第40章

Sensiblesubstanceischangeable。Nowifchangeproceedsfrom oppositesorfromintermediates，andnotfromallopposites(forthe voiceisnot-white，(butitdoesnotthereforechangetowhite))， butfromthecontrary，theremustbesomethingunderlyingwhich changesintothecontrarystate；forthecontrariesdonotchange。 Further，somethingpersists，butthecontrarydoesnotpersist； thereis，then，somethirdthingbesidesthecontraries，viz。the matter。Nowsincechangesareoffourkinds-eitherinrespectofthe ’what’orofthequalityorofthequantityoroftheplace，and changeinrespectof’thisness’issimplegenerationand destruction，andchangeinquantityisincreaseanddiminution，and changeinrespectofanaffectionisalteration，andchangeofplace ismotion，changeswillbefromgivenstatesintothosecontraryto themintheseseveralrespects。Thematter，then，whichchangesmust becapableofbothstates。Andsincethatwhich’is’hastwosenses， wemustsaythateverythingchangesfromthatwhichispotentially tothatwhichisactually，e。g。frompotentiallywhitetoactually white，andsimilarlyinthecaseofincreaseanddiminution。Therefore notonlycanathingcometobe，incidentally，outofthatwhichis not，butalsoallthingscometobeoutofthatwhichis，butis potentially，andisnotactually。Andthisisthe’One’ofAnaxagoras； forinsteadof’allthingsweretogether’-andthe’Mixture’of EmpedoclesandAnaximanderandtheaccountgivenbyDemocritus-itis bettertosay’allthingsweretogetherpotentiallybutnotactually’。 Thereforethesethinkersseemtohavehadsomenotionofmatter。Now allthingsthatchangehavematter，butdifferentmatter；andof eternalthingsthosewhicharenotgenerablebutaremovablein spacehavematter-notmatterforgeneration，however，butformotion fromoneplacetoanother。 Onemightraisethequestionfromwhatsortofnon-being generationproceeds；for’non-being’hasthreesenses。If，then，one formofnon-beingexistspotentially，stillitisnotbyvirtueofa potentialityforanyandeverything，butdifferentthingscomefrom differentthings；norisitsatisfactorytosaythat’allthings weretogether’；fortheydifferintheirmatter，sinceotherwisewhy didaninfinityofthingscometobe，andnotonething？For ’reason’isone，sothatifmatteralsowereone，thatmusthave cometobeinactualitywhichthematterwasinpotency。Thecauses andtheprinciples，then，arethree，twobeingthepairof contrariesofwhichoneisdefinitionandformandtheotheris privation，andthethirdbeingthematter。 Note，next，thatneitherthematternortheformcomestobe-andI meanthelastmatterandform。Foreverythingthatchangesis somethingandischangedbysomethingandintosomething。Thatby whichitischangedistheimmediatemover；thatwhichischanged，the matter；thatintowhichitischanged，theform。Theprocess，then， willgoontoinfinity，ifnotonlythebronzecomestoberoundbut alsotheroundorthebronzecomestobe；thereforetheremustbea stop。 Note，next，thateachsubstancecomesintobeingoutof somethingthatsharesitsname。(Naturalobjectsandotherthingsboth rankassubstances。)Forthingscomeintobeingeitherbyartorby natureorbyluckorbyspontaneity。Nowartisaprincipleof movementinsomethingotherthanthethingmoved，natureisa principleinthethingitself(formanbegetsman)，andtheother causesareprivationsofthesetwo。 Therearethreekindsofsubstance-thematter，whichisa’this’ inappearance(forallthingsthatarecharacterizedbycontactand not，byorganicunityarematterandsubstratum，e。g。fire，flesh， head；fortheseareallmatter，andthelastmatteristhematterof thatwhichisinthefullsensesubstance)；thenature，whichisa ’this’orpositivestatetowardswhichmovementtakesplace；and again，thirdly，theparticularsubstancewhichiscomposedofthese two，e。g。SocratesorCallias。Nowinsomecasesthe’this’doesnot existapartfromthecompositesubstance，e。g。