Thus,then,arenaturalproductsproduced;allotherproductions
arecalled’makings’。Andallmakingsproceedeitherfromartor
fromafacultyorfromthought。Someofthemhappenalsospontaneously
orbyluckjustasnaturalproductssometimesdo;fortherealsothe
samethingssometimesareproducedwithoutseedaswellasfrom
seed。Concerningthesecases,then,wemustinquirelater,butfrom
artproceedthethingsofwhichtheformisinthesouloftheartist。
ByformImeantheessenceofeachthinganditsprimary
substance。Forevencontrarieshaveinasensethesameform;forthe
substanceofaprivationistheoppositesubstance,e。g。healthisthe
substanceofdiseasefordiseaseistheabsenceofhealth;and
healthistheformulainthesoulortheknowledgeofit。The
healthysubjectisproducedastheresultofthefollowingtrainof
thought:-sincethisishealth,ifthesubjectistobehealthythis
mustfirstbepresent,e。g。auniformstateofbody,andifthisisto
bepresent,theremustbeheat;andthephysiciangoesonthinking
thusuntilhereducesthemattertoafinalsomethingwhichhehimself
canproduce。Thentheprocessfromthispointonward,i。e。theprocess
towardshealth,iscalleda’making’。Thereforeitfollowsthatina
sensehealthcomesfromhealthandhousefromhouse,thatwith
matterfromthatwithoutmatter;forthemedicalartandthe
buildingartaretheformofhealthandofthehouse,andwhenIspeak
ofsubstancewithoutmatterImeantheessence。
Oftheproductionsorprocessesonepartiscalledthinkingand
theothermaking,-thatwhichproceedsfromthestarting-pointand
theformisthinking,andthatwhichproceedsfromthefinalstepof
thethinkingismaking。Andeachoftheother,intermediate,thingsis
producedinthesameway。Imean,forinstance,ifthesubjectisto
behealthyhisbodilystatemustbemadeuniform。Whatthendoesbeing
madeuniformimply?Thisorthat。Andthisdependsonhisbeingmade
warm。Whatdoesthisimply?Somethingelse。Andthissomethingis
presentpotentially;andwhatispresentpotentiallyisalreadyinthe
physician’spower。
Theactiveprinciplethenandthestartingpointfortheprocess
ofbecominghealthyis,ifithappensbyart,theforminthesoul,
andifspontaneously,itisthat,whateveritis,whichstartsthe
making,forthemanwhomakesbyart,asinhealingthestarting-point
isperhapstheproductionofwarmthandthisthephysicianproduces
byrubbing。Warmthinthebody,then,iseitherapartofhealthor
isfollowedeitherdirectlyorthroughseveralintermediatestepsby
somethingsimilarwhichisapartofhealth;andthis,viz。thatwhich
producesthepartofhealth,isthelimiting-point——andsotoowith
ahousethestonesarethelimiting-pointhereandinallother
cases。Therefore,asthesayinggoes,itisimpossiblethatanything
shouldbeproducediftherewerenothingexistingbefore。Obviously
thensomepartoftheresultwillpre-existofnecessity;forthe
matterisapart;forthisispresentintheprocessanditisthis
thatbecomessomething。Butisthematteranelementeveninthe
formula?Wecertainlydescribeinbothwayswhatbrazencirclesare;
wedescribeboththematterbysayingitisbrass,andtheformby
sayingthatitissuchandsuchafigure;andfigureisthe
proximategenusinwhichitisplaced。Thebrazencircle,then,has
itsmatterinitsformula。
Asforthatoutofwhichasmattertheyareproduced,some
thingsaresaid,whentheyhavebeenproduced,tobenotthatbut
’thaten’;e。g。thestatueisnotgoldbutgolden。Andahealthymanis
notsaidtobethatfromwhichhehascome。Thereasonisthat
thoughathingcomesbothfromitsprivationandfromits
substratum,whichwecallitsmattere。g。whatbecomeshealthyis
bothamanandaninvalid,itissaidtocomeratherfromits
privatione。g。itisfromaninvalidratherthanfromamanthata
healthysubjectisproduced。Andsothehealthysubjectisnotsaid
toheaninvalid,buttobeaman,andthemanissaidtobe
healthy。Butasforthethingswhoseprivationisobscureand
nameless,e。g。inbrasstheprivationofaparticularshapeorin
bricksandtimbertheprivationofarrangementasahouse,thething
isthoughttobeproducedfromthesematerials,asintheformer
