首页 >出版文学> METAPHYSICS>第30章

第30章

  Asallpotenciesareeitherinnate,likethesenses,orcomeby
  practice,likethepowerofplayingtheflute,orbylearning,like
  artisticpower,thosewhichcomebypracticeorbyrationalformulawe
  mustacquirebypreviousexercisebutthisisnotnecessarywiththose
  whicharenotofthisnatureandwhichimplypassivity。
  Sincethatwhichis’capable’iscapableofsomethingandat
  sometimeinsomewaywithalltheotherqualificationswhichmustbe
  presentinthedefinition,andsincesomethingscanproducechange
  accordingtoarationalformulaandtheirpotenciesinvolvesucha
  formula,whileotherthingsarenonrationalandtheirpotenciesare
  non-rational,andtheformerpotenciesmustbeinalivingthing,
  whilethelattercanbebothinthelivingandinthelifeless;as
  regardspotenciesofthelatterkind,whentheagentandthepatient
  meetinthewayappropriatetothepotencyinquestion,theonemust
  actandtheotherbeactedon,butwiththeformerkindofpotency
  thisisnotnecessary。Forthenonrationalpotenciesareall
  productiveofoneeffecteach,buttherationalproducecontrary
  effects,sothatiftheyproducedtheireffectsnecessarilytheywould
  producecontraryeffectsatthesametime;butthisisimpossible。
  Theremust,then,besomethingelsethatdecides;Imeanbythis,
  desireorwill。Forwhicheveroftwothingstheanimaldesires
  decisively,itwilldo,whenitispresent,andmeetsthepassive
  object,inthewayappropriatetothepotencyinquestion。Therefore
  everythingwhichhasarationalpotency,whenitdesiresthatfor
  whichithasapotencyandinthecircumstancesinwhichithasthe
  potency,mustdothis。Andithasthepotencyinquestionwhenthe
  passiveobjectispresentandisinacertainstate;ifnotitwill
  notbeabletoact。Toaddthequalification’ifnothingexternal
  preventsit’isnotfurthernecessary;forithasthepotencyonthe
  termsonwhichthisisapotencyofacting,anditisthisnotin
  allcircumstancesbutoncertainconditions,amongwhichwillbethe
  exclusionofexternalhindrances;forthesearebarredbysomeof
  thepositivequalifications。Andsoevenifonehasarational
  wish,oranappetite,todotwothingsorcontrarythingsatthe
  sametime,onewillnotdothem;foritisnotonthesetermsthatone
  hasthepotencyforthem,norisitapotencyofdoingbothatthe
  sametime,sinceonewilldothethingswhichitisapotencyof
  doing,onthetermsonwhichonehasthepotency。
  Sincewehavetreatedofthekindofpotencywhichisrelatedto
  movement,letusdiscussactuality-what,andwhatkindofthing,
  actualityis。Forinthecourseofouranalysisitwillalsobecome
  clear,withregardtothepotential,thatwenotonlyascribe
  potencytothatwhosenatureitistomovesomethingelse,ortobe
  movedbysomethingelse,eitherwithoutqualificationorinsome
  particularway,butalsousethewordinanothersense,whichisthe
  reasonoftheinquiryinthecourseofwhichwehavediscussedthese
  previoussensesalso。Actuality,then,istheexistenceofathingnot
  inthewaywhichweexpressby’potentially’;wesaythatpotentially,
  forinstance,astatueofHermesisintheblockofwoodandthe
  half-lineisinthewhole,becauseitmightbeseparatedout,andwe
  calleventhemanwhoisnotstudyingamanofscience,ifheis
  capableofstudying;thethingthatstandsincontrasttoeachof
  theseexistsactually。Ourmeaningcanbeseenintheparticularcases
  byinduction,andwemustnotseekadefinitionofeverythingbutbe
  contenttograsptheanalogy,thatitisasthatwhichisbuilding
  istothatwhichiscapableofbuilding,andthewakingtothe
  sleeping,andthatwhichisseeingtothatwhichhasitseyesshutbut
  hassight,andthatwhichhasbeenshapedoutofthemattertothe
  matter,andthatwhichhasbeenwroughtuptotheunwrought。Let
  actualitybedefinedbyonememberofthisantithesis,andthe
  potentialbytheother。Butallthingsarenotsaidinthesame
  sensetoexistactually,butonlybyanalogy-asAisinBortoB,C
  isinDortoD;forsomeareasmovementtopotency,andtheothers
  assubstancetosomesortofmatter。
  Butalsotheinfiniteandthevoidandallsimilarthingsaresaid
  toexistpotentiallyandactuallyinadifferentsensefromthatwhich
  appliestomanyotherthings,e。g。tothatwhichseesorwalksoris
