Authors/Aristotle/metaphysics/l10/c7

Chapter 7

Greek	Latin	English
ἐπεὶ δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐνδέχεται εἶναί τι μεταξὺ καὶ ἐνίων ἔστιν, ἀνάγκη ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων εἶναι τὰ μεταξύ.	Quoniam autem contrariorum contingit aliquid medium esse et quorundam est, necesse ex contrariis esse media.	Chapter 7. Since contraries admit of an intermediate and in some cases have it, intermediates must be composed of the contraries.
πάντα [20] γὰρ τὰ μεταξὺ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ γένει ἐστὶ καὶ ὧν ἐστὶ μεταξύ. μεταξὺ μὲν γὰρ ταῦτα λέγομεν εἰς ὅσα μεταβάλλειν ἀνάγκη πρότερον τὸ μεταβάλλον (οἷον ἀπὸ τῆς ὑπάτης ἐπὶ τὴν νήτην εἰ μεταβαίνοι τῷ ὀλιγίστῳ, ἥξει πρότερον εἰς τοὺς μεταξὺ φθόγγους, καὶ ἐν χρώμασιν εἰ [ἥξει] ἐκ τοῦ λευκοῦ [25] εἰς τὸ μέλαν, πρότερον ἥξει εἰς τὸ φοινικοῦν καὶ φαιὸν ἢ εἰς τὸ μέλαν: ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων): μεταβάλλειν δ᾽ ἐξ ἄλλου γένους εἰς ἄλλο γένος οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ κατὰ συμβεβηκός, οἷον ἐκ χρώματος εἰς σχῆμα. ἀνάγκη ἄρα τὰ μεταξὺ καὶ αὑτοῖς καὶ ὧν μεταξύ εἰσιν ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ γένει [30] εἶναι.	Omnia namque media in eodem sunt genere et quorum sunt ↵ media. Media enim haec dicimus in quaecumque permutari prius est necesse quod permutatur, ut ab ypate in netem si transit per minimam rationem, veniet prius ad medios sonos. Et in coloribus si veniet ex albo in nigrum, prius veniet ad puni↵ceum et plumbeum quam ad nigrum. Similiter autem et in aliis. * permutari vero ex alio genere in aliud genus non est nisi secundum accidens, ut ex colore in figuram. Necesse est ergo media et quorum sunt media in eodem genere esse.	For (1) all intermediates are in the same genus as the things between which they stand. For we call those things intermediates, into which that which changes must change first; e.g. if we were to pass from the highest string to the lowest by the smallest intervals, we should come sooner to the intermediate notes, and in colours if we were to pass from white to black, we should come sooner to crimson and grey than to black; and similarly in all other cases. But to change from one genus to another genus is not possible except in an incidental way, as from colour to figure. Intermediates, then, must be in the same genus both as one another and as the things they stand between.
ἀλλὰ μὴν πάντα γε τὰ μεταξύ ἐστιν ἀντικειμένων τινῶν: ἐκ τούτων γὰρ μόνων καθ᾽ αὑτὰ ἔστι μεταβάλλειν (διὸ ἀδύνατον εἶναι μεταξὺ μὴ ἀντικειμένων: εἴη γὰρ ἂν μεταβολὴ καὶ μὴ ἐξ ἀντικειμένων).	↵ At vero omnia media sunt oppositorum quorundam; ex hiis enim solis secundum se est permutari. Quapropter impossibile est esse media non oppositorum; esset enim permutatio et non ex oppositis.	But (2) all intermediates stand between opposites of some kind; for only between these can change take place in virtue of their own nature (so that an intermediate is impossible between things which are not opposite; for then there would be change which was not from one opposite towards the other).
