proper being-true. And what is this proper deconcealment? Deconcealment is the manifestness of something which can present itself as itself. The deconcealment of the simple is the presence of the simple in and of itself. This presence is absolutely unmediated, i.e. nothing can intervene. Further, this unmediated presence is prior to all other presence. It is the highest and most original kind of presence. However, this completely unmediated constant presence of itself, this most constant and purest presence, is nothing else but the highest and most proper being. If, accordingly, the ἁπλᾶ are the most proper beings, if this deconcealment is the highest and most proper, and if, furthermore, this proper being-true is nothing but absolutely constant presence, then the beings which are properly true are the most proper beings: the ἀληθὲς ὄν is the κυριώτατον ὄν. It remains to show more precisely: 1. that Aristotle takes the ἁπλᾶ as the most proper beings, 2. that the essence of the most proper truth is nothing but constant presence.
Let us recall the leading question of philosophy: τί τὸ ὄν, what is being? This question inquires into the inner possibility of beings as such, into their ἀρχή (principle) or αἰτίαι (ground). Now Aristotle says that μᾶλλον ἀρχὴ τὸ ἁπλούστερον,45 that which is simpler, more primordial is more of a principle. The closer we come to what is simple, the closer do we come to principles. The more primordially we know, i.e. the more primordial the deconcealment of the deconcealed, the more ἁπλούστεραι αἱ αἴτιαι καὶ ἀρχαί.46 But the question concerning beings as such, precisely as knowledge of the ground of beings, is the most primordial knowledge, thus the simplest. And what is this which universally belongs to beings as such? It is being itself, αὐτό τὸ ὄν, the beings themselves considered purely in their being. Being does not just sometimes belong to beings and sometimes not, but belongs to them constantly and before everything else. Being as such, simplicity, unity, cannot be further analysed. Being is the simple itself, and as such it is the primary and ultimate ground of the possibility of every actual and conceivable being. That which is most simple is also that which is most proper in beings.
Now what does Aristotle say about proper beings, i.e. about the beings which have constant presence as their ground (principle, ἀρχή))? τὰς τῶν ἀεὶ ὄντων ἀρχὰς ἀναγκαῖον ἀεὶ εἶναι ἀληθεστάτας.47 The ἁπλᾶ are most concisely
45 Metaphysics Κ 1, 1059 b 35.
46 Cf. Metaphysics Ε 1. 1025b ff.
47 Metaphysics α 1, 993b 28 f: 'The first principles of things must necessarily be true above everything else'; trans. Tredennick.
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