SYRIANUS ON SUBSTANCE IN ARISTOTLE
In this paper, I intend to examine Syrianus’s commentaries on Aristotle’s Metaphysics regarding the nature of substance. I shall rely on Syrianus’ surviving work On Aristotle’s Metaphysics 3-4 &13-14 and on the testimonies of ancient authors on some of his lost works. I establish that Syrianus’ position on the idea of substance in Aristotle was a polemical work intended to establish the non-relevance of Aristotle’s idea of substance in the discussion about the nature of reality. To achieve his aim, Syrianus undertook to: (1) present the extent of divergence between Aristotle’s idea of substance and Platonic philosophy (2) demonstrate that the extent of the divergence demonstrate the failure of Aristotle’s attack on Platonic philosophy and (3) subordinate the entire Aistotlean concept of substance as inferior to Platonic philosophy. In this paper, I will highlight Syrianus’ interpretation of Aristotle’s idea of substance in order to discover the extent to which his intention was realized.
Keywords: aristotle, substance, syrianus