The Concept of First Philosophy and the Unity of the Metaphysics of Aristotle: With a translation of Theophrastus's Metaphysics

Reale's monumental work establishes the exact dimensions of Aristotle's concept of first philosophy and proves the profound unity of concept that exists in Aristotle's Metaphysics. Reale's opposition to the genetic interpretation of the Metaphysics is an updated return to a more traditional view of Aristotle's work, one which runs counter to nearly all contemporary scholarship. Reale argues that Aristotle's first philosophy includes a study of being, a study of substance, a study of divine substance, and a study of principles and causes, all of which are integrated and dialectically reconciled.

John R. Catan , Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York, Brockport, is a former student of Joseph Owens. Dr. Catan also edited St. Thomas Aquinas on the Existence of God: The Collected Papers of Joseph Owens (SUNY Press, 1980) and edited and translated The Concept of First Philosophy and the Unity of the Metaphysics of Aristotle by Giovanni Reale (SUNY Press, 1979).