Preface

For Aristotle, metaphysics was the most important form of rational inquiry, the first philosophy. Aristotelian metaphysics is the study of the fundamental structure of reality; it examines the preconditions of scientific knowledge. It is in the so-called ‘neo-Aristotelian’ tradition where this understanding of metaphysics has thrived and where discussion of traditional metaphysical concepts prevails. This collection anticipates the renaissance of Aristotelian metaphysics and brings together some of its most prominent defenders. The contributions provide both an analysis of metaphysics understood in this fashion as well as a detailed look into some of the most important themes of neo-Aristotelian metaphysics.

Four chapters in this volume (those by Olson, Rosenkrantz, Heil, and Hoffman) are based on presentations given at a conference, ‘The Metaphysics of E. J. Lowe’, at the State University of New York at Buffalo, 8–9 April 2006. I am grateful to the organizers for their permission to use material presented at the conference in this volume. All contributions, including these four, are published here for the first time.