首页 >出版文学> PARMENIDES>第11章

第11章

  True。
  Andistherenotalsoatimeatwhichitassumesbeingandrelinquishesbeing—forhowcanithaveandnothavethesamethingunlessitreceivesandalsogivesitupat;sometime?
  Impossible。
  Andtheassumingofbeingiswhatyouwouldcallbecoming?
  Ishould。
  Andtherelinquishingofbeingyouwouldcalldestruction?
  Ishould。
  Theonethen,aswouldappear,becomesandisdestroyedbytakingandgivingupbeing。
  Certainly。
  Andbeingoneandmanyandinprocessofbecomingandbeingdestroyed,whenitbecomesoneitceasestobemany,andwhenmany,itceasestobeone?
  Certainly。
  Andasitbecomesoneandmany,mustitnotinevitablyexperienceseparationandaggregation?
  Inevitably。
  Andwheneveritbecomeslikeandunlikeitmustbeassimilatedanddissimilated?
  Yes。
  Andwhenitbecomesgreaterorlessorequalitmustgrowordiminishorbeequalized?
  True。
  Andwhenbeinginmotionitrests,andwhenbeingatrestitchangestomotion,itcansurelybeinnotimeatall?
  Howcanit?
  Butthatathingwhichispreviouslyatrestshouldbeafterwardsinmotion,orpreviouslyinmotionandafterwardsatrest,withoutexperiencingchange,isimpossible。
  Impossible。
  Andsurelytherecannotbeatimeinwhichathingcanbeatonceneitherinmotionnoratrest?
  Therecannot。
  Butneithercanitchangewithoutchanging。
  True。
  Whenthendoesitchange;foritcannotchangeeitherwhenatrest,orwheninmotion,orwhenintime?
  Itcannot。
  Anddoesthisstrangethinginwhichitisatthetimeofchangingreallyexist?
  Whatthing?
  Themoment。Forthemomentseemstoimplyasomethingoutofwhichchangetakesplaceintoeitheroftwostates;forthechangeisnotfromthestateofrestassuch,nor,fromthestateofmotionassuch;
  butthereisthiscuriousnature,whichwecallthemomentlyingbetweenrestandmotion,notbeinginanytime;andintothisandoutofthiswhatisinmotionchangesintorest,andwhatisatrestintomotion。
  Soitappears。
  Andtheonethen,sinceitisatrestandalsoinmotion,willchangetoeither,foronlyinthiswaycanitbeinboth。Andinchangingitchangesinamoment,andwhenitischangingitwillbeinnotime,andwillnotthenbeeitherinmotionoratrest。
  Itwillnot。
  Anditwillbeinthesamecaseinrelationtotheotherchanges,whenitpassesfrombeingintocessationofbeing,orfromnot—beingintobecoming—thenitpassesbetweencertainstatesofmotionandrest,and,neitherisnorisnot,norbecomesnorisdestroyed。
  Verytrue。
  Andonthesameprinciple,inthepassagefromonetomanyandfrommanytoone,theoneisneitheronenormany,neitherseparatednoraggregated;andinthepassagefromliketounlike,andfromunliketolike,itisneitherlikenorunlike,neitherinastateofassimilationnorofdissimilation;andinthepassagefromsmalltogreatandequalandbackagain,itwillbeneithersmallnorgreat,norequal,norinastateofincrease,ordiminution,orequalization。
  True。
  Allthese,then,aretheaffectionsoftheone,iftheonehasbeing。
  Ofcourse。
  Butifoneis,whatwillhappentotheothers—isnotthatalsotobeconsidered?
  Yes。
  Letusshowthen,ifoneis,whatwillbetheaffectionsoftheothersthantheone。
  Letusdoso。
  Inasmuchastherearethingsotherthantheone,theothersarenottheone;foriftheyweretheycouldnotbeotherthantheone。
  Verytrue。
  Verytrue。
  Noraretheothersaltogetherwithouttheone,butinacertainwaytheyparticipateintheone。
  Inwhatway?
  Becausetheothersareotherthantheoneinasmuchastheyhaveparts;foriftheyhadnopartstheywouldbesimplyone。
  Right。
  Andparts,asweaffirm,haverelationtoawhole?
  Sowesay。
  Andawholemustnecessarilybeonemadeupofmany;andthepartswillbepartsoftheone,foreachofthepartsisnotapartofmany,butofawhole。
  Howdoyoumean?
