Authors/Aristotle/metaphysics/l11/c5

Chapter 5

Greek	Latin	English
ἔστι δέ τις ἐν τοῖς οὖσιν ἀρχὴ περὶ ἣν οὐκ ἔστι διεψεῦσθαι, [35] τοὐναντίον δὲ ἀναγκαῖον ἀεὶ ποιεῖν, λέγω δὲ ἀληθεύειν, οἷον ὅτι οὐκ ἐνδέχεται τὸ αὐτὸ καθ᾽ ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον εἶναι καὶ μὴ εἶναι, [1062α] [1] καὶ τἆλλα τὰ τοῦτον αὑτοῖς ἀντικείμενα τὸν τρόπον.	Est autem quoddam in entibus principium circa quod ↵ non est mentiri, contrarium autem necessarium semper facere, dico autem verum dicere: puta quod non contingit idem secun↵dum unum et idem tempus esse et non esse, et alia ipsis opposita hoc modo.	Chapter 5. There is a principle in things, about which we cannot be deceived, but must always, on the contrary recognize the truth,-viz. that the same thing cannot at one and the same [62a] time be and not be, or admit any other similar pair of opposites.
καὶ περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἁπλῶς μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀπόδειξις, πρὸς τόνδε δὲ ἔστιν: οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐκ πιστοτέρας ἀρχῆς αὐτοῦ τούτου ποιήσασθαι συλλογισμόν, δεῖ δέ γ᾽ [5] εἴπερ ἔσται τὸ ἁπλῶς ἀποδεδεῖχθαι.	Et de talibus simpliciter quidem non est demonstratio, ad hunc autem est. Non enim est ex credibiliori ↵ principio hoc ipso facere sillogismum; oportet autem, siquidem erit simpliciter demonstrare.	About such matters there is no proof in the full sense, though there is proof ad hominem. For it is not possible to infer this truth itself from a more certain principle, yet this is necessary if there is to be completed proof of it in the full sense.
πρὸς δὲ τὸν λέγοντα τὰς ἀντικειμένας φάσεις τῷ δεικνύντι διότι ψεῦδος ληπτέον τι τοιοῦτον ὃ ταὐτὸ μὲν ἔσται τῷ μὴ ἐνδέχεσθαι ταὐτὸ εἶναι καὶ μὴ εἶναι καθ᾽ ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον, μὴ δόξει δ᾽ εἶναι ταὐτόν: οὕτω γὰρ μόνως ἂν ἀποδειχθείη πρὸς τὸν [10] φάσκοντα ἐνδέχεσθαι τὰς ἀντικειμένας φάσεις ἀληθεύεσθαι κατὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ.	Ad dicentem autem oppositas dictiones ostendenti quia falsum, sumendum aliquid tale quod idem quidem erit ei quod est non contingere idem esse et non esse secundum unum et idem tempus, non videbitur autem esse ↵ idem; sic enim solum utique demonstrabitur ad dicentem contingere oppositas dictiones verificari de eodem.	But he who wants to prove to the asserter of opposites that he is wrong must get from him an admission which shall be identical with the principle that the same thing cannot be and not be at one and the same time, but shall not seem to be identical; for thus alone can his thesis be demonstrated to the man who asserts that opposite statements can be truly made about the same subject.
