There are, no doubt, some books of which it can be justly claimed that they will both prove invaluable for the new student and be a source of
stimulation for experienced readers. This is not such a book. Indeed, I
have doubts about the extent to which such a work can be produced
on the subject, at any rate, of Aristotelian metaphysics.
Forced, therefore, into choosing between an exoteric or an esoteric
translation of the Metaphysics, I have complied with the constraints of
time and of the limitations of my own competence in seeking to address
myself orbi rather than urbi. The result, I hope, will be a useful, if
humble, rung on the Wittgensteinian ladder up which anyone seeking
to become acquainted with Aristotle's central ruminations on the sub-
stance of the world must climb.