Afurtherdifficultyisraisedbythefactthatallknowledgeis
ofuniversalsandofthe’such’,butsubstanceisnotauniversal,but
israthera’this’-aseparablething,sothatifthereisknowledge
aboutthefirstprinciples,thequestionarises,howarewetosuppose
thefirstprincipletobesubstance?
Further,isthereanythingapartfromtheconcretethingbywhich
Imeanthematterandthatwhichisjoinedwithit,ornot?Ifnot,
wearemetbytheobjectionthatallthingsthatareinmatterare
perishable。Butifthereissomething,itmustbetheformorshape。
Nowitishardtodetermineinwhichcasesthisexistsapartandin
whichitdoesnot;forinsomecasestheformisevidentlynot
separable,e。g。inthecaseofahouse。
Further,aretheprinciplesthesameinkindorinnumber?Ifthey
areoneinnumber,allthingswillbethesame。
Sincethescienceofthephilosophertreatsofbeingquabeing
universallyandnotinrespectofapartofit,and’being’hasmany
sensesandisnotusedinoneonly,itfollowsthatifthewordis
usedequivocallyandinvirtueofnothingcommontoitsvarious
uses,beingdoesnotfallunderonescienceforthemeaningsofan
equivocaltermdonotformonegenus;butifthewordisusedin
virtueofsomethingcommon,beingwillfallunderonescience。The
termseemstobeusedinthewaywehavementioned,like’medical’and
’healthy’。Foreachofthesealsoweuseinmanysenses。Termsare
usedinthiswaybyvirtueofsomekindofreference,intheone
casetomedicalscience,intheothertohealth,inothersto
somethingelse,butineachcasetooneidenticalconcept。Fora
discussionandaknifearecalledmedicalbecausetheformer
proceedsfrommedicalscience,andthelatterisusefultoit。Anda
thingiscalledhealthyinasimilarway;onethingbecauseitis
indicativeofhealth,anotherbecauseitisproductiveofit。And
thesameistrueintheothercases。Everythingthatis,then,issaid
to’be’inthissameway;eachthingthatisissaidto’be’because
itisamodificationofbeingquabeingorapermanentora
transientstateoramovementofit,orsomethingelseofthesort。
Andsinceeverythingthatismaybereferredtosomethingsingleand
common,eachofthecontrarietiesalsomaybereferredtothefirst
differencesandcontrarietiesofbeing,whetherthefirst
differencesofbeingarepluralityandunity,orlikenessand
unlikeness,orsomeotherdifferences;letthesebetakenasalready
discussed。Itmakesnodifferencewhetherthatwhichisbereferredto
beingortounity。Foreveniftheyarenotthesamebutdifferent,at
leasttheyareconvertible;forthatwhichisoneisalsosomehow
being,andthatwhichisbeingisone。
Butsinceeverypairofcontrariesfallstobeexaminedbyoneand
thesamescience,andineachpaironetermistheprivativeofthe
otherthoughonemightregardingsomecontrariesraisethequestion,
howtheycanbeprivatelyrelated,viz。thosewhichhavean
intermediate,e。g。unjustandjust-inallsuchcasesonemustmaintain
thattheprivationisnotofthewholedefinition,butoftheinfima
species。ifthejustmanis’byvirtueofsomepermanentdisposition
obedienttothelaws’,theunjustmanwillnotineverycasehave
thewholedefinitiondeniedofhim,butmaybemerely’insomerespect
deficientinobediencetothelaws’,andinthisrespecttheprivation
willattachtohim;andsimilarlyinallothercases。
Asthemathematicianinvestigatesabstractionsforbefore
beginninghisinvestigationhestripsoffallthesensible
qualities,e。g。weightandlightness,hardnessanditscontrary,and
alsoheatandcoldandtheothersensiblecontrarieties,andleaves
onlythequantitativeandcontinuous,sometimesinone,sometimesin
two,sometimesinthreedimensions,andtheattributesofthesequa
quantitativeandcontinuous,anddoesnotconsidertheminanyother
respect,andexaminestherelativepositionsofsomeandthe
