About the Passage in MetaphysicsΘ 6.1048b18-35: A Response

ABOUT THE PASSAGE IN METAPHYSICSΘ 6.1048B18-35: A RESPONSE AbstractThis paper reconsiders MetaphysicsΘ 6.1048b18-35 the controversial passage about ἐνέργειαvs. κίνησις, at the intersection of textual transmission, grammatical articulation, and ontological interpretation. Special attention is devoted to the pro-gram of Book Θ, which announces a reconsideration of δύναμις rather than a privi-leged treatment of ἐνέργεια, and to the specifically Aristotelian conception of actu-ality as a relational determination (ἐνεργείᾳ, κατ’ ἐνέργειαν). From this perspective, the passage introduces a mode of speaking about ἐνέργεια that sits uneasily with the relational ontology articulated in Θ 1 -5. The paper further reassesses appeals to Plo-tinus and Theophrastus, arguing that conceptual continuity does not entail textual attestation, and examines the manuscript evidence and the status of the passage within Byzantine transmission. Taken together, these considerations suggest that Θ 6.1048b18-35 is best understood not as an original component of Aristotle’s Metaphysics, but as a significant witness to an intermediate, neoplatonizing phasein the reception and transformation of Aristotelian ontology.