The Activity of Being : An Essay on Aristotle's Ontology / Aryeh Kosman.
Kosman, Aryeh, author.
2013
B491.O5 K67 2013
Available Online

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Title The Activity of Being : An Essay on Aristotle's Ontology / Aryeh Kosman.
Author Kosman, Aryeh, author.
ISBN 9780674075023
DOI https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674075023
Published Cambridge, MA : : Harvard University Press, [2013]
Copyright ©2013
Language English
Language Note In English.
Description 1 online resource (295 p.) : 3 line illustrations
Other Standard Identifiers 10.4159/harvard.9780674075023 doi
Call Number B491.O5 K67 2013
Dewey Decimal Classification 111.092
Summary Understanding "what something is" is a project that has long occupied philosophers. Perhaps no thinker in the Western tradition has had more influence on how we approach this question than Aristotle, whose Metaphysics remains the locus classicus of rigorous examinations into the nature of being. Now, in an elegantly argued new study, Aryeh Kosman reinterprets Aristotle's ontology and compels us to reexamine some of our most basic assumptions about the great philosopher's thought. For Aristotle, to ask "what something is" is to inquire into a specific mode of its being, something ordinarily regarded as its "substance." But to understand substance, we need the concept of energeia-a Greek term usually translated as "actuality." In a move of far-reaching consequence, Kosman explains that the correct translation of energeia is not "actuality" but "activity." We have subtly misunderstood the Metaphysics on this crucial point, says Kosman. Aristotle conceives of substance as a kind of dynamic activity, not some inert quality. Substance is something actively being what it is. Kosman demonstrates how this insight significantly alters our understanding of a number of important concepts in Aristotelian thought, from accounts of motion, consciousness, and essence to explanations of the nature of animal and divine being. Whether it is approached as an in-depth introduction to Aristotle's metaphysics or as a highly original reassessment sure to spark debate, there can be no argument that The Activity of Being is a major contribution to our understanding of one of philosophy's most important thinkers.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics text file PDF
Source of Description Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 18. Sep 2023)
In E-BOOK GESAMTPAKET / COMPLETE PACKAGE 2013
E-BOOK PACKAGE PHILOSOPHY 2013
E-BOOK PAKET PHILOSOPHIE 2013
HUP eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013 (Canada)
Harvard University Press eBook Package Backlist 2000-2013
Available in Other Form print 9780674072862
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Frontmatter
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1. Being and Substance
Chapter 2. Motion and Activity
Chapter 3. Activity and Substance
Chapter 4. The Activity of Living Being
Chapter 5. What Something Is
Chapter 6. Something's Being What It Is
Chapter 7. The First Mover
Chapter 8. Divine Being and Thought
Chapter 9. The Activity of Being
Notes
Index

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