第41章

Sincetherewerethreekindsofsubstance，twoofthemphysical andoneunmovable，regardingthelatterwemustassertthatitis necessarythatthereshouldbeaneternalunmovablesubstance。For substancesarethefirstofexistingthings，andiftheyareall destructible，allthingsaredestructible。Butitisimpossiblethat movementshouldeitherhavecomeintobeingorceasetobe(forit mustalwayshaveexisted)，orthattimeshould。Fortherecouldnotbe abeforeandanafteriftimedidnotexist。Movementalsois continuous，then，inthesenseinwhichtimeis；fortimeiseither thesamethingasmovementoranattributeofmovement。Andthereis nocontinuousmovementexceptmovementinplace，andofthisonlythat whichiscirculariscontinuous。 Butifthereissomethingwhichiscapableofmovingthingsor actingonthem，butisnotactuallydoingso，therewillnot necessarilybemovement；forthatwhichhasapotencyneednot exerciseit。Nothing，then，isgainedevenifwesupposeeternal substances，asthebelieversintheFormsdo，unlessthereistobein themsomeprinciplewhichcancausechange；nay，eventhisisnot enough，norisanothersubstancebesidestheFormsenough；forifit isnottoact，therewillbenomovement。Furtherevenifitacts， thiswillnotbeenough，ifitsessenceispotency；fortherewillnot beeternalmovement，sincethatwhichispotentiallymaypossibly notbe。Theremust，then，besuchaprinciple，whoseveryessenceis actuality。Further，then，thesesubstancesmustbewithoutmatter；for theymustbeeternal，ifanythingiseternal。Thereforetheymustbe actuality。 Yetthereisadifficulty；foritisthoughtthateverything thatactsisabletoact，butthatnoteverythingthatisableto actacts，sothatthepotencyisprior。Butifthisisso，nothing thatisneedbe；foritispossibleforallthingstobecapableof existingbutnotyettoexist。 Yetifwefollowthetheologianswhogeneratetheworldfrom night，orthenaturalphilosopherswhosaythat’allthingswere together’，thesameimpossibleresultensues。Forhowwilltherebe movement，ifthereisnoactuallyexistingcause？Woodwillsurelynot moveitself-thecarpenter’sartmustactonit；norwillthemenstrual bloodnortheearthsetthemselvesinmotion，buttheseedsmustact ontheearthandthesemenonthemenstrualblood。 Thisiswhysomesupposeeternalactuality-e。g。Leucippusand Plato；fortheysaythereisalwaysmovement。Butwhyandwhatthis movementistheydosay，nor，iftheworldmovesinthiswayor that，dotheytellusthecauseofitsdoingso。Nownothingis movedatrandom，buttheremustalwaysbesomethingpresenttomove it；e。g。asamatteroffactathingmovesinonewaybynature，and inanotherbyforceorthroughtheinfluenceofreasonorsomething else。(Further，whatsortofmovementisprimary？Thismakesavast difference。)ButagainforPlato，atleast，itisnotpermissibleto nameherethatwhichhesometimessupposestobethesourceof movement-thatwhichmovesitself；forthesoulislater，andcoeval withtheheavens，accordingtohisaccount。Tosupposepotencyprior toactuality，then，isinasenseright，andinasensenot；andwe havespecifiedthesesenses。Thatactualityisprioristestifiedby Anaxagoras(forhis’reason’isactuality)andbyEmpedoclesinhis doctrineofloveandstrife，andbythosewhosaythatthereisalways movement，e。g。Leucippus。Thereforechaosornightdidnotexistfor aninfinitetime，butthesamethingshavealwaysexisted(either passingthroughacycleofchangesorobeyingsomeotherlaw)，since actualityispriortopotency。If，then，thereisaconstantcycle， somethingmustalwaysremain，actinginthesameway。Andifthere istobegenerationanddestruction，theremustbesomethingelse whichisalwaysactingindifferentways。Thismust，then，actin onewayinvirtueofitself，andinanotherinvirtueofsomething else-eitherofathirdagent，therefore，orofthefirst。Nowit mustbeinvirtueofthefirst。Forotherwisethisagaincausesthe motionbothofthesecondagentandofthethird。Thereforeitis bettertosay’thefirst’。Foritwasthecauseofeternaluniformity； andsomethingelseisthecauseofvariety，andevidentlyboth togetherarethecauseofeternalvariety。