The Metaphysics of Aristotle (Thomas Taylor Series Vol.23)

Volume XXIII of the Thomas Taylor Series
The Works of Aristotle V (The Metaphysics)

This volume contains Aristotle's Metaphysics, together with extensive selections from the commentaries both of Syrianus—head of the Athenian Academy and teacher of Proclus—and the earlier peripatetic scholar Alexander of Aphrodisias (Alexander Aphrodesiensis).

Examining thorny passages from the Metaphysics wherein Aristotle critiques certain theories of forms, Syrianus' commentary provides a unique look at Platonic metaphysics, and at the Platonists' understanding of the harmony of Plato and Aristotle.

In addition, this volume contains the following shorter works written by, or attributed to, Aristotle:

• The Mechanical Problems.
• On the World.
• Against the Dogmas of Xenophanes, Zeno and Gorgias.
• On Virtues and Vices.
• The extant fragments of On Audilbles.

About the Thomas Taylor Aristotle
Thomas Taylor's translations of the complete works of Aristotle—the first complete set of such translations to be produced in English—have two great advantages for the modern reader:

First, Taylor works from within the Platonic tradition, of which he himself was a convinced follower. While other translations also have their own scholarly and literary merits, they often lack the depth of Taylor’s, because the subtle truths embedded in Platonic writings are only understood after careful and profound meditation. Like the great writers of the ancient Neoplatonic schools, Taylor saw Aristotle as a Platonist, and so he translated and explained Aristotle from that
perspective.

Second, Taylor includes extensive excerpts from the surviving Platonic commentaries on Aristotle, particularly the works of Simplicius, which are otherwise difficult or costly to obtain in English translation. By including these commentaries—and his own insightful notes—along with Aristotle's own words, Taylor brings to life the works of Aristotle, as part of the living Platonic tradition, extended across the centuries.

Thomas Taylor (1758-1835), was an 18th century translator whose writings influenced the likes of William Blake, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Wordsworth, G. R. S. Mead, & Mme. Helena Blavatsky. Manly P. Hall deeply admired Taylor for the Herculean and often thankless task of translating previously untranslated Greek philosophy.