Andtheonehasbeenprovedbothtobeandnottobe?
Yes。
Andthereforeisandisnotinthesamestate?
Yes。
Thustheonethatisnothasbeenshowntohavemotionalso,becauseitchangesfrombeingtonot—being?
Thatappearstobetrue。
Butsurelyifitisnowhereamongwhatis,asisthefact,sinceitisnot,itcannotchangefromoneplacetoanother?
Impossible。
Thenitcannotmovebychangingplace?
No。
Norcanitturnonthesamespot,foritnowheretouchesthesame,forthesameis,andthatwhichisnotcannotbereckonedamongthingsthatare?
Itcannot。
Thentheone,ifitisnot,cannotturninthatinwhichitisnot?
No。
Neithercantheone,whetheritisorisnot,bealteredintootherthanitself,forifitalteredandbecamedifferentfromitself,thenwecouldnotbestillspeakingoftheone,butofsomethingelse?
True。
Butiftheoneneithersuffersalteration,norturnsroundinthesameplace,norchangesplace,canitstillbecapableofmotion?
Impossible。
Nowthatwhichisunmovedmustsurelybeatrest,andthatwhichisatrestmuststandstill?
Certainly。
Thentheonethatisnot,standsstill,andisalsoinmotion?
Thatseemstobetrue。
Butifitbeinmotionitmustnecessarilyundergoalteration,foranythingwhichismoved,insofarasitismoved,isnolongerinthesamestate,butinanother?
Yes。
Thentheone,beingmoved,isaltered?
Yes。
And,further,ifnotmovedinanyway,itwillnotbealteredinanyway?
No。
Then,insofarastheonethatisnotismoved,itisaltered,butinsofarasitisnotmoved,itisnotaltered?
Right。
Thentheonethatisnotisalteredandisnotaltered?
Thatisclear。
Andmustnotthatwhichisalteredbecomeotherthanitpreviouslywas,andloseitsformerstateandbedestroyed;butthatwhichisnotalteredcanneithercomeintobeingnorbedestroyed?
Verytrue。
Andtheonethatisnot,beingaltered,becomesandisdestroyed;
andnotbeingaltered,neitherbecomesnorisdestroyed;andsotheonethatisnotbecomesandisdestroyed,andneitherbecomesnorisdestroyed?
True。
Andnow,letusgobackoncemoretothebeginning,andseewhethertheseorsomeotherconsequenceswillfollow。
Letusdoasyousay。
Ifoneisnot,weaskwhatwillhappeninrespectofone?Thatisthequestion。
Yes。
Donotthewords"isnot"signifyabsenceofbeinginthattowhichweapplythem?
Justso。
Andwhenwesaythatathingisnot,dowemeanthatitisnotinonewaybutisinanother?ordowemean,absolutely,thatwhatisnothasinnosortorwayorkindparticipationofbeing?
Quiteabsolutely。
Then,thatwhichisnotcannotbe,orinanywayparticipateinbeing?
Itcannot。
Anddidwenotmeanbybecoming,andbeingdestroyed,theassumptionofbeingandthelossofbeing?
Nothingelse。
Andcanthatwhichhasnoparticipationinbeing,eitherassumeorlosebeing?
Impossible。
Theonethen,sinceitinnowayis,cannothaveorloseorassumebeinginanyway?
True。
Thentheonethatisnot,sinceitinnowaypartakesofbeing,neithernorbecomes?
No。
Thenitisnotalteredatall;forifitwereitwouldbecomeandbedestroyed?
True。
Butifitbenotaltereditcannotbemoved?
Certainlynot。
Norcanwesaythatitstands,ifitisnowhere;forthatwhichstandsmustalwaysbeinoneandthesamespot?
Ofcourse。
Thenwemustsaythattheonewhichisnotneverstandsstillandnevermoves?
Neither。
Noristhereanyexistingthingwhichcanbeattributedtoit;foriftherehadbeen,itwouldpartakeofbeing?
Thatisclear。
Andthereforeneithersmallness,norgreatness,norequality,canbeattributedtoit?
No。
Noryetlikenessnordifference,eitherinrelationtoitselfortoothers?
Clearlynot。
Well,andifnothingshouldbeattributedtoit,canotherthingsbeattributedtoit?
Certainlynot。
Andthereforeotherthingscanneitherbelikeorunlike,thesame,ordifferentinrelationtoit?
Theycannot。
Norcanwhatisnot,beanything,orbethisthing,orberelatedtoortheattributeofthisorthatorother,orbepast,present,orfuture。Norcanknowledge,oropinion,orperception,orexpression,orname,oranyotherthingthatis,haveanyconcernwithit?
No。
Thentheonethatisnothasnoconditionofanykind?
Suchappearstobetheconclusion。
Yetoncemore;ifoneisnot,whatbecomesoftheothers?Letusdeterminethat。
Yes;letusdeterminethat。
Theothersmustsurelybe;forifthey,liketheone,werenot,wecouldnotbenowspeakingofthem。
True。
Buttospeakoftheothersimpliesdifference—theterms"other"
and"different"aresynonymous?
True。
Othermeansotherthanother,anddifferent,differentfromthedifferent?
Yes。
Then,iftherearetobeothers,thereissomethingthanwhichtheywillbeother?
