Which is the best translation for Aristotle's "Metaphysics"??

[krishna_lit]

I am confused for quite a while in deciding which book to choose among two translations of Aristotle's phenomenal work, 'Metaphysics.' There was a free edition from MIT and the University of Adelaide by W.D.Ross and also a Penguin published book translated by Hugh Lawson Tancred. I plan to do an indepth study/research in this subject. So, please suggest which one is the best to go ahead with??

[mal4mac]

Why not start with the online version? If you get stuck you can ask questions here, or in philosophy forums, to get you over the hurdle. It's a great advantage if both you and the responder have the actual text in front of them. Also having the actual text makes it easier to produce a summary & notes, which is very useful for something really tough, like Aristotle's Metaphysics. There is more than Ross online if you want a second translation (see the wikipedia page for links).

[krishna_lit]

Thank you for the advice... Its a very useful one to discuss the summary notes and doubts online over here... I hope to come back with my doubts.... ;)

[mal4mac]

Have you read an introduction to Aristotle? If not I'd recommend Jonathan Barnes "Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction". He has good advice on how to approach reading Aristotle's works:

"Let it be admitted that Aristotle can be not only tough but also vexing. Whatever does he mean here? How on earth is this conclusion supposed to follow from those premises? Why this sudden barrage of technical terms? One ancient critic claimed that 'he surrounds the difficulty of his subject with the obscurity of his language, and thus avoids refutation -producing darkness, like a squid, in order to make himself hard to capture'. Every reader will, from time to time, think of Aristotle as a squid. But the moments of vexation are outnumbered by the moments of elation."

[krishna_lit]

But the moments of vexation are outnumbered by the moments of elation."

Aah, that's a very cautious encouragement and an attentive warning. Thank you for the response ;)

And are there any other (may be relatively easier) works that i can refer to, apart from Aristotle's?

[JoanneGross]

Hello friend,
Did you searched on the web about the same as you asked in the question? i think the information about the book related to metaphysics will get from the web as the online version. So it is better to search and find it from the web and i think it is easy for you for learning through online