Somethinkthateventheancientswholivedlongbeforethe
　　presentgeneration，andfirstframedaccountsofthegods，hada
　　similarviewofnature；fortheymadeOceanandTethystheparents
　　ofcreation，anddescribedtheoathofthegodsasbeingbywater，
　　towhichtheygivethenameofStyx；forwhatisoldestismost
　　honourable，andthemosthonourablethingisthatbywhichoneswears。
　　Itmayperhapsbeuncertainwhetherthisopinionaboutnatureis
　　primitiveandancient，butThalesatanyrateissaidtohavedeclared
　　himselfthusaboutthefirstcause。Hipponoonewouldthinkfitto
　　includeamongthesethinkers，becauseofthepaltrinessofhis
　　thought。
　　AnaximenesandDiogenesmakeairpriortowater，andthemost
　　primaryofthesimplebodies，whileHippasusofMetapontiumand
　　HeraclitusofEphesussaythisoffire，andEmpedoclessaysitof
　　thefourelementsaddingafourth-earth-tothosewhichhavebeen
　　named；forthese，hesays，alwaysremainanddonotcometobe，
　　exceptthattheycometobemoreorfewer，beingaggregatedintoone
　　andsegregatedoutofone。
　　AnaxagorasofClazomenae，who，thougholderthanEmpedocles，was
　　laterinhisphilosophicalactivity，saystheprinciplesare
　　infiniteinnumber；forhesaysalmostallthethingsthataremadeof
　　partslikethemselves，inthemannerofwaterorfire，aregenerated
　　anddestroyedinthisway，onlybyaggregationandsegregation，and
　　arenotinanyothersensegeneratedordestroyed，butremain
　　eternally。
　　Fromthesefactsonemightthinkthattheonlycauseisthe
　　so-calledmaterialcause；butasmenthusadvanced，theveryfacts
　　openedthewayforthemandjoinedinforcingthemtoinvestigate
　　thesubject。Howevertrueitmaybethatallgenerationand
　　destructionproceedfromsomeoneorforthatmatterfrommore
　　elements，whydoesthishappenandwhatisthecause？Foratleastthe
　　substratumitselfdoesnotmakeitselfchange；e。g。neitherthewood
　　northebronzecausesthechangeofeitherofthem，nordoesthe
　　woodmanufactureabedandthebronzeastatue，butsomethingelse
　　isthecauseofthechange。Andtoseekthisistoseekthesecond
　　cause，asweshouldsay，-thatfromwhichcomesthebeginningofthe
　　movement。Nowthosewhoattheverybeginningsetthemselvestothis
　　kindofinquiry，andsaidthesubstratumwasone，werenotatall
　　dissatisfiedwiththemselves；butsomeatleastofthosewho
　　maintainittobeone-asthoughdefeatedbythissearchforthesecond
　　cause-saytheoneandnatureasawholeisunchangeablenotonlyin
　　respectofgenerationanddestructionforthisisaprimitivebelief，
　　andallagreedinit，butalsoofallotherchange；andthisview
　　ispeculiartothem。Ofthosewhosaidtheuniversewasone，thennone
　　succeededindiscoveringacauseofthissort，exceptperhaps
　　Parmenides，andheonlyinasmuchashesupposesthatthereisnotonly
　　onebutalsoinsomesensetwocauses。Butforthosewhomakemore
　　elementsitismorepossibletostatethesecondcause，e。g。forthose
　　whomakehotandcold，orfireandearth，theelements；fortheytreat
　　fireashavinganaturewhichfitsittomovethings，andwaterand
　　earthandsuchthingstheytreatinthecontraryway。
　　Whenthesemenandtheprinciplesofthiskindhadhadtheir
　　day，asthelatterwerefoundinadequatetogeneratethenatureof
　　thingsmenwereagainforcedbythetruthitself，aswesaid，to
　　inquireintothenextkindofcause。Foritisnotlikelyeither
　　thatfireorearthoranysuchelementshouldbethereasonwhythings
　　manifestgoodnessand，beautybothintheirbeingandintheir
　　comingtobe，orthatthosethinkersshouldhavesupposeditwas；
　　noragaincoulditberighttoentrustsogreatamatterto
　　spontaneityandchance。Whenonemansaid，then，thatreasonwas
　　present-asinanimals，sothroughoutnature-asthecauseoforder
　　andofallarrangement，heseemedlikeasobermanincontrastwith
　　therandomtalkofhispredecessors。WeknowthatAnaxagorascertainly
　　adoptedtheseviews，butHermotimusofClazomenaeiscreditedwith
