形而上學（簡體書）

METAPHYSICS is one of the principal works of Aristotle and the first major work of the branch of philosophy with the same name. The principal subject is "being qua being"， or being understood as being. It examines what can be asserted about anything that exists just because of its existence and not because of any special qualities it has. Also covered are different kinds of causation， form and matter， the existence of mathematical objects， and a prime- mover God.
The Metaphysics is considered to be one of the greatest philosophical works. Its influence on the Greeks， the Arabs， the scholastic philosophers and even writers such as Dante， was immense.

ARISTOLE， （384 BC-322 BC） was a Greek philosopher and polymath， a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects， including physics， metaphysics， poetry， theater， music， logic， rhetoric， linguistics， politics， government， ethics， biology， and zoology.
Together with Plato and Socrates （Plato's teacher）， Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. Aristotle's writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy， encompassing morality and aesthetics， logic and science， politics and metaphysics.

形而上學（又稱玄學）亦即對世界本體以及人自身存在本質的探尋發軔于上古的“軸心時代”，這種探尋構成了各民族文化的底里。亞里士多德全面系統地整合了古希臘數百年自然哲學與精神哲學的成果，進而提出“存在是什么”的問題，對存在本身進行追問，從而將古希臘哲學提升到純粹形而上學的層面。亞里士多德由此展開對存在的分類，規定了實體的存在才是真正獨立的存在，而其他一切屬性的存在乃至一切范疇的存在都因這一實體的存在而得以存在。
亞里士多德的本體論（或稱存在論）是他對後世哲學的最大貢獻，難怪黑格爾稱其為古希臘最多才、最淵博深刻的天才。

BOOK I
BOOK II
BOOK III
BOOK IV
BOOK V
BOOK VI
BOOK VII
BOOK VIII
BOOK IX
BOOK X
BOOK XI
BOOK XII
BOOK XIII
BOOK XIV

This implies that change was necessary; but he shows no cause of the necessity. But yet so far at least he alone speaks consistently; for he does not make some things perishable and others imperishable， but makes all perishable except the elements. The difficulty we are speaking of now is， why some things are perishable and others are not， if they consist of the same principles.
Let this suffice as proof of the fact that the principles cannot be the same. But if there are different principles， one difficulty is whether these also will be imperishable or perishable. For if they are perishable， evidently these also must consist of certain elements （for all things that perish， perish by being resolved into the elements of which they consist）; so that it follows that prior to the principles there are other prinaples.
But this is impossible， whether the process has a limit or proceeds to infinity. Further， how will perishable things exist， if their principles are to be annulled? But if the principles are imperishable， why will things composed of some imperishable principles be perishable， while those composed of the others are imperishable? This is not probable， but is either impossible or needs much proof. Further， no one has even tried to maintain different principles; they maintain the same principles for all things. But they swallow the difficulty we stated first as if they took it to be something trifling.
（11） The inquiry that is both the hardest of all and the most necessary for knowledge of the truth is whether being and rutty are the substances of things， and whether each of them， without being anything else， is being or unity respectively， or we must inquire what being and unity are， with the implication that they have some other underlying nature. For some people think they are of the former， others think they are of the latter character. Plato and the Pythagoreans thought being and unity were nothing else.
……