Metaphysics

The cornerstone of Western philosophy—a text that has shaped thought for over two millennia.

In Metaphysics, Aristotle lays the foundation for all of Western metaphysical inquiry, tackling the most profound questions of existence, causality, and essence. Composed more than 2,300 years ago, this extraordinary work still mystifies, provokes, and enlightens readers in search of deeper understanding.

At its core, Metaphysics explores what it means “to be”, making it one of the first texts to systematically study ontology—the nature of being itself. Here, Aristotle introduces his four causes (material, formal, efficient, and final) and lays out his revolutionary concept of substance and essence, which would become the bedrock of centuries of philosophical inquiry in both the Western and Islamic worlds.

Though challenging in its scope and depth, this ancient text remains lucid and rigorous, continually drawing thinkers, theologians, scientists, and seekers back to its pages. From medieval scholastics to Enlightenment rationalists, from existentialists to contemporary metaphysicians, Metaphysics has never stopped influencing those seeking to understand reality at its most fundamental level.

Inside these pages, you'll encounter:

• Aristotle’s distinction between potentiality and actuality

• The concept of "first philosophy" or theology

• The enduring idea of a “prime mover”

• A quest to define truth, substance, and change

More than just a philosophical classic, Metaphysics is a monument of intellectual daring—a work that dares to ask: What is real? What is eternal? And what does it mean to exist?

Whether you’re a seasoned scholar or a first-time reader of Aristotle, this edition is an essential gateway into the deepest questions of human understanding.

Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato's teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics. Aristotle's views on the physical sciences profoundly shaped medieval scholarship, and their influence extended well into the Renaissance, although they were ultimately replaced by Newtonian physics. In the zoological sciences, some of his observations were confirmed to be accurate only in the 19th century. His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, which was incorporated in the late 19th century into modern formal logic. In metaphysics, Aristotelianism had a profound influence on philosophical and theological thinking in the Islamic and Jewish traditions in the Middle Ages, and it continues to influence Christian theology, especially the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church. His ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics. All aspects of Aristotle's philosophy continue to be the object of active academic study today. Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues (Cicero described his literary style as "a river of gold"), it is thought that the majority of his writings are now lost and only about one-third of the original works have survived.