Authors/Thomas Aquinas/metaphysics/liber10/lect3

Lecture 3

Latin	English
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 1 Postquam ostendit philosophus, quomodo unum sit in quantitate primum secundum quamlibet rationem mensurae, et exinde ad alia genera derivetur, nunc determinat de uno qualiter se habeat ad substantiam; utrum scilicet unum sit ipsa substantia rei: et dividitur in tres partes. In prima movet quaestionem et ponit opiniones diversas. In secunda autem determinat veritatem, ostendendo quod unum et ens non sunt substantia eorum de quibus dicuntur, ibi, si itaque nullum. In tertia comparat unum ad ens, ibi, quia vero idem significant. Dicit ergo primo, quod quia iam manifestum est qualiter unum secundum quod habet rationem mensurae se habet in quantitate et in aliis generibus, quaerendum est de uno quomodo se habeat quantum pertinet ad substantias et naturas rerum. Quae quidem dubitatio est mota superius in tertio libro in quo motae sunt quaestiones diversae.	1961. After having shown how unity in the sense of a measure is found first in quantity and then is transferred to the other categories, here the Philosopher deals with the relationship of unity to substance, i.e., whether unity constitutes the very substance of a thing. This is divided into three parts. In the first (829)C ig6i) he raises the question and gives the different opinions regarding it. In the second (830:C 1963) he answers the question by showing that unity and being are not the substance of the things of which they are predicated (“If, then”). In the third (832:C 1974) he compares unity with being (“That unity and being”). He accordingly says, first (829), that, since it has already been shown how unity in the sense of a measure belongs to quantity and to the other classes of things, it is now necessary to ask how unity relates to the substances and natures of things. This question was asked above in Book III (266:C 488), in which different problems were raised.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 2 Est autem dubitatio, utrum hoc ipsum quod dicitur unum, sit substantia aliqua et per se subsistens, ut dixerunt Pythagorici, et postea Platonici eos sequentes; aut magis ei quod est unum supponatur quaedam natura subsistens, secundum quam notius et magis debet dici quid est quod dicitur unum. Et hoc supposuerunt naturales: quorum unus dixit amorem esse aliquid quod est unum; sicut Empedocles qui ponebat quatuor principia materialia, scilicet quatuor elementa, quibus priora dicunt esse principia agentia, quae ipse ponebat, scilicet amorem et odium. Inter quae praecellit amor, inquantum perfectum et bonorum principium. Unde, si id quod est primum principium dicitur unum, consequitur secundum opinionem eius, quod amor sit illud quod est unum. Quod est conveniens, inquantum amor unionem quamdam indicat amantis et amati. Alius vero, scilicet Diogenes, ponens aerem principium omnium rerum, dixit aerem esse id quod est unum. Alius vero dixit infinitum esse id quod est unum, sicut Melissus, qui posuit esse unum ens infinitum et immobile, ut patet in primo physicorum.	1962. The question is whether the very thing which is called unity is a substance, i.e., something which subsists of itself, as the Pythagoreans first claimed, and as the Platonists, who followed them, later held; or rather whether there is some subsistent nature which underlies unity, in terms of which the quiddity of the thing designated as one should be more meaningfully and adequately expressed. The philosophers of nature presupposed this entity, one of them saying that unity is love, namely, Empedocles, who claimed that there are four material principles, the four elements, to which the active principles posited by him, love and hate, are said to be prior. And of these the most important is love, inasmuch as it is perfect and the principle of good things. Therefore, if the first principle is called unity, it follows according to him that unity is love. And this fits the case inasmuch as it indicates a certain union of the lover and the thing loved. Another philosopher, Diogenes, who claimed that air is the principle of all things (41:C 86), said that unity is air. And still another philosopher said that unity is the indeterminate, namely, Melissus, who claimed that there was one infinite and unchangeable being, as is clear in Book I of the Physics.