Authors/Thomas Aquinas/metaphysics/liber10/lect6

Lecture 6

Latin	English
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 1 Postquam philosophus definivit contrarietatem, hic comparat ipsam ad alias species oppositionis; et circa hoc duo facit. Primo proponit quod intendit; scilicet quod contrarietatis principium est oppositio privationis et habitus. Secundo manifestat quod supposuerat, ibi, si ergo opponuntur et cetera. Circa primum duo facit. Primo enim proponit quod principium contrarietatis est privatio et habitus; dicens, quod prima contrarietas est privatio et habitus, quia scilicet in omni contrarietate privatio et habitus includitur.	2036. Having defined contrariety the Philosopher now compares it with the other kinds of opposition. In regard to this he does two things. First (848)C 2036), he states his thesis, namely, that the basis of contrariety is the opposition between privation and possession. Second (850:C 2040), he proves it (“If, then”). In regard to the first he does two he states that the basis of contrariety is privation and possession. He says that the primary contrariety is privation and possession because privation and possession are included in every contrariety.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 2 Sed ne aliquis crederet quod idem esset opponi secundum privationem et habitum, et secundum contrarietatem, subiungitur quod non omnis privatio sit contrarium; quia privatio, sicut in superioribus habitum est, multipliciter dicitur. Aliquando enim quocumque modo, si non habeat quod natum est haberi, dicitur esse privatio. Sed talis privatio non est contrarium, quia talis privatio non ponit aliquam naturam oppositam habitui, licet supponat subiectum determinatum. Sed privatio dicitur esse contrarium, quaecumque fuerit perfecta privatio.	2037. But lest someone should think that the opposition between privation and possession and that between contraries are the same, he adds that not every privation is a contrary; for, as has been pointed out above, the term privation is used in several ways. Sometimes a thing is said to be deprived of something when it does not have in any way what it is naturally fitted to have. However, such privation is not a contrary, because it does not presuppose a positive reality which is opposed to possession, though it does presuppose a definite subject. But it is only that privation which is perfect that is said to be a contrary.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 3 Cum autem privatio secundum id quod est, non recipiat magis et minus, non potest dici perfecta privatio nisi ratione alicuius naturae, quae perfectam distantiam habeat ad habitum. Sicut non omnis privatio albi est contraria albo; sed privatio magis distans ab albo, quam oportet fundari in aliqua natura eiusdem generis, maxime distante ab albo. Et secundum hoc dicimus quod nigrum est contrarium albo.	2038. And since privation by its very nature does not admit of difference in degree, a privation can be said to be perfect only by reason of some positive reality which is farther removed from possession. For example, not every privation of white is its contrary, but only that which is farthest removed from white, which must be rooted in some nature of the same genus and farthest removed from white. And according to this we say that black is the contrary of white.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 4 Deinde cum dicit alia autem secundo ostendit qualiter ab ista prima contrarietate, alia contraria deriventur; dicens, quod alia contraria dicuntur secundum hoc, scilicet secundum privationem et habitum diversimode. Quaedam enim dicuntur contraria in eo quod habent in se inclusam privationem et habitum; sicut album et nigrum, et calidum et frigidum. Alia per hoc quod actu faciunt privationem et habitum, sicut sunt calefaciens et infrigidans. Aut per hoc quod sunt virtute activa privationis et habitus, sicut calefactivum et infrigidativum. Alia vero per hoc quod sunt acceptiones dictorum, sicut calefieri et infrigidari. Aut per hoc quod sunt abiectiones eorum, sicut corruptio caliditatis et frigiditatis. Et non solum aliqua dicuntur contraria per hoc, quod dicunt dictas habitudines ad prima contraria; sed etiam per hoc, quod habent habitudines easdem ad contraria sequentia. Sicut si dicamus quod ignis et aqua sunt contraria, quia habent calidum et frigidum, quae etiam dicebantur contraria per hoc quod includunt privationem et habitum.	2039. And the other contraries (849). Second, he explains how the other contraries are derived from this first contrariety. He says that other contraries “are referred to these,” namely, to privation and possession, in different ways. For some things are called contraries because they have in themselves privation and possession, for example, such things as white and black, hot and cold; others because they actually cause privation and possession, as things which cause heat and cold, or because they are virtually the active causes of privation and possession, as things capable of heating and cooling. And others are called contraries because they are acquisitions of the attributes mentioned, as the processes of becoming hot and becoming cold, or because they are the losses of these, as the destruction of heat and cold. And others again are called contraries not only because they express the aforesaid relationships to the primary contraries but also because they have the same relationships to subsequent contraries; for example, if we were to say that fire and water are contraries because they have heat and cold, which are called contraries themselves, as we have seen, because they include privation and possession. Other kinds of opposition
