Authors/Aristotle/metaphysics/l11/c3

Chapter 3

Greek	Latin	English
ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ φιλοσόφου ἐπιστήμη τοῦ ὄντος ᾗ ὂν καθόλου καὶ οὐ κατὰ μέρος, τὸ δ᾽ ὂν πολλαχῶς καὶ οὐ καθ᾽ ἕνα λέγεται τρόπον: εἰ μὲν οὖν ὁμωνύμως κατὰ δὲ κοινὸν μηδέν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπὸ μίαν ἐπιστήμην (οὐ γὰρ ἓν γένος [35] τῶν τοιούτων), εἰ δὲ κατά τι κοινόν, εἴη ἂν ὑπὸ μίαν ἐπιστήμην.	↵ Quoniam autem philosophi scientia entis in quantum ens universaliter et non secundum partem, ens autem multipliciter et non secundum unum dicitur modum: si quidem igitur equivoce secundum commune autem nihil, non est sub una scientia; non enim unum genus talium. Si autem secundum ↵ aliquid commune, erit utique sub una scientia.	Chapter 3. Since the science of the philosopher treats of being qua being universally and not in respect of a part of it, and being has many senses and is not used in one only, it follows that if the word is used equivocally and in virtue of nothing common to its various uses, being does not fall under one science (for the meanings of an equivocal term do not form one genus); but if the word is used in virtue of something common, being will fall under one science.
ἔοικε δὴ τὸν εἰρημένον λέγεσθαι τρόπον καθάπερ τό τε ἰατρικὸν καὶ ὑγιεινόν: καὶ γὰρ τούτων ἑκάτερον πολλαχῶς λέγομεν. [1061α] [1] λέγεται δὲ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ἕκαστον τῷ τὸ μὲν πρὸς τὴν ἰατρικὴν ἐπιστήμην ἀνάγεσθαί πως τὸ δὲ πρὸς ὑγίειαν τὸ δ᾽ ἄλλως, πρὸς ταὐτὸ δ᾽ ἕκαστον. ἰατρικὸς γὰρ λόγος καὶ μαχαίριον λέγεται τῷ τὸ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς ἰατρικῆς [5] ἐπιστήμης εἶναι τὸ δὲ ταύτῃ χρήσιμον. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ὑγιεινόν: τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὅτι σημαντικὸν ὑγιείας τὸ δ᾽ ὅτι ποιητικόν. ὁ δ᾽ αὐτὸς τρόπος καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λοιπῶν. τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τρόπον καὶ τὸ ὂν ἅπαν λέγεται: τῷ γὰρ τοῦ ὄντος ᾗ ὂν πάθος ἢ ἕξις ἢ διάθεσις ἢ κίνησις ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τι τῶν τοιούτων [10] εἶναι λέγεται ἕκαστον αὐτῶν ὄν.	Videtur itaque dicto modo dici quemadmodum medicativum et salubre; et enim horum unumquodque multipliciter. Dicitur autem secun↵dum unumquemque modorum eo quod hoc quidem ad medicativam scientiam reducatur aliqualiter hoc autem ad sanitatem hoc autem aliter, ad idem autem unumquodque. Medicativus enim sermo et cultellus dicitur eo quod hic quidem a medicativa scientia sit hic autem huic utilis. Similiter autem et salubre; ↵ hoc quidem enim quia significativum sanitatis hoc autem quia factivum. Idem autem modus et in reliquis. Eodem itaque modo et ens omne dicitur; eo enim quod entis in quantum ens passio aut habitus aut dispositio aut motus aut aliorum aliquid talium ƿ ↵ sit, dicitur unumquodque ipsorum ens.	The term seems to be used in the way we have mentioned, like medical and healthy . For each of these also we use in [61a] many senses. Terms are used in this way by virtue of some kind of reference, in the one case to medical science, in the other to health, in others to something else, but in each case to one identical concept. For a discussion and a knife are called medical because the former proceeds from medical science, and the latter is useful to it. And a thing is called healthy in a similar way; one thing because it is indicative of health, another because it is productive of it. And the same is true in the other cases. Everything that is, then, is said to be in this same way; each thing that is is said to be because it is a modification of being qua being or a permanent or a transient state or a movement of it, or something else of the sort.
ἐπεὶ δὲ παντὸς τοῦ ὄντος πρὸς ἕν τι καὶ κοινὸν ἡ ἀναγωγὴ γίγνεται, καὶ τῶν ἐναντιώσεων ἑκάστη πρὸς τὰς πρώτας διαφορὰς καὶ ἐναντιώσεις ἀναχθήσεται τοῦ ὄντος, εἴτε πλῆθος καὶ ἓν εἴθ᾽ ὁμοιότης καὶ ἀνομοιότης αἱ πρῶται τοῦ ὄντος εἰσὶ διαφοραί, εἴτ᾽ [15] ἄλλαι τινές: ἔστωσαν γὰρ αὗται τεθεωρημέναι.	Quoniam autem omnis entis ad unum aliquid et commune reductio fit, et contrarietatum unaqueque ad primas differentias et contrarietates reducetur entis, sive pluralitas et unum sive similitudo et dissimilitudo ↵ prime entis sint differentiae, sive aliae alique; sint enim hae speculatae.	And since everything that is may be referred to something single and common, each of the contrarieties also may be referred to the first differences and contrarieties of being, whether the first differences of being are plurality and unity, or likeness and unlikeness, or some other differences; let these be taken as already discussed.
