Aristotle's 'Metaphysics': A Reader's Guide

Description

Aristotle's Metaphysics is an extremely rich and important philosophical work that continues to inspire reflection and debate. Indeed, no philosophical work has been more influential.Yet, the Metaphysics is also notoriously complex.Because the work is an inquiry that seeks to discover solutions to problems rather than to defend doctrines, readers often struggle to follow the text and to understand its final solutions.This book focuses on the fascinating metaphysical issues that Aristotle is addressing. By working through the text, Halper explains how these issues arise, how the text engages them, and how it argues for solutions.Besides showing how to read the text, Halper aims to help readers reflect on the issues. Aristotle's Metaphysics: A Reader's Guide presents a concise and accessible introduction to the text, offering invaluable guidance on: - Philosophical context - Key themes - Reading the text - Reception and influence - Further reading

Edward Halper is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Georgia, USA. His publications include the three volume series One and Many in Aristotle's Metaphysics (Parmenides Press), Form and Reason: Essays in Metaphysics (SUNY Press, 1993) and some fifty papers in journals and anthologies.

'Having already earned an enduring place as an expositor of Aristotle's work in his One and Many in Aristotle's Metaphysics, Edward C. Halper now proves that he is an expert teacher as well. Informed throughout by his unique awareness of the dialectical integrity of this indispensable text, Halper's pellucid guide provides the beginner with a firm foundation for further progress in philosophy.' -- William H.F. Altman, author of Plato the Teacher: The Crisis of the Republic. 'Aristotle's Metaphysics is not an easy book to read, but now it is possible for both graduate and undergraduate classes to study it first-hand. Ed Halper has done a beautiful job of mapping the whole terrain of Aristotle's complex dialectical argument from beginning to end.Thanks to this overview of the whole, one can now chart a well-informed course through a coherent sequence of its parts.' -- Joe Sachs, translator of the Metaphysics and other works of Aristotle. 'This clear and concise book is an invaluable guide to one of Aristotle's most important and profound works. The analysis that Halper offers allow those beginning to navigate the intricacies of Aristotle's Metaphysics to see the main lines of each argument and to make sense of the work as an integral whole.' -- Owen Goldin, Professor of Philosophy at Marquette University, USA. 'This is an elegant introduction to the main lines of Aristotle's Metaphysics and at the same time an argument for the unity and coherence of the work. It distills decades of reflection on one of the most intricate texts in the Western philosophical tradition. Halper excels at expressing the subtleties of Aristotle's thought in plain English. The reader who is struggling to figure out what Aristotle is up to in the Metaphysics will find much help here.' -- Arthur Madigan S.J., Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, USA