　　expressingthemearlier。Thosewhothoughtthusstatedthatthereisa
　　principleofthingswhichisatthesametimethecauseofbeauty，and
　　thatsortofcausefromwhichthingsacquiremovement。
　　OnemightsuspectthatHesiodwasthefirsttolookforsucha
　　thing-orsomeoneelsewhoputloveordesireamongexistingthingsas
　　aprinciple，asParmenides，too，does；forhe，inconstructingthe
　　genesisoftheuniverse，says:-
　　LovefirstofalltheGodssheplanned。
　　AndHesiodsays:-
　　Firstofallthingswaschaosmade，andthen
　　Broad-breastedearth……
　　Andlove，’midallthegodspre-eminent，
　　whichimpliesthatamongexistingthingstheremustbefromthe
　　firstacausewhichwillmovethingsandbringthemtogether。How
　　thesethinkersshouldbearrangedwithregardtopriorityofdiscovery
　　letusbeallowedtodecidelater；butsincethecontrariesofthe
　　variousformsofgoodwerealsoperceivedtobepresentin
　　nature-notonlyorderandthebeautiful，butalsodisorderandthe
　　ugly，andbadthingsingreaternumberthangood，andignoblethings
　　thanbeautiful-thereforeanotherthinkerintroducedfriendshipand
　　strife，eachofthetwothecauseofoneofthesetwosetsof
　　qualities。ForifweweretofollowouttheviewofEmpedocles，and
　　interpretitaccordingtoitsmeaningandnottoitslisping
　　expression，weshouldfindthatfriendshipisthecauseofgood
　　things，andstrifeofbad。Therefore，ifwesaidthatEmpedoclesin
　　asensebothmentions，andisthefirsttomention，thebadandthe
　　goodasprinciples，weshouldperhapsberight，sincethecauseofall
　　goodsisthegooditself。
　　Thesethinkers，aswesay，evidentlygrasped，andtothis
　　extent，twoofthecauseswhichwedistinguishedinourworkon
　　nature-thematterandthesourceofthemovement-vaguely，however，and
　　withnoclearness，butasuntrainedmenbehaveinfights；forthey
　　goroundtheiropponentsandoftenstrikefineblows，buttheydo
　　notfightonscientificprinciples，andsotoothesethinkersdonot
　　seemtoknowwhattheysay；foritisevidentthat，asarule，they
　　makenouseoftheircausesexcepttoasmallextent。ForAnaxagoras
　　usesreasonasadeusexmachinaforthemakingoftheworld，andwhen
　　heisatalosstotellfromwhatcausesomethingnecessarilyis，then
　　hedragsreasonin，butinallothercasesascribeseventstoanything
　　ratherthantoreason。AndEmpedocles，thoughheusesthecausesto
　　agreaterextentthanthis，neitherdoessosufficientlynorattains
　　consistencyintheiruse。Atleast，inmanycaseshemakeslove
　　segregatethings，andstrifeaggregatethem。Forwhenevertheuniverse
　　isdissolvedintoitselementsbystrife，fireisaggregatedintoone，
　　andsoiseachoftheotherelements；butwheneveragainunderthe
　　influenceoflovetheycometogetherintoone，thepartsmustagainbe
　　segregatedoutofeachelement。
　　Empedocles，then，incontrastwithhisprecessors，wasthefirst
　　tointroducethedividingofthiscause，notpositingonesourceof
　　movement，butdifferentandcontrarysources。Again，hewasthe
　　firsttospeakoffourmaterialelements；yethedoesnotusefour，
　　buttreatsthemastwoonly；hetreatsfirebyitself，andits
　　opposite-earth，air，andwater-asonekindofthing。Wemaylearnthis
　　bystudyofhisverses。
　　Thisphilosopherthen，aswesay，hasspokenoftheprinciples
　　inthisway，andmadethemofthisnumber。Leucippusandhisassociate
　　Democritussaythatthefullandtheemptyaretheelements，calling
　　theonebeingandtheothernon-being-thefullandsolidbeing
　　being，theemptynon-beingwhencetheysaybeingnomoreisthan
　　non-being，becausethesolidnomoreisthantheempty；andtheymake
　　thesethematerialcausesofthings。Andasthosewhomakethe
　　underlyingsubstanceonegenerateallotherthingsbyits
　　modifications，supposingtherareandthedensetobethesourcesof
　　themodifications，inthesamewaythesephilosopherssaythe
　　differencesintheelementsarethecausesofallotherqualities。
　　Thesedifferences，theysay，arethree-shapeandorderandposition。
