Syrianus

Syrianus originally from Alexandria moved to Athens and became the head of the Academy there after the death of Plutarch of Athens. This discussion of Aristotle's<i> Metaphysics</i> 3-4 shows how metaphysics as a philosophical science was conceived by the Neoplatonic philosopher of Late Antiquity. The questions raised by Aristotle in <i>Metaphysics </i>3 regarding the scope of metaphysics are answered by Syrianus who also criticises the alternative answers explored by Aristotle. In presenting <i>Metaphysics</i> 4 Syrianus explains in what sense metaphysics deals with 'being as being' and how this includes the essential attributes of being (unity/multiplicity sameness/difference etc.) showing also that it comes within the scope of metaphysics to deal with the primary axioms of scientific thought in particular the Principle of Non-Contradiction for which Syrianus provides arguments additional to those developed by Aristotle. Syrianus thus reveals how Aristotelian metaphysics was formalized and transformed by a philosophy which found its deepest roots in Pythagoras and Plato.