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earwicker 's review for:
Aristotle's Metaphysics
by Aristotle
"The word metaphysics, when heard by most people, is apt to raise a smile of the sort reserved for innocent souls who are harmlessly deluded." So begins Joe Sachs, by way of introduction to his translation. Aristotle is not for "most people," it's true, but Sachs' translation makes it a little easier for the remainder to rest confidently in harmless delusion.
Many years ago I struggled through Hippocrates Apostle's translations of Aristotle and the frustration I experienced can be exemplified in one word: substance. Ousia, traditionally translated "substance," is an independent thing that has attributes, but which is not an attribute of anything. It's sort of like the fundamental placeholder for a way of being that is prior to a thing's size or quantity or relation to other things. It is how a thing is before it is anything in particular. This is almost the opposite of the term "substance" which usually indicates something that has determinate qualities. To avoid this implication, Sachs employs the wonky term "thinghood." Sachs does a similar thing with the term "actuality" (entelechia, a "three-ring circus of a word" coined by Aristotle himself), which he translates as 'being-at-work-staying-itself." The glossary provides a full explanation of this and other troublesome terms. Sachs does the reader a huge service by turning these princes of medieval scholasticism -- substance, actuality, essence -- back into the humble frogs of classical philosophy. It doesn't make the Metaphysics an easy book to understand or interpret, but it opens the door a bit wider to understanding.
The Green Lion Press edition is also worthy of note -- large type, wide margins, and a sturdy binding that has so far withstood a considerable beating in my book bag.
Many years ago I struggled through Hippocrates Apostle's translations of Aristotle and the frustration I experienced can be exemplified in one word: substance. Ousia, traditionally translated "substance," is an independent thing that has attributes, but which is not an attribute of anything. It's sort of like the fundamental placeholder for a way of being that is prior to a thing's size or quantity or relation to other things. It is how a thing is before it is anything in particular. This is almost the opposite of the term "substance" which usually indicates something that has determinate qualities. To avoid this implication, Sachs employs the wonky term "thinghood." Sachs does a similar thing with the term "actuality" (entelechia, a "three-ring circus of a word" coined by Aristotle himself), which he translates as 'being-at-work-staying-itself." The glossary provides a full explanation of this and other troublesome terms. Sachs does the reader a huge service by turning these princes of medieval scholasticism -- substance, actuality, essence -- back into the humble frogs of classical philosophy. It doesn't make the Metaphysics an easy book to understand or interpret, but it opens the door a bit wider to understanding.
The Green Lion Press edition is also worthy of note -- large type, wide margins, and a sturdy binding that has so far withstood a considerable beating in my book bag.