  seen。Forofthelatterclassthesepredicatescanatsometimebe
  alsotrulyassertedwithoutqualification;fortheseenissocalled
  sometimesbecauseitisbeingseen,sometimesbecauseitiscapableof
  beingseen。Buttheinfinitedoesnotexistpotentiallyinthesense
  thatitwilleveractuallyhaveseparateexistence;itexists
  potentiallyonlyforknowledge。Forthefactthattheprocessof
  dividingnevercomestoanendensuresthatthisactivityexists
  potentially,butnotthattheinfiniteexistsseparately。
  Sinceoftheactionswhichhavealimitnoneisanendbutallare
  relativetotheend,e。g。theremovingoffat,orfat-removal,andthe
  bodilypartsthemselveswhenoneismakingthemthinareinmovement
  inthiswayi。e。withoutbeingalreadythatatwhichthemovement
  aims,thisisnotanactionoratleastnotacompleteoneforitis
  notanend;butthatmovementinwhichtheendispresentisan
  action。E。g。atthesametimeweareseeingandhaveseen,are
  understandingandhaveunderstood,arethinkingandhavethought
  whileitisnottruethatatthesametimewearelearningandhave
  learnt,orarebeingcuredandhavebeencured。Atthesametimewe
  arelivingwellandhavelivedwell,andarehappyandhavebeen
  happy。Ifnot,theprocesswouldhavehadsometimetocease,asthe
  processofmakingthinceases:but,asthingsare,itdoesnot
  cease;wearelivingandhavelived。Oftheseprocesses,then,wemust
  calltheonesetmovements,andtheotheractualities。Forevery
  movementisincomplete-makingthin,learning,walking,building;these
  aremovements,andincompleteatthat。Foritisnottruethatat
  thesametimeathingiswalkingandhaswalked,orisbuildingand
  hasbuilt,oriscomingtobeandhascometobe,orisbeingmoved
  andhasbeenmoved,butwhatisbeingmovedisdifferentfromwhathas
  beenmoved,andwhatismovingfromwhathasmoved。Butitisthesame
  thingthatatthesametimehasseenandisseeing,seeing,oris
  thinkingandhasthought。Thelattersortofprocess,then,Icall
  anactuality,andtheformeramovement。
  What,andwhatkindofthing,theactualis,maybetakenas
  explainedbytheseandsimilarconsiderations。Butwemustdistinguish
  whenathingexistspotentiallyandwhenitdoesnot;foritisnotat
  anyandeverytime。E。g。isearthpotentiallyaman?No-butrather
  whenithasalreadybecomeseed,andperhapsnoteventhen。Itisjust
  asitiswithbeinghealed;noteverythingcanbehealedbythe
  medicalartorbyluck,butthereisacertainkindofthingwhich
  iscapableofit,andonlythisispotentiallyhealthy。And1the
  delimitingmarkofthatwhichasaresultofthoughtcomestoexistin
  completerealityfromhavingexistedpotentiallyisthatifthe
  agenthaswilledititcomestopassifnothingexternalhinders,
  whiletheconditionontheotherside-viz。inthatwhichis
  healed-isthatnothinginithinderstheresult。Itisonsimilar
  termsthatwehavewhatispotentiallyahouse;ifnothinginthe
  thingactedon-i。e。inthematter-preventsitfrombecomingahouse,
  andifthereisnothingwhichmustbeaddedortakenawayor
  changed,thisispotentiallyahouse;andthesameistrueofall
  otherthingsthesourceofwhosebecomingisexternal。And2in
  thecasesinwhichthesourceofthebecomingisintheverything
  whichcomestobe,athingispotentiallyallthosethingswhichit
  willbeofitselfifnothingexternalhindersit。E。g。theseedisnot
  yetpotentiallyaman;foritmustbedepositedinsomethingother
  thanitselfandundergoachange。Butwhenthroughitsownmotive
  principleithasalreadygotsuchandsuchattributes,inthisstate
  itisalreadypotentiallyaman;whileintheformerstateitneeds
  anothermotiveprinciple,justasearthisnotyetpotentiallya
  statueforitmustfirstchangeinordertobecomebrass。
  Itseemsthatwhenwecallathingnotsomethingelsebut
  ’thaten’-e。g。acasketisnot’wood’but’wooden’,andwoodisnot
  ’earth’but’earthen’,andagainearthwillillustrateourpointifit
  issimilarlynotsomethingelsebut’thaten’-thatotherthingis
  alwayspotentiallyinthefullsenseofthatwordthethingwhich
  comesafteritinthisseries。E。g。acasketisnot’earthen’nor
  ’earth’,but’wooden’;forthisispotentiallyacasketandthisis
  thematterofacasket,woodingeneralofacasketingeneral,and