theformofhouse doesnotsoexist，unlesstheartofbuildingexistsapart(noris theregenerationanddestructionoftheseforms，butitisin anotherwaythatthehouseapartfromitsmatter，andhealth，and allidealsofart，existanddonotexist)；butifthe’this’exists apartfromtheconcretething，itisonlyinthecaseofnatural objects。AndsoPlatowasnotfarwrongwhenhesaidthatthereareas manyFormsastherearekindsofnaturalobject(ifthereareForms distinctfromthethingsofthisearth)。Themovingcausesexistas thingsprecedingtheeffects，butcausesinthesenseofdefinitions aresimultaneouswiththeireffects。Forwhenamanishealthy，then healthalsoexists；andtheshapeofabronzesphereexistsatthe sametimeasthebronzesphere。(Butwemustexaminewhetherany formalsosurvivesafterwards。Forinsomecasesthereisnothingto preventthis；e。g。thesoulmaybeofthissort-notallsoulbutthe reason；forpresumablyitisimpossiblethatallsoulshouldsurvive。) Evidentlythenthereisnonecessity，onthisgroundatleast，forthe existenceoftheIdeas。Formanisbegottenbyman，agivenmanby anindividualfather；andsimilarlyinthearts；forthemedicalart istheformalcauseofhealth。 Thecausesandtheprinciplesofdifferentthingsareinasense different，butinasense，ifonespeaksuniversallyandanalogically， theyarethesameforall。Foronemightraisethequestionwhether theprinciplesandelementsaredifferentorthesameforsubstances andforrelativeterms，andsimilarlyinthecaseofeachofthe categories。Butitwouldbeparadoxicaliftheywerethesameforall。 Forthenfromthesameelementswillproceedrelativetermsand substances。Whatthenwillthiscommonelementbe？For(1)(a)there isnothingcommontoanddistinctfromsubstanceandtheother categories，viz。thosewhicharepredicated；butanelementisprior tothethingsofwhichitisanelement。Butagain(b)substanceis notanelementinrelativeterms，norisanyoftheseanelementin substance。Further，(2)howcanallthingshavethesameelements？For noneoftheelementscanbethesameasthatwhichiscomposedof elements，e。g。boracannotbethesameasba。(None，therefore，of theintelligibles，e。g。beingorunity，isanelement；fortheseare predicableofeachofthecompoundsaswell。)Noneoftheelements， then，willbeeitherasubstanceorarelativeterm；butitmustbe oneorother。Allthings，then，havenotthesameelements。 Or，aswearewonttoputit，inasensetheyhaveandina sensetheyhavenot；e。g。perhapstheelementsofperceptiblebodies are，asform，thehot，andinanothersensethecold，whichisthe privation；and，asmatter，thatwhichdirectlyandofitself potentiallyhastheseattributes；andsubstancescompriseboththese andthethingscomposedofthese，ofwhichthesearetheprinciples， oranyunitywhichisproducedoutofthehotandthecold，e。g。flesh orbone；fortheproductmustbedifferentfromtheelements。These thingsthenhavethesameelementsandprinciples(thoughspecifically differentthingshavespecificallydifferentelements)；butallthings havenotthesameelementsinthissense，butonlyanalogically； i。e。onemightsaythattherearethreeprinciples-theform，the privation，andthematter。Buteachoftheseisdifferentforeach class；e。g。incolourtheyarewhite，black，andsurface，andinday andnighttheyarelight，darkness，andair。 Sincenotonlytheelementspresentinathingarecauses，but alsosomethingexternal，i。e。themovingcause，clearlywhile ’principle’and’element’aredifferentbotharecauses，and ’principle’isdividedintothesetwokinds；andthatwhichactsas producingmovementorrestisaprincipleandasubstance。Therefore analogicallytherearethreeelements，andfourcausesandprinciples； buttheelementsaredifferentindifferentthings，andthe proximatemovingcauseisdifferentfordifferentthings。Health， disease，body；themovingcauseisthemedicalart。Form，disorder ofaparticularkind，bricks；themovingcauseisthebuildingart。 