Thinking Being: Introduction to Metaphysics in the Classical Tradition (Ancient Mediterranean and Medieval Texts and Contexts: Studies in Platonism, Neoplatonism, and the Platonic Tradition, 17)

Eric D. Perl, Loyola Marymount University In Thinking Being, Eric Perl articulates central ideas and arguments regarding the nature of reality in Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, and Aquinas. He shows that, throughout this tradition, these ideas proceed from and return to the indissoluble togetherness of thought and being, first clearly expressed by Parmenides. The emphasis throughout is on continuity rather than opposition: Aristotle appears as a follower of Plato in identifying being as intelligible form, and Aquinas as a follower of Plotinus in locating the first principle beyond being. Hence Neoplatonism, itself a coherent development of Platonic thought, comes to be seen as the mainstream of classical philosophy. Perls book thus contributes to a revisionist understanding of the fundamental outlines of the western tradition in metaphysics. Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Abbreviations 11 Works of Plato 11 Works of Aristotle 11 Works of Thomas Aquinas 11 Introduction 13 1. The Nature of Metaphysics 13 2. The Scope of This Study 16 3. Thought and Being 19 Chapter One. Parmenides 23 1. Milesian Background 23 2. Being and Thinking 24 3. What Is Being? 27 Chapter Two. Plato 31 1. Reading Plato 31 2. Being as Form 34 3. The Meaning of Separation 39 4. The Levels of Being 46 5. The Ascent of the Soul 50 6. Knowledge as sunousia 58 7. The Good 66 8. The Forms and the Demiurge 73 9. The Motion of Intellect 77 10. The Receptacle of Becoming 82 Chapter Three. Aristotle 85 1. The Principles of Change 85 2. Nature as Form 89 3. Reality as Form: Metaphysics Z 94 4. The Priority of Act 101 5. The Unmoved Mover 103 6. Life, Sense, and Intellect: On the Soul 109 Chapter Four. Plotinus 119 1. Being and Intellect 119 2. The One beyond Being 126 3. The Production of Being 135 4. Transcendence and Immanence 141 5. Being as Beauty 144 6. The Sensible and the Intelligible 149 7. The Two Matters 155 Chapter Five. Thomas Aquinas 163 1. Aquinas and the Philosophical Tradition 163 2. Essence and Existence 164 3. God as Existence Itself 170 4. Creatures and God 178 5. Analogical Predication 186 6. The Transcendentals 189 Bibliography 203 1. Primary Sources 203 2. Select Secondary Sources 203 General Index 207 Index Locorum 221 "In Thinking Being, Eric Perl articulates central ideas and arguments regarding the nature of reality in Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, and Aquinas. He shows that, throughout this tradition, these ideas proceed from and return to the indissoluble togetherness of thought and being, first clearly expressed by Parmenides. The emphasis throughout is on continuity rather than opposition: Aristotle appears as a follower of Plato in identifying being as intelligible form, and Aquinas as a follower of Plotinus in locating the first principle 'beyond being.' Hence Neoplatonism, itself a coherent development of Platonic thought, comes to be seen as the mainstream of classical philosophy. Perl's book thus contributes to a revisionist understanding of the fundamental outlines of the western tradition in metaphysics."--Publisher description In Thinking Being, Perl Articulates Central Arguments And Ideas Regarding The Nature Of Reality In Parmenides, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, And Thomas Aquinas, Thematizing The Indissoluble Togetherness Of Thought And Being, And Focusing On Continuity Rather Than Opposition Within This Tradition.