τῶν δ᾽ ἀντικειμένων ἀντιφάσεως μὲν οὐκ ἔστι μεταξύ (τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ἀντίφασις, [35] ἀντίθεσις ἧς ὁτῳοῦν θάτερον μόριον πάρεστιν, οὐκ ἐχούσης οὐθὲν μεταξύ), τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν τὰ μὲν πρός τι τὰ δὲ στέρησις τὰ δὲ ἐναντία ἐστίν. τῶν δὲ πρός τι ὅσα μὴ ἐναντία, οὐκ ἔχει μεταξύ: αἴτιον δ᾽ ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ γένει ἐστίν. [1057β] [1] τί γὰρ ἐπιστήμης καὶ ἐπιστητοῦ μεταξύ; ἀλλὰ μεγάλου καὶ μικροῦ.	Oppositorum vero contradictionis quidem medium non est; hoc enim est contradictio: opposi↵tio cuius cuicumque altera pars adest, * non habentis nullum medium. Ceterorum vero alia ad aliquid alia privatio alia contraria. Eorum autem quae ad aliquid quaecumque non * contraria, non habent media; causa vero quia non in eodem genere sunt. Quid enim scientie et scibilis medium? Sed * magni et ↵ parvi.	Of opposites, contradictories admit of no middle term; for this is what contradiction is – an opposition, one or other side of which must attach to anything whatever, i.e. which has no intermediate. Of other opposites, some are relative, others privative, others contrary. Of relative terms, those which are not contrary have no intermediate; the reason is that they are not in the same genus. For what intermediate could there be between [57b] knowledge and knowable? But between great and small there is one. (3)
εἰ δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἐν ταὐτῷ γένει τὰ μεταξύ, ὥσπερ δέδεικται, καὶ μεταξὺ ἐναντίων, ἀνάγκη αὐτὰ συγκεῖσθαι ἐκ τούτων τῶν ἐναντίων.	Si vero sunt in eodem genere media, ut ostensum est, et media contrariorum, necesse ipsa componi ex hiis contrariis.	If intermediates are in the same genus, as has been shown, and stand between contraries, they must be composed of these contraries.
ἢ γὰρ ἔσται τι γένος αὐτῶν ἢ οὐθέν. καὶ εἰ μὲν [5] γένος ἔσται οὕτως ὥστ᾽ εἶναι πρότερόν τι τῶν ἐναντίων, αἱ διαφοραὶ πρότεραι ἐναντίαι ἔσονται αἱ ποιήσουσαι τὰ ἐναντία εἴδη ὡς γένους: ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ γένους καὶ τῶν διαφορῶν τὰ εἴδη (οἷον εἰ τὸ λευκὸν καὶ μέλαν ἐναντία, ἔστι δὲ τὸ μὲν διακριτικὸν χρῶμα τὸ δὲ συγκριτικὸν χρῶμα, αὗται αἱ διαφοραί, [10] τὸ διακριτικὸν καὶ συγκριτικόν, πρότεραι: ὥστε ταῦτα ἐναντία ἀλλήλοις πρότερα).	Nam aut erit aliquod genus ipsorum aut nullum. Et si quidem ƿ ↵ genus erit ita ut sit prius aliquid contrariis *, differentie priores contrarie erunt facientes contrarias species ut generis; ex genere enim et differentiis species. Ut si album et nigrum contraria *, est autem hoc quidem disgregativus color illud ↵ vero congregativus color: hae differentiae, congregativum et disgregativum, priores; quare haec contraria * invicem priora. At vero contrarie differentia magis sunt contraria.	For either there will be a genus including the contraries or there will be none. And if (a) there is to be a genus in such a way that it is something prior to the contraries, the differentiae which constituted the contrary species-of-a-genus will be contraries prior to the species; for species are composed of the genus and the differentiae. (E.g. if white and black are contraries, and one is a piercing colour and the other a compressing colour, these differentiae – piercing and compressing – are prior; so that these are prior contraries of one another.) But, again, the species which differ contrariwise are the more truly contrary species.
