Welcome to the Philosophy of Being
Aristotle called the philosophy of being "first philosophy" because it does not examine the parts of reality (politics, math, music, history), but reality itself: existence, change, properties, space, time, causality, and possibility. This first philosophy is also called "metaphysics," deriving from the Greek words meta ("beyond") and physica ("physical").
I designed this site for students studying philosophy at the College of Saint Thomas More. Whether or not you are taking courses, I hope that you find the articles, outlines, and essays helpful.
Metaphysically,
Dr. Taylor Marshall
Professor of Philosophy
College of Saint Thomas More
Aristotle Archive
-
Aristotle’s 5 Predicables Explained
Aristotle predicables are not that difficult to understand. They are the five ways that we can speak about something. For... -
Outline of Aristotle’s Metaphysics
Aristotle’s Metaphysics consists of fourteen (14) books of various lengths, often without any obvious order or relation to prior books.... -
Aristotle’s Vocabulary
Aristotle’s Book Delta of his Metaphysics is commonly called Aristotle’s dictionary or lexicon. Below is a helpful list of Greek... -
Did Plato Have an Unwritten Doctrine?
Aristotle tells us that Plato had an unwritten doctrine or unwritten dogmas (agrapha dogmata). Commenting on Plato’s Timaeus, Aristotle recorded: “It... -
What did Thomas Aquinas say about Aristotle
If you read Latin, you may find this helpful. The link below will take you the Latin texts of Thomas... -
Raphael’s School of Athens Explained for Philosophers
The painting above is Scuola di Atene (“School of Athens”) by Raphael. Raphael likely painted it in 1511 in one... -
Aristotle’s Ten Categories
Substances are unique in that they are independent. The other nine categories are “accidental.” These nine categories each depend on...