  Ifanythingwereapartofmany,beingitselfoneofthem,itwillsurelybeapartofitself,whichisimpossible,anditwillbeapartofeachoneoftheotherparts,ifofall;forifnotapartofsomeone,itwillbeapartofalltheothersbutthisone,andthuswillnotbeapartofeachone;andifnotapartofeach,oneitwillnotbeapartofanyoneofthemany;andnotbeingapartofanyone,itcannotbeapartoranythingelseofallthosethingsofnoneofwhichitisanything。
  Clearlynot。
  Thenthepartisnotapartofthemany,norofall,butisofacertainsingleform,whichwecallawhole,beingoneperfectunityframedoutofall—ofthisthepartwillbeapart。
  Certainly。
  If,then,theothershaveparts,theywillparticipateinthewholeandintheone。
  True。
  Thentheothersthantheonemustbeoneperfectwhole,havingparts。
  Certainly。
  Andthesameargumentholdsofeachpart,forthepartmustparticipateintheone;forifeachofthepartsisapart,thismeans,Isuppose,thatitisoneseparatefromtherestandself—related;otherwiseitisnoteach。
  True。
  Butwhenwespeakofthepartparticipatingintheone,itmustclearlybeotherthanone;forifnot,itwouldmerelyhaveparticipated,butwouldhavebeenone;whereasonlytheitselfcanbeone。
  Verytrue。
  Boththewholeandthepartmustparticipateintheone;forthewholewillbeonewhole,ofwhichthepartswillbeparts;andeachpartwillbeonepartofthewholewhichisthewholeofthepart。
  True。
  Andwillnotthethingswhichparticipateintheone,beotherthanit?
  Ofcourse。
  Andthethingswhichareotherthantheonewillbemany;forifthethingswhichareotherthantheonewereneitheronenormorethanone,theywouldbenothing。
  True。
  But,seeingthatthethingswhichparticipateintheoneasapart,andintheoneasawhole,aremorethanone,mustnotthoseverythingswhichparticipateintheonebeinfiniteinnumber?
  Howso?
  Letuslookatthematterthus:—Isitnotafactthatinpartakingoftheonetheyarenotone,anddonotpartakeoftheoneattheverytime。whentheyarepartakingofit?
  Clearly。
  Theydosothenasmultitudesinwhichtheoneisnotpresent?
  Verytrue。
  Andifweweretoabstractfromtheminideatheverysmallestfraction,mustnotthatleastfraction,ifitdoesnotpartakeoftheone,beamultitudeandnotone?
  Itmust。
  Andifwecontinuetolookattheothersideoftheirnature,regardedsimply,andinitself,willnotthey,asfarasweseethem,beunlimitedinnumber?
  Certainly。
  Andyet,wheneachseveralpartbecomesapart,thenthepartshavealimitinrelationtothewholeandtoeachother,andthewholeinrelationtotheparts。
  Justso。
  Theresulttotheothersthantheoneisthatofthemselvesandtheoneappearstocreateanewelementinthemwhichgivestothemlimitationinrelationtooneanother;whereasintheirownnaturetheyhavenolimit。
  Thatisclear。
  Thentheothersthantheone,bothaswholeandparts,areinfinite,andalsopartakeoflimit。
  Certainly。
  Thentheyarebothlikeandunlikeoneanotherandthemselves。
  Howisthat?
  Inasmuchastheyareunlimitedintheirownnature,theyareallaffectedinthesameway。
  True。
  Andinasmuchastheyallpartakeoflimit,theyareallaffectedinthesameway。
  Ofcourse。
  Butinasmuchastheirstateisbothlimitedandunlimited,theyareaffectedinoppositeways。
  Yes。
  Andoppositesarethemostunlikeofthings。
  Certainly。
  Considered,then,inregardtoeitheroneoftheiraffections,theywillbelikethemselvesandoneanother;consideredinreferencetobothofthemtogether,mostopposedandmostunlike。
  Thatappearstobetrue。
  Thentheothersarebothlikeandunlikethemselvesandoneanother?
  True。
  Andtheyarethesameandalsodifferentfromoneanother,andinmotionandatrest,andexperienceeverysortofoppositeaffection,asmaybeprovedwithoutdifficultyofthem,sincetheyhavebeenshowntohaveexperiencedtheaffectionsaforesaid?
  True。
  Suppose,now,thatweleavethefurtherdiscussionofthesemattersasevident,andconsideragainuponthehypothesisthattheoneis,whetheroppositeofallthisisorisnotequallytrueoftheothers。
  Byallmeans。
  Thenletusbeginagain,andask,Ifoneis,whatmustbetheaffectionsoftheothers?
  Letusaskthatquestion。
  Mustnottheonebedistinctfromtheothers,andtheothersfromtheone?
  Whyso?
  Why,becausethereisnothingelsebesidethemwhichisdistinctfrombothofthem;fortheexpression"oneandtheothers"includesallthings。