ABSTRACT
My aim is to present a new interpretation and translation of the phrase τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι, which avoids the shortcomings of the prevailing view of its syntactical structure and literal meaning. On my view, the question “τί ἦν εἶναι;”, which is nominalised by the article “τό”, is an abbreviated form of the question “τὸ τί εἶναι ἦν τὸ εἶναι;” ("what to be was [for something] to be?"). The idea which seems to have inspired Aristotle to his enigmatic coinage is the idea that to be what the species of which it is an individual is defined as is for a thing simply to be, i.e. to exist.
