Aristotle on Substance The Paradox of Unity / Mary Louise Gill.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gill, Mary Louise, 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aristote--Et le concept de matiere.

Aristote--Et le concept de substance.

Substance (Philosophie).

Matiere--Histoire.

Matiere.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, 1991.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION

1. Matter and Subjecthood

2. The Elements

3. Generation

4. Matter and Definition

5. The Unity of Composite Substances

6. The Cause of Becoming

7. The Cause of Persistence

APPENDIX

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX LOCORUM

GENERAL INDEX

Notes:

Includes indexes.

Bibliography: pages [253]-261.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780691073347

0691073341

OCLC:

1226678974