Metaphysics Book VI and Book VII

Introduction to Metaphysics

  • Focus on seeking principles and causes of being.

  • Different sciences have their own principles, focusing on specific beings or genera, but do not address the essence of being generally.

Understanding 'Being'

  • Not all sciences address existence (whether something is) as part of their inquiry.

  • Natural sciences focus on substance and movement; they differ from practical and productive sciences.

  • Natural Science: Concerned with substances that have internal principles of movement and rest.

Theoretical Sciences

  • Divided into three categories:

    • Physics: Deals with movable substances.

    • Mathematics: Focuses on immovable entities, sometimes separate from matter.

    • Theology: The study of eternal, immovable, and separate existence.

  • Theoretical science is valued higher than practical or productive sciences, and theology is regarded as the highest form.

The Meaning of Being

  • The term 'being' carries multiple meanings:

    • Accidental vs. essential being.

    • Consideration of potential vs. actual being.

  • Accidental Being: Lacks scientific treatment; seen as a mere name without necessary attributes.

  • Example: Building a house has many unintended attributes that are not within the builder's control.

Characteristics of Accidental Being

  • Accidental beings are neither consistent nor constant (not always nor mostly).

  • Examples of accidental events:

    • Weather conditions inconsistent with typical patterns (e.g., winter during hot months).

    • Attributes, like a person's color, might not define their essence.

Causation in Being

  • Distinction between causes that are necessary vs. those that are accidental.

  • Events occur based on conditions that lead to outcomes (chain of events).

  • Necessity of a first cause that is neither accident nor dependent on other factors.

Substance and Its Categories

  • Inquiry into what constitutes substance, differentiated between:

    • Essence: The nature of something as it is.

    • Universal and Genus: Common traits among classes of things.

    • Substratum: That which underlies all predicates (the foundation).

  • Discussion on how matter, shape, and combinations define substance.

Complexity of Substance

  • Philosophical debate on whether only physical objects are substances or if other forms (like mathematical entities) also qualify.

  • Different philosophical traditions argue for various aspects of substance:

    • Plato's Forms versus material entities.

    • The potential existence of substances beyond the sensible world.

Essential Nature of Substance

  • Essence: What it means for something to be what it is.

  • Clarified that essence cannot simply be a combination of attributes (e.g., being white or tall).

  • The essence is that which is essential to a thing's nature, not dependent on additional descriptors.

Conclusion

  • Further exploration required on the concepts of essence and predicates in defining substance.

  • Aim to clarify how predicates imply substance and lead us to understand the nature of existence.