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 3 Deinde cum dicit si itaque determinat propositam quaestionem; dicens, quod unum non est substantia subsistens, de qua dicitur quod sit unum. Probat autem hoc dupliciter. Primo ratione. Secundo similitudine, ibi, adhuc autem similiter. Dicit ergo, quod probatum est superius, in septimo scilicet in quo agebat de ente et praecipue de substantia, quod nullum universalium esse potest substantia, quae scilicet per se sit subsistens; quia omne universale commune est multis. Nec possibile est universale esse substantiam subsistentem; quia sic oporteret quod esset unum praeter multa, et ita non esset commune, sed esset quoddam singulare in se.	1963. If, then (830). Here he answers the question which was raised. He says that unity is not a subsisting substance, of which one may predicate the term one. He proves this in two ways. First (830:C 1963), by an argument; and second (831:C 1967), by a comparison (“Further, the same”). He says, then, that it was proved above in Book VII (651:C 1572), where he treats of being, and especially of substance, that no universal can be a substance which subsists of itself because every universal is common to many. A universal also cannot be a subsisting substance because otherwise it would have to be one thing apart from the many, and then it could not be common but would be in itself a singular thing.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 4 Nisi forte diceretur commune per modum causae. Sed alia est communitas universalis et causae. Nam causa non praedicatur de suis effectibus, quia non est idem causa suiipsius. Sed universale est commune, quasi aliquid praedicatum de multis; et sic oportet quod aliquo modo sit unum in multis, et non seorsum subsistens ab eis.	1964. Unity might, it is true, be said to be common as a cause is. But the common aspect of a universal differs from that of a cause; for a cause is not predicated of its effects, since the same thing is not the cause of itself. But a universal is common in the sense of something predicated of many things; and thus it must be in some way a one-in-many, and not something subsisting apart from them.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 5 Sed oportet ens et unum magis universaliter et communiter de omnibus praedicari. Non ergo sunt ipsa substantia subsistens, quae dicitur ens vel unum, sicut Plato posuit.	1965. But being and unity must be predicated of all things in the most universal and common way. Hence those things which are called being and unity are not themselves subsisting substances, as Plato maintained.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 6 Per hanc rationem concluditur, quod nulla genera sunt aliquae naturae et substantiae per se subsistentes, quasi separabiles ab aliis, de quibus dicuntur. Quod etiam superius inter quaestiones fuit dubitatum. Nec tamen hoc pro tanto dicitur, quod unum sit genus. Eadem enim ratione unum non potest esse genus, qua nec ens, quia nec univoce praedicatur, et propter alia quae superius in tertio tacta sunt. Et ex eadem ratione unum et ens non potest esse substantia subsistens.	1966. From this argument he concludes that no genera are natures and substances which subsist of themselves as though separable from the things of which they are predicated. This too was one of the questions debated above (229:C 432). Yet this is not said in the sense that unity is a genus; for unity cannot be a genus for the very same reason that being cannot, since it is not predicated univocally. This is also true in the light of the other reasons given in Book III (269-74:C 493-501). And for the same reason unity and being cannot be subsisting substances.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 7 Deinde cum dicit adhuc autem ostendit idem ex similitudine; dicens, quod oportet quod unum similiter se habeat in omnibus generibus, quia ens et unum aequaliter de omnibus generibus praedicantur. In omnibus autem generibus quaeritur aliquid quod est unum, quasi ipsa unitas non sit ipsa natura quae dicitur una; sicut patet in qualitatibus et quantitatibus. Unde manifestum est, quod in omnibus generibus non est sufficiens dicere, quod hoc ipsum quod est unum, sit natura ipsius quod unum dicitur; sed oportet quaerere quid est quod est unum, et ens.	1967. Further, the same thing (831). Here he proves the same point by a comparison. He says that unity must be found in the same way in all categories of things, because being and unity are predicated in an equal number of ways of all genera. But in each genus of things we look for something that is one (implying that unity is not the very nature of what is said to be one), as is evident in the case of qualities and in that of quantities. It is clear, then, that in no genus is it sufficient to say that the nature of what is said to be one is just unity itself, but we must inquire what unity and being are.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 8 Et quod in qualitatibus et in quantitatibus oporteat quaerere quid est quod dicitur unum, manifestat per exempla. Et primo in coloribus. Quaerimus enim aliquid quod est unum, sicut album quod est primum inter colores. Unde si in quolibet genere est unum id quod est primum, oportet quod album sit unum in genere colorum, et quasi mensura aliorum colorum; quia unusquisque color tanto perfectior est, quanto magis accedit ad album. Et quod album sit primum in coloribus, ostendit, quia colores medii generantur ex albo et nigro, et ita sunt posteriores. Nigrum etiam est posterius albo, quia est privatio albi, sicut tenebrae privatio lucis. Non autem sic est intelligendum, quod nigrum sit pura privatio, sicut tenebrae; cum nigrum sit species coloris, et per consequens natura coloris in eo servetur; sed quia in nigro est minimum de luce, quae facit colores. Et sic comparatur ad album, sicut defectus lucis ad lucem.	