首页 >出版文学> METAPHYSICS>第17章

第17章

  ’Potency’means1asourceofmovementorchange,whichisin
  anotherthingthanthethingmovedorinthesamethingquaother;
  e。g。theartofbuildingisapotencywhichisnotinthethingbuilt,
  whiletheartofhealing,whichisapotency,maybeintheman
  healed,butnotinhimquahealed。’Potency’thenmeansthesource,in
  general,ofchangeormovementinanotherthingorinthesamething
  quaother,andalso2thesourceofathing’sbeingmovedbyanother
  thingorbyitselfquaother。Forinvirtueofthatprinciple,in
  virtueofwhichapatientsuffersanything,wecallit’capable’of
  suffering;andthiswedosometimesifitsuffersanythingatall,
  sometimesnotinrespectofeverythingitsuffers,butonlyifit
  suffersachangeforthebetter——3Thecapacityofperformingthis
  welloraccordingtointention;forsometimeswesayofthosewho
  merelycanwalkorspeakbutnotwellornotastheyintend,thatthey
  cannotspeakorwalk。Sotoo4inthecaseofpassivity——5The
  statesinvirtueofwhichthingsareabsolutelyimpassiveor
  unchangeable,ornoteasilychangedfortheworse,arecalled
  potencies;forthingsarebrokenandcrushedandbentandingeneral
  destroyednotbyhavingapotencybutbynothavingoneandbylacking
  something,andthingsareimpassivewithrespecttosuchprocesses
  iftheyarescarcelyandslightlyaffectedbythem,becauseofa
  ’potency’andbecausethey’can’dosomethingandareinsomepositive
  state。
  ’Potency’havingthisvarietyofmeanings,sotoothe’potent’
  or’capable’inonesensewillmeanthatwhichcanbeginamovement
  orachangeingeneral,foreventhatwhichcanbringthingsto
  restisa’potent’thinginanotherthingorinitselfquaother;and
  inonesensethatoverwhichsomethingelsehassuchapotency;andin
  onesensethatwhichhasapotencyofchangingintosomething,whether
  fortheworseorforthebetterforeventhatwhichperishesis
  thoughttobe’capable’ofperishing,foritwouldnothaveperished
  ifithadnotbeencapableofit;but,asamatteroffact,ithasa
  certaindispositionandcauseandprinciplewhichfitsittosuffer
  this;sometimesitisthoughttobeofthissortbecauseithas
  something,sometimesbecauseitisdeprivedofsomething;butif
  privationisinasense’having’or’habit’,everythingwillbe
  capablebyhavingsomething,sothatthingsarecapablebothbyhaving
  apositivehabitandprinciple,andbyhavingtheprivationofthis,
  ifitispossibletohaveaprivation;andifprivationisnotina
  sense’habit’,’capable’isusedintwodistinctsenses;anda
  thingiscapableinanothersensebecauseneitheranyotherthing,nor
  itselfquaother,hasapotencyorprinciplewhichcandestroyit。
  Again,allofthesearecapableeithermerelybecausethething
  mightchancetohappenornottohappen,orbecauseitmightdoso
  well。Thissortofpotencyisfoundeveninlifelessthings,e。g。in
  instruments;forwesayonelyrecanspeak,andanothercannotspeak
  atall,ifithasnotagoodtone。
  Incapacityisprivationofcapacity-i。e。ofsuchaprincipleas
  hasbeendescribedeitheringeneralorinthecaseofsomething
  thatwouldnaturallyhavethecapacity,orevenatthetimewhenit
  wouldnaturallyalreadyhaveit;forthesensesinwhichweshould
  callaboyandamanandaeunuch’incapableofbegetting’are
  distinct-Again,toeitherkindofcapacitythereisanopposite
  incapacity-bothtothatwhichonlycanproducemovementandtothat
  whichcanproduceitwell。
  Somethings,then,arecalledadunatainvirtueofthiskindof
  incapacity,whileothersaresoinanothersense;i。e。bothdunaton
  andadunatonareusedasfollows。Theimpossibleisthatofwhich
  thecontraryisofnecessitytrue,e。g。thatthediagonalofa
  squareiscommensuratewiththesideisimpossible,becausesucha
  statementisafalsityofwhichthecontraryisnotonlytruebutalso
  necessary;thatitiscommensurate,then,isnotonlyfalsebutalso
  ofnecessityfalse。Thecontraryofthis,thepossible,isfound