attributesofthese,andthecommensurabilitiesand
incommensurabilitiesofothers,andtheratiosofothers;butyetwe
positoneandthesamescienceofallthesethings——geometry——the
sameistruewithregardtobeing。Fortheattributesofthisinso
farasitisbeing,andthecontrarietiesinitquabeing,itisthe
businessofnoothersciencethanphilosophytoinvestigate;forto
physicsonewouldassignthestudyofthingsnotquabeing,butrather
quasharinginmovement;whiledialecticandsophisticdealwiththe
attributesofthingsthatare,butnotofthingsquabeing,andnot
withbeingitselfinsofarasitisbeing;thereforeitremains
thatitisthephilosopherwhostudiesthethingswehavenamed,inso
farastheyarebeing。Sinceallthatisisto’be’invirtueof
somethingsingleandcommon,thoughthetermhasmanymeanings,and
contrariesareinthesamecasefortheyarereferredtothefirst
contrarietiesanddifferencesofbeing,andthingsofthissortcan
fallunderonescience,thedifficultywestatedatthebeginning
appearstobesolved,-Imeanthequestionhowtherecanbeasingle
scienceofthingswhicharemanyanddifferentingenus。
Sinceeventhemathematicianusesthecommonaxiomsonlyina
specialapplication,itmustbethebusinessoffirstphilosophyto
examinetheprinciplesofmathematicsalso。Thatwhenequalsaretaken
fromequalstheremaindersareequal,iscommontoallquantities,but
mathematicsstudiesapartofitspropermatterwhichithasdetached,
e。g。linesoranglesornumbersorsomeotherkindofquantity-not,
however,quabeingbutinsofaraseachofthemiscontinuousin
oneortwoorthreedimensions;butphilosophydoesnotinquire
aboutparticularsubjectsinsofaraseachofthemhassomeattribute
orother,butspeculatesaboutbeing,insofaraseachparticular
thingis-Physicsisinthesamepositionasmathematics;for
physicsstudiestheattributesandtheprinciplesofthethingsthat
are,quamovingandnotquabeingwhereastheprimaryscience,we
havesaid,dealswiththese,onlyinsofarastheunderlyingsubjects
areexistent,andnotinvirtueofanyothercharacter;andsoboth
physicsandmathematicsmustbeclassedaspartsofWisdom。
Thereisaprincipleinthings,aboutwhichwecannotbedeceived,
butmustalways,onthecontraryrecognizethetruth,-viz。thatthe
samethingcannotatoneandthesametimebeandnotbe,oradmitany
othersimilarpairofopposites。Aboutsuchmattersthereisno
proofinthefullsense,thoughthereisproofadhominem。Foritis
notpossibletoinferthistruthitselffromamorecertainprinciple,
yetthisisnecessaryifthereistobecompletedproofofitinthe
fullsense。Buthewhowantstoprovetotheasserterofopposites
thatheiswrongmustgetfromhimanadmissionwhichshallbe
identicalwiththeprinciplethatthesamethingcannotbeandnot
beatoneandthesametime,butshallnotseemtobeidentical;for
thusalonecanhisthesisbedemonstratedtothemanwhoasserts
thatoppositestatementscanbetrulymadeaboutthesamesubject。
Those,then,whoaretojoininargumentwithoneanothermusttosome
extentunderstandoneanother;forifthisdoesnothappenhoware
theytojoininargumentwithoneanother?Thereforeeverywordmust
beintelligibleandindicatesomething,andnotmanythingsbutonly
one;andifitsignifiesmorethanonething,itmustbemadeplainto
whichofthesethewordisbeingapplied。He,then,whosays’this
isandisnot’denieswhatheaffirms,sothatwhattheword
signifies,hesaysitdoesnotsignify;andthisisimpossible。
Thereforeif’thisis’signifiessomething,onecannottrulyassert
itscontradictory。
Further,ifthewordsignifiessomethingandthisisasserted
truly,thisconnexionmustbenecessary;anditisnotpossiblethat
thatwhichnecessarilyisshouldevernotbe;itisnotpossible
