ABSTRACT
In reading any important philosopher, but most of all in reading Aristotle, it is necessary to study him in two ways: with reference to his predecessors, and with reference to his successors. In the former aspect, Aristotle's merits are enormous; in the latter, his demerits are equally enormous. It is difficult to decide at what point to begin an account of Aristotle's metaphysics, but perhaps the best place is his criticism of the theory of ideas, and his own alternative doctrine of universals. He advances against the theory of ideas a number of very good arguments, most of which are already to be found in Plato's Parmenides. Aristotle's metaphysics may be described as Plato diluted by common sense. The next point in Aristotle's metaphysics is the distinction of 'form' and 'matter'. To understand Aristotle's doctrine of the soul, one must remember that the soul is the 'form' of the body, and that spatial shape is one kind of 'form'.