  whenitisnotnecessarythatthecontraryisfalse,e。g。thataman
  shouldbeseatedispossible;forthatheisnotseatedisnotof
  necessityfalse。Thepossible,then,inonesense,ashasbeensaid,
  meansthatwhichisnotofnecessityfalse;inone,thatwhichis
  true;inone,thatwhichmaybetrue-A’potency’or’power’in
  geometryissocalledbyachangeofmeaning-Thesesensesof
  ’capable’or’possible’involvenoreferencetopotency。Butthe
  senseswhichinvolveareferencetopotencyallrefertotheprimary
  kindofpotency;andthisisasourceofchangeinanotherthingorin
  thesamethingquaother。Forotherthingsarecalled’capable’,
  somebecausesomethingelsehassuchapotencyoverthem,somebecause
  ithasnot,somebecauseithasitinaparticularway。Thesameis
  trueofthethingsthatareincapable。Thereforetheproperdefinition
  oftheprimarykindofpotencywillbe’asourceofchangein
  anotherthingorinthesamethingquaother’。
  ’Quantum’meansthatwhichisdivisibleintotwoormore
  constituentpartsofwhicheachisbynaturea’one’anda’this’。A
  quantumisapluralityifitisnumerable,amagnitudeifitisa
  measurable。’Plurality’meansthatwhichisdivisiblepotentiallyinto
  non-continuousparts,’magnitude’thatwhichisdivisibleinto
  continuousparts;ofmagnitude,thatwhichiscontinuousinone
  dimensionislength;intwobreadth,inthreedepth。Ofthese,limited
  pluralityisnumber,limitedlengthisaline,breadthasurface,
  depthasolid。
  Again,somethingsarecalledquantainvirtueoftheirown
  nature,othersincidentally;e。g。thelineisaquantumbyitsown
  nature,themusicalisoneincidentally。Ofthethingsthatarequanta
  bytheirownnaturesomearesoassubstances,e。g。thelineisa
  quantumfor’acertainkindofquantum’ispresentinthe
  definitionwhichstateswhatitis,andothersaremodifications
  andstatesofthiskindofsubstance,e。g。muchandlittle,longand
  short,broadandnarrow,deepandshallow,heavyandlight,andall
  othersuchattributes。Andalsogreatandsmall,andgreaterand
  smaller,bothinthemselvesandwhentakenrelativelytoeachother,
  arebytheirownnatureattributesofwhatisquantitative;but
  thesenamesaretransferredtootherthingsalso。Ofthingsthatare
  quantaincidentally,somearesocalledinthesenseinwhichitwas
  saidthatthemusicalandthewhitewerequanta,viz。becausethat
  towhichmusicalnessandwhitenessbelongisaquantum,andsomeare
  quantainthewayinwhichmovementandtimeareso;forthesealso
  arecalledquantaofasortandcontinuousbecausethethingsofwhich
  theseareattributesaredivisible。Imeannotthatwhichismoved,
  butthespacethroughwhichitismoved;forbecausethatisaquantum
  movementalsoisaquantum,andbecausethisisaquantumtimeisone。
  ’Quality’means1thedifferentiaoftheessence,e。g。manisan
  animalofacertainqualitybecauseheistwo-footed,andthehorseis
  sobecauseitisfour-footed;andacircleisafigureofparticular
  qualitybecauseitiswithoutangles,-whichshowsthattheessential
  differentiaisaquality-This,then,isonemeaningofquality-the
  differentiaoftheessence,but2thereisanothersenseinwhichit
  appliestotheunmovableobjectsofmathematics,thesenseinwhich
  thenumbershaveacertainquality,e。g。thecompositenumberswhich
  arenotinonedimensiononly,butofwhichtheplaneandthesolid
  arecopiesthesearethosewhichhavetwoorthreefactors;andin
  generalthatwhichexistsintheessenceofnumbersbesidesquantity
  isquality;fortheessenceofeachiswhatitisonce,e。g。thatof
  isnotwhatitistwiceorthrice,butwhatitisonce;for6is
  once6。
  3Allthemodificationsofsubstancesthatmovee。g。heatand
  cold,whitenessandblackness,heavinessandlightness,andtheothers
  ofthesortinvirtueofwhich,whentheychange,bodiesaresaid
  toalter。4Qualityinrespectofvirtueandvice,andingeneral,
  ofevilandgood。
  Quality,then,seemstohavepracticallytwomeanings,andone
