In the early twenty-first century metaphysics is a term used fairly loosely to describe philosophical investigation of the fundamental constituents of reality. But, in the Middle Ages, there was great debate about what was the subject of metaphysics, and that controversy had ancient roots.
In the Middle Ages, the question of the subject-matter of metaphysics became more problematic. The two greatest medieval Islamic philosophers, Avicenna (Ibn Sina; 980–1037) and Averroës (Ibn Rushd; 1126–1198), knew Aristotle's Metaphysics well. Avicenna held that God could not be the subject of metaphysics, because it is in metaphysics that the existence of God is demonst…
Aristotle's account in his Metaphysics of how things are constituted also uses the notion of Form, but it is treated very differently. The Forms Aristotle discusses are those of types of natural things, divided according to natural kinds. For instance, one natural kind is Man, another is Horse. According to this hylomorphic account, each man is a man by virtue of the Form of humanity, and e…
Another important debate in later medieval metaphysics was about whether essence—the sort of thing something is—and existence (esse) —the fact of the thing's actually existing—are really distinct. Aquinas held that they are, and that in everything except God there is a real composition between them. This theory allows Aquinas, who does not believe that every crea…
Aristotle. Metaphysics. In The Complete Works of Aristotle, edited by Jonathan Barnes. Vol. 2. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1985. Translations with extensive philosophical annotation of individual books of the Metaphysics can be found in the Clarendon Aristotle Series, published by Oxford University Press. Plato. Dialogues. Various translations are available. Aquinas, Thomas. Selec…
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