Authors/Ockham/Summa Logicae/Book III-2/Chapter 39

Latin	English
ƿ CAP. 39. QUOMODO PER OMNES CAUSAS CONTINGIT DEMONSTRARE?.	Chapter 39. How it is possible to demonstrate through all contingent causes?
Ex praedictis poterit apparere quomodo contingit demonstrare per omnes causas, hoc est per nomina vel signa omnium causarum.	From the aforesaid it may appear how it happens to be demonstrated by all causes, that is, by the names or signs of all causes.
Per causam enim materialem contingit demonstrare, ponendo concretum pro medio quod significat subiectum alicuius accidentis, sicut prius exemplificatum est.	For it is possible to demonstrate a material cause by placing a concrete object as the medium which signifies the subject of some accident, as was exemplified before.
Et similiter contingit per causam formalem. Per causam etiam efficientem contingit demonstrare, explicando in medio causam efficientem alterius, sic ‘omne corpus mixtum approximabile igni est calefactibile; lignum est huiusmodi; ergo etc.’. Similiter per causam finalem, sic ‘omnis habens cibos non supereminentes in ore stomachi est sanus; omnis ambulans post cenam habet cibos non supereminentes in ore stomachi; igitur omnis ambulans post cenam est sanus’. Ex quo ulterius patet quod, cum quandoque eiusdem rei sint plures causae, non est inconveniens quod eadem conclusio per diversa media demonstretur; et quamvis ita sit, tamen cum hoc stat quod passio prima altero istorum modorum non potest demonstrari de subiecto suo primo sine omni determinatione addita.	And the same thing happens with a formal case. It is also possible to demonstrate an efficient cause by explaining in the medium the efficient cause of another, thus 'every mixed body that can be approximated by fire is heatable; wood is of this kind; therefore, etc.' Similarly, through the final cause, thus, 'everyone who has food that does not protrude into the entrance to the stomach is healthy; every one who walks after dinner has food that does not rise above the entrance of his stomach; Therefore, everyone who walks after dinner is healthy. From which it is further clear that, since sometimes there are several causes for the same thing, it is not inconvenient for the same conclusion to be demonstrated by different means; and although this may be so, yet the fact remains that the first attribute cannot be shown in the second of these ways with respect to its first subject without any additional determination.
Et est sciendum quod praedicta exempla, sicut multa alia, non sunt adducta ut syllogismi illi sint verae demonstrationes, sed gratia exempli tantum.	And it must be known that the above-mentioned examples, like many others, are not produced to the effect that those syllogisms are true demonstrations, but only as an example.