Non-existent but potentially actual. Aristotle on plenitude (Met. Θ 3-4, 1047b1-6)

Abstract

Non-existent but potentially actual. Aristotle on plenitude (Met. Θ 3-4, 1047b1-6) The first half of Metaphysics Θ, 4 is essential to understand Aristotle’s concept of δυνατόν and his position on the so-called Principle of Plenitude. Nevertheless, some scholars tend to forget that the constitution of the text and the syntactic reading of this passage are far from being unanimously accepted. The scholarly discussion on this text often takes place only at the philosophical level, as if all philological issues had already been satisfactorily answered. This is not, however, the case. We believe that no philosophical reading of these texts should leave aside the critical discussion of the textual problems so often raised by Aristotelian treatises. In accordance with this, we offer here a fresh examination of all textual data involved in our attempt to understand the theoretical meaning of Met. Θ 3-4, 1047b1-6. In our case, this means establishing the text of the passage at hand, and providing a new general interpretation of Aristotle’s doctrine regarding the ‘possible.’