SOURCE: "Genus as Matter: A Reading of Metaphysics Z-H," in Exegesis and Argument: Studies in Greek Philosophy Presented to Gregory Vlastos, edited by E. N. Lee, A. P. D. Mourelatos, R. M. Rorty, Van Gorcum & Company B. V., 1973, pp. 393-420.

In the following essay, Rorty reviews what he describes as a significant difficulty in the reading of Metaphysics, namely that it appears to lack unity and a conclusion. Rorty locates the primary source of the substance-form puzzle in Book Z, and argues that by understanding Aristotle's claim that genus is matter, a claim not often taken seriously, certain difficulties in Book Z are eliminated.

One difficulty in reading the Metaphysics is to locate the conclusion of the argument.¹ The difficulty is so great that many have concluded that there is no conclusion, and no unity to the treatise. Now, it may well be that what we call a...