This，accordingly，isthe characterwhichthemotionsactuallyexhibit。Whatneedthenis theretoseekforotherprinciples？ Since(1)thisisapossibleaccountofthematter，and(2)if itwerenottrue，theworldwouldhaveproceededoutofnightand’all thingstogether’andoutofnon-being，thesedifficultiesmaybetaken assolved。Thereis，then，somethingwhichisalwaysmovedwithan unceasingmotion，whichismotioninacircle；andthisisplainnot intheoryonlybutinfact。Thereforethefirstheavenmustbe eternal。Thereisthereforealsosomethingwhichmovesit。Andsince thatwhichmovesandismovedisintermediate，thereissomething whichmoveswithoutbeingmoved，beingeternal，substance，and actuality。Andtheobjectofdesireandtheobjectofthoughtmove inthisway；theymovewithoutbeingmoved。Theprimaryobjectsof desireandofthoughtarethesame。Fortheapparentgoodisthe objectofappetite，andtherealgoodistheprimaryobjectof rationalwish。Butdesireisconsequentonopinionratherthanopinion ondesire；forthethinkingisthestarting-point。Andthoughtis movedbytheobjectofthought，andoneofthetwocolumnsof oppositesisinitselftheobjectofthought；andinthis，substance isfirst，andinsubstance，thatwhichissimpleandexists actually。(Theoneandthesimplearenotthesame；for’one’means ameasure，but’simple’meansthatthethingitselfhasacertain nature。)Butthebeautiful，also，andthatwhichisinitself desirableareinthesamecolumn；andthefirstinanyclassisalways best，oranalogoustothebest。 Thatafinalcausemayexistamongunchangeableentitiesis shownbythedistinctionofitsmeanings。Forthefinalcauseis(a) somebeingforwhosegoodanactionisdone，and(b)somethingat whichtheactionaims；andofthesethelatterexistsamong unchangeableentitiesthoughtheformerdoesnot。Thefinalcause， then，producesmotionasbeingloved，butallotherthingsmoveby beingmoved。Nowifsomethingismoveditiscapableofbeing otherwisethanasitis。Thereforeifitsactualityistheprimary formofspatialmotion，theninsofarasitissubjecttochange， inthisrespectitiscapableofbeingotherwise，-inplace，evenif notinsubstance。Butsincethereissomethingwhichmoveswhile itselfunmoved，existingactually，thiscaninnowaybeotherwise thanasitis。Formotioninspaceisthefirstofthekindsof change，andmotioninacirclethefirstkindofspatialmotion；and thisthefirstmoverproduces。Thefirstmover，then，existsof necessity；andinsofarasitexistsbynecessity，itsmodeof beingisgood，anditisinthissenseafirstprinciple。Forthe necessaryhasallthesesenses-thatwhichisnecessaryperforce becauseitiscontrarytothenaturalimpulse，thatwithoutwhich thegoodisimpossible，andthatwhichcannotbeotherwisebutcan existonlyinasingleway。 Onsuchaprinciple，then，dependtheheavensandtheworldof nature。Anditisalifesuchasthebestwhichweenjoy，andenjoy forbutashorttime(foritiseverinthisstate，whichwecannot be)，sinceitsactualityisalsopleasure。(Andforthisreasonare waking，perception，andthinkingmostpleasant，andhopesandmemories aresoonaccountofthese。)Andthinkinginitselfdealswiththat whichisbestinitself，andthatwhichisthinkinginthefullest sensewiththatwhichisbestinthefullestsense。Andthoughtthinks onitselfbecauseitsharesthenatureoftheobjectofthought；for itbecomesanobjectofthoughtincomingintocontactwithand thinkingitsobjects，sothatthoughtandobjectofthoughtarethe same。Forthatwhichiscapableofreceivingtheobjectofthought， i。e。theessence，isthought。Butitisactivewhenitpossesses thisobject。Thereforethepossessionratherthanthereceptivityis thedivineelementwhichthoughtseemstocontain，andtheactof contemplationiswhatismostpleasantandbest。If，then，Godis alwaysinthatgoodstateinwhichwesometimesare，thiscompels ourwonder；andifinabetterthiscompelsityetmore。AndGodisin abetterstate。AndlifealsobelongstoGod；fortheactualityof thoughtislife，andGodisthatactuality；andGod’sself-dependent actualityislifemostgoodandeternal。