ἀλλὰ μὴν τά γε ἐναντίως διαφέροντα μᾶλλον ἐναντία): καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ καὶ τὰ μεταξὺ ἐκ τοῦ γένους ἔσται καὶ τῶν διαφορῶν (οἷον ὅσα χρώματα τοῦ λευκοῦ καὶ μέλανός ἐστι μεταξύ, ταῦτα δεῖ ἔκ τε τοῦ γένους λέγεσθαι [15] —ἔστι δὲ γένος τὸ χρῶμα—καὶ ἐκ διαφορῶν τινῶν: αὗται δὲ οὐκ ἔσονται τὰ πρῶτα ἐναντία: εἰ δὲ μή, ἔσται ἕκαστον ἢ λευκὸν ἢ μέλαν: ἕτεραι ἄρα: μεταξὺ ἄρα τῶν πρώτων ἐναντίων αὗται ἔσονται,	Et reliqua et media ex genere erunt et differentiis, ut quicumque ↵ colores albi et nigri sunt medii, oportet hos ex genere dici (est autem genus color) et ex differentiis quibusdam. Hae vero non erunt prima contraria; si autem non, erit unusquisque aut albus aut niger. Altere igitur; media ergo primorum contrariorum hae erunt.	And the other species, i.e. the intermediates, must be composed of their genus and their differentiae. (E.g. all colours which are between white and black must be said to be composed of the genus, i.e. colour, and certain differentiae. But these differentiae will not be the primary contraries; otherwise every colour would be either white or black. They are different, then, from the primary contraries; and therefore they will be between the primary contraries;
αἱ πρῶται δὲ διαφοραὶ τὸ διακριτικὸν καὶ συγκριτικόν): ὥστε ταῦτα πρῶτα ζητητέον [20] ὅσα ἐναντία μὴ ἐν γένει, ἐκ τίνος τὰ μεταξὺ αὐτῶν (ἀνάγκη γὰρ τὰ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ γένει ἐκ τῶν ἀσυνθέτων τῷ γένει συγκεῖσθαι ἢ ἀσύνθετα εἶναι). τὰ μὲν οὖν ἐναντία ἀσύνθετα ἐξ ἀλλήλων, ὥστε ἀρχαί: τὰ δὲ μεταξὺ ἢ πάντα ἢ οὐθέν. ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων γίγνεταί τι, ὥστ᾽ ἔσται μεταβολὴ εἰς τοῦτο [25] πρὶν ἢ εἰς αὐτά: ἑκατέρου γὰρ καὶ ἧττον ἔσται καὶ μᾶλλον. μεταξὺ ἄρα ἔσται καὶ τοῦτο τῶν ἐναντίων. καὶ τἆλλα ἄρα πάντα σύνθετα τὰ μεταξύ: τὸ γὰρ τοῦ μὲν μᾶλλον τοῦ δ᾽ ἧττον σύνθετόν πως ἐξ ἐκείνων ὧν λέγεται εἶναι τοῦ μὲν μᾶλλον τοῦ δ᾽ ἧττον. ἐπεὶ δ᾽ οὐκ ἔστιν ἕτερα πρότερα ὁμογενῆ [30] τῶν ἐναντίων, ἅπαντ᾽ ἂν ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων εἴη τὰ μεταξύ, ὥστε καὶ τὰ κάτω πάντα, καὶ τἀναντία καὶ τὰ μεταξύ, ἐκ τῶν πρώτων ἐναντίων ἔσονται.	Primae autem differentiae disgregativum ↵ et congregativum. Quare hoc primum * quaerendum: quaecumque * contraria non * in genere, ex quo * media ipsorum? Necesse enim quae sunt in eodem genere ex incompositis genere componi aut incomposita esse. Contraria namque incomposita sunt ex * invicem; quare * principia. Quae autem * intermedia: aut omnia aut nullum. Ex contrariis vero fit aliquid, quare erit ƿ transmutatio in hoc prius quam in ipsa; utriusque enim et ↵ minus erit et magis. Medium igitur erit et hoc contrariorum. Et alia igitur omnia composita quae * media; nam quod huius quidem magis illius vero minus compositum est aliqualiter ex illis quorum dicitur esse huius quidem magis illius vero minus. Quoniam autem non sunt altera priora eiusdem generis contrariis, omnia utique ex contrarus media erunt. ↵ quare et inferiora omnia, et contraria et media, ex primis contrariis erunt.	the primary differentiae are piercing and compressing .) Therefore it is (b) with regard to these contraries which do not fall within a genus that we must first ask of what their intermediates are composed. (For things which are in the same genus must be composed of terms in which the genus is not an element, or else be themselves incomposite.) Now contraries do not involve one another in their composition, and are therefore first principles; but the intermediates are either all incomposite, or none of them. But there is something compounded out of the contraries, so that there can be a change from a contrary to it sooner than to the other contrary; for it will have less of the quality in question than the one contrary and more than the other. This also, then, will come between the contraries. All the other intermediates also, therefore, are composite; for that which has more of a quality than one thing and less than another is compounded somehow out of the things than which it is said to have more and less respectively of the quality. And since there are no other things prior to the contraries and homogeneous with the intermediates, all intermediates must be compounded out of the contraries. Therefore also all the inferior classes, both the contraries and their intermediates, will be compounded out of the primary contraries.
ὅτι μὲν οὖν τὰ μεταξὺ ἔν τε ταὐτῷ γένει πάντα καὶ μεταξὺ ἐναντίων καὶ σύγκειται ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων πάντα, δῆλον. [35]	Quod quidem igitur media et in eodem genere omnia et intermedia contrariorum et componuntur ex contrariis omnia, palam.	Clearly, then, intermediates are (1) all in the same genus and (2) intermediate between contraries, and (3) all compounded out of the contraries.