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Symbolic illustration of Metaphysics in the Prokopton42.com Library

Work

Metaphysics

Aristotle

Metaphysics proceeds through distinctions, objections, and causal inquiry. The surviving text has the density of a school treatise, not a transcribed conversation.

Composition
4th century BCE; transmitted as a layered collection
Sources and precision

The transmitted corpus does not support a secure internal chronology. The text may combine distinct layers of composition or revision.

Confidence D · disputed range

Period
Antiquity
Languages
Ancient Greek · English · French
Extent
142 passages · 109,138 words

Before reading

What you will learn

Identify the exact question asked of being, distinguish substance, cause, potentiality, and actuality, then test which difficulty each distinction resolves.

Short summary

Metaphysics proceeds through distinctions, objections, and causal inquiry. The surviving text has the density of a school treatise, not a transcribed conversation.

Long summary

Canonical identity follows the CTS book and section. The critical Greek, historical English translation, and AI-generated French translation remain three aligned manifestations.

The books do not present a system cast in one piece: they revisit causes, being, substance, potentiality, and actuality through several inquiries. An isolated formula must not conceal those internal tensions.

Inside this work

The table of contents follows the divisions actually carried by the corpus.

Work › Book › Section

Book 110 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 10
  3. Section 2
  4. Section 3
  5. Section 4
  6. Section 5
  7. Section 6
  8. Section 7
  9. Section 8
  10. Section 9
Book 1010 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 10
  3. Section 2
  4. Section 3
  5. Section 4
  6. Section 5
  7. Section 6
  8. Section 7
  9. Section 8
  10. Section 9
Book 1112 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 10
  3. Section 11
  4. Section 12
  5. Section 2
  6. Section 3
  7. Section 4
  8. Section 5
  9. Section 6
  10. Section 7
  11. Section 8
  12. Section 9
Book 1210 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 10
  3. Section 2
  4. Section 3
  5. Section 4
  6. Section 5
  7. Section 6
  8. Section 7
  9. Section 8
  10. Section 9
Book 1310 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 10
  3. Section 2
  4. Section 3
  5. Section 4
  6. Section 5
  7. Section 6
  8. Section 7
  9. Section 8
  10. Section 9
Book 146 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 2
  3. Section 3
  4. Section 4
  5. Section 5
  6. Section 6
Book 23 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 2
  3. Section 3
Book 36 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 2
  3. Section 3
  4. Section 4
  5. Section 5
  6. Section 6
Book 48 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 2
  3. Section 3
  4. Section 4
  5. Section 5
  6. Section 6
  7. Section 7
  8. Section 8
Book 530 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 10
  3. Section 11
  4. Section 12
  5. Section 13
  6. Section 14
  7. Section 15
  8. Section 16
  9. Section 17
  10. Section 18
  11. Section 19
  12. Section 2
  13. Section 20
  14. Section 21
  15. Section 22
  16. Section 23
  17. Section 24
  18. Section 25
  19. Section 26
  20. Section 27
  21. Section 28
  22. Section 29
  23. Section 3
  24. Section 30
  25. Section 4
  26. Section 5
  27. Section 6
  28. Section 7
  29. Section 8
  30. Section 9
Book 64 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 2
  3. Section 3
  4. Section 4
Book 717 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 10
  3. Section 11
  4. Section 12
  5. Section 13
  6. Section 14
  7. Section 15
  8. Section 16
  9. Section 17
  10. Section 2
  11. Section 3
  12. Section 4
  13. Section 5
  14. Section 6
  15. Section 7
  16. Section 8
  17. Section 9
Book 86 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 2
  3. Section 3
  4. Section 4
  5. Section 5
  6. Section 6
Book 910 passages
  1. Section 1
  2. Section 10
  3. Section 2
  4. Section 3
  5. Section 4
  6. Section 5
  7. Section 6
  8. Section 7
  9. Section 8
  10. Section 9

Concepts covered

Historical context

The world around the text

The corpus manifests do not yet establish the precise place and circumstances of composition. The images below document the author’s world or the text’s transmission. They do not claim to show the exact scene of writing.

These are modern reconstructions. They situate a documented place, practice, or transmission and are not period documents.

Modern reconstruction of Athens for Metaphysics on Prokopton42.com
AthensPlato's Academy, then Aristotle's Lyceum. The generated scene uses Athens and 367-347 and 335-323 BCE as its documented anchors.Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Aristotle
Modern reconstruction of Material world: technology, science, and care, 334–323 BCE for Metaphysics on Prokopton42.com
Material world: technology, science, and care, 334–323 BCEAlexander’s conquests open the Hellenistic age, where Greek schools spread far beyond Athens. The image situates Metaphysics without claiming to show its scene of composition.
Modern reconstruction of Material world: agriculture and food, 334–323 BCE for Metaphysics on Prokopton42.com
Material world: agriculture and food, 334–323 BCEAlexander’s conquests open the Hellenistic age, where Greek schools spread far beyond Athens. The image situates Metaphysics without claiming to show its scene of composition.

What the world looked like

World of 1989

Modern reconstruction of the material world around Metaphysics: Technology, science, and care
Technology, science, and carePersonal computers, satellites, video, industrial robots, and expensive mobile phones exist, but the public Web does not yet. Computing, genetics, climate science, cosmology, and medical imaging produce growing data and international collaboration. CT, MRI, transplantation, vaccines, and intensive care advance; the AIDS epidemic exposes both medical capacity and its limits.
Modern reconstruction of the material world around Metaphysics: Travel and communication
Travel and communicationCars, high-speed rail, metros, aircraft, and containers globalize people and goods. Fixed telephones, fax, television, radio, and newspapers predominate. Email and computer networks remain mainly professional or academic.
Modern reconstruction of the material world around Metaphysics: Farming and food
Farming and foodMachinery, chemical inputs, breeding, and cold chains support high yields with increasingly debated social and environmental costs.
Modern reconstruction of the material world around Metaphysics: Clothing, women and men
Clothing, women and menLoose suits, jeans, trainers, women’s power suits, sportswear, and urban subcultures create highly varied silhouettes.
State of technology
Personal computers, satellites, video, industrial robots, and expensive mobile phones exist, but the public Web does not yet.
Science and knowledge
Computing, genetics, climate science, cosmology, and medical imaging produce growing data and international collaboration.
Medicine and care
CT, MRI, transplantation, vaccines, and intensive care advance; the AIDS epidemic exposes both medical capacity and its limits.
Transport
Cars, high-speed rail, metros, aircraft, and containers globalize people and goods.
Agriculture and food
Machinery, chemical inputs, breeding, and cold chains support high yields with increasingly debated social and environmental costs.
Communication
Fixed telephones, fax, television, radio, and newspapers predominate. Email and computer networks remain mainly professional or academic.
Clothing and fashion
Loose suits, jeans, trainers, women’s power suits, sportswear, and urban subcultures create highly varied silhouettes.

Editions, translations, and provenance

The following carriers represent the text. They do not create new passage identities.

  • Ancient Greekcomplete_aligned_treatise
  • Englishcomplete_aligned_treatise
  • French AI-generated translation, non-officialCodex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-13

Source manifests: aristotle.metaphysics

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MetaphysicsAristotle

Before reading

What you will learn

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