第25章

类别:其他 作者:Baldwin Thomas字数:5183更新时间:18/12/26 16:28:37
Itisclearalsothatthesoulistheprimarysubstanceandthe bodyismatter,andmanoranimalisthecompoundofbothtaken universally;and’Socrates’or’Coriscus’,ifeventhesoulof SocratesmaybecalledSocrates,hastwomeanings(forsomemeanby suchatermthesoul,andothersmeantheconcretething),butif ’Socrates’or’Coriscus’meanssimplythisparticularsoulandthis particularbody,theindividualisanalogoustotheuniversalinits composition。 Whetherthereis,apartfromthematterofsuchsubstances, anotherkindofmatter,andoneshouldlookforsomesubstanceother thanthese,e。g。numbersorsomethingofthesort,mustbe consideredlater。Foritisforthesakeofthisthatwearetryingto determinethenatureofperceptiblesubstancesaswell,sinceina sensetheinquiryaboutperceptiblesubstancesistheworkofphysics, i。e。ofsecondphilosophy;forthephysicistmustcometoknownot onlyaboutthematter,butalsoaboutthesubstanceexpressedinthe formula,andevenmorethanabouttheother。Andinthecaseof definitions,howtheelementsintheformulaarepartsofthe definition,andwhythedefinitionisoneformula(forclearlythe thingisone,butinvirtueofwhatisthethingone,althoughit hasparts?),-thismustbeconsideredlater。 Whattheessenceisandinwhatsenseitisindependent,has beenstateduniversallyinawaywhichistrueofeverycase,andalso whytheformulaoftheessenceofsomethingscontainsthepartsof thethingdefined,whilethatofothersdoesnot。Andwehavestated thatintheformulaofthesubstancethematerialpartswillnotbe present(fortheyarenotevenpartsofthesubstanceinthatsense, butoftheconcretesubstance;butofthisthereisinasensea formula,andinasensethereisnot;forthereisnoformulaofit withitsmatter,forthisisindefinite,butthereisaformulaof itwithreferencetoitsprimarysubstance-e。g。inthecaseofmanthe formulaofthesoul-,forthesubstanceistheindwellingform,from whichandthemattertheso-calledconcretesubstanceisderived;e。g。 concavityisaformofthissort,forfromthisandthenosearise ’snubnose’and’snubness’);butintheconcretesubstance,e。g。a snubnoseorCallias,thematteralsowillbepresent。Andwehave statedthattheessenceandthethingitselfareinsomecasesthe same;ie。inthecaseofprimarysubstances,e。g。curvatureandthe essenceofcurvatureifthisisprimary。(Bya’primary’substanceI meanonewhichdoesnotimplythepresenceofsomethinginsomething else,i。e。insomethingthatunderliesitwhichactsasmatter。)But thingswhichareofthenatureofmatter,orofwholesthatinclude matter,arenotthesameastheiressences,norareaccidentalunities likethatof’Socrates’and’musical’;forthesearethesameonly byaccident。 Nowletustreatfirstofdefinition,insofaraswehavenot treatedofitintheAnalytics;fortheproblemstatedinthemis usefulforourinquiriesconcerningsubstance。Imeanthis problem:-whereincanconsisttheunityofthat,theformulaofwhich wecalladefinition,asforinstance,inthecaseofman,’two-footed animal’;forletthisbetheformulaofman。Why,then,isthisone, andnotmany,viz。’animal’and’two-footed’?Forinthecaseof’man’ and’pale’thereisapluralitywhenonetermdoesnotbelongtothe other,butaunitywhenitdoesbelongandthesubject,man,hasa certainattribute;forthenaunityisproducedandwehave’the paleman’。Inthepresentcase,ontheotherhand,onedoesnot shareintheother;thegenusisnotthoughttoshareinits differentiae(forthenthesamethingwouldshareincontraries;for thedifferentiaebywhichthegenusisdividedarecontrary)。Andeven ifthegenusdoesshareinthem,thesameargumentapplies,since thedifferentiaepresentinmanaremany,e。g。endowedwithfeet, two-footed,featherless。