ABSTRACT
At the beginning of his consciousness, Aristotleof course takes himself as something self-evident. However, this does not last long; but rather very early on, with first reflection, there already appears that wonderment which is one day to become the mother of metaphysics. With the exception of human beings, no being marvels at its own existence; but rather their existence is so utterly self-evident to them that they do not take note of it. Out of the animals calm gaze there still speaks the wisdom of nature; for in them, will and intellect have not yet separated widely enough to be capable of marveling at each other upon their reencounter. Temples and churches, pagodas and mosques, in all lands, in all ages, testify, in their splendor and grandeur, to that human need for metaphysics which follows, strong and ineradicable, upon the heels of physical need.
