Aristotle’s Definition of a Science of Being Qua Being
by Tatiana Velitchkov © 2009

Aristotle the ancient Greek philosopher came up with the science of being qua being. Metaphysics according to him is the science of being. The word ‘qua’ is a specification of the being that is to be considered. As a philosopher, Aristotle concerned himself with being qua being by carrying out investigations of things with respect to nature of the very being. Being, to Aristotle is divided into a number of categories so that being qua being will deal with being in each of the various categories.

For instance, ontology as the science of being qua being involves determining how each of the categories can be a type of being and considers how the different senses of being qua being are related. Aristotle put forth the proposition that this study of being qua being is not about content but is about the nature of the being. Consequently, this universal science studies the whole compared to special sciences that involve studying classes of unique substances. With regard to the basic meaning pattern, Aristotle says that all the senses of the word being have a relation to substance so that ousiology, which means ‘study substance’, becomes the pivotal subject matter of Aristotle’s science of being qua being.

However, Aristotle’s definition of being qua being has ambiguity. The science of being qua being thus, means the study of ‘that which is’ qua ‘thing which is’ and exactly belongs to ‘that which is’. We can contrast the generality of this kind science with sciences which will cut a piece of ‘that which is’ and study the unique characteristics of this part. The ‘qua’ locution in the being qua being indicates the respect with which the subject matter is studied. It refers to the fundamental truths that are specific to each of the ‘thing that is.’

Aristotle’s definition of science of being qua being gives general propositions of principles that are applicable to ‘that which is.’ For instance, the principle of non-contradiction is specific to beings. Here the things and aspects of ‘that which is’ will involve studying only the things that are applicable to ‘things that are.’ This enables a philosopher to investigate the truth about these things. To Aristotle the main concern of the science of being qua being is the consideration of what will make something to be called a substance so that this ‘something’ is unique in the world. Aristotle claims that the essence of a given substance is the causation or the reason for its existence. Consequently, Aristotle demonstrates that there is existence of substance. By this virtue, a thing becomes a substance. Thus, this science studies a being as a being in itself.

See Robert Hand’s video about “What is the Aristotelian definition of science?”