Ofthingswhichchange,somechangeinanaccidentalsense,like
thatinwhich’themusical’maybesaidtowalk,andothersare
said,withoutqualification,tochange,becausesomethinginthem
changes,i。e。thethingsthatchangeinparts;thebodybecomes
healthy,becausetheeyedoes。Butthereissomethingwhichisby
itsownnaturemoveddirectly,andthisistheessentiallymovable。
Thesamedistinctionisfoundinthecaseofthemover;forit
causesmovementeitherinanaccidentalsenseorinrespectofa
partofitselforessentially。Thereissomethingthatdirectlycauses
movement;andthereissomethingthatismoved,alsothetimeinwhich
itismoved,andthatfromwhichandthatintowhichitismoved。
Buttheformsandtheaffectionsandtheplace,whicharethe
terminalsofthemovementofmovingthings,areunmovable,e。g。
knowledgeorheat;itisnotheatthatisamovement,butheating。
Changewhichisnotaccidentalisfoundnotinallthings,butbetween
contraries,andtheirintermediates,andbetweencontradictories。We
mayconvinceourselvesofthisbyinduction。
Thatwhichchangeschangeseitherfrompositiveintopositive,
orfromnegativeintonegative,orfrompositiveintonegative,or
fromnegativeintopositive。BypositiveImeanthatwhichis
expressedbyanaffirmativeterm。Thereforetheremustbethree
changes;thatfromnegativeintonegativeisnotchange,because
sincethetermsareneithercontrariesnorcontradictoriesthere
isnoopposition。Thechangefromthenegativeintothepositivewhich
isitscontradictoryisgeneration-absolutechangeabsolute
generation,andpartialchangepartialgeneration;andthechangefrom
positivetonegativeisdestruction-absolutechangeabsolute
destruction,andpartialchangepartialdestruction。If,then,’that
whichisnot’hasseveralsenses,andmovementcanattachneitherto
thatwhichimpliesputtingtogetherorseparating,nortothatwhich
impliespotencyandisopposedtothatwhichisinthefullsense
true,thenot-whiteornot-goodcanbemovedincidentally,forthe
not-whitemightbeaman;butthatwhichisnotaparticularthing
atallcaninnowisebemoved,thatwhichisnotcannotbemoved
andifthisisso,generationcannotbemovement;forthatwhichis
notisgenerated;forevenifweadmittothefullthatitsgeneration
isaccidental,yetitistruetosaythat’not-being’ispredicableof
thatwhichisgeneratedabsolutely。Similarlyrestcannotbelong
tothatwhichisnot。Theseconsequences,then,turnouttobe
awkward,andalsothis,thateverythingthatismovedisinaplace,
butthatwhichisnotisnotinaplace;forthenitwouldbe
somewhere。Norisdestructionmovement;forthecontraryofmovement
isrest,butthecontraryofdestructionisgeneration。Sinceevery
movementisachange,andthekindsofchangearethethreenamed
above,andofthesethoseinthewayofgenerationanddestructionare
notmovements,andthesearethechangesfromathingtoits
contradictory,itfollowsthatonlythechangefrompositiveinto
positiveismovement。Andthepositivesareeithercontraryor
intermediateforevenprivationmustberegardedascontrary,and
areexpressedbyanaffirmativeterm,e。g。’naked’or’toothless’or
Ifthecategoriesareclassifiedassubstance,quality,place,
actingorbeingactedon,relation,quantity,theremustbethree
kindsofmovement-ofquality,ofquantity,ofplace。Thereisno
movementinrespectofsubstancebecausethereisnothingcontraryto
substance,norofrelationforitispossiblethatifoneoftwo
thingsinrelationchanges,therelativetermwhichwastrueofthe
otherthingceasestobetrue,thoughthisotherdoesnotchangeat
all,-sothattheirmovementisaccidental,norofagentand
