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Metaphysics
9Aristotle
Aristotle's investigation of being itself — the book that named the discipline of metaphysics and structured Western philosophy's deepest questions for twenty-three centuries.
GBM Assessment (Score: 9/10)
Aristotle's Metaphysics is the foundational text of Western metaphysical inquiry, establishing the study of "being qua being" as the first philosophy. It provided the conceptual framework upon which both medieval Islamic and Christian philosophy were built, making it a consequential intellectual works in human history.
The Metaphysics was transmitted to medieval Europe largely through Arabic translations by the great Islamic philosophers Avicenna and Averroes, who preserved and elaborated upon Aristotle's thought. Thomas Aquinas made it the foundation of his philosophical theology, and Martin Heidegger's critique of Western metaphysics in the twentieth century took Aristotle as its primary point of departure.
Philosophy's Golden Age, c. 400-300 BC
Plato founds the Academy (387 BC) and writes his dialogues. Aristotle founds the Lyceum and systematizes every field. In China, the Dao De Jing emerges during the Warring States period. Alexander conquers from Greece to India, spreading Greek culture. Euclid compiles his Elements in Ptolemaic Alexandria. The Hellenistic age begins.
Awards & Adaptations
Core in philosophy. Foundation of Islamic/Christian theology.
Recommended Edition
H. Tredennick (Loeb 1933); W.D. Ross (1924)