  oftheseisthemoreproper。Theprimaryqualityisthedifferentiaof
  theessence,andofthisthequalityinnumbersisapart;foritisa
  differentiaofessences,buteithernotofthingsthatmoveornot
  ofthemquamoving。Secondly,therearethemodificationsofthings
  thatmove,quamoving,andthedifferentiaeofmovements。Virtueand
  vicefallamongthesemodifications;fortheyindicatedifferentiaeof
  themovementoractivity,accordingtowhichthethingsinmotion
  actorareactedonwellorbadly;forthatwhichcanbemovedor
  actinonewayisgood,andthatwhichcandosoinanother——the
  contrary——wayisvicious。Goodandevilindicatequalityespeciallyin
  livingthings,andamongtheseespeciallyinthosewhichhavepurpose。
  Thingsare’relative’1asdoubletohalf,andtrebletoa
  third,andingeneralthatwhichcontainssomethingelsemanytimesto
  thatwhichiscontainedmanytimesinsomethingelse,andthatwhich
  exceedstothatwhichisexceeded;2asthatwhichcanheatto
  thatwhichcanbeheated,andthatwhichcancuttothatwhichcan
  becut,andingeneraltheactivetothepassive;3asthe
  measurabletothemeasure,andtheknowabletoknowledge,andthe
  perceptibletoperception。
  1Relativetermsofthefirstkindarenumericallyrelated
  eitherindefinitelyordefinitely,tonumbersthemselvesorto1。E。g。
  thedoubleisinadefinitenumericalrelationto1,andthatwhichis
  ’manytimesasgreat’isinanumerical,butnotadefinite,
  relationto1,i。e。notinthisorinthatnumericalrelationtoit;
  therelationofthatwhichishalfasbigagainassomethingelseto
  thatsomethingisadefinitenumericalrelationtoanumber;that
  whichisnI/ntimessomethingelseisinanindefiniterelationto
  thatsomething,asthatwhichis’manytimesasgreat’isinan
  indefiniterelationto1;therelationofthatwhichexceedstothat
  whichisexceededisnumericallyquiteindefinite;fornumberis
  alwayscommensurate,and’number’isnotpredicatedofthatwhichis
  notcommensurate,butthatwhichexceedsis,inrelationtothatwhich
  isexceeded,somuchandsomethingmore;andthissomethingis
  indefinite;foritcan,indifferently,beeitherequalornotequalto
  thatwhichisexceeded-Alltheserelations,then,arenumerically
  expressedandaredeterminationsofnumber,andsoinanotherway
  aretheequalandthelikeandthesame。Forallrefertounity。Those
  thingsarethesamewhosesubstanceisone;thosearelikewhose
  qualityisone;thoseareequalwhosequantityisone;and1isthe
  beginningandmeasureofnumber,sothatalltheserelationsimply
  number,thoughnotinthesameway。
  2Thingsthatareactiveorpassiveimplyanactiveorapassive
  potencyandtheactualizationsofthepotencies;e。g。thatwhichis
  capableofheatingisrelatedtothatwhichiscapableofbeing
  heated,becauseitcanheatit,and,again,thatwhichheatsis
  relatedtothatwhichisheatedandthatwhichcutstothatwhichis
  cut,inthesensethattheyactuallydothesethings。Butnumerical
  relationsarenotactualizedexceptinthesensewhichhasbeen
  elsewherestated;actualizationsinthesenseofmovementtheyhave
  not。Ofrelationswhichimplypotencysomefurtherimplyparticular
  periodsoftime,e。g。thatwhichhasmadeisrelativetothatwhich
  hasbeenmade,andthatwhichwillmaketothatwhichwillbemade。
  Foritisinthiswaythatafatheriscalledthefatherofhisson;
  fortheonehasactedandtheotherhasbeenactedoninacertain
  way。Further,somerelativetermsimplyprivationofpotency,i。e。
  ’incapable’andtermsofthissort,e。g。’invisible’。
  Relativetermswhichimplynumberorpotency,therefore,areall
  relativebecausetheirveryessenceincludesinitsnatureareference
  tosomethingelse,notbecausesomethingelseinvolvesareference
  toit;but3thatwhichismeasurableorknowableorthinkableis
  calledrelativebecausesomethingelseinvolvesareferencetoit。For
  ’thatwhichisthinkable’impliesthatthethoughtofitis