Abstract

In Metaphysics Gamma, Aristotle attributes to metaphysics the study of the Principle of Non-Contradiction (PNC). He then defends this attribution and, throughout book Gamma, develops arguments about the PNC. We'll seek to understand, first, why Aristotle includes the PNC among the objects of study of metaphysics. In order to do that, we'll examine the argument Aristotle offers in Gamma to defend this inclusion, and we'll relate it to how Aristotle conceives metaphysics and the scientific knowledge of principles. Following that, we'll inquire as to how aristotelian metaphysics studies the PNC. We'll consider the arguments about the PNC developed by Aristotle in Gamma, such as the so-called elenctic argument and theargument of indubitability. We'll defend the thesis that those arguments exemplify the metaphysical study of the PNC as Aristotle conceives it. In conclusion, we'll go over how the aristotelian conception of metaphysics is elucidated by considering the study of the PNC, arguing that our interpretation allows us to affirm continuity between the two tasks of metaphysics presented inMetaphysics Alpha, namely: that of studying being qua being and that of studying the first causes and principles.