Whyaretheseoneandnotmany?Notbecause theyarepresentinonething;foronthisprincipleaunitycanbe madeoutofalltheattributesofathing。Butsurelyallthe attributesinthedefinitionmustbeone;forthedefinitionisa singleformulaandaformulaofsubstance,sothatitmustbea formulaofsomeonething;forsubstancemeansa’one’anda’this’, aswemaintain。 Wemustfirstinquireaboutdefinitionsreachedbythemethodof divisions。Thereisnothinginthedefinitionexceptthefirst-named andthedifferentiae。Theothergeneraarethefirstgenusandalong withthisthedifferentiaethataretakenwithit,e。g。thefirst maybe’animal’,thenext’animalwhichistwo-footed’,andagain ’animalwhichistwo-footedandfeatherless’,andsimilarlyifthe definitionincludesmoreterms。Andingeneralitmakesno differencewhetheritincludesmanyorfewterms,-nor,therefore, whetheritincludesfeworsimplytwo;andofthetwotheoneis differentiaandtheothergenus;e。g。in’two-footedanimal’ ’animal’isgenus,andtheotherisdifferentia。 Ifthenthegenusabsolutelydoesnotexistapartfromthe species-of-a-genus,orifitexistsbutexistsasmatter(forthe voiceisgenusandmatter,butitsdifferentiaemakethespecies,i。e。 theletters,outofit),clearlythedefinitionistheformulawhich comprisesthedifferentiae。 Butitisalsonecessarythatthedivisionbebythedifferentia ofthediferentia;e。g。’endowedwithfeet’isadifferentiaof ’animal’;againthedifferentiaof’animalendowedwithfeet’must beofitquaendowedwithfeet。Thereforewemustnotsay,ifweare tospeakrightly,thatofthatwhichisendowedwithfeetoneparthas feathersandoneisfeatherless(ifwedothiswedoitthrough incapacity);wemustdivideitonlyintocloven-footedandnotcloven; forthesearedifferentiaeinthefoot;cloven-footednessisaformof footedness。Andtheprocesswantsalwaystogoonsotillitreaches thespeciesthatcontainnodifferences。Andthentherewillbeas manykindsoffootastherearedifferentiae,andthekindsofanimals endowedwithfeetwillbeequalinnumbertothedifferentiae。Ifthen thisisso,clearlythelastdifferentiawillbethesubstanceof thethinganditsdefinition,sinceitisnotrighttostatethe samethingsmorethanonceinourdefinitions;foritis superfluous。Andthisdoeshappen;forwhenwesay’animalendowed withfeetandtwo-footed’wehavesaidnothingotherthan’animal havingfeet,havingtwofeet’;andifwedividethisbytheproper division,weshallbesayingthesamethingmorethanonce-asmany timesastherearedifferentiae。 Ifthenadifferentiaofadifferentiabetakenateachstep, onedifferentia-thelast-willbetheformandthesubstance;butifwe divideaccordingtoaccidentalqualities,e。g。ifweweretodivide thatwhichisendowedwithfeetintothewhiteandtheblack,there willbeasmanydifferentiaeastherearecuts。Thereforeitis plainthatthedefinitionistheformulawhichcontainsthe differentiae,or,accordingtotherightmethod,thelastofthese。 Thiswouldbeevident,ifweweretochangetheorderofsuch definitions,e。g。ofthatofman,saying’animalwhichistwo-footed andendowedwithfeet’;for’endowedwithfeet’issuperfluouswhen ’two-footed’hasbeensaid。Butthereisnoorderinthesubstance; forhowarewetothinktheoneelementposteriorandtheotherprior? Regardingthedefinitions,then,whicharereachedbythemethodof divisions,letthissufficeasourfirstattemptatstatingtheir Letusreturntothesubjectofourinquiry,whichissubstance。 Asthesubstratumandtheessenceandthecompoundofthesearecalled substance,soalsoistheuniversal。Abouttwoofthesewehave spoken;bothabouttheessenceandaboutthesubstratum,ofwhichwe havesaidthatitunderliesintwosenses,eitherbeinga’this’-which isthewayinwhichananimalunderliesitsattributes-orasthe matterunderliesthecompletereality。Theuniversalalsoisthought bysometobeinthefullestsenseacause,andaprinciple;therefore letusattackthediscussionofthispointalso。