Document Type : Research

Author

• Maryam Jayervand

PhD Student in Philosophy, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

“τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσικά (Metaphysics)” is a title that was given to a collection of Aristotle’s researches after him. In this way, the unity of “Metaphysics” as a unified work has been questioned from the beginning. Finding the primary question and the desirable goal in different parts of Metaphysics is necessary to read this book as a single work. What transforms Metaphysics into a single work is a unique knowledge that Aristotle considered in his metaphysical research. In “Metaphysics” Aristotle seeks a science called Sophia or the first science. Whether Sophia is a distinct science is for Aristotle a difficult question to answer. To understand Aristotle’s problem, we should consider the unity of each science. How does every single science become a separate one? For Aristotle unity of each science depends on its substance or subject. Sophia has a specific subject, so Sophia’s unity is not like other sciences. Sophia considers being qua being as its subject. By being qua being, Aristotle introduces a general subject for Sophia. The subject of Sophia is the whole universe, but a conception of the whole is prior to discovering each substance as a unique substance. Sophia plays an important role in defining and discovering a new subject. So, Sophia is not itself a distinct science, it is the origin of all sciences. Sophia is called the first science in this view.    

Keywords

• First Science
• Sophia
• Substance
• Unity
• Being Qua Being
• Whole

Main Subjects

• Philosophy