1968. That it is necessary to investigate what unity is in the category of qualities and in that of quantities he makes clear by examples. He does this first in the case of colors; for we look for something which is one, such as whiteness, which is the primary color. Hence, if what is primary in each class of things is its unity, whiteness must constitute the unity in the class of color; and it must be in a sense the measure of the other colors, because the more perfect a thing’s color the closer it comes to whiteness. He shows that whiteness is the primary color by reason of the fact that intermediate colors are produced from white and from black, and are therefore subsequent. Black is subsequent to white because it is the privation of white as darkness is of light. But this must not be understood to mean that black is pure privation in the same way that darkness is (for black is a species of color, and thus possesses the nature of color), but that blackness contains the least amount of light, which causes colors; and thus it is compared to white as the absence of light is compared to light.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 9 Et quia in coloribus quaeritur aliquid quod possit dici primum et unum, scilicet album; manifestum est, quod si omnia entia colores essent, haberent quidem aliquem numerum. Non tamen ita quod numerus esset ipsae res subsistentes; sed esset numerus aliquarum rerum subsistentium, scilicet colorum. Et per consequens esset aliquid quod subiiceret ipsi uni, scilicet album.	1969. And because in colors we look for something that is first and one, namely white, it is clear that if all beings were colors, they would have some number, not in the sense, however, that number would constitute subsisting things themselves, but in the sense that there would be a number of subsisting things of a particular sort, i.e., colors. And then there would be something that is the subject of unity, namely, that which is white.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 10 Et similiter esset si omnia essent melodia; quia entia haberent aliquem numerum, qui quidem esset numerus diesum sive tonorum. Sed tamen numerus non est ipsa substantia entium. Et per consequens oporteret quaerere aliquid quod esset unum, scilicet quod est diesis. Non tamen ita quod ipsum unum esset substantia.	1970. The same thing would be true if all things were tunes; because beings would be of a certain number, that is, a number of minor half tones or tones. Yet number is not the very substance of beings, and consequently it would be necessary to look for something which is one, namely, the minor half tone; but not in such a way that unity itself would be a substance. 1971, In a similar way too if all beings were sounds, they would be a number of beings, because there are a number of particular subjects of number, namely, “of elements,” or letters. Hence the vowel, which is the primary letter (since consonants cannot be pronounced without vowels) would constitute their unity. And in a similar way if all figures were rectilinear figures, there would be a number of subjects, namely, figures; and the triangle, which is the primary rectilinear figure, would constitute their unity; for all such figures are reducible to the triangle. The same reasoning applies to every category.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 11 Et similiter si omnia entia essent toni, esset quidem numerus entium, quia aliquorum subiectorum ipsi numero, scilicet elementorum, idest literarum. Et per consequens litera vocalis quae est prima inter literas, cum sine ea consonantes sonum reddere non possint, essent unum: similiter si omnia essent figurae rectilineae, numerus esset aliquorum subiectorum, scilicet figurarum, et unum esset triangulus, quae est prima rectilinea figura. Omnes enim figurae rectilineae in triangulum resolvuntur. Et eadem ratio est in omnibus generibus.	1971, In a similar way too if all beings were sounds, they would be a number of beings, because there are a number of particular subjects of number, namely, “of elements,” or letters. Hence the vowel, which is the primary letter (since consonants cannot be pronounced without vowels) would constitute their unity. And in a similar way if all figures were rectilinear figures, there would be a number of subjects, namely, figures; and the triangle, which is the primary rectilinear figure, would constitute their unity; for all such figures are reducible to the triangle. The same reasoning applies to every category.