　　Fortheysaytherealisdifferentiatedonlyby’rhythmand
　　’inter-contact’and’turning’；andoftheserhythmisshape，
　　inter-contactisorder，andturningisposition；forAdiffersfrom
　　Ninshape，ANfromNAinorder，MfromWinposition。Thequestionof
　　movement-whenceorhowitistobelongtothings-thesethinkers，
　　liketheothers，lazilyneglected。
　　Regardingthetwocauses，then，aswesay，theinquiryseemsto
　　havebeenpushedthusfarbytheearlyphilosophers。
　　Contemporaneouslywiththesephilosophersandbeforethem，the
　　so-calledPythagoreans，whowerethefirsttotakeupmathematics，not
　　onlyadvancedthisstudy，butalsohavingbeenbroughtupinitthey
　　thoughtitsprinciplesweretheprinciplesofallthings。Sinceof
　　theseprinciplesnumbersarebynaturethefirst，andinnumbers
　　theyseemedtoseemanyresemblancestothethingsthatexistandcome
　　intobeing-morethaninfireandearthandwatersuchandsucha
　　modificationofnumbersbeingjustice，anotherbeingsouland
　　reason，anotherbeingopportunity-andsimilarlyalmostallother
　　thingsbeingnumericallyexpressible；since，again，theysawthatthe
　　modificationsandtheratiosofthemusicalscaleswereexpressiblein
　　numbers；-since，then，allotherthingsseemedintheirwholenatureto
　　bemodelledonnumbers，andnumbersseemedtobethefirstthingsin
　　thewholeofnature，theysupposedtheelementsofnumberstobethe
　　elementsofallthings，andthewholeheaventobeamusicalscaleand
　　anumber。Andallthepropertiesofnumbersandscaleswhichthey
　　couldshowtoagreewiththeattributesandpartsandthewhole
　　arrangementoftheheavens，theycollectedandfittedintotheir
　　scheme；andiftherewasagapanywhere，theyreadilymadeadditions
　　soastomaketheirwholetheorycoherent。E。g。asthenumber10is
　　thoughttobeperfectandtocomprisethewholenatureofnumbers，
　　theysaythatthebodieswhichmovethroughtheheavensareten，but
　　asthevisiblebodiesareonlynine，tomeetthistheyinventa
　　tenth——the’counter-earth’。Wehavediscussedthesemattersmore
　　exactlyelsewhere。
　　Buttheobjectofourreviewisthatwemaylearnfromthese
　　philosophersalsowhattheysupposetobetheprinciplesandhowthese
　　fallunderthecauseswehavenamed。Evidently，then，thesethinkers
　　alsoconsiderthatnumberistheprinciplebothasmatterforthings
　　andasformingboththeirmodificationsandtheirpermanentstates，
　　andholdthattheelementsofnumberaretheevenandtheodd，and
　　thatofthesethelatterislimited，andtheformerunlimited；and
　　thattheOneproceedsfrombothoftheseforitisbothevenand
　　odd，andnumberfromtheOne；andthatthewholeheaven，ashas
　　beensaid，isnumbers。
　　Othermembersofthissameschoolsaytherearetenprinciples，
　　whichtheyarrangeintwocolumnsofcognates-limitandunlimited，odd
　　andeven，oneandplurality，rightandleft，maleandfemale，
　　restingandmoving，straightandcurved，lightanddarkness，good
　　andbad，squareandoblong。InthiswayAlcmaeonofCrotonseems
　　alsotohaveconceivedthematter，andeitherhegotthisviewfrom
　　themortheygotitfromhim；forheexpressedhimselfsimilarlyto
　　them。Forhesaysmosthumanaffairsgoinpairs，meaningnotdefinite
　　contrarietiessuchasthePythagoreansspeakof，butanychance
　　contrarieties，e。g。whiteandblack，sweetandbitter，goodandbad，
　　greatandsmall。Hethrewoutindefinitesuggestionsabouttheother
　　contrarieties，butthePythagoreansdeclaredbothhowmanyandwhich
　　theircontrarictiesare。
　　Fromboththeseschools，then，wecanlearnthismuch，thatthe
　　contrariesaretheprinciplesofthings；andhowmanytheseprinciples
　　areandwhichtheyare，wecanlearnfromoneofthetwoschools。
　　Buthowtheseprinciplescanbebroughttogetherunderthecauseswe
　　havenamedhasnotbeenclearlyandarticulatelystatedbythem；
　　theyseem，however，torangetheelementsundertheheadofmatter；
　　foroutoftheseasimmanentpartstheysaysubstanceiscomposed
　　andmoulded。