hilosophical Review Metaphysics Book B and K 1-2 by Aristotle; Arthur Madigan Review by: Christopher Shields The Philosophical Review, Vol. 112, No. 2 (Apr., 2003), pp. 251-253 Published by: Duke University Presson behalf of Philosophical Review Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3595536 . Accessed: 23/06/2014 11:51 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Duke University Press and Philosophical Revieware collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Philosophical Review. http://www.jstor.org
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Metaphysics Book B and K 1-2 by Aristotle; Arthur MadiganReview by: Christopher ShieldsThe Philosophical Review, Vol. 112, No. 2 (Apr., 2003), pp. 251-253Published by: Duke University Press on behalf of Philosophical ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3595536 .
Accessed: 23/06/2014 11:51
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
Duke University Press and Philosophical Review are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to The Philosophical Review.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 62.204.192.85 on Mon, 23 Jun 2014 11:51:20 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
For thosewhowish osolveproblems, uggestsAristotle,it shelpful o statetheproblemswell Metaphysics95a27); and,evidently,e acceptshis ownrec-ommendation s a fairly eep methodologicalprecept. n addition to settingout the appearances (phainomena) nd canvassingthe credible opinions(endoxa) ttending oanyparticular omain of nquiry, ristotle egards s an
indispensable precursorto philosophical progresscarefulattention o the
properformulation f any problemsto be addressed.About thismuchhe
seems perfectlyight.A philosopherconcerned with theproblemof con-sciousness woulddowell toreflect t thebeginning fthedayon theproblemto be tackled ndthemethods o be employed. s itanalysis?fso, s the nalysispresumedto be intensional?Essence-specifying?ust the outcome respectnaturalized onstraints?ndwhat, recisely,re those constraints?Without tleast thatmuchreflectiont thebeginning fan inquiry,uccess at theotherend is likely oremain lusive tbest.
sciousness, ll themore is the reason to takeit seriouslywhenapproachingmetaphysicalmatters, here ssuesbecomequickly paque, abstract,nd,rel-ative vento their wn tartingoints, bstruse. t s, ccordingly, elcome hatAristotle eeds hisown advice with vengeance in the thirdbook ofhisown
Metaphysics,etaphysics,which s dedicated tosetting orth omefifteenuz-zles or difficultiesaporiae) boutbeing. Theirexactnumber sdisputed, incesomeofthemrun ntoone another, nd others ontain tatements f ub-prob-lems thatmight hemselves e regarded s independentproblems.)Thesefif-teenpuzzlesrangeover hostoftopics, nly ome ofwhich re addressed aterin the treatise.1
heyconcern such matters s whether here s one science
appropriate o the nvestigationf all kindsofsubstances Meta.997a15-25),whether uch a scienceshould seek to nvestigatessences Meta.997a25-34),and whether here renonperceptibleubstances, here his ncludes heques-tionofwhether here re Platonic orms Meta. 97a34-998a19).
Unfortunately,owever xemplary ristotle's ffortst nitial laritymay e,therehavealways een puzzlesabouthispuzzles, n terms fboth their ormand their ontent.On theformal ide,Aristotlemainly rguesdialecticallyroand conon a given ssue, eaving he mpression hathe issimply etting ut ni-tialconsiderationso be adduced on either ide of a matter o be
investigatedthoroughlyt some laterpoint (for xample,Meta.998b14-999a23); at other
timeshe arguesdogmatically,s ifconclusively,s whenhe decides that,no,there reno PlatonicForms Meta.997a34-998a19). So,some ofhis difficultiesare ust difficultieso be explored;and some are difficultiesn need of no
exploration, incethey re difficultiesncurredbyothersdue to theirhaving
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promulgated ndefensible heories.On thematerial ide, t is sometimes er-plexingpreciselywhatproblemAristotle as inview, s when he askswhetherthe
principles archai)of
thingsre thekinds nd
generapredicatedof them
or are rather heconstituentshat ompose them Meta.998a20-b14).ArthurMadiganhas offeredn admirableguide tothesepuzzlesabout Aris-
totle'spuzzles,fulfillingn a welcomeway hepromiseoftheClarendon Aris-totleSeries, nwhichhisbookappears,byproviding n accuratetranslation fAristotle's ext,togetherwith a philosophically nformed nd illuminatingcommentary.t is inthefirstnstancerefreshinghatMadiganhas resisted he
temptation-a temptation o which other authors in thisseries have suc-cumbed-to write rincipally,r evenexclusively,or n audience ofAristote-lian
scholars.He has nstead akenhis roleas
commentatoreriously ymakingithis first oal simply o explainAristotle's robablemeaning, o laybarehis
argumentativetrategies,nd tohelp illuminate ndividual assagesby upply-ingamplecross-referenceso orient he nterested onspecialist.
