Aristotle's First PrinciplesAristotle's reliance on dialectic as a method of philosophy appears to conflict with his metaphysical realist view of his conclusions. This book explores Aristotle's philosophical method and the merits of his conclusions, and shows how he defends dialectic against the objection that it cannot justify a metaphysical realist's claims. The author does not presuppose extensive previous acquaintance with Aristotle. Greek texts are translated, and Greek words transliterated. |
Contents
Particular forms as substances | 250 |
The nature of particular forms | 252 |
The role of particular forms | 253 |
Particular forms and the criteria for substance | 255 |
Particular forms as primary substances | 257 |
Objections to universals as substances | 259 |
The case for universal substances | 261 |
The status of particular substances | 263 |
| 21 | |
Inquiry and Dialectic | 26 |
The study of method | 27 |
Ways to first principles | 29 |
Empirical startingpoints | 30 |
The accumulation of data | 31 |
Induction | 32 |
The evaluation of theories | 33 |
Conclusions on Aristotles empirical method | 35 |
The functions of dialectic | 36 |
The startingpoint of dialectic | 37 |
Dialectical puzzles | 40 |
Dialectical puzzles and the aims of dialectic | 42 |
The construction of a theory | 43 |
The evaluation of dialectical theories | 45 |
The special role of dialectic | 48 |
Questions about dialectic | 49 |
Constructive Dialectic | 51 |
The nature of the categories | 52 |
Substance and the categories | 55 |
Inherence and strong predication | 57 |
Substance and quality | 58 |
Substance and change | 59 |
Substance and essential properties | 61 |
The anomaly of differentiae | 64 |
The dialectical search for first principles | 66 |
The role of dialectic | 67 |
The defence of first principles | 69 |
General features of change | 70 |
Puzzles about Substance | 73 |
Basic subjects | 76 |
Matter | 77 |
Universals | 78 |
The dependent status of universals | 80 |
The independence of first substances | 82 |
Weaknesses of dialectic | 83 |
Principles of change | 84 |
Puzzles about unqualified becoming | 87 |
Matter as substance | 88 |
Form as substance | 89 |
Resulting difficulties | 91 |
The Formal Cause | 94 |
The four causes | 95 |
Causes and first principles | 97 |
Form and matter as causes | 99 |
Further difficulties about form | 100 |
Disputes about teleology | 102 |
The difference between final causation and coincidence | 104 |
The arguments for teleology | 105 |
The basis of the argument for teleology | 108 |
Teleology and necessity | 109 |
Teleology and substance | 112 |
Further developments | 114 |
Conditions for Science | 117 |
Science and universals | 118 |
Explanatory properties and basic subjects | 120 |
Explanatory properties and the arguments about substance | 121 |
Natural priority in demonstration | 122 |
Natural priority compared with epistemic priority | 124 |
The case for circular demonstration | 125 |
The rejection of coherence as a source of justification | 127 |
The rejection of an infinite regress | 129 |
Foundationalism | 130 |
The status of first principles | 131 |
Puzzles about Science | 134 |
The doctrine of intuition | 135 |
Intuition and inquiry | 136 |
Dialectic and justification | 137 |
Criticisms of dialectic | 139 |
Objections to Aristotles solution | 141 |
Intuition and the common principles | 143 |
Difficulties in Aristotles position | 145 |
Consequences of Aristotles position | 147 |
The unsolved puzzles | 148 |
SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEM | 151 |
The Universal Science | 153 |
Wisdom and scepticism | 155 |
Universal science and the four causes | 157 |
The character of universal science | 159 |
Puzzles about universal science | 161 |
Methodological puzzles | 162 |
Substantive puzzles | 163 |
Puzzles and preliminary questions | 166 |
The possibility of a universal science | 168 |
The object of universal science | 170 |
The universal science contrasted with demonstrative science | 172 |
The universal science contrasted with dialectic | 174 |
The dialectical character of universal science | 175 |
The task of the universal science | 177 |
The science of Being | 179 |
The defence of the principle of noncontradiction | 181 |
From noncontradiction to essence and substance | 183 |
The dialectical character of the argument | 185 |
The status of the conclusion | 187 |
Protagoras and the science of being | 189 |
The reply to Protagoras | 190 |
Scepticism and the science of being | 192 |
The reply to scepticism | 194 |
The knowledge of first principles | 196 |
Substance and Essence | 199 |
The priority of substance | 200 |
Criteria for substance | 202 |
Substance as subject | 204 |
Strategy | 206 |
Subject as matter | 207 |
Further tests for substance | 210 |
Essence and subject | 211 |
A revised criterion for substance | 213 |
A preliminary solution of the puzzles | 216 |
Essence as particular | 217 |
Essence as subject | 219 |
The progress of the argument | 220 |
Essence and Form | 223 |
Substance and actuality | 225 |
Potentiality | 226 |
Potentiality and possibility | 227 |
Degrees of potentiality | 230 |
Proximate potentiality | 231 |
Conditions for potentiality | 233 |
Potentiality without change | 235 |
Form as actuality | 237 |
Form and matter in definitions | 238 |
Formal and material essences | 239 |
Types of matter | 241 |
Types of compounds | 243 |
The essence of natural substances | 245 |
Form and Substance | 248 |
The difference between universals and properties | 264 |
Particulars and universals as substances | 265 |
The primacy of particular substances | 268 |
