首页 >出版文学> METAPHYSICS>第35章

第35章

  Onemightraisethequestion,whywomandoesnotdifferfromman
  inspecies,whenfemaleandmalearecontraryandtheirdifference
  isacontrariety;andwhyafemaleandamaleanimalarenotdifferent
  inspecies,thoughthisdifferencebelongstoanimalinvirtueof
  itsownnature,andnotaspalenessordarknessdoes;both’female’
  and’male’belongtoitquaanimal。Thisquestionisalmostthesame
  astheother,whyonecontrarietymakesthingsdifferentinspecies
  andanotherdoesnot,e。g。’withfeet’and’withwings’do,but
  palenessanddarknessdonot。Perhapsitisbecausetheformerare
  modificationspeculiartothegenus,andthelatterarelessso。And
  sinceoneelementisdefinitionandoneismatter,contrarietieswhich
  areinthedefinitionmakeadifferenceinspecies,butthosewhich
  areinthethingtakenasincludingitsmatterdonotmakeone。Andso
  palenessinaman,ordarkness,doesnotmakeone,noristherea
  differenceinspeciesbetweenthepalemanandthedarkman,not
  evenifeachofthembedenotedbyoneword。Formanisherebeing
  consideredonhismaterialside,andmatterdoesnotcreatea
  difference;foritdoesnotmakeindividualmenspeciesofman,though
  thefleshandthebonesofwhichthismanandthatmanconsistare
  other。Theconcretethingisother,butnototherinspecies,
  becauseinthedefinitionthereisnocontrariety。Thisisthe
  ultimateindivisiblekind。Calliasisdefinitionmatter,thepale
  man,then,issoalso,becauseitistheindividualCalliasthatis
  pale;man,then,ispaleonlyincidentally。Neitherdoabrazenand
  awoodencircle,then,differinspecies;andifabrazentriangleand
  awoodencircledifferinspecies,itisnotbecauseofthematter,
  butbecausethereisacontrarietyinthedefinition。Butdoesthe
  matternotmakethingsotherinspecies,whenitisotherinacertain
  way,oristhereasenseinwhichitdoes?Forwhyisthishorseother
  thanthismaninspecies,althoughtheirmatterisincludedwiththeir
  definitions?Doubtlessbecausethereisacontrarietyinthe
  definition。Forwhilethereisacontrarietyalsobetweenpalemanand
  darkhorse,anditisacontrarietyinspecies,itdoesnotdepend
  onthepalenessoftheoneandthedarknessoftheother,sinceeven
  ifbothhadbeenpale,yettheywouldhavebeenotherinspecies。
  Butmaleandfemale,whiletheyaremodificationspeculiarto
  ’animal’,aresonotinvirtueofitsessencebutinthematter,ie。
  thebody。Thisiswhythesameseedbecomesfemaleormalebybeing
  actedoninacertainway。Wehavestated,then,whatitistobe
  otherinspecies,andwhysomethingsdifferinspeciesandothers
  donot。
  Sincecontrariesareotherinform,andtheperishableandthe
  imperishablearecontrariesforprivationisadeterminate
  incapacity,theperishableandtheimperishablemustbedifferent
  inkind。
  Nowsofarwehavespokenofthegeneraltermsthemselves,sothat
  itmightbethoughtnottobenecessarythateveryimperishable
  thingshouldbedifferentfromeveryperishablethinginform,justas
  noteverypalethingisdifferentinformfromeverydarkthing。For
  thesamethingcanbeboth,andevenatthesametimeifitisa
  universale。g。mancanbebothpaleanddark,andifitisan
  individualitcanstillbeboth;forthesamemancanbe,thoughnot
  atthesametime,paleanddark。Yetpaleiscontrarytodark。
  Butwhilesomecontrariesbelongtocertainthingsbyaccident
  e。g。boththosenowmentionedandmanyothers,otherscannot,and
  amongtheseare’perishable’and’imperishable’。Fornothingisby
  accidentperishable。Forwhatisaccidentaliscapableofnotbeing
  present,butperishablenessisoneoftheattributesthatbelongof
  necessitytothethingstowhichtheybelong;orelseoneandthesame
  thingmaybeperishableandimperishable,ifperishablenessiscapable
  ofnotbelongingtoit。Perishablenessthenmusteitherbetheessence
  orbepresentintheessenceofeachperishablething。Thesame
  accountholdsgoodforimperishablenessalso;forbothare
  attributeswhicharepresentofnecessity。Thecharacteristics,
  then,inrespectofwhichandindirectconsequenceofwhichonething
  isperishableandanotherimperishable,areopposite,sothatthe
  thingsmustbedifferentinkind。
  Evidently,then,therecannotbeFormssuchassomemaintain,
  forthenonemanwouldbeperishableandanotherimperishable。Yetthe
  Formsaresaidtobethesameinformwiththeindividualsandnot
  merelytohavethesamename;butthingswhichdifferinkindare
  fartherapartthanthosewhichdifferinform。
  THATWisdomisascienceoffirstprinciplesisevidentfromthe
  introductorychapters,inwhichwehaveraisedobjectionstothe
  statementsofothersaboutthefirstprinciples;butonemightaskthe
  questionwhetherWisdomistobeconceivedasonescienceoras
  several。Ifasone,itmaybeobjectedthatonesciencealwaysdeals
  withcontraries,butthefirstprinciplesarenotcontrary。Ifitis
  notone,whatsortofsciencesarethosewithwhichitistobe
  identified?
