Chôra

Volume 15/16, 2017/2018

Le Principe du Bien: Platon, Aristote et leur postérité

L’epilogo del libro Lambda della Metafisica di Aristotele : il Bene come principio

Not many texts from the Greek classical literature focus on the nature of the Good more closely than Aristotle’ Metaphysics Lambda 10. The first section raises the question to be answered henceforth : is the Good to be conceived as anything separated or does it intrinsically belong to the universe, as a way of being ? And if both ways, how so, and which way first, and why ? According to a current reading, which is well established in the commentary tradition, Aristotle’s Good comes, first of all, as a separate being, namely God ; as a consequence, it also belongs to every kind of being. My aim is to show that this view, though playing a significant role in late Aristotelian scholastics, is scarcely supported in Aristotle’s text. In fact, it is unlikely to grasp whatever Aristotle has been willing to say in this final chapter of book Lambda, which brings to conclusion his overall theory about the principles of the world.