Foritseems impossiblethatanyuniversaltermshouldbethenameofa substance。Forfirstlythesubstanceofeachthingisthatwhichis peculiartoit,whichdoesnotbelongtoanythingelse;butthe universaliscommon,sincethatiscalleduniversalwhichissuchas tobelongtomorethanonething。Ofwhichindividualthenwillthis bethesubstance?Eitherofallorofnone;butitcannotbethe substanceofall。Andifitistobethesubstanceofone,thisone willbetheothersalso;forthingswhosesubstanceisoneandwhose essenceisonearethemselvesalsoone。 Further,substancemeansthatwhichisnotpredicableofa subject,buttheuniversalispredicableofsomesubjectalways。 Butperhapstheuniversal,whileitcannotbesubstanceintheway inwhichtheessenceisso,canbepresentinthis;e。g。’animal’ canbepresentin’man’and’horse’。Thenclearlyitisaformulaof theessence。Anditmakesnodifferenceevenifitisnotaformulaof everythingthatisinthesubstance;fornonethelesstheuniversal willbethesubstanceofsomething,as’man’isthesubstanceofthe individualmaninwhomitispresent,sothatthesameresultwill followoncemore;fortheuniversal,e。g。’animal’,willbethe substanceofthatinwhichitispresentassomethingpeculiarto it。Andfurtheritisimpossibleandabsurdthatthe’this’,i。e。 thesubstance,ifitconsistsofparts,shouldnotconsistof substancesnorofwhatisa’this’,butofquality;forthatwhich isnotsubstance,i。e。thequality,willthenbepriortosubstance andtothe’this’。Whichisimpossible;forneitherinformulanor intimenorincomingtobecanthemodificationsbepriortothe substance;forthentheywillalsobeseparablefromit。Further, Socrateswillcontainasubstancepresentinasubstance,sothatthis willbethesubstanceoftwothings。Andingeneralitfollows,ifman andsuchthingsaresubstance,thatnoneoftheelementsintheir formulaeisthesubstanceofanything,nordoesitexistapartfrom thespeciesorinanythingelse;Imean,forinstance,thatno ’animal’existsapartfromtheparticularkindsofanimal,nordoes anyotheroftheelementspresentinformulaeexistapart。 If,then,weviewthematterfromthesestandpoints,itisplain thatnouniversalattributeisasubstance,andthisisplainalso fromthefactthatnocommonpredicateindicatesa’this’,but rathera’such’。Ifnot,manydifficultiesfollowandespeciallythe ’thirdman’。 Theconclusionisevidentalsofromthefollowingconsideration。A substancecannotconsistofsubstancespresentinitincomplete reality;forthingsthatarethusincompleterealitytwoareneverin completerealityone,thoughiftheyarepotentiallytwo,theycan beone(e。g。thedoublelineconsistsoftwohalves-potentially;for thecompleterealizationofthehalvesdividesthemfromoneanother); thereforeifthesubstanceisone,itwillnotconsistofsubstances presentinitandpresentinthisway,whichDemocritusdescribes rightly;hesaysonethingcannotbemadeoutoftwonortwooutof one;forheidentifiessubstanceswithhisindivisiblemagnitudes。 Itisclearthereforethatthesamewillholdgoodofnumber,if numberisasynthesisofunits,asissaidbysome;fortwois eithernotone,orthereisnounitpresentinitincompletereality。 Butourresultinvolvesadifficulty。Ifnosubstancecanconsistof universalsbecauseauniversalindicatesa’such’,nota’this’,and ifnosubstancecanbecomposedofsubstancesexistingincomplete reality,everysubstancewouldbeincomposite,sothattherewouldnot evenbeaformulaofanysubstance。Butitisthoughtbyallandwas statedlongagothatitiseitheronly,orprimarily,substancethat candefined;yetnowitseemsthatnotevensubstancecan。There cannot,then,beadefinitionofanything;orinasensetherecanbe, andinasensetherecannot。Andwhatwearesayingwillbeplainer fromwhatfollows。