casethehealthymanisproducedfromaninvalid。Andso,asthere
alsoathingisnotsaidtobethatfromwhichitcomes,herethe
statueisnotsaidtobewoodbutissaidbyaverbalchangetobe
wooden,notbrassbutbrazen,notgoldbutgolden,andthehouseis
saidtobenotbricksbutbrickenthoughweshouldnotsaywithout
qualification,ifwelookedatthemattercarefully,eventhata
statueisproducedfromwoodorahousefrombricks,becausecomingto
beimplieschangeinthatfromwhichathingcomestobe,andnot
permanence。Itisforthisreason,then,thatweusethiswayof
speaking。
Sinceanythingwhichisproducedisproducedbysomethingand
thisIcallthestarting-pointoftheproduction,andfrom
somethingandletthisbetakentobenottheprivationbutthe
matter;forthemeaningweattachtothishasalreadybeenexplained,
andsincesomethingisproducedandthisiseitherasphereora
circleorwhateverelseitmaychancetobe,justaswedonotmake
thesubstratumthebrass,sowedonotmakethesphere,except
incidentally,becausethebrazensphereisasphereandwemakethe
forme。Fortomakea’this’istomakea’this’outofthe
substratuminthefullsenseoftheword。Imeanthattomakethe
brassroundisnottomaketheroundorthesphere,butsomething
else,i。e。toproducethisforminsomethingdifferentfromitself。
Forifwemaketheform,wemustmakeitoutofsomethingelse;for
thiswasassumed。E。g。wemakeabrazensphere;andthatinthe
sensethatoutofthis,whichisbrass,wemakethisother,whichisa
sphere。If,then,wealsomakethesubstratumitself,clearlywe
shallmakeitinthesameway,andtheprocessesofmakingwill
regresstoinfinity。Obviouslythentheformalso,orwhateverwe
oughttocalltheshapepresentinthesensiblething,isnot
produced,noristhereanyproductionofit,noristheessence
produced;forthisisthatwhichismadetobeinsomethingelse
eitherbyartorbynatureorbysomefaculty。Butthatthereisa
brazensphere,thiswemake。Forwemakeitoutofbrassandthe
sphere;webringtheformintothisparticularmatter,andthe
resultisabrazensphere。Butiftheessenceofsphereingeneral
istobeproduced,somethingmustbeproducedoutofsomething。For
theproductwillalwayshavetobedivisible,andonepartmustbe
thisandanotherthat;Imeantheonemustbematterandtheother
form。If,then,asphereis’thefigurewhosecircumferenceisat
allpointsequidistantfromthecentre’,partofthiswillbethe
mediuminwhichthethingmadewillbe,andpartwillbeinthat
medium,andthewholewillbethethingproduced,whichcorrespondsto
thebrazensphere。Itisobvious,then,fromwhathasbeensaid,
thatthatwhichisspokenofasformorsubstanceisnotproduced,but
theconcretethingwhichgetsitsnamefromthisisproduced,andthat
ineverythingwhichisgeneratedmatterispresent,andonepartof
thethingismatterandtheotherform。
Isthere,then,asphereapartfromtheindividualspheresora
houseapartfromthebricks?Ratherwemaysaythatno’this’would
everhavebeencomingtobe,ifthishadbeenso,butthatthe
’form’meansthe’such’,andisnota’this’-adefinitething;butthe
artistmakes,orthefatherbegets,a’such’outofa’this’;andwhen
ithasbeenbegotten,itisa’thissuch’。Andthewhole’this’,
CalliasorSocrates,isanalogousto’thisbrazensphere’,butmanand
animalto’brazensphere’ingeneral。Obviously,then,thecausewhich
consistsoftheFormstakeninthesenseinwhichsomemaintainthe
existenceoftheForms,i。e。iftheyaresomethingapartfromthe
individualsisuseless,atleastwithregardtocomings-to-beand
tosubstances;andtheFormsneednot,forthisreasonatleast,be
self-subsistentsubstances。Insomecasesindeeditisevenobvious
thatthebegetterisofthesamekindasthebegottennot,however,
thesamenoroneinnumber,butinform,i。e。inthecaseof
naturalproductsformanbegetsman,unlesssomethinghappens
contrarytonature,e。g。theproductionofamulebyahorse。And
eventhesecasesaresimilar;forthatwhichwouldbefoundtobe
commontohorseandass,thegenusnextabovethem,hasnotreceiveda
name,butitwoulddoubtlessbebothinfactsomethinglikeamule。
Obviously,therefore,itisquiteunnecessarytosetupaFormasa
