Aristotle on Substance: The Paradox of Unity

Mary Louise Gill

Published by Princeton University Press 1991

Aristotle on Substance

The Paradox of Unity

Mary Louise Gill

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691222219

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book explores a fundamental tension in Aristotle's metaphysics: how can an entity such as a living organisma composite generated through the imposition of form on preexisting matterhave the conceptual unity that Aristotle demands of primary substances? Mary Louise Gill bases her treatment of the problem of unity, and of Aristotle's solution, on a fresh interpretation of the relation between matter and form. Challenging the traditional understanding of Aristotelian matter, she argues that material substances are subverted by matter and maintained by form that controls the matter to serve a positive end. The unity of material substances thus involves a dynamic relation between resistant materials and directive ends.

Aristotle on Substance offers both a general account of matter, form, and substantial unity and a specific assessment of particular Aristotelian arguments. At every point, Gill engages Aristotle on his own philosophical ground through the detailed analysis of central, and often controversial, texts from the Metaphysics, Physics, On Generation and Corruption, De Anima, De Caelo, and the biological works. The result is a coherent, firmly grounded rethinking of Aristotle's central metaphysical concepts and of his struggle toward a fully consistent theory of material substances.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
PREFACE Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
ABBREVIATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Matter and Subjecthood Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
2. The Elements Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
3. Generation Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
4. Matter and Definition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
5. The Unity of Composite Substances Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
6. The Cause of Becoming Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
7. The Cause of Persistence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	212
APPENDIX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
INDEX LOCORUM Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
GENERAL INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273