thereforetomaketheopposedaffirmationsandnegationstrulyof
thesamesubject。Further,iftheaffirmationisnomoretruethanthe
negation,hewhosays’man’willbenomorerightthanhewhosays
’not-man’。Itwouldseemalsothatinsayingthemanisnotahorse
onewouldbeeithermoreornotlessrightthaninsayingheisnot
aman,sothatonewillalsoberightinsayingthatthesameperson
isahorse;foritwasassumedtobepossibletomakeopposite
statementsequallytruly。Itfollowsthenthatthesamepersonisa
manandahorse,oranyotheranimal。
While,then,thereisnoproofofthesethingsinthefull
sense,thereisaproofwhichmaysufficeagainstonewhowillmake
thesesuppositions。AndperhapsifonehadquestionedHeraclitus
himselfinthiswayonemighthaveforcedhimtoconfessthatopposite
statementscanneverbetrueofthesamesubjects。But,asitis,he
adoptedthisopinionwithoutunderstandingwhathisstatement
involves。Butinanycaseifwhatissaidbyhimistrue,noteven
thisitselfwillbetrue-viz。thatthesamethingcanatoneandthe
sametimebothbeandnotbe。Foras,whenthestatementsare
separated,theaffirmationisnomoretruethanthenegation,inthe
sameway-thecombinedandcomplexstatementbeinglikeasingle
affirmation-thewholetakenasanaffirmationwillbenomoretrue
thanthenegation。Further,ifitisnotpossibletoaffirmanything
truly,thisitselfwillbefalse-theassertionthatthereisnotrue
affirmation。Butifatrueaffirmationexists,thisappearsto
refutewhatissaidbythosewhoraisesuchobjectionsandutterly
destroyrationaldiscourse。
ThesayingofProtagorasisliketheviewswehavementioned;he
saidthatmanisthemeasureofallthings,meaningsimplythatthat
whichseemstoeachmanalsoassuredlyis。Ifthisisso,itfollows
thatthesamethingbothisandisnot,andisbadandgood,and
thatthecontentsofallotheroppositestatementsaretrue,because
oftenaparticularthingappearsbeautifultosomeandthecontraryof
beautifultoothers,andthatwhichappearstoeachmanisthe
measure。Thisdifficultymaybesolvedbyconsideringthesourceof
thisopinion。Itseemstohaveariseninsomecasesfromthe
doctrineofthenaturalphilosophers,andinothersfromthefactthat
allmenhavenotthesameviewsaboutthesamethings,buta
particularthingappearspleasanttosomeandthecontraryofpleasant
toothers。
Thatnothingcomestobeoutofthatwhichisnot,but
everythingoutofthatwhichis,isadogmacommontonearlyallthe
naturalphilosophers。Since,then,whitecannotcometobeifthe
perfectlywhiteandinnorespectnot-whiteexistedbefore,thatwhich
becomeswhitemustcomefromthatwhichisnotwhite;sothatit
mustcometobeoutofthatwhichisnotsotheyargue,unlessthe
samethingwasatthebeginningwhiteandnot-white。Butitisnot
hardtosolvethisdifficulty;forwehavesaidinourworkson
physicsinwhatsensethingsthatcometobecometobefromthat
whichisnot,andinwhatsensefromthatwhichis。
Buttoattendequallytotheopinionsandthefanciesofdisputing
partiesischildish;forclearlyoneofthemmustbemistaken。And
thisisevidentfromwhathappensinrespectofsensation;forthe
samethingneverappearssweettosomeandthecontraryofsweetto
others,unlessintheonecasethesense-organwhichdiscriminatesthe
aforesaidflavourshasbeenpervertedandinjured。Andifthisisso
theonepartymustbetakentobethemeasure,andtheothermustnot。
Andsaythesameofgoodandbad,andbeautifulandugly,andall
othersuchqualities。Fortomaintaintheviewweareopposingisjust
likemaintainingthatthethingsthatappeartopeoplewhoputtheir
fingerundertheireyeandmaketheobjectappeartwoinsteadofone
mustbetwobecausetheyappeartobeofthatnumberandagainone
fortothosewhodonotinterferewiththeireyetheoneobject
appearsone。