This paper argues that the discussion in which Aristotle engages in Metaphysics ΖΗ has the same starting-point as natural science: the principles of changing substances. These inquiries are nonetheless distinct because natural science uses these principles in its detailed investigations into natural substances, whereas ΖΗ reflect on the principles themselves. ΖΗ are an integral part of Aristotle’s inquiry into the principles of all substances, changing and unchanging: they are not merely preliminary to an inquiry into the latter kind. They are (...) also an integral part of Aristotle’s ‘first philosophy’, alongside theology’s study of the nature and activity of unchanging substances. (shrink)

RESUMO Tendo por base a ligeiramente controversa idéia de que a caracterização de sophía como a “ciência das causas primeiras ou princípios” seja a formulação cardeal de ciência suprema na “Metafísica” de Aristóteles, neste artigo examinamos Metaph. A2, o capítulo que contém tal caracterização. Em primeiro lugar, seguimos a análise aristotélica dos pontos de vista ordinários acerca da sophía e do sophós, análise que culmina na referida descrição de sophía. Em seguida, examinamos como a concepção de sophía como ciência de (...) causas absolutamente primeiras leva o filósofo a considerá-la como uma ciência que pode ser descrita apropriadamente como divina, sendo também o tipo mais elevado de conhecimento ao qual a filosofia pode aspirar. ABSTRACT Based on the somewhat controversial idea that the characterization of sophía as the “science of first causes or principles” is the pivotal formulation of the supreme science in the Aristotle’s “Metaphysics”, in this paper we scrutinize Metaph. A2, the chapter which contains such a characterization. Firstly, we follow the Aristotelian analysis of the commonly held views on sophía and the sophós, an analysis which culminates in the aforementioned description of sophía. Then we examine how the conception of sophía as the science of absolutely first causes leads the philosopher to regard it as a science that can be properly described as divine, being also the highest kind of knowledge which philosophy can aspire to. (shrink)