διαφέρει δ᾽ οὐδὲν τὴν τοῦ ὄντος ἀναγωγὴν πρὸς τὸ ὂν ἢ πρὸς τὸ ἓν γίγνεσθαι. καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὴ ταὐτὸν ἄλλο δ᾽ ἐστίν, ἀντιστρέφει γε: τό τε γὰρ ἓν καὶ ὄν πως, τό τε ὂν ἕν.	Differt autem nihil entis reductionem ad ens aut ad unum fieri. Et enim si non idem sed est aliud, convertitur quidem; unum enim ens aliqualiter et ens unum.	It makes no difference whether that which is be referred to being or to unity. For even if they are not the same but different, at least they are convertible; for that which is one is also somehow being, and that which is being is one.
ἐπεὶ δ᾽ ἐστὶ τὰ ἐναντία πάντα τῆς αὐτῆς καὶ μιᾶς ἐπιστήμης θεωρῆσαι, λέγεται [20] δ᾽ ἕκαστον αὐτῶν κατὰ στέρησιν—καίτοι γ᾽ ἔνια ἀπορήσειέ τις ἂν πῶς λέγεται κατὰ στέρησιν, ὧν ἔστιν ἀνὰ μέσον τι, καθάπερ ἀδίκου καὶ δικαίου—περὶ πάντα δὴ τὰ τοιαῦτα τὴν στέρησιν δεῖ τιθέναι μὴ τοῦ ὅλου λόγου, τοῦ τελευταίου δὲ εἴδους: οἷον εἰ ἔστιν ὁ δίκαιος καθ᾽ ἕξιν τινὰ [25] πειθαρχικὸς τοῖς νόμοις, οὐ πάντως ὁ ἄδικος ἔσται τοῦ ὅλου στερούμενος λόγου, περὶ δὲ τὸ πείθεσθαι τοῖς νόμοις ἐκλείπων πῃ, καὶ ταύτῃ ἡ στέρησις ὑπάρξει αὐτῷ: τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων.	Quoniam autem sunt contraria omnia eiusdem et unius scien↵tiae speculari, dicitur autem unumquodque ipsorum secundum privationem, et utique quaedam dubitabit aliquis quomodo dicuntur secundum privationem quorum est intermedium aliquid, quemadmodum iniusti et iusti. Circa omnia itaque talia privationem oportet poni non totius rationis, sed ultime spe↵ciei; puta si est iustus secundum habitum quendam obediens legibus, non semper iniustus erit tota privatus ratione, circa persuaderi autem legibus deficiens in aliquo, et secundum hoc privatio inest ipsi. Eodem autem modo et in aliis.	But since every pair of contraries falls to be examined by one and the same science, and in each pair one term is the privative of the other though one might regarding some contraries raise the question, how they can be privately related, viz. those which have an intermediate, e.g. unjust and just-in all such cases one must maintain that the privation is not of the whole definition, but of the infima species. if the just man is by virtue of some permanent disposition obedient to the laws , the unjust man will not in every case have the whole definition denied of him, but may be merely in some respect deficient in obedience to the laws , and in this respect the privation will attach to him; and similarly in all other cases.
