Inviewofthesedistinctionsitisobviousthattheone-sided
theorieswhichsomepeopleexpressaboutallthingscannotbevalid-on
theonehandthetheorythatnothingistruefor,saythey,there
isnothingtopreventeverystatementfrombeinglikethestatement
’thediagonalofasquareiscommensuratewiththeside’,onthe
otherhandthetheorythateverythingistrue。Theseviewsare
practicallythesameasthatofHeraclitus;forhewhosaysthatall
thingsaretrueandallarefalsealsomakeseachofthese
statementsseparately,sothatsincetheyareimpossible,thedouble
statementmustbeimpossibletoo-Again,thereareobviously
contradictorieswhichcannotbeatthesametimetrue-norontheother
handcanallstatementsbefalse;yetthiswouldseemmorepossiblein
thelightofwhathasbeensaid-Butagainstallsuchviewswemust
postulate,aswesaidabove,’notthatsomethingisorisnot,but
thatsomethinghasameaning,sothatwemustarguefromadefinition,
viz。byassumingwhatfalsityortruthmeans。Ifthatwhichitistrue
toaffirmisnothingotherthanthatwhichitisfalsetodeny,it
isimpossiblethatallstatementsshouldbefalse;foronesideofthe
contradictionmustbetrue。Again,ifitisnecessarywithregardto
everythingeithertoassertortodenyit,itisimpossiblethat
bothshouldbefalse;foritisonesideofthecontradictionthat
isfalse-Thereforeallsuchviewsarealsoexposedtotheoften
expressedobjection,thattheydestroythemselves。Forhewhosays
thateverythingistruemakeseventhestatementcontrarytohisown
true,andthereforehisownnottrueforthecontrarystatement
deniesthatitistrue,whilehewhosayseverythingisfalsemakes
himselfalsofalse-Andiftheformerpersonexceptsthecontrary
statement,sayingitaloneisnottrue,whilethelatterexceptshis
ownasbeingnotfalse,nonethelesstheyaredriventopostulatethe
truthorfalsityofaninfinitenumberofstatements;forthatwhich
saysthetruestatementistrueistrue,andthisprocesswillgoon
toinfinity。
Evidently,again,thosewhosayallthingsareatrestarenot
right,norarethosewhosayallthingsareinmovement。Forifall
thingsareatrest,thesamestatementswillalwaysbetrueandthe
samealwaysfalse,-butthisobviouslychanges;forhewhomakesa
statement,himselfatonetimewasnotandagainwillnotbe。Andif
allthingsareinmotion,nothingwillbetrue;everythingtherefore
willbefalse。Butithasbeenshownthatthisisimpossible。Again,
itmustbethatwhichisthatchanges;forchangeisfromsomethingto
something。Butagainitisnotthecasethatallthingsareatrestor
inmotionsometimes,andnothingforever;forthereissomething
whichalwaysmovesthethingsthatareinmotion,andthefirst
moverisitselfunmoved。
’BEGINNING’means1thatpartofathingfromwhichonewould
startfirst,e。galineoraroadhasabeginningineitherofthe
contrarydirections。2Thatfromwhicheachthingwouldbestbe
originated,e。g。eveninlearningwemustsometimesbeginnotfromthe
firstpointandthebeginningofthesubject,butfromthepoint
fromwhichweshouldlearnmosteasily。4Thatfromwhich,asan
immanentpart,athingfirstcomestobe,e,g,asthekeelofaship
andthefoundationofahouse,whileinanimalssomesupposethe
heart,othersthebrain,otherssomeotherpart,tobeofthisnature。
4Thatfromwhich,notasanimmanentpart,athingfirstcomesto
be,andfromwhichthemovementorthechangenaturallyfirst
begins,asachildcomesfromitsfatheranditsmother,andafight
fromabusivelanguage。5Thatatwhosewillthatwhichismovedis
movedandthatwhichchangeschanges,e。g。themagistraciesincities,
andoligarchiesandmonarchiesandtyrannies,arecalledarhchai,
andsoarethearts,andoftheseespeciallythearchitectonicarts。
6Thatfromwhichathingcanfirstbeknown,-thisalsoiscalled
thebeginningofthething,e。g。thehypothesesarethebeginnings
