Book DeltaII. The Position of Book Delta with Respect to the Other BooksIII. Book Delta and the Genetic InterpretationsConclusions. The Horizons of the Aristotelian MetaphsyicsI. The "Constants" of the Aristotelian MetaphysicsII. The Dialectical Unity of the ConstantsIII. The Synthesis of the Naturalistic and Platonic Requirements in the First Philosophy of AristotleIV. The Unitary Design of the MetaphysicsAppendixesA. The Historical Importance of the Metaphysics of Theophrastus in comparison with the Metaphysics of AristotleB. The Metaphysics of Theophrastus with commentaryC. A Selected Annotated Bibliography (after 1932) Concerning the Object of Study of the Present VolumeD. Other works (prior to 1923) Expressly Cited in the Course of the Present VolumeIndexesI. An Analytic Index of NamesII. An Index of Greek TermsIII. An Index of Aristotelian Texts Cited