Syrianus: On Aristotle Metaphysics 3-4

by Syrianus, Dominic J. O'Meara (Translation), John Dillon (Translation)

Syrianus, originally from Alexandria, moved to Athens and became the head of the Academy there after the death of Plutarch of Athens. This discussion of Aristotle's Metaphysics 3-4 shows how metaphysics, as a philosophical science, was conceived by the Neoplatonic philosopher of Late Antiquity. The questions raised by Aristotle in Metaphysics 3 regarding the scope of metaphysics are answered by Syrianus, who also criticises the alternative answers explored by Aristotle. In presenting Metaphysics 4, Syrianus explains in what sense metaphysics deals with 'being as being' and how this includes the essential attributes of being (unity/multiplicity, sameness/difference, etc.), showing also that it comes within the scope of metaphysics to deal with the primary axioms of scientific thought, in particular the Principle of Non-Contradiction, for which Syrianus provides arguments additional to those developed by Aristotle. Syrianus thus reveals how Aristotelian metaphysics was formalized and transformed by a philosophy which found its deepest roots in Pythagoras and Plato.

Genres: Philosophy

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2008

About the author

Syrianus (Ancient Greek: Συριανός, Syrianos; died c. 437) was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher, and head of Plato's Academy in Athens, succeeding his teacher Plutarch of Athens in 431/432. He is important as the teacher of Proclus, and, like Plutarch and Proclus, as a commentator on Plato and Aristotle. His best-known extant work is a commentary on the Metaphysics of Aristotle. He is said to have written also on the De Caelo and the De Interpretatione of Aristotle and on Plato's Timaeus.

Reviews

[Erick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not all of this work is equally as interesting, but the parts that are, make it worthy of a good review and make it worth recommending.

Syrianus was a later Neo-Platonist and was the teacher of both Proclus and Hermeias. Many of his works have disappeared and a lot of his Neo-Platonist thought most likely survives in the one commentary we have of Hermeias and the numerous extant works of Proclus. What we do have of Syrianus is his commentary on Aristotle's Metaphysics.

For anyone that is curious to know how the later Neo-Platonists dealt with Aristotle, this commentary is a primary source. It shouldn't be surprising that the Neo-Platonists disagreed with Aristotle on a number of topics, but they also utilized him where they felt his philosophy was compatible with Plato. They seemingly accepted his categories, but also used them in contrasting ways. Here, I thought it was quite interesting that Syrianus pointed out that it is difficult to find any unifying subtance (or principle) in Aristotle's categories: as one ascends to genera, the categories become more abstract, even if more general and, seemingly, more codifying; and when one descends into species, one finds plurality and division with no apparent unifying principle. Aristotle rejected the Platonic doctrine of forms, but he was not able to show exactly what brought his categories into cohesion. Syrianus' criticism is incredibly poignant and interesting. Aristotle's genera are abstract and his species are manifold. There really seems to be no way for Aristotle to advocate cohesion of the categories without appealing to some abstract principle such as Plato's forms.

There may not be a lot here directly relevant to Syrianus' own Neo-Platonist system, but he covers a lot of ground in discussing the relationship between Aristotle and Plato (or, I should say, the Neo-Platonist interpretation of Plato). For those who are interested in how Neo-Platonists responded to Aristotelian criticisms, this book is essential reading.

[Kaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will treasure this reading experience for all time.