τοὺς δὴ μέλλοντας ἀλλήλοις λόγου κοινωνήσειν δεῖ τι συνιέναι αὑτῶν: μὴ γιγνομένου γὰρ τούτου πῶς ἔσται κοινωνία τούτοις πρὸς ἀλλήλους λόγου; δεῖ τοίνυν τῶν ὀνομάτων ἕκαστον εἶναι γνώριμον καὶ δηλοῦν τι, καὶ μὴ [15] πολλά, μόνον δὲ ἕν: ἂν δὲ πλείονα σημαίνῃ, φανερὸν ποιεῖν ἐφ᾽ ὃ φέρει τοὔνομα τούτων. ὁ δὴ λέγων εἶναι τοῦτο καὶ μὴ εἶναι, τοῦτο ὅ φησιν οὔ φησιν, ὥσθ᾽ ὃ σημαίνει τοὔνομα τοῦτ᾽ οὔ φησι σημαίνειν: τοῦτο δ᾽ ἀδύνατον. ὥστ᾽ εἴπερ σημαίνει τι τὸ εἶναι τόδε, τὴν ἀντίφασιν ἀδύνατον ἀληθεύειν.	Futuros itaque invicem ratione communicare oportet aliquid ipsorum intelligere; non facto autem hoc, quomodo est communicatio hiis ad invicem sermonis? Oportet igitur nominum unumquodque ↵ esse notum et significare aliquid et non multa, solum autem ƿ unum; si autem plura significet, manifestum facere ad quod fert nomen horum. Dicens itaque esse hoc et non esse, hoc quod totaliter esse dicit non dicit, quare quod significat nomen, hoc non inquit significare; hoc autem impossibile. Quare siquidem significat aliquid esse hoc, contradictionem verificari impossibile de eodem. ↵	Those, then, who are to join in argument with one another must to some extent understand one another; for if this does not happen how are they to join in argument with one another? Therefore every word must be intelligible and indicate something, and not many things but only one; and if it signifies more than one thing, it must be made plain to which of these the word is being applied. He, then, who says this is and is not denies what he affirms, so that what the word signifies, he says it does not signify; and this is impossible. Therefore if this is signifies something, one cannot truly assert its contradictory.
ἔτι δ᾽ εἴ [20] τι σημαίνει τοὔνομα καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἀληθεύεται, δεῖ τοῦτ᾽ ἐξ ἀνάγκης εἶναι: τὸ δ᾽ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ὂν οὐκ ἐνδέχεταί ποτε μὴ εἶναι: τὰς ἀντικειμένας ἄρα οὐκ ἐνδέχεται φάσεις καὶ ἀποφάσεις ἀληθεύειν κατὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ.	Adhuc autem si quid significat nomen et hoc verificatur, oportet et hoc ex necessitate esse. Quod autem ex necessitate est non contingit tunc non esse; oppositas igitur non contingit dictiones et negationes verificari de eodem.	Further, if the word signifies something and this is asserted truly, this connexion must be necessary; and it is not possible that that which necessarily is should ever not be; it is not possible therefore to make the opposed affirmations and negations truly of the same subject.
ἔτι δ᾽ εἰ μηθὲν μᾶλλον ἡ φάσις ἢ ἡ ἀπόφασις ἀληθεύεται, ὁ λέγων ἄνθρωπον ἢ [25] οὐκ ἄνθρωπον οὐθὲν μᾶλλον ἀληθεύσει: δόξειε δὲ κἂν οὐχ ἵππον εἶναι φάσκων τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἢ μᾶλλον ἢ οὐχ ἧττον ἀληθεύειν ἢ οὐκ ἄνθρωπον, ὥστε καὶ ἵππον φάσκων εἶναι τὸν αὐτὸν ἀληθεύσει (τὰς γὰρ ἀντικειμένας ὁμοίως ἦν ἀληθεύειν): συμβαίνει τοίνυν τὸν αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον εἶναι καὶ ἵππον [30] ἢ τῶν ἄλλων τι ζῴων. ἀπόδειξις μὲν οὖν οὐδεμία τούτων ἐστὶν ἁπλῶς, πρὸς μέντοι τὸν ταῦτα τιθέμενον ἀπόδειξις.	Adhuc autem si nihil magis dictio quam negatio verificatur, dicens hominem aut non hominem nihil magis verum dicet. Videbitur autem ↵ utique non equum esse dicens hominem et magis aut non minus verum dicere quam non hominem. Quare et equum dicens esse eundem verum dicet; oppositas enim similiter erat verum dicere. Accidit igitur eundem hominem esse et equum aut alio↵rum aliquod animalium. Demonstratio quidem igitur nulla horum est simpliciter, ad ponentem tamen haec demonstratio.	Further, if the affirmation is no more true than the negation, he who says man will be no more right than he who says not-man . It would seem also that in saying the man is not a horse one would be either more or not less right than in saying he is not a man, so that one will also be right in saying that the same person is a horse; for it was assumed to be possible to make opposite statements equally truly. It follows then that the same person is a man and a horse, or any other animal. While, then, there is no proof of these things in the full sense, there is a proof which may suffice against one who will make these suppositions.