ofdemonstrations。Causesarespokenofinanequalnumberofsenses;
forallcausesarebeginnings。Itiscommon,then,toall
beginningstobethefirstpointfromwhichathingeitherisorcomes
tobeorisknown;butofthesesomeareimmanentinthethingand
othersareoutside。Hencethenatureofathingisabeginning,andso
istheelementofathing,andthoughtandwill,andessence,and
thefinalcause-forthegoodandthebeautifularethebeginning
bothoftheknowledgeandofthemovementofmanythings。
2
’Cause’means1thatfromwhich,asimmanentmaterial,athing
comesintobeing,e。g。thebronzeisthecauseofthestatueandthe
silverofthesaucer,andsoaretheclasseswhichincludethese。
Theformorpattern,i。e。thedefinitionoftheessence,andthe
classeswhichincludethise。g。theratio2:1andnumberingeneral
arecausesoftheoctave,andthepartsincludedinthedefinition。
Thatfromwhichthechangeortherestingfromchangefirst
begins;e。g。theadviserisacauseoftheaction,andthefathera
causeofthechild,andingeneralthemakeracauseofthethingmade
andthechange-producingofthechanging。4Theend,i。e。thatfor
thesakeofwhichathingis;e。g。healthisthecauseofwalking。For
’Whydoesonewalk?’wesay;’thatonemaybehealthy’;andin
speakingthuswethinkwehavegiventhecause。Thesameistrueof
allthemeansthatintervenebeforetheend,whensomethingelsehas
puttheprocessinmotion,ase。g。thinningorpurgingordrugsor
instrumentsintervenebeforehealthisreached;foralltheseare
forthesakeoftheend,thoughtheydifferfromoneanotherinthat
someareinstrumentsandothersareactions。
These,then,arepracticallyallthesensesinwhichcausesare
spokenof,andastheyarespokenofinseveralsensesitfollowsboth
thatthereareseveralcausesofthesamething,andinno
accidentalsensee。g。boththeartofsculptureandthebronzeare
causesofthestatuenotinrespectofanythingelsebutquastatue;
not,however,inthesameway,buttheoneasmatterandtheother
assourceofthemovement,andthatthingscanbecausesofone
anothere。g。exerciseofgoodcondition,andthelatterof
exercise;not,however,inthesameway,buttheoneasendandthe
otherassourceofmovement-Again,thesamethingisthecauseof
contraries;forthatwhichwhenpresentcausesaparticularthing,
wesometimescharge,whenabsent,withthecontrary,e。g。weimpute
theshipwrecktotheabsenceofthesteersman,whosepresencewas
thecauseofsafety;andboth-thepresenceandtheprivation-are
causesassourcesofmovement。
Allthecausesnowmentionedfallunderfoursenseswhichare
themostobvious。Forthelettersarethecauseofsyllables,and
thematerialisthecauseofmanufacturedthings,andfireandearth
andallsuchthingsarethecausesofbodies,andthepartsarecauses
ofthewhole,andthehypothesesarecausesoftheconclusion,in
thesensethattheyarethatoutofwhichtheserespectivelyaremade;
butofthesesomearecauseasthesubstratume。g。theparts,others
astheessencethewhole,thesynthesis,andtheform。Thesemen,
thephysician,theadviser,andingeneraltheagent,areall
sourcesofchangeorofrest。Theremainderarecausesastheend
andthegoodoftheotherthings;forthatforthesakeofwhichother
thingsaretendstobethebestandtheendoftheotherthings;let
ustakeitasmakingnodifferencewhetherwecallitgoodorapparent
good。
These,then,arethecauses,andthisisthenumberoftheir
kinds,butthevarietiesofcausesaremanyinnumber,thoughwhen
summarizedthesealsoarecomparativelyfew。Causesarespokenofin
manysenses,andevenofthosewhichareofthesamekindsomeare
causesinapriorandothersinaposteriorsense,e。g。both’the
physician’and’theprofessionalman’arecausesofhealth,andboth
’theratio2:1’and’number’arecausesoftheoctave,andtheclasses