  thisparticularwoodofthisparticularcasket。Andifthereisa
  firstthing,whichisnolonger,inreferencetosomethingelse,
  called’thaten’,thisisprimematter;e。g。ifearthis’airy’andair
  isnot’fire’but’fiery’,fireisprimematter,whichisnota
  ’this’。Forthesubjectorsubstratumisdifferentiatedbybeinga
  ’this’ornotbeingone;i。e。thesubstratumofmodificationsis,e。g。
  aman,i。e。abodyandasoul,whilethemodificationis’musical’
  or’pale’。Thesubjectiscalled,whenmusiccomestobepresentin
  it,not’music’but’musical’,andthemanisnot’paleness’but
  ’pale’,andnot’ambulation’or’movement’but’walking’or
  ’moving’,-whichisakintothe’thaten’。Whereverthisisso,then,
  theultimatesubjectisasubstance;butwhenthisisnotsobutthe
  predicateisaformanda’this’,theultimatesubjectismatterand
  materialsubstance。Anditisonlyrightthat’thaten’shouldbe
  usedwithreferencebothtothematterandtotheaccidents;for
  bothareindeterminates。
  Wehavestated,then,whenathingistobesaidtoexist
  potentiallyandwhenitisnot。
  Fromourdiscussionofthevarioussensesof’prior’,itis
  clearthatactualityispriortopotency。AndImeanbypotencynot
  onlythatdefinitekindwhichissaidtobeaprincipleofchangein
  anotherthingorinthethingitselfregardedasother,butingeneral
  everyprincipleofmovementorofrest。Fornaturealsoisinthesame
  genusaspotency;foritisaprincipleofmovement-not,however,in
  somethingelsebutinthethingitselfquaitself。Toallsuch
  potency,then,actualityispriorbothinformulaandin
  substantiality;andintimeitispriorinonesense,andinanother
  not。
  1Clearlyitispriorinformula;forthatwhichisinthe
  primarysensepotentialispotentialbecauseitispossibleforit
  tobecomeactive;e。g。Imeanby’capableofbuilding’thatwhich
  canbuild,andby’capableofseeing’thatwhichcansee,andby
  ’visible’thatwhichcanbeseen。Andthesameaccountappliesto
  allothercases,sothattheformulaandtheknowledgeoftheonemust
  precedetheknowledgeoftheother。
  2Intimeitispriorinthissense:theactualwhichis
  identicalinspeciesthoughnotinnumberwithapotentially
  existingthingistoit。Imeanthattothisparticularmanwhonow
  existsactuallyandtothecornandtotheseeingsubjectthematter
  andtheseedandthatwhichiscapableofseeing,whichare
  potentiallyamanandcornandseeing,butnotyetactuallyso,are
  priorintime;butpriorintimetotheseareotheractually
  existingthings,fromwhichtheywereproduced。Forfromthe
  potentiallyexistingtheactuallyexistingisalwaysproducedbyan
  actuallyexistingthing,e。g。manfromman,musicianbymusician;
  thereisalwaysafirstmover,andthemoveralreadyexists
  actually。Wehavesaidinouraccountofsubstancethateverything
  thatisproducedissomethingproducedfromsomethingandby
  something,andthatthesameinspeciesasit。
  Thisiswhyitisthoughtimpossibletobeabuilderifonehas
  builtnothingoraharperifonehasneverplayedtheharp;forhewho
  learnstoplaytheharplearnstoplayitbyplayingit,andallother
  learnersdosimilarly。Andthencearosethesophisticalquibble,
  thatonewhodoesnotpossessasciencewillbedoingthatwhichis
  theobjectofthescience;forhewhoislearningitdoesnot
  possessit。Butsince,ofthatwhichiscomingtobe,somepartmust
  havecometobe,and,ofthatwhich,ingeneral,ischanging,some
  partmusthavechangedthisisshowninthetreatiseonmovement,he
  whoislearningmust,itwouldseem,possesssomepartofthescience。
  Butheretoo,then,itisclearthatactualityisinthissense
  also,viz。inorderofgenerationandoftime,priortopotency。
  But3itisalsopriorinsubstantiality;firstly,abecause
  thethingsthatareposteriorinbecomingarepriorinformandin
  substantialitye。g。manispriortoboyandhumanbeingtoseed;
  fortheonealreadyhasitsform,andtheotherhasnot,and
  becauseeverythingthatcomestobemovestowardsaprinciple,i。e。an
  endforthatforthesakeofwhichathingis,isitsprinciple,
  andthebecomingisforthesakeoftheend,andtheactualityisthe
  end,anditisforthesakeofthisthatthepotencyisacquired。
  Foranimalsdonotseeinorderthattheymayhavesight,butthey