  Further,isitthebusinessofonescience,orofmorethanone,
  toexaminethefirstprinciplesofdemonstration?Ifofone,whyof
  thisratherthanofanyother?Ifofmore,whatsortofsciences
  mustthesebesaidtobe?
  Further,doesWisdominvestigateallsubstancesornot?Ifnot
  all,itishardtosaywhich;butif,beingone,itinvestigates
  themall,itisdoubtfulhowthesamesciencecanembraceseveral
  subject-matters。
  Further,doesitdealwithsubstancesonlyoralsowiththeir
  attributes?Ifinthecaseofattributesdemonstrationispossible,in
  thatofsubstancesitisnot。Butifthetwosciencesaredifferent,
  whatiseachofthemandwhichisWisdom?Ifwethinkofitas
  demonstrative,thescienceoftheattributesisWisdom,butifas
  dealingwithwhatisprimary,thescienceofsubstancesclaimsthe
  tide。
  Butagainthesciencewearelookingformustnotbesupposedto
  dealwiththecauseswhichhavebeenmentionedinthePhysics。ForA
  itdoesnotdealwiththefinalcauseforthatisthenatureofthe
  good,andthisisfoundinthefieldofactionandmovement;anditis
  thefirstmover-forthatisthenatureoftheend-butinthecaseof
  thingsunmovablethereisnothingthatmovedthemfirst,andBin
  generalitishardtosaywhetherperchancethesciencewearenow
  lookingfordealswithperceptiblesubstancesornotwiththem,but
  withcertainothers。Ifwithothers,itmustdealeitherwiththe
  Formsorwiththeobjectsofmathematics。Nowaevidentlythe
  Formsdonotexist。Butitishardtosay,evenifonesupposethem
  toexist,whyintheworldthesameisnottrueoftheotherthingsof
  whichthereareForms,asoftheobjectsofmathematics。Imeanthat
  thesethinkersplacetheobjectsofmathematicsbetweentheForms
  andperceptiblethings,asakindofthirdsetofthingsapartboth
  fromtheFormsandfromthethingsinthisworld;butthereisnota
  thirdmanorhorsebesidestheidealandtheindividuals。Ifonthe
  otherhanditisnotastheysay,withwhatsortofthingsmustthe
  mathematicianbesupposedtodeal?Certainlynotwiththethingsin
  thisworld;fornoneoftheseisthesortofthingwhichthe
  mathematicalsciencesdemand。Norbdoesthesciencewhichweare
  nowseekingtreatoftheobjectsofmathematics;fornoneofthem
  canexistseparately。Butagainitdoesnotdealwithperceptible
  substances;fortheyareperishable。
  Ingeneralonemightraisethequestion,towhatkindofscience
  itbelongstodiscussthedifficultiesaboutthematteroftheobjects
  ofmathematics。Neithertophysicsbecausethewholeinquiryofthe
  physicistisaboutthethingsthathaveinthemselvesaprinciple。
  ofmovementandrest,noryettothesciencewhichinquiresinto
  demonstrationandscience;forthisisjustthesubjectwhichit
  investigates。Itremainsthenthatitisthephilosophywhichwe
  havesetbeforeourselvesthattreatsofthosesubjects。
  Onemightdiscussthequestionwhetherthescienceweare
  seekingshouldbesaidtodealwiththeprincipleswhicharebysome
  calledelements;allmensupposethesetobepresentincomposite
  things。Butitmightbethoughtthatthescienceweseekshould
  treatratherofuniversals;foreverydefinitionandeveryscience
  isofuniversalsandnotofinfimaespecies,sothatasfarasthis
  goesitwoulddealwiththehighestgenera。Thesewouldturnouttobe
  beingandunity;forthesemightmostofallbesupposedtocontain
  allthingsthatare,andtobemostlikeprinciplesbecausetheyare
  bynature;foriftheyperishallotherthingsaredestroyedwith
  them;foreverythingisandisone。Butinasmuchas,ifoneisto
  supposethemtobegenera,theymustbepredicableoftheir
  differentiae,andnogenusispredicableofanyofitsdifferentiae,
  inthiswayitwouldseemthatweshouldnotmakethemgeneranor
  principles。Further,ifthesimplerismoreofaprinciplethanthe
  lesssimple,andtheultimatemembersofthegenusaresimplerthan
  thegenerafortheyareindivisible,butthegeneraaredivided
  intomanyanddifferingspecies,thespeciesmightseemtobethe
  principles,ratherthanthegenera。Butinasmuchasthespeciesare
  involvedinthedestructionofthegenera,thegeneraaremorelike