patient,ormoverandmoved,becausethereisnomovementof
movementnorgenerationofgeneration,nor,ingeneral,changeof
change。Fortheremightbemovementofmovementintwosenses;1
movementmightbethesubjectmoved,asamanismovedbecausehe
changesfrompaletodark,-sothatonthisshowingmovement,too,
maybeeitherheatedorcooledorchangeitsplaceorincrease。But
thisisimpossible;forchangeisnotasubject。Or2someother
subjectmightchangefromchangeintosomeotherformofexistence
e。g。amanfromdiseaseintohealth。Butthisalsoisnotpossible
exceptincidentally。Foreverymovementischangefromsomething
intosomething。Andsoaregenerationanddestruction;only,these
arechangesintothingsopposedincertainwayswhiletheother,
movement,isintothingsopposedinanotherway。Athingchanges,
then,atthesametimefromhealthintoillness,andfromthis
changeitselfintoanother。Clearly,then,ifithasbecomeill,it
willhavechangedintowhatevermaybetheotherchangeconcerned
thoughitmaybeatrest,and,further,intoadeterminatechange
eachtime;andthatnewchangewillbefromsomethingdefiniteinto
someotherdefinitething;thereforeitwillbetheoppositechange,
thatofgrowingwell。Weanswerthatthishappensonlyincidentally;
e。g。thereisachangefromtheprocessofrecollectiontothatof
forgetting,onlybecausethattowhichtheprocessattachesis
changing,nowintoastateofknowledge,nowintooneofignorance。
Further,theprocesswillgoontoinfinity,ifthereistobe
changeofchangeandcomingtobeofcomingtobe。Whatistrueofthe
later,then,mustbetrueoftheearlier;e。g。ifthesimplecomingto
bewasoncecomingtobe,thatwhichcomestobesomethingwasalso
oncecomingtobe;thereforethatwhichsimplycomestobesomething
wasnotyetinexistence,butsomethingwhichwascomingtobe
comingtobesomethingwasalreadyinexistence。Andthiswasonce
comingtobe,sothatatthattimeitwasnotyetcomingtobe
somethingelse。Nowsinceofaninfinitenumberoftermsthereis
notafirst,thefirstinthisserieswillnotexist,andthereforeno
followingtermexist。Nothing,then,caneithercometermwitobe
ormoveorchange。Further,thatwhichiscapableofamovementis
alsocapableofthecontrarymovementandrest,andthatwhichcomes
tobealsoceasestobe。Thereforethatwhichiscomingtobeis
ceasingtobewhenithascometobecomingtobe;foritcannotcease
tobeassoonasitiscomingtobecomingtobe,norafterithas
cometobe;forthatwhichisceasingtobemustbe。Further,there
mustbeamatterunderlyingthatwhichcomestobeandchanges。What
willthisbe,then,-whatisitthatbecomesmovementorbecoming,as
bodyorsoulisthatwhichsuffersalteration?And;again,whatis
itthattheymoveinto?Foritmustbethemovementorbecomingof
somethingfromsomethingintosomething。How,then,canthiscondition
befulfilled?Therecanbenolearningoflearning,andthereforeno
becomingofbecoming。Sincethereisnotmovementeitherof
substanceorofrelationorofactivityandpassivity,itremainsthat
movementisinrespectofqualityandquantityandplace;foreach
oftheseadmitsofcontrariety。ByqualityImeannotthatwhichisin
thesubstanceforeventhedifferentiaisaquality,butthepassive
quality,invirtueofwhichathingissaidtobeactedonortobe
incapableofbeingactedon。Theimmobileiseitherthatwhichis
whollyincapableofbeingmoved,orthatwhichismovedwith
difficultyinalongtimeorbeginsslowly,orthatwhichisofa
naturetobemovedandcanbemovedbutisnotmovedwhenandwhere
andasitwouldnaturallybemoved。ThisaloneamongimmobilesI
describeasbeingatrest;forrestiscontrarytomovement,sothat