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 12 Si igitur ita est quod in omnibus aliis generibus, scilicet passionibus et qualitatibus et quantitatibus, et in motu, inveniatur numerus et unum, et numerus et unum non sunt substantia eorum de quibus dicuntur, sed numerus dicitur de quibusdam substantiis; et similiter unum requirat aliquod subiectum quod dicatur unum; necesse est quod similiter se habeat in substantiis, quia ens et unum similiter praedicantur de omnibus. Manifestum est igitur quod in quolibet genere est aliqua natura, de qua dicitur unum; non tamen ita quod ipsum unum sit ipsa natura; sed quia dicitur de ea.	1972. If it is in this way, then, that number and unity are found in all other categories: in affections, qualities, and quantities, and in motion; and if number and unity are not the substance of the things of which they are predicated, but number is predicated of certain substances, and if unity similarly requires some subject which is said to be one, the same thing must be true of substances, because being and unity are predicated in the same way of all things. It is evident, then, that in any category of things there is some nature of which the term one is predicated, not because unity itself is the nature of a thing, but because it is predicated of it.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 13 Et sicut in coloribus cum dicimus unum, quaerimus aliquem colorem qui dicatur unum; sic in substantia cum dicimus unum, necesse est quaerere aliquam substantiam, de qua dicatur ipsum unum. Et hoc primo et principaliter dicitur de eo, quod est primum in substantiis (quod inquiret inferius); et per consequens de aliis generibus et cetera.	1973. And just as when we speak of unity in the case of colors we are looking for some color which is said to be one, so too when we speak of unity in the case of substances we are looking for some substance of which unity may be predicated. And this is predicated primarily and chiefly of what is first among substances (which he investigates below, 2553-66), and subsequently of the other classes of things.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 14 Deinde cum dicit quia vero quia eamdem rationem dixerat de ente et de uno, ostendit quod ens et unum aliqualiter idem significant. Et dicit aliqualiter; quia ens et unum sunt idem subiecto, differunt tantum sola ratione. Unum enim addit indivisionem supra ens. Dicitur enim unum ens indivisibile vel indivisum. Ostendit autem quod significat idem, tribus rationibus.	1974. That unity and being (832). Since he had given the same argument for being and for unity, he now shows that unity and being somehow signify the same thing. He says “somehow” because unity and being are the same in their subject and differ only in meaning. For unity adds to being the note of undividedness, because what is one is said to be an indivisible or undivided being. He gives three reasons why unity signifies the same thing as being.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 15 Quarum prima est, quod unum consequitur omnia alia praedicamenta, et non est in aliquo uno praedicamento tantum: neque in substantia, neque in quantitate, neque in aliquo alio: sicut se habet et de ente.	1975. (1) The first is that unity naturally belongs to all of the different categories and not just to one of them; that is, it does not pertain just to substance or to quantity or to any other category. The same thing is also true of being.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 16 Secundo, quia cum dicitur unus homo, non aliquam naturam aliam ab homine praedicat, sicut nec ipsum quod est ens praedicat aliam naturam a decem praedicamentis; quia si praedicaret aliam naturam, oporteret abire in infinitum, quia etiam illa natura dicetur unum et ens. Et sic unum unicuique idem est. Et si ens de eis praedicaret aliam naturam, procederetur in infinitum. Si autem non, pari ratione standum fuit in primo.	1976. (2) The second reason is that, when a man is said to be one, the term one does not express a different nature from man, just as being does not express a different nature from the ten categories; for, if it did express a different nature, an infinite regress would necessarily result, since that nature too would be said to be one and a being. And if being were to express a nature different from these things, an infinite regress would also follow; but if not, then the conclusion of this argument must be the same as that of the first one.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 17 Tertia ratio est, quia unumquodque dicitur unum inquantum est ens. Unde per dissolutionem, res ad non esse rediguntur.	1977. (3) The third reason is that everything is said to be one inasmuch as it is a being. Hence when a thing is dissolved it is reduced to non-being.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 18 Videtur autem in hac determinatione philosophus sibi contrarius esse. Nam primo dixit, quod unum et ens non sunt substantia eorum de quibus dicuntur. Hic autem dicit, quod unum et ens non praedicant aliquam aliam naturam ab his de quibus dicuntur.	1978. [Objection] Now in this solution of the question the Philosopher seems to contradict himself; for he first said that unity and being are not the substance of the things of which they are predicated, but here he says that unity and being do not express a nature different from the things of which they are predicated.