  principles;forthatwhichinvolvesanotherinitsdestructionisa
  principleofit。Theseandothersofthekindarethesubjectsthat
  involvedifficulties。
  Further,mustwesupposesomethingapartfromindividualthings,
  orisitthesethatthescienceweareseekingtreatsof?Butthese
  areinfiniteinnumber。Yetthethingsthatareapartfromthe
  individualsaregeneraorspecies;butthesciencewenowseek
  treatsofneitherofthese。Thereasonwhythisisimpossiblehasbeen
  stated。Indeed,itisingeneralhardtosaywhetheronemustassume
  thatthereisaseparablesubstancebesidesthesensiblesubstances
  i。e。thesubstancesinthisworld,orthatthesearetherealthings
  andWisdomisconcernedwiththem。Forweseemtoseekanotherkindof
  substance,andthisisourproblem,i。e。toseeifthereis
  somethingwhichcanexistapartbyitselfandbelongstonosensible
  thing-Further,ifthereisanothersubstanceapartfromand
  correspondingtosensiblesubstances,whichkindsofsensible
  substancemustbesupposedtohavethiscorrespondingtothem?Why
  shouldonesupposemenorhorsestohaveit,morethaneitherthe
  otheranimalsorevenalllifelessthings?Ontheotherhandtosetup
  otherandeternalsubstancesequalinnumbertothesensibleand
  perishablesubstanceswouldseemtofallbeyondtheboundsof
  probability-Butiftheprinciplewenowseekisnotseparablefrom
  corporealthings,whathasabetterclaimtothenamematter?This,
  however,doesnotexistinactuality,butexistsinpotency。Andit
  wouldseemratherthattheformorshapeisamoreimportantprinciple
  thanthis;buttheformisperishable,sothatthereisnoeternal
  substanceatallwhichcanexistapartandindependent。Butthisis
  paradoxical;forsuchaprincipleandsubstanceseemstoexistand
  issoughtbynearlyallthemostrefinedthinkersassomethingthat
  exists;forhowistheretobeorderunlessthereissomethingeternal
  andindependentandpermanent?
  Further,ifthereisasubstanceorprincipleofsuchanature
  asthatwhichwearenowseeking,andifthisisoneforallthings,
  andthesameforeternalandforperishablethings,itishardto
  saywhyintheworld,ifthereisthesameprinciple,someofthe
  thingsthatfallundertheprincipleareeternal,andothersarenot
  eternal;thisisparadoxical。Butifthereisoneprincipleof
  perishableandanotherofeternalthings,weshallbeinalike
  difficultyiftheprincipleofperishablethings,aswellasthatof
  eternal,iseternal;forwhy,iftheprincipleiseternal,arenotthe
  thingsthatfallundertheprinciplealsoeternal?Butifitis
  perishableanotherprincipleisinvolvedtoaccountforit,and
  anothertoaccountforthat,andthiswillgoontoinfinity。
  Ifontheotherhandwearetosetupwhatarethoughttobethe
  mostunchangeableprinciples,beingandunity,firstly,ifeachof
  thesedoesnotindicatea’this’orsubstance,howwilltheybe
  separableandindependent?Yetweexpecttheeternalandprimary
  principlestobeso。Butifeachofthemdoessignifya’this’or
  substance,allthingsthatarearesubstances;forbeingispredicated
  ofallthingsandunityalsoofsome;butthatallthingsthatare
  aresubstanceisfalse。Further,howcantheyberightwhosaythat
  thefirstprincipleisunityandthisissubstance,andgenerate
  numberasthefirstproductfromunityandfrommatter,assertthat
  numberissubstance?Howarewetothinkof’two’,andeachofthe
  othernumberscomposedofunits,asone?Onthispointneitherdothey
  sayanythingnorisiteasytosayanything。Butifweareto
  supposelinesorwhatcomesaftertheseImeantheprimary
  surfacestobeprinciples,theseatleastarenotseparable
  substances,butsectionsanddivisions-theformerofsurfaces,the
  latterofbodieswhilepointsaresectionsanddivisionsoflines;
  andfurthertheyarelimitsofthesesamethings;andallthesearein
  otherthingsandnoneisseparable。Further,howarewetosuppose
  thatthereisasubstanceofunityandthepoint?Everysubstance
  comesintobeingbyagradualprocess,butapointdoesnot;forthe
  pointisadivision。