首页 >出版文学> PARMENIDES>第13章

第13章

  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。