Course of Thomistic Philosophy IV, Metaphysics - Edouard Hugon

This fourth volume brings Hugon’s Course of Thomistic Philosophy to its culminating study: metaphysics, the science of being as being. Building on the prior treatments of logic and natural philosophy, it shifts from the physical and conceptual order to the most fundamental principles of reality itself.

In the Thomistic tradition of Thomas Aquinas, Hugon systematically presents key metaphysical themes such as being and essence, act and potency, the transcendentals (unity, truth, goodness), causality, substance and accidents, and the hierarchy of beings. He also treats natural theology, including arguments for the existence of God and the attributes of the first cause.

The work is marked by its rigorous structure and fidelity to Aristotelian-Thomistic realism, presenting metaphysics not as abstraction for its own sake, but as the ultimate foundation of all scientific and philosophical knowledge. Hugon’s clarity and pedagogical style make this volume both an introduction to classical metaphysics and a guide for deeper speculative study.