Certainly。
Andwhatcanthatbe?—foriftheoneisnot,theywillnotbeotherthantheone。
Theywillnot。
Thentheywillbeotherthaneachother;fortheonlyremainingalternativeisthattheyareotherthannothing。
True。
Andtheyareeachotherthanoneanother,asbeingpluralandnotsingular;forifoneisnot,theycannotbesingularbuteveryparticleofthemisinfiniteinnumber;andevenifapersontakesthatwhichappearstobethesmallestfraction,this,whichseemedone,inamomentevanescesintomany,asinadream,andfrombeingthesmallestbecomesverygreat,incomparisonwiththefractionsintowhichitissplitup?
Verytrue。
Andinsuchparticlestheotherswillbeotherthanoneanother,ifothersare,andtheoneisnot?
Exactly。
Andwilltherenotbemanyparticles,eachappearingtobeone,butnotbeingone,ifoneisnot?
True。
Anditwouldseemthatnumbercanbepredicatedofthemifeachofthemappearstobeone,thoughitisreallymany?
Itcan。
Andtherewillseemtobeoddandevenamongthem,whichwillalsohavenoreality,ifoneisnot?
Yes。
Andtherewillappeartobealeastamongthem;andeventhiswillseemlargeandmanifoldincomparisonwiththemanysmallfractionswhicharecontainedinit?
Certainly。
Andeachparticlewillbeimaginedtobeequaltothemanyandlittle;foritcouldnothaveappearedtopassfromthegreatertothelesswithouthavingappearedtoarriveatthemiddle;andthuswouldarisetheappearanceofequality。
Yes。
Andhavingneitherbeginning,middle,norend,eachseparateparticleyetappearstohavealimitinrelationtoitselfandother。
Howso?
Because,whenapersonconceivesofanyoneoftheseassuch,priortothebeginninganotherbeginningappears,andthereisanotherend,remainingaftertheend,andinthemiddletruermiddleswithinbutsmaller,becausenounitycanbeconceivedofanyofthem,sincetheoneisnot。
Verytrue。
Andsoallbeing,whateverwethinkof,mustbebrokenupintofractions,foraparticlewillhavetobeconceivedofwithoutunity?
Certainly。
Andsuchbeingwhenseenindistinctlyandatadistance,appearstobeone;butwhenseennearandwithkeenintellect,everysinglethingappearstobeinfinite,sinceitisdeprivedoftheone,whichisnot?
Nothingmorecertain。
Theneachoftheothersmustappeartobeinfiniteandfinite,andoneandmany,ifothersthantheoneexistandnottheone。
Theymust。
Thenwilltheynotappeartobelikeandunlike?
Inwhatway?
Justasinapicturethingsappeartobeallonetoapersonstandingatadistance,andtobeinthesamestateandalike?
True。
Butwhenyouapproachthem,theyappeartobemanyanddifferent;
andbecauseoftheappearanceofthedifference,differentinkindfrom,andunlike,themselves?
True。
Andsomusttheparticlesappeartobelikeandunlikethemselvesandeachother。
Certainly。
Andmusttheynotbethesameandyetdifferentfromoneanother,andincontactwiththemselves,althoughtheyareseparated,andhavingeverysortofmotion,andeverysortofrest,andbecomingandbeingdestroyed,andinneitherstate,andthelike,allwhichthingsmaybeeasilyenumerated,iftheoneisnotandthemanyare?
Mosttrue。
Oncemore,letusgobacktothebeginning,andaskiftheoneisnot,andtheothersoftheoneare,whatwillfollow。
Letusaskthatquestion。
Inthefirstplace,theotherswillnotbeone?
Impossible。
Norwilltheybemany;foriftheyweremanyonewouldbecontainedinthem。Butifnooneofthemisone,allofthemarenought,andthereforetheywillnotbemany。
True。
Iftherebenooneintheothers,theothersareneithermanynorone。
Theyarenot。
Nordotheyappeareitherasoneormany。
Whynot?
Becausetheothershavenosortormannerorwayofcommunionwithanysortofnot—being,norcananythingwhichisnot,beconnectedwithanyoftheothers;forthatwhichisnothasnoparts。
True。
Noristhereanopinionoranyappearanceofnot—beinginconnectionwiththeothers,norisnot—beingeverinanywayattributedtotheothers。
No。
Thenifoneisnot,theothersneitherare,noranyoftheotherseitherasoneormany;foryoucannotconceivethemanywithouttheone。
Youcannot。
Thenifoneisnot,thereisnoconceptionofcanbeconceivedtobeeitheroneormany?
Itwouldseemnot。
Noraslikeorunlike?
No。
Norasthesameordifferent,norincontactorseparation,norinanyofthosestateswhichweenumeratedasappearingtobe;—theothersneitherarenorappeartobeanyofthese,ifoneisnot?
True。
Thenmaywenotsumuptheargumentinawordandsaytruly:Ifoneisnot,thennothingis?
Certainly。
Letthusmuchbesaid;andfurtherletusaffirmwhatseemstobethetruth,that,whetheroneisorisnot,oneandtheothersinrelationtothemselvesandoneanother,allofthem,ineveryway,areandarenot,andappeartobeandappearnottobe。
Mosttrue。