patternforweshouldhavelookedforFormsinthesecasesifinany;
forthesearesubstancesifanythingisso;thebegetteris
adequatetothemakingoftheproductandtothecausingoftheform
inthematter。Andwhenwehavethewhole,suchandsuchaformin
thisfleshandinthesebones,thisisCalliasorSocrates;andthey
aredifferentinvirtueoftheirmatterforthatisdifferent,but
thesameinform;fortheirformisindivisible。
Thequestionmightberaised,whysomethingsareproduced
spontaneouslyaswellasbyart,e。g。health,whileothersarenot,
e。g。ahouse。Thereasonisthatinsomecasesthematterwhich
governstheproductioninthemakingandproducingofanyworkofart,
andinwhichapartoftheproductispresent,-somematterissuch
astobesetinmotionbyitselfandsomeisnotofthisnature,and
oftheformerkindsomecanmoveitselfintheparticularway
required,whileothermatterisincapableofthis;formanythingscan
besetinmotionbythemselvesbutnotinsomeparticularway,e。g。
thatofdancing。Thethings,then,whosematterisofthissort,
e。g。stones,cannotbemovedintheparticularwayrequired,exceptby
somethingelse,butinanotherwaytheycanmovethemselves-andso
itiswithfire。Thereforesomethingswillnotexistapartfrom
someonewhohastheartofmakingthem,whileotherswill;formotion
willbestartedbythesethingswhichhavenottheartbutcan
themselvesbemovedbyotherthingswhichhavenottheartorwitha
motionstartingfromapartoftheproduct。
Anditisclearalsofromwhathasbeensaidthatinasenseevery
productofartisproducedfromathingwhichsharesitsnameas
naturalproductsareproduced,orfromapartofitselfwhich
sharesitsnamee。g。thehouseisproducedfromahouse,quaproduced
byreason;fortheartofbuildingistheformofthehouse,or
fromsomethingwhichcontainsaartofit,-ifweexcludethings
producedbyaccident;forthecauseofthething’sproducingthe
productdirectlyperseisapartoftheproduct。Theheatinthe
movementcausedheatinthebody,andthisiseitherhealth,orapart
ofhealth,orisfollowedbyapartofhealthorbyhealthitself。And
soitissaidtocausehealth,becauseitcausesthattowhich
healthattachesasaconsequence。
Therefore,asinsyllogisms,substanceisthestarting-pointof
everything。Itisfrom’whatathingis’thatsyllogismsstart;and
fromitalsowenowfindprocessesofproductiontostart。
Thingswhichareformedbynatureareinthesamecaseasthese
productsofart。Fortheseedisproductiveinthesamewayasthe
thingsthatworkbyart;forithastheformpotentially,andthat
fromwhichtheseedcomeshasinasensethesamenameasthe
offspringonlyinasense,forwemustnotexpectparentandoffspring
alwaystohaveexactlythesamename,asintheproductionof’human
being’from’human’fora’woman’alsocanbeproducedbya
’man’-unlesstheoffspringbeanimperfectform;whichisthereason
whytheparentofamuleisnotamule。Thenaturalthingswhichlike
theartificialobjectspreviouslyconsideredcanbeproduced
spontaneouslyarethosewhosemattercanbemovedevenbyitselfin
thewayinwhichtheseedusuallymovesit;thosethingswhichhave
notsuchmattercannotbeproducedexceptfromtheparentanimals
themselves。
Butnotonlyregardingsubstancedoesourargumentprovethat
itsformdoesnotcometobe,buttheargumentappliestoallthe
primaryclassesalike,i。e。quantity,quality,andtheother
categories。Forasthebrazenspherecomestobe,butnotthesphere
northebrass,andsotoointhecaseofbrassitself,ifitcomes
tobe,itisitsconcreteunitythatcomestobeforthematterand
theformmustalwaysexistbefore,soisitbothinthecaseof
substanceandinthatofqualityandquantityandtheothercategories
likewise;forthequalitydoesnotcometobe,butthewoodofthat
quality,andthequantitydoesnotcometobe,butthewoodorthe
animalofthatsize。Butwemaylearnfromtheseinstancesa
peculiarityofsubstance,thattheremustexistbeforehandincomplete
realityanothersubstancewhichproducesit,e。g。ananimalifan
animalisproduced;butitisnotnecessarythataqualityorquantity
shouldpre-existotherwisethanpotentially。
第23章