Results of the Metaphysics | 270 |
The role of a priori and empirical argument | 271 |
First philosophy and strong dialectic | 274 |
APPLICATIONS OF THE SOLUTION | 277 |
The Soul as Substance | 279 |
Puzzles about the soul | 280 |
The solution | 282 |
The relation of soul to body | 284 |
Answers to puzzles | 286 |
The contribution of first philosophy | 288 |
Dualism | 290 |
Materialism | 293 |
Empirical argument dialectic and first philosophy | 296 |
Soul and mind | 299 |
Soul and Mind | 303 |
Perception as process and activity | 305 |
The accounts of perception | 307 |
Form and matter in perception | 310 |
Realism about perceptible qualities | 311 |
The rejection of realism | 313 |
The infallibility of the senses | 314 |
Complex perception | 315 |
Appearance | 318 |
Appearance and thought | 319 |
Thought | 320 |
Thought and inference | 322 |
Thought content and structure | 323 |
The cognitive faculties | 325 |
Action | 329 |
The unity of desire | 330 |
Desire and apparent good | 332 |
Reason and desire | 333 |
Rational desires | 334 |
The scope of deliberation | 335 |
Rational agency and the good | 336 |
The temporal aspects of rational agency | 338 |
Rational agency and responsibility | 340 |
Aspects of responsibility | 342 |
The form of human beings | 344 |
The Good of Rational Agents | 347 |
The content of ethics | 349 |
The direction of moral argument | 351 |
Tasks for the Politics | 352 |
The aims of the Politics | 354 |
Difficulties in political argument | 356 |
Strong dialectic in political theory | 358 |
The final good | 359 |
The completeness of the final good | 360 |
The selfsufficiency of the final good | 362 |
Rational agency and the human function | 363 |
Rational agency and human capacities | 366 |
Rational agency and happiness | 368 |
Selfrealization | 369 |
Selfrealization and human good | 370 |
The Virtues of Rational Agents | 373 |
Virtue reason and desire | 374 |
Concern for a self | 376 |
Self essence and character | 377 |
Selflove and selfrealization | 379 |
Rational control and selfregarding virtues | 381 |
Degrees of rational control | 383 |
The scope of rational control | 385 |
The defence of common beliefs | 387 |
The Good of Others | 389 |
Friendship and altruism | 390 |
Selflove and altruism | 391 |
The defence of friendship | 393 |
The friend as another self | 395 |
Extended altruism and the moral virtues | 397 |
The political community and the human good | 399 |
Political activity | 402 |
The complete community | 404 |
The State | 407 |
The human good and the citizen | 409 |
The human good and leisure | 411 |
Leisure as a condition of freedom | 413 |
Aristotles misuse of his argument | 414 |
Moral education as a task for the state | 416 |
The defence of moral education | 418 |
The apparent conflict between freedom and moral education | 419 |
Aspects of freedom | 421 |
The reconciliation of freedom and moral education | 422 |
Justice | 424 |
The problem of special justice | 425 |
Conditions for just distribution | 427 |
Retrospective justice | 428 |
The relation between general and special justice | 430 |
Errors about justice | 432 |
Political systems and their errors about justice | 433 |
The effects of errors about justice | 435 |
Answers to puzzles about justice | 437 |
The Consequences of Virtue and Vice | 439 |
The particular virtues and nonrational desires | 441 |
The particular virtues and external goods | 442 |
Virtue and the loss of external goods | 445 |
The supremacy of virtue | 447 |
Vice in a political context | 449 |
The variety of political systems | 450 |
Vice and conflict | 451 |
Vice and aggression | 452 |
Vice and slavishness | 453 |
Instability in political systems | 456 |
Virtue and political stability | 457 |
Stability and the middle class | 460 |
The defence of private property | 462 |
Objections to the defence of private property | 464 |
Moral and political theory in Aristotles system | 466 |
The evaluation of Aristotles claims | 468 |
Reconsiderations | 470 |
The treatment of Aristotles early works | 472 |
The treatment of Aristotles late works | 473 |
Strong dialectic | 476 |
The uses of strong dialectic | 477 |
Systematic philosophy in Aristotle | 480 |
Metaphysics epistemology and method | 482 |
Defences of Aristotle | 483 |
Dialectic and historical study | 485 |
Notes | 487 |
Bibliography | 642 |
Index Locorum | 661 |
| 684 | |
| 688 | |
Common terms and phrases
action actuality animal answer appearances Aristotelian Aristotle argues Aristotle claims Aristotle seems Aristotle thinks Aristotle's view assumptions basic subject biped body Callias Categories Catg causal character coincidental common beliefs common sense concern conclusions conflict connexion contrast depends desire dialectical argument dialectician discussion distinction doctrine dualism efficient cause Eleatics Empedocles empirical inquiry endoxa essence ethical eudaimonic explain external final cause formal cause foundationalism friendship function further genuine hence homonymy human hylomorphic identify infinite regress intuition justice justify knowledge material Metaphysics nature non-substances objective oligarchic organism ousia particular form perceive perception persistence philosophy Phys Plato pleonexia political potentiality predicated premisses principles Protagoras proximate matter pure dialectic puzzles questions rational agent reason recognize reference reject relies remote matter requires role sceptical second substances simply Socrates sort soul statue strong dialectic subject-criterion suggests teleological theory things true truth universal science virtue virtuous person