καθάπερ δ᾽ ὁ μαθηματικὸς περὶ τὰ ἐξ ἀφαιρέσεως τὴν θεωρίαν ποιεῖται (περιελὼν γὰρ πάντα [30] τὰ αἰσθητὰ θεωρεῖ, οἷον βάρος καὶ κουφότητα καὶ σκληρότητα καὶ τοὐναντίον, ἔτι δὲ καὶ θερμότητα καὶ ψυχρότητα καὶ τὰς ἄλλας αἰσθητὰς ἐναντιώσεις, μόνον δὲ καταλείπει τὸ ποσὸν καὶ συνεχές, τῶν μὲν ἐφ᾽ ἓν τῶν δ᾽ ἐπὶ δύο τῶν δ᾽ ἐπὶ τρία, καὶ τὰ πάθη τὰ τούτων ᾗ ποσά ἐστι [35] καὶ συνεχῆ, καὶ οὐ καθ᾽ ἕτερόν τι θεωρεῖ, καὶ τῶν μὲν τὰς πρὸς ἄλληλα θέσεις σκοπεῖ καὶ τὰ ταύταις ὑπάρχοντα, [1061β] [1] τῶν δὲ τὰς συμμετρίας καὶ ἀσυμμετρίας, τῶν δὲ τοὺς λόγους, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως μίαν πάντων καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν τίθεμεν ἐπιστήμην τὴν γεωμετρικήν), τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τρόπον ἔχει καὶ περὶ τὸ ὄν.	Quemadmodum autem mathematicus circa ea quae ex abla↵tione theoriam facit, circumtollens enim omnia sensibilia speculatur, puta gravitatem et levitatem et duritiem et contrarium, adhuc autem caliditatem et frigiditatem et alias sensibiles contrarietates, solum autem derelinquit quantum et continuum, horum quidem ad unum horum autem ad duo horum vero ↵ ad tria, et passiones horum in quantum quanta sunt et continua et non secundum aliud aliquid speculatur, et horum quidem eas quae ad invicem positiones considerat et hiis existentia, ƿ horum autem commensurationes et incommensurationes, ↵ horum vero rationes, sed tamen omnium unam et eandem ponimus scientiam geometricam: eodem modo habet et circa ens.	As the mathematician investigates abstractions (for before beginning his investigation he strips off all the sensible qualities, e.g. weight and lightness, hardness and its contrary, and also heat and cold and the other sensible contrarieties, and leaves only the quantitative and continuous, sometimes in one, sometimes in two, sometimes in three dimensions, and the attributes of these qua quantitative and continuous, and does not consider them in any other respect, and examines the relative positions of some and the attributes of these, [61b] and the commensurabilities and incommensurabilities of others, and the ratios of others; but yet we posit one and the same science of all these things geometry) the same is true with regard to being.
τὰ γὰρ τούτῳ συμβεβηκότα καθ᾽ ὅσον ἐστὶν ὄν, καὶ [5] τὰς ἐναντιώσεις αὐτοῦ ᾗ ὄν, οὐκ ἄλλης ἐπιστήμης ἢ φιλοσοφίας θεωρῆσαι. τῇ φυσικῇ μὲν γὰρ οὐχ ᾗ ὄντα, μᾶλλον δ᾽ ᾗ κινήσεως μετέχει, τὴν θεωρίαν τις ἀπονείμειεν ἄν: ἥ γε μὴν διαλεκτικὴ καὶ ἡ σοφιστικὴ τῶν συμβεβηκότων μέν εἰσι τοῖς οὖσιν, οὐχ ᾗ δ᾽ ὄντα οὐδὲ περὶ τὸ ὂν αὐτὸ καθ᾽ ὅσον [10] ὄν ἐστιν: ὥστε λείπεται τὸν φιλοσόφον, καθ᾽ ὅσον ὄντ᾽ ἐστίν, εἶναι περὶ τὰ λεχθέντα θεωρητικόν.	Huic enim accidentia in quantum est ens et contrarietates ipsius ↵ in quantum ens non alterius scientie quam philosophiae speculari, naturali quidem enim non in quantum entia, magis autem in quantum motu participant, theoriam utique quis distribuet. Dialetica etiam et sophistica sunt accidentium quidem entibus, non autem in quantum entia neque circa ens ipsum in quantum ens est. Quare relinquitur philosophum, in quantum entis sunt, ↵ esse circa dicta speculativum.	For the attributes of this in so far as it is being, and the contrarieties in it qua being, it is the business of no other science than philosophy to investigate; for to physics one would assign the study of things not qua being, but rather qua sharing in movement; while dialectic and sophistic deal with the attributes of things that are, but not of things qua being, and not with being itself in so far as it is being; therefore it remains that it is the philosopher who studies the things we have named, in so far as they are being.
ἐπεὶ δὲ τό τε ὂν ἅπαν καθ᾽ ἕν τι καὶ κοινὸν λέγεται πολλαχῶς λεγόμενον, καὶ τἀναντία τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον (εἰς τὰς πρώτας γὰρ ἐναντιώσεις καὶ διαφορὰς τοῦ ὄντος ἀνάγεται), τὰ δὲ τοιαῦτα δυνατὸν [15] ὑπὸ μίαν ἐπιστήμην εἶναι, διαλύοιτ᾽ ἂν ἡ κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς ἀπορία λεχθεῖσα, λέγω δ᾽ ἐν ᾗ διηπορεῖτο πῶς ἔσται πολλῶν καὶ διαφόρων ὄντων τῷ γένει μία τις ἐπιστήμη.	Quoniam autem ens omne secundum unum aliquid et commune dicitur multipliciter dictum, et contraria eodem modo (ad primas enim contrarietates et differentias entis <reducuntur>), talia autem possunt sub una scientia esse, dissoluetur utique ↵ quae secundum principia dubitatio dicta. Dico autem in qua dubitatum est quomodo erit multorum et differentium genere una aliqua scientia.	Since all that is is to be in virtue of something single and common, though the term has many meanings, and contraries are in the same case (for they are referred to the first contrarieties and differences of being), and things of this sort can fall under one science, the difficulty we stated at the beginning appears to be solved,-I mean the question how there can be a single science of things which are many and different in genus. (See also G, chapters 3,4).