Michail Peramatzis – författare

Michail Peramatzis presents a new interpretation of Aristotle''s view of the priority relations between fundamental and derivative parts of reality, following the recent revival of interest in Aristotelian discussions of what priority consists in and how it relates existents. He explores how in Aristotle''s view, in contradistinction with (e.g.) Quinean metaphysical views, questions of existence are not considered central. Rather, the crucial questions are: what typesof existent are fundamental and what their grounding relation to derivative existents consists in. It is extremely important, therefore, to return to Aristotle''s own theses regarding priority and to study them not only with exegetical caution but also with an acutely critical philosophical eye.Aristotle deploys the notion of priority in numerous levels of his thought. In his ontology he operates with the notion of primary substance. His Categories, for instance, confer this honorific title upon particular objects such as Socrates or Bucephalus, while in the Metaphysics it is essences or substantial forms, such as being human, which are privileged with priority over certain types of matter or hylomorphic compounds (either particular compound objects such as Socratesor universal compound types such as the species human). Peramatzis'' chief aim is to understand priority claims of this sort in Aristotle''s metaphysical system by setting out the different concepts of priority and seeing whether and, if so, how Aristotle''s preferred prior and posterior items fit with theseconcepts.

This volume provides a rich collection of original essays on Aristotle's metaphysics written by sixteen prominent scholars in the field. Honouring the seminal influence of David Charles to philosophical scholarship, it offers fresh interpretations and assessments of Aristotle's thinking in metaphysics and related areas such as philosophy of language, psychology, natural philosophy, and mathematics. The collection contributes to the recent resurgence of interest in Aristotelian metaphysics, furthering our understanding of Aristotle's seminal contribution to the history of western philosophy. It evaluates key features of Aristotle's metaphysical thinking: his accounts of definition and meaning; his understanding of being and the categories; his models of explanation, causation, and accounts of modality, space, and change. The chapters are written with clarity and attention to the detail of Aristotle's texts but presuppose no knowledge of ancient Greek and can be read with benefit by advanced philosophy students and scholars.