The volumecontains: i) an introduction,ii) a clearand accurate transla-tion ofMetaphysics,togetherwith omeparallelpassagesfrom hebeginningofK, (iii) a commentary,iv) briefnoteson thetext nd translation,v) a ser-viceablebibliography,vi) shortGreek-Englishnd English-Greek lossaries,and (vii) threeconcise ndices.The introductionswell nformed ythedom-
inantscholarship, nd offers:a) an overview fthewhole of book B, (b) aninquirynto the enses n whichAristotle'sresentationsto be regarded sdia-
lectical, poretic, nd preliminary,c) a discussion ftPeplace ofB inAristo-tle'sdevelopment,d) an assessment f thedegreetowhichB setstheagendafortherestof theMetaphysics,nd (e) a briefnote on therelationship fB toa similar tatement fproblemsfromMetaphysics1-2.
Some questionsabout the aspirations f Metaphysicsare also questionsabout how besttoregard tsrelationshipothe restofAristotle'smetaphysicalthought. hould it,for nstance, e read as an authenticrecord of Aristotle's
ownperplexity,s a seriesofdifficulties hose answershe did not knowwhenhe posed thequestions?Or isit rather seriesof difficulties hose resolutionsAristotlenvisages venwhilecomposingthem,perhapsto thepointthat hesolutions hemselves houldbe understood o structure hestatements fthe
problems?These questions ntersectwith ome difficultiesegardingAristo-tle'sdevelopment.fMetaphysicsis a record ofgenuineperplexity,s itthenalsosomething rom isowntime ntheAcademy,s evidentlymplied tsomemoments n thetext forexample,Meta.990b9-23, 992al 1, 25-28, 997b3-4,1002b14)?Or is trather omething omposed ater, fter ristotle ad left he
Academy? n either ase, should the aterbooksoftheMetaphysics,ncludingespecially hemiddle books which containAristotle'smost maturethinkingabout substance,be read onlywithB close at hand? These questionsshouldmatter othose nclinedto nvestigate ristotle'smature ccountofsubstance,insofar s there eemstobe a scholarly orollaryn theconverse fAristotle's
252
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injunction boutproblem etting:hosewishing o understandAristotle'solu-
tionswilldo well oappreciate heproblems e understandsimself o be solving.
Judgedfrom hatperspective, arrow hough t s,Metaphysicsmay n theend proveto be of ess value than one might nitially ope. In fact hemiddlebookscontainno clear references ack toB,though omepassagesdo seemtobe addressing t east omeof thequestionsposed there especiallyMetaphysicsZ 10-13,andportions fZ 16, ncluding 040b16-24). In this ense,Madigan'sexemplaryworkmayntheendhave the effect fdownplayinghe ignificanceof the texthe discusses.He himself oncludeshisbrief oraynto this angleof
questionswith conservative,athermodestverdict: Ifwedo not ook nBforAristotle'smost trikingnsightsrhismost ntricaterguments, edo well to
look for igns fwhatmotivated he rgumentsndsparked he nsightsf aterand richerbooks (xxxviii).So much s perfectlyudicious. Attemptsoread
more,or ess, nMetaphysicsoften esultninterpretationshat re nonewayoranotherundulypolemicalorunhelpfully octrinaire.
Madigan'scommentaryssimilarlyensible.He does notspenda greatdealof timeengaging he views fother cholars, houghhisremarks eflect amil-
claim,made in Aporia 7 (in Madigan's numbering), hatneitherbeingnor
unitys a genus (Meta.998b14-999al). Afterppropriatelyiting more ntri-cate treatment f these same contentions n Topics .6, Madigan onlyverybrieflynd without eference o the voluminous iteraturen this opicreca-
pitulatesAristotle's asic argumentative osture.This is a pity, ince this s
probably he inglemost itedpassageofMetaphysics,andalso themostphilo-sophically onsequential.Here,Madigan mighthave donewell todeviate romhis otherwiseaudabletendency frefrainingrom ngaging heviews fotherscholars.Atanyrate,one would welcomea moreovertlyritical ngagementwith he ssuesraisedby his assage.Asthings tand, tudentslongwith chol-
arsmaywellbe leftwantingmore.Again,however,cholarsdo notformMadigan'sprimary eadership, ven
mentary,ut the readable and accurate translation s well.Happily, tudentsand scholars likenowhave,forthe first ime n English, clear, ntelligent,and well-executed uideto Aristotle'sMetaphysics.
CHRISTOPHERSHIELDS
UniversityfColoradot Boulder
Notes
1For succinctndreasonablettemptorelate heproblemsrticulatednMeta-physics to therest f theMetaphysics,ee W.D. Ross,Aristotle, etaphysics,ol.1(Oxford: 924), xiii-xxiv.
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