Andsincethemovingcauseinthecaseofnaturalthingsis-forman， forinstance，man，andintheproductsofthoughttheformorits contrary，therewillbeinasensethreecauses，whileinasense therearefour。Forthemedicalartisinsomesensehealth，andthe buildingartistheformofthehouse，andmanbegetsman；further， besidesthesethereisthatwhichasfirstofallthingsmovesall things。 Somethingscanexistapartandsomecannot，anditisthe formerthataresubstances。Andthereforeallthingshavethesame causes，because，withoutsubstances，modificationsandmovementsdo notexist。Further，thesecauseswillprobablybesoulandbody，or reasonanddesireandbody。 Andinyetanotherway，analogicallyidenticalthingsare principles，i。e。actualityandpotency；butthesealsoarenotonly differentfordifferentthingsbutalsoapplyindifferentwaysto them。Forinsomecasesthesamethingexistsatonetimeactuallyand atanotherpotentially，e。g。wineorfleshormandoesso。(And thesetoofallundertheabove-namedcauses。Fortheformexists actually，ifitcanexistapart，andsodoesthecomplexofformand matter，andtheprivation，e。g。darknessordisease；butthematter existspotentially；forthisisthatwhichcanbecomequalifiedeither bytheformorbytheprivation。)Butthedistinctionofactualityand potentialityappliesinanotherwaytocaseswherethematterofcause andofeffectisnotthesame，insomeofwhichcasestheformis notthesamebutdifferent；e。g。thecauseofmanis(1)the elementsinman(viz。fireandearthasmatter，andthepeculiar form)，andfurther(2)somethingelseoutside，i。e。thefather，and (3)besidesthesethesunanditsobliquecourse，whichareneither matternorformnorprivationofmannorofthesamespecieswithhim， butmovingcauses。 Further，onemustobservethatsomecausescanbeexpressedin universalterms，andsomecannot。Theproximateprinciplesofall thingsarethe’this’whichisproximateinactuality，andanother whichisproximateinpotentiality。Theuniversalcauses，then，of whichwespokedonotexist。Foritistheindividualthatisthe originativeprincipleoftheindividuals。Forwhilemanisthe originativeprincipleofmanuniversally，thereisnouniversalman， butPeleusistheoriginativeprincipleofAchilles，andyourfather ofyou，andthisparticularbofthisparticularba，thoughbin generalistheoriginativeprincipleofbatakenwithout qualification。 Further，ifthecausesofsubstancesarethecausesofallthings， yetdifferentthingshavedifferentcausesandelements，aswas said；thecausesofthingsthatarenotinthesameclass，e。g。of coloursandsounds，ofsubstancesandquantities，aredifferentexcept inananalogicalsense；andthoseofthingsinthesamespeciesare different，notinspecies，butinthesensethatthecausesof differentindividualsaredifferent，yourmatterandformandmoving causebeingdifferentfrommine，whileintheiruniversaldefinition theyarethesame。Andifweinquirewhataretheprinciplesor elementsofsubstancesandrelationsandqualities-whethertheyare thesameordifferent-clearlywhenthenamesofthecausesareusedin severalsensesthecausesofeacharethesame，butwhenthesenses aredistinguishedthecausesarenotthesamebutdifferent，except thatinthefollowingsensesthecausesofallarethesame。They are(1)thesameoranalogousinthissense，thatmatter，form， privation，andthemovingcausearecommontoallthings；and(2) thecausesofsubstancesmaybetreatedascausesofallthingsin thissense，thatwhensubstancesareremovedallthingsareremoved； further，(3)thatwhichisfirstinrespectofcompleterealityisthe causeofallthings。Butinanothersensetherearedifferentfirst causes，viz。allthecontrarieswhichareneithergenericnor ambiguousterms；and，further，themattersofdifferentthingsare different。Wehavestated，then，whataretheprinciplesofsensible thingsandhowmanytheyare，andinwhatsensetheyarethesame andinwhatsensedifferent。