ταχέως δ᾽ ἄν τις καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Ἡράκλειτον τοῦτον ἐρωτῶν τὸν τρόπον ἠνάγκασεν ὁμολογεῖν μηδέποτε τὰς ἀντικειμένας φάσεις δυνατὸν εἶναι κατὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀληθεύεσθαι: νῦν δ᾽ [35] οὐ συνιεὶς ἑαυτοῦ τί ποτε λέγει, ταύτην ἔλαβε τὴν δόξαν. ὅλως δ᾽ εἰ τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐστὶν ἀληθές, οὐδ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸ τοῦτο εἴη ἀληθές, [1062β] [1] λέγω δὲ τὸ ἐνδέχεσθαι τὸ αὐτὸ καθ᾽ ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον εἶναί τε καὶ μὴ εἶναι: καθάπερ γὰρ καὶ διῃρημένων αὐτῶν οὐδὲν μᾶλλον ἡ κατάφασις ἢ ἡ ἀπόφασις ἀληθεύεται, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ τοῦ συναμφοτέρου [5] καὶ τοῦ συμπεπλεγμένου καθάπερ μιᾶς τινὸς καταφάσεως οὔσης οὐθὲν μᾶλλον <ἢ> ἡ ἀπόφασις [ἢ] τὸ ὅλον ὡς ἐν καταφάσει τιθέμενον ἀληθεύσεται.	Cito autem utique quis et ipsum Eraclitum hoc interrogans modo cogeret confiteri numquam oppositas dictiones possibile esse de eisdem verificari. Nunc autem non intelligens se ipsum ↵ quid quidem dicit, hanc accepit opinionem. Totaliter autem si quod dicitur ab ipso est verum, neque utique ipsum hoc verum ↵ erit: dico autem contingere idem secundum unum et idem tempus esse et non esse. Quemadmodum enim et divisis ipsis nihil magis affirmatio quam negatio verificatur, eodem modo, et simul utriusque et simul complexi velut una quadam affirma↵tione existente, nihil magis negatio quam totum ut in affirmatione positum verum erit.	And perhaps if one had questioned Heraclitus himself in this way one might have forced him to confess that opposite statements can never be true of the same subjects. But, as it is, he adopted this opinion without understanding what his statement involves. But in any case if what is said by him is true, not even this [62b] itself will be true-viz. that the same thing can at one and the same time both be and not be. For as, when the statements are separated, the affirmation is no more true than the negation, in the same way-the combined and complex statement being like a single affirmation-the whole taken as an affirmation will be no more true than the negation.
ἔτι δ᾽ εἰ μηθὲν ἔστιν ἀληθῶς καταφῆσαι, κἂν αὐτὸ τοῦτο ψεῦδος εἴη τὸ φάναι μηδεμίαν ἀληθῆ κατάφασιν ὑπάρχειν. εἰ δ᾽ ἔστι τι, λύοιτ᾽ ἂν τὸ [10] λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐνισταμένων καὶ παντελῶς ἀναιρούντων τὸ διαλέγεσθαι.	ƿ Adhuc autem si nihil est vere affirmare, et utique hoc ipsum falsum erit: dicere nullam veram affirmationem existere. Si ↵ autem est aliquid, soluetur utique quod dicitur ab hiis qui talia instant et penitus auferentibus disputare.	Further, if it is not possible to affirm anything truly, this itself will be false-the assertion that there is no true affirmation. But if a true affirmation exists, this appears to refute what is said by those who raise such objections and utterly destroy rational discourse. (See also G, chapters 5,8).