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SewerynBlandzi
purelyconceptualtheoryofthebeing(arbitrarilyreferringtoAristo-
telism),castsalongshadowontheoriginalunderstandingoftheAris-
totelian“firstphilosophy”,whichcenturieslaterwascalled“meta-
physics”,becauseitwas,notveryappropriately,assumedtobethe
synonymoftheformer.
Theterm“firstphilosophy”becamepopular,becauseofAristotelian
Metaphysics,whereitisassociatedparticularlywiththeknowledgeof
thefirstprinciplesandcauses(peritînprètwnarcînkaia„tiwn)
inaverybroadsenseofthisword.1
Yet,weshouldbearinmindthatMetaphysicsdoesnotconstitute
anyscienceinthestrictsense,butitisusedtoevaluateandestablish
ahierarchyofvariouskindsofknowledgeabilities(™pist»mai).
NotethatAristotleusessomeother‘evaluating’termstoincrease
thevalueoftheability,whichshouldtakethefirstplaceinepistemic
ranking.Thus,heusesthefollowingsuperlativesinreferencetoit:
timiwt£th,kratisth,qeiot£th.2
Inrelationtootherkindsofknowledge,itwouldplayaregulative
roleasarcikèteraandevenarcikwt£thtîn™pisthmîn.3The
rankingsensehasalsothetermsofia(wisdom)andtheoneassociated
withit,andactuallyderivedfromit,i.e.filosofia(theloveofwis-
dom),bothusedinterchangeablyforthepostulative,notyetspecified
supremeknowledgetobedevelopedinthefuture.
InthesixthbookofMetaphysics,thequestionisraised,anditcon-
cernsthehonorofbeing“thefirstwhetheritistobeattributedtothe
1Cf:König,E.,Aristoteles’ErstePhilosophiealsuniversaleWissenschaftvonden
arcai„ArchivfürGeschichtederPhilosophie”1970,H.3,pp.225-246.also:Lumpe,A
.,
DerTerminus«Prinzip»(arc»)vondenVorsokratikernbisaufAristoteles,„Archiv
fürBegriffsgeschichte“,Bd.1,1955,pp.111-116.)
2Aristotle,Met.,A2,983a4-11:“Noneismorenoblethanitis.Itisthemostdivine
andrespectable.Theskillcanbesoonlyfortworeasons:ThatGodinparticularpos-
sessesitandthatitconcernsthedivinity.Thisoneissoforbothreasons.Godturnsout
tobetheoneoftheprinciplesofallthings,andGodexclusively,ortoutmostdegree,
canmasterthiskindofknowledge.Letallotherbemostuseful,itwillremainthe
best”.A9,993a2.
3Ibid.A2,982a16,b4.