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 19 Sciendum est igitur quod substantia dicitur dupliciter. Uno modo suppositum in genere substantiae, quod dicitur substantia prima et hypostasis, cuius proprie est subsistere. Alio modo quod quid est, quod etiam dicitur natura rei. Secundum ergo Platonis opinionem, cum universalia essent res subsistentes, significabant substantiam non solum secundo modo, sed primo. Aristoteles vero probat in septimo quod universalia non subsistunt. Unde sequitur quod universalia non sunt substantiae primo modo, sed secundo modo tantum. Propter quod dicitur in praedicamentis, quod secundae substantiae, quae sunt genera et species, non significant hoc aliquid quod est substantia subsistens, sed significant quale quid, idest naturam quamdam in genere substantiae.	1979. Hence it must be noted that the term substance is used in two senses. (1) In one sense it means a supposit in the genus of substance, which is called first substance and hypostasis, to which it properly belongs to subsist. (2) In a second sense it means a thing’s quiddity, which is also referred to as a thing’s nature. Therefore, since universals are subsistent things according to the opinion of Plato, they signify substance not only in the second sense but also in the first. But Aristotle proves in Book VII (1572) that universals are not subsistent things, and therefore it follows that universals are not substances in the first sense but only in the second. And for this reason it is said in the Categories that second substances, which are genera and species, do not signify particular things, which are subsisting substances, but “they signify the quiddity of a thing,” i.e., a nature in the genus of substance.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 20 Sic igitur philosophus supra probavit, quod unum et ens non significant substantiam quae est hoc aliquid, sed oportet quaerere aliquid quod sit unum et ens. Sicut quaeritur aliquid quod sit homo vel animal, ut Socrates vel Plato. Postmodum vero ostendit quod significant naturam eorum de quibus dicuntur, et non aliquid additum sicut accidentia. In hoc enim differunt communia ab accidentibus, quamvis utrisque sit commune non esse hoc aliquid: quia communia significant ipsam naturam suppositorum, non autem accidentia, sed aliquam naturam additam.	1980. The Philosopher accordingly proved above that unity and being do not signify substance in the sense of this particular thing, but it is necessary to look for something that is one and a being, just as we look for something that is a man or an animal, as Socrates or Plato. Later he shows that these terms signify the natures of the things of which they are predicated and not something added, like accidents. For common attributes differ from accidents in this respect (although they agree in not being particular things), that common attributes signify the very nature of supposits, whereas accidents do not, but they signify some added nature.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 21 Hoc autem non considerans Avicenna posuit quod unum et ens sunt praedicata accidentalia, et quod significant naturam additam supra ea de quibus dicuntur. Deceptus enim fuit ex aequivocatione unius. Quod quidem secundum quod est principium numeri habens rationem mensurae in genere quantitatis, significat quamdam naturam additam his de quibus dicitur, cum sit in genere accidentis. Sed unum quod convertitur cum ente circuit omnia entia. Unde non significat aliquam naturam determinatam ad aliquod genus.	1981. And Avicenna, who did not take this into account, claimed that unity and being are accidental predicates, and that they signify a nature added to the things of which they are predicated. For he was deceived by the equivocal use of the term one, because the unity which is the principle of number and has the role of a measure in the genus of quantity signifies a nature added to the things of which it is predicated, since it belongs to a class of accident. But the unity which is interchangeable with being extends to everything that is, and therefore it does not signify a nature which is limited to one category.
lib. 10 l. 3 n. 22 Similiter etiam deceptus est ex aequivocatione entis. Nam ens quod significat compositionem propositionis est praedicatum accidentale, quia compositio fit per intellectum secundum determinatum tempus. Esse autem in hoc tempore vel in illo, est accidentale praedicatum. Sed ens quod dividitur per decem praedicamenta, significat ipsas naturas decem generum secundum quod sunt actu vel potentia.	1982. He was also deceived by the equivocal use of the term being; for being as signifying the composition of a proposition is predicated accidentally, since composition is made by the intellect with regard to a definite time. Now to exist at this or at that particular time is to be an accidental predicate. But being as divided by the ten categories signifies the very nature of the ten categories insofar as they are actual or potential.