WesaythereforethatGod isalivingbeing，eternal，mostgood，sothatlifeandduration continuousandeternalbelongtoGod；forthisisGod。 Thosewhosuppose，asthePythagoreansandSpeusippusdo，that supremebeautyandgoodnessarenotpresentinthebeginning， becausethebeginningsbothofplantsandofanimalsarecauses，but beautyandcompletenessareintheeffectsofthese，arewrongin theiropinion。Fortheseedcomesfromotherindividualswhichare priorandcomplete，andthefirstthingisnotseedbutthecomplete being；e。g。wemustsaythatbeforetheseedthereisaman，-notthe manproducedfromtheseed，butanotherfromwhomtheseedcomes。 Itisclearthenfromwhathasbeensaidthatthereisasubstance whichiseternalandunmovableandseparatefromsensiblethings。It hasbeenshownalsothatthissubstancecannothaveanymagnitude，but iswithoutpartsandindivisible(foritproducesmovementthrough infinitetime，butnothingfinitehasinfinitepower；and，whileevery magnitudeiseitherinfiniteorfinite，itcannot，fortheabove reason，havefinitemagnitude，anditcannothaveinfinitemagnitude becausethereisnoinfinitemagnitudeatall)。Butithasalsobeen shownthatitisimpassiveandunalterable；foralltheother changesareposteriortochangeofplace。 Itisclear，then，whythesethingsareastheyare。Butwemust notignorethequestionwhetherwehavetosupposeonesuch substanceormorethanone，andifthelatter，howmany；wemust alsomention，regardingtheopinionsexpressedbyothers，thatthey havesaidnothingaboutthenumberofthesubstancesthatcaneven beclearlystated。ForthetheoryofIdeashasnospecialdiscussion ofthesubject；forthosewhospeakofIdeassaytheIdeasare numbers，andtheyspeakofnumbersnowasunlimited，nowaslimitedby thenumber10；butasforthereasonwhythereshouldbejustso manynumbers，nothingissaidwithanydemonstrativeexactness。We howevermustdiscussthesubject，startingfromthepresuppositions anddistinctionswehavementioned。Thefirstprincipleorprimary beingisnotmovableeitherinitselforaccidentally，butproduces theprimaryeternalandsinglemovement。Butsincethatwhichismoved mustbemovedbysomething，andthefirstmovermustbeinitself unmovable，andeternalmovementmustbeproducedbysomething eternalandasinglemovementbyasinglething，andsinceweseethat besidesthesimplespatialmovementoftheuniverse，whichwesay thefirstandunmovablesubstanceproduces，thereareotherspatial movements-thoseoftheplanets-whichareeternal(forabodywhich movesinacircleiseternalandunresting；wehaveprovedthese pointsinthephysicaltreatises)，eachofthesemovementsalsomust becausedbyasubstancebothunmovableinitselfandeternal。Forthe natureofthestarsiseternaljustbecauseitisacertainkindof substance，andthemoveriseternalandpriortothemoved，andthat whichispriortoasubstancemustbeasubstance。Evidently，then， theremustbesubstanceswhichareofthesamenumberasthemovements ofthestars，andintheirnatureeternal，andinthemselves unmovable，andwithoutmagnitude，forthereasonbeforementioned。 Thatthemoversaresubstances，then，andthatoneoftheseisfirst andanothersecondaccordingtothesameorderasthemovementsofthe stars，isevident。Butinthenumberofthemovementswereacha problemwhichmustbetreatedfromthestandpointofthatoneofthe mathematicalscienceswhichismostakintophilosophy-viz。of astronomy；forthissciencespeculatesaboutsubstancewhichis perceptiblebuteternal，buttheothermathematicalsciences，i。e。 arithmeticandgeometry，treatofnosubstance。Thatthemovementsare morenumerousthanthebodiesthataremovedisevidenttothosewho havegivenevenmoderateattentiontothematter；foreachofthe planetshasmorethanonemovement。Butastotheactualnumberof thesemovements，wenow-togivesomenotionofthesubject-quote whatsomeofthemathematicianssay，thatourthoughtmayhavesome definitenumbertograsp；but，fortherest，wemustpartly investigateforourselves，Partlylearnfromotherinvestigators， andifthosewhostudythissubjectformanopinioncontrarytowhat wehavenowstated，wemustesteembothpartiesindeed，butfollowthe moreaccurate。