thatincludeanyparticularcausearealwayscausesofthe
particulareffect。Again,thereareaccidentalcausesandthe
classeswhichincludethese;e。g。whileinonesense’thesculptor’
causesthestatue,inanothersense’Polyclitus’causesit,because
thesculptorhappenstobePolyclitus;andtheclassesthatinclude
theaccidentalcausearealsocauses,e。g。’man’-oringeneral
’animal’-isthecauseofthestatue,becausePolyclitusisaman,
andmanisananimal。Ofaccidentalcausesalsosomearemoreremote
ornearerthanothers,as,forinstance,if’thewhite’and’the
musical’werecalledcausesofthestatue,andnotonly’Polyclitus’
or’man’。Butbesidesallthesevarietiesofcauses,whetherproperor
accidental,somearecalledcausesasbeingabletoact,othersas
acting;e。g。thecauseofthehouse’sbeingbuiltisabuilder,ora
builderwhoisbuilding-Thesamevarietyoflanguagewillbefound
withregardtotheeffectsofcauses;e。g。athingmaybecalledthe
causeofthisstatueorofastatueoringeneralofanimage,and
ofthisbronzeorofbronzeorofmatteringeneral;andsimilarly
inthecaseofaccidentaleffects。Again,bothaccidentalandproper
causesmaybespokenofincombination;e。g。wemaysaynot
’Polyclitus’nor’thesculptor’but’Polyclitusthesculptor’。Yetall
thesearebutsixinnumber,whileeachisspokenofintwoways;
forAtheyarecauseseitherastheindividual,orasthegenus,
orastheaccidental,orasthegenusthatincludestheaccidental,
andtheseeitherascombined,orastakensimply;andBallmaybe
takenasactingorashavingacapacity。Buttheydifferinasmuchas
theactingcauses,i。e。theindividuals,exist,ordonotexist,
simultaneouslywiththethingsofwhichtheyarecauses,e。g。this
particularmanwhoishealing,withthisparticularmanwhois
recoveringhealth,andthisparticularbuilderwiththisparticular
thingthatisbeingbuilt;butthepotentialcausesarenotalways
inthiscase;forthehousedoesnotperishatthesametimeasthe
builder。
’Element’means1theprimarycomponentimmanentinathing,and
indivisibleinkindintootherkinds;e。g。theelementsofspeech
arethepartsofwhichspeechconsistsandintowhichitisultimately
divided,whiletheyarenolongerdividedintootherformsofspeech
differentinkindfromthem。Iftheyaredivided,theirpartsareof
thesamekind,asapartofwateriswaterwhileapartofthe
syllableisnotasyllable。Similarlythosewhospeakoftheelements
ofbodiesmeanthethingsintowhichbodiesareultimatelydivided,
whiletheyarenolongerdividedintootherthingsdifferingin
kind;andwhetherthethingsofthissortareoneormore,theycall
theseelements。Theso-calledelementsofgeometricalproofs,andin
generaltheelementsofdemonstrations,haveasimilarcharacter;
fortheprimarydemonstrations,eachofwhichisimpliedinmany
demonstrations,arecalledelementsofdemonstrations;andtheprimary
syllogisms,whichhavethreetermsandproceedbymeansofonemiddle,
areofthisnature。
2Peoplealsotransfertheword’element’fromthismeaning
andapplyittothatwhich,beingoneandsmall,isusefulformany
purposes;forwhichreasonwhatissmallandsimpleandindivisibleis
calledanelement。Hencecomethefactsthatthemostuniversalthings
areelementsbecauseeachofthembeingoneandsimpleispresent
inapluralityofthings,eitherinallorinasmanyaspossible,
andthatunityandthepointarethoughtbysometobefirst
principles。Now,sincetheso-calledgeneraareuniversaland
indivisibleforthereisnodefinitionofthem,somesaythe
generaareelements,andmoresothanthedifferentia,becausethe
genusismoreuniversal;forwherethedifferentiaispresent,the
genusaccompaniesit,butwherethegenusispresent,the
differentiaisnotalwaysso。Itiscommontoallthemeaningsthat
theelementofeachthingisthefirstcomponentimmanentineach。