itmustbeaprivationinthatwhichisreceptiveofmovement。
Thingswhichareinoneproximateplacearetogetherinplace,and
thingswhichareindifferentplacesareapart:thingswhose
extremesaretogethertouch:thatatwhichachangingthing,ifit
changescontinuouslyaccordingtoitsnature,naturallyarrivesbefore
itarrivesattheextremeintowhichitischanging,isbetween。
Thatwhichismostdistantinastraightlineiscontraryinplace。
Thatissuccessivewhichisafterthebeginningtheorderbeing
determinedbypositionorformorinsomeotherwayandhasnothing
ofthesameclassbetweenitandthatwhichitsucceeds,e。g。linesin
thecaseofaline,unitsinthatofaunit,orahouseinthatofa
house。Thereisnothingtopreventathingofsomeotherclassfrom
beingbetween。Forthesuccessivesucceedssomethingandissomething
later;’one’doesnotsucceed’two’,northefirstdayofthemonth
thesecond。Thatwhich,beingsuccessive,touches,iscontiguous。
Sinceallchangeisbetweenopposites,andtheseareeither
contrariesorcontradictories,andthereisnomiddletermfor
contradictories,clearlythatwhichisbetweenisbetweencontraries。
Thecontinuousisaspeciesofthecontiguous。Icalltwothings
continuouswhenthelimitsofeach,withwhichtheytouchandbywhich
theyarekepttogether,becomeoneandthesame,sothatplainlythe
continuousisfoundinthethingsoutofwhichaunitynaturally
arisesinvirtueoftheircontact。Andplainlythesuccessiveisthe
firstoftheseconceptsforthesuccessivedoesnotnecessarily
touch,butthatwhichtouchesissuccessive;andifathingis
continuous,ittouches,butifittouches,itisnotnecessarily
continuous;andinthingsinwhichthereisnotouching,thereisno
organicunity;thereforeapointisnotthesameasaunit;for
contactbelongstopoints,butnottounits,whichhaveonly
succession;andthereissomethingbetweentwooftheformer,but
notbetweentwoofthelatter。
Thesubjectofourinquiryissubstance;fortheprinciplesand
thecausesweareseekingarethoseofsubstances。Foriftheuniverse
isofthenatureofawhole,substanceisitsfirstpart;andifit
coheresmerelybyvirtueofserialsuccession,onthisviewalso
substanceisfirst,andissucceededbyquality,andthenbyquantity。
Atthesametimetheselatterarenotevenbeinginthefullsense,
butarequalitiesandmovementsofit,-orelseeventhenot-white
andthenot-straightwouldbebeing;atleastwesayeventheseare,
e。g。’thereisanot-white’。Further,noneofthecategoriesother
thansubstancecanexistapart。Andtheearlyphilosophersalsoin
practicetestifytotheprimacyofsubstance;foritwasof
substancethattheysoughttheprinciplesandelementsandcauses。The
thinkersofthepresentdaytendtorankuniversalsassubstancesfor
generaareuniversals,andthesetheytendtodescribeasprinciples
andsubstances,owingtotheabstractnatureoftheirinquiry;but
thethinkersofoldrankedparticularthingsassubstances,e。g。
fireandearth,notwhatiscommontoboth,body。
Therearethreekindsofsubstance-onethatissensibleof
whichonesubdivisioniseternalandanotherisperishable;thelatter
isrecognizedbyallmen,andincludese。g。plantsandanimals,of
whichwemustgrasptheelements,whetheroneormany;andanother
thatisimmovable,andthiscertainthinkersasserttobecapableof
existingapart,somedividingitintotwo,othersidentifyingthe
Formsandtheobjectsofmathematics,andotherspositing,ofthese
two,onlytheobjectsofmathematics。Theformertwokindsof
substancearethesubjectofphysicsfortheyimplymovement;but
thethirdkindbelongstoanotherscience,ifthereisnoprinciple
commontoitandtotheotherkinds。