Syrianus: On Aristotle Metaphysics 3-4 (Ancient Commentators on Aristotle)

Book Description A translation of Syrianus' philosophical commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics 3-4, with extensive commentary notes, introduction and indexes. Product Description Syrianus, originally from Alexandria, moved to Athens and became the head of the Academy there after the death of Plutarch of Athens. This discussion of Aristotle's Metaphysics 3-4 shows how metaphysics, as a philosophical science, was conceived by the Neoplatonic philosopher of Late Antiquity. The questions raised by Aristotle in Metaphysics 3 regarding the scope of metaphysics are answered by Syrianus, who also criticises the alternative answers explored by Aristotle. In presenting Metaphysics 4, Syrianus explains in what sense metaphysics deals with 'being as being' and how this includes the essential attributes of being (unity/multiplicity, sameness/difference, etc.), showing also that it comes within the scope of metaphysics to deal with the primary axioms of scientific thought, in particular the Principle of Non-Contradiction, for which Syrianus provides arguments additional to those developed by Aristotle. Syrianus thus reveals how Aristotelian metaphysics was formalized and transformed by a philosophy which found its deepest roots in Pythagoras and Plato. About the Author John Dillon is Emeritus Regius Professor of Greek at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.Michael Griffin is Associate Professor of Classics and Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He is co-editor of the series Ancient Commentators on Aristotle and translator of two of its volumes: Olympiodorus: Life of Plato and On Plato First Alcibiades 1-9 (Bloomsbury 2014) and Olympiodorus: On Plato First Alcibiades 10-28 (Bloomsbury 2015).Richard Sorabji is Research Professor of Philosophy at King's College London and a Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, UK. He is the author of many books, including Necessity, Clause and Blame, Matter, Space and Motion, and Time, Creation and the Continuum, all published by Bloomsbury, and general editor of the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series.