Wemerson asked:

Hello! It is with pleasure that I write.

My questions are:

*Is Aristotle's Metaphysics a work only destined for erudites?

*If negative, how could an academical student read the work, without complications?

It is evident that English is not your native language. Aristotle, of course, wrote in ancient Greek, a
language very different from both modern Greek and from modern English. There are very many
translations and commentaries of Aristotle in various languages, with probably the best being in
modern English, German, French and I'd guess Italian.

So, first, if you want to read Aristotle, and have little background in Western philosophy, start with a
good commentary, not with the original. He is difficult, mostly because of the difficulty in translation. If
there is a good commentary in your native language, I would advise your reading that first, before you
go to the original. As I say, if you actually look at the ancient Greek (which I have done to some
extent) you find huge differences in the way that words were used, defined, and combined, from the
way they are employed in English.

Then, after you've read the commentary on whatever aspect of Aristotle you're interested in (and
that's another question — he wrote an enormous amount in a variety of fields), go to the (translated)
original, and read, carefully, the translator's introduction before you start on the text.

In general I would highly recommend, if you are reading in English, that you find recentcommentaries
and translations, for this reason: the older writers took themselves, for the most part, to be the final
authority on interpreting Aristotle, in part because there were very few others, and in part because
that was the style, some time ago. Modern translators are much more humble, and take a variety of
interpretations and translations into account (if they're any good). So in finding a translation, try to find
one which has footnotes and/or references to other translations. You will get a much more complete
and rounded account of Aristotle and incidentally of the history of his interpretation.

I found, for example, H.G. Apostle's translation of the Nicomachean Ethicsexcellent for those
reasons.

To answer your questions specifically, "Is Aristotle's Metaphysics a work only destined for erudites?"
Basically, at this point, yes, because of translation problems, and because of his topics.

"If negative, how could an academical student read the work, without complications?" There's no way
to read Aristotle "without complications"; he addresses some of the most complex problems there are.
Try what I've suggested above. If you want something like a Reader's Digest watered-down version of
Aristotle, well, I'd say don't bother. But if you insist, in the US there is a publisher which prints "Idiots
Guides" to various subjects (I'm not joking, that's what they're called); they might have something.

Steven Ravett Brown