Monism in Aristotle’s Metaphysics I.3–5

Abstract

Scholars have often seen Parmenides as entirely opposed to earlier materialistic philosophy. In this paper I argue that what is more striking in Aristotle’s Metaphysics Book I is the degree of continuity that he sees between Parmenides and the material monists. I explore this coupling of Parmenides with the material monists to understand better what he takes to be distinctive and problematic with Parmenides’ monism.

Keywords

• Parmenides
• Aristotle
• monism
• materialism
• causes