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 5 Deinde cum dicit si ergo manifestat quod supposuerat, scilicet quod prima contrarietas est privatio et habitus: et hoc dupliciter. Primo per syllogismum. Secundo per inductionem, ibi, palam autem et per inductionem et cetera. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ostendit quod contrarietas non est contradictio; dicens, quod cum quatuor modis aliqua alicui opponantur: uno modo ut contradictio, sicut sedens non sedenti; alio modo ut privatio, sicut caecus videnti: tertio modo ut contrarietas, sicut nigrum albo: quarto modo ad aliquid, sicut filius patri;- inter ista quatuor genera oppositionis primum est contradictio.	2040. If, then, the modes (850). Then he proves his thesis, namely, that the primary contrariety is privation and possession; and he does this in two ways: first, by a syllogism; second (2054), by an induction (“This also”). In regard to the first he does two things. First, he shows that contrariety is not contradiction. He says that among the four kinds of opposition between two things—(1) contradiction, as sitting is opposed to not-sitting; (2) privation, as blindness is opposed to sight; (3) contrariety, as black is opposed to white; and (4) relation, as a son is opposed to his father—the first is contradiction.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 6 Cuius ratio est, quia contradictio includitur in omnibus aliis tamquam prius et simplicius. Opposita enim secundum quodcumque oppositionis genus impossibile est simul existere. Quod quidem contingit ex hoc, quod alterum oppositorum de sui ratione habet negationem alterius. Sicut de ratione caeci est quod sit non videns. Et de ratione nigri, quod non sit album. Et similiter de ratione filii est quod non sit pater eius cuius est filius.	2041. The reason is that contradiction is included in all the other kinds of opposition as something prior and simpler; for in any kind of opposition it is impossible that opposites should exist simultaneously. This follows from the fact that one of two opposites contains the negation of the other in its notion; for example, the notion of blind contains the fact of its not seeing, and the notion of black, of its not being white. And similarly the notion of son contains his not being the father of him of whom he is the son.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 7 Manifestum est autem quod in contradictione non est aliquod medium. Necesse est enim aut affirmare aut negare, ut supra in quarto manifestum fuit. Contrariorum autem convenit esse medium. Et sic manifestum est quod contrarietas et contradictio non sunt idem.	2042. Moreover, it is evident that there is no intermediate in contradiction; for one must either affirm or deny, as has been shown in Book IV (725). However, it belongs to contraries to have an intermediate; and thus it is clear that contrariety and contradiction are not the same.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 8 Deinde cum dicit privatio vero ostendit qualiter se habeat privatio ad contradictionem, manifestans qualiter conveniant et qualiter differant. Dicit ergo, quod privatio est quaedam contradictio. Dicitur enim privatio uno modo, quando aliquid non habet quod nullo modo natum est habere; ut si diceremus quod lapis non habet visum. Alio modo dicitur aliquid privari, si non habeat quod natum est habere; sicut animal si non habeat visum. Et hoc dupliciter: uno modo qualitercumque non habeat. Alio modo si non habeat cum aliqua determinatione, puta in tempore determinato, aut aliquo modo determinato; quia privatio multipliciter dicitur, sicut supra habitum est in quinto et nono.	2043. And privation (851). Then he shows how privation is related to contradiction by indicating the way in which they are alike and that in which they differ. He says that privation is a kind of contradiction; for the term privation is used in one sense when a thing does not have in any way some attribute which it is capable of having, for example, when an animal does not have sight. And this occurs in two ways: (a) first, if it does not have it in any way at all; and (b) second, if it does not have it in some definite respect, for example, at some definite time or in some definite manner, because privation is used in many senses, as has been stated in Books V (1070) and IX (1784).
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 9 Ex his ergo patet quod privatio est quaedam contradictio. Et quidem, quod sit contradictio patet ex hoc, quod aliquid dicitur privatum ex hoc quod non habet.	2044. It is evident from what has been said, then, that privation is a kind of contradiction; and this is shown from the fact that a thing is said to be deprived of something because it does not have it.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 10 Sed quod non sit contradictio absoluta, sed contradictio quaedam, patet ex hoc quod contradictio de sui ratione non requirit neque aptitudinem, neque etiam existentiam alicuius subiecti. Verificatur enim de ente et de non ente quocumque. Dicimus enim quod animal non videt, et lignum non videt, et quod non ens non videt. Sed privatio de necessitate requirit aliquod subiectum, et quandoque etiam requirit aptitudinem in subiecto: quod enim est omnino non ens non dicitur privatum.	2045. That it is not a simple contradiction but one of a sort is evident from the fact that according to its meaning a contradiction requires neither (~) the aptitude nor the existence of any subject; for it may be truly affirmed of any being or non-being whatsoever. Thus we say that an animal does not see, and that wood does not see, and that a non-being does not see. A privation, however, necessarily (+) requires some subject, and sometimes it also requires aptitude in a subject; for that which is a non-being in every respect is not said to be deprived of anything.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 11 Et ideo dicit quod privatio aut est in determinata potentia, scilicet cum aptitudine ad habitum, aut saltem concepta cum susceptivo, idest cum subiecto, licet non habente aptitudinem ad habitum. Sicut si dicamus vocem invisibilem, aut lapidem rem mortuam.	2046. He says, then, that privation “is found either in a determinate potency,” i.e., one with a capacity for possessing something, or at least “is conceived along with something that is susceptible of it,” i.e., along with a subject, even though it has no capacity for possessing something. This would be the case, for example, if we were to say that a word is invisible, or that a stone is dead.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 12 Et ideo contradictio non potest habere medium: sed privatio aliquo modo medium habet. Necesse est enim omne aut aequale aut non aequale esse, sive sit ens sive non ens. Sed non necesse est dici de omni, quod sit aequale aut inaequale; sed solum hoc necesse est in susceptivo aequalitatis.	2047. (~) Contradiction, then, cannot have an intermediate, whereas in a sense (+) privation has an intermediate; for everything must be either equal or not equal, whether it is a being or a non-being. However, it is not necessary to say that everything is either equal or unequal, but this is necessary only in the case of something that is susceptible of equality.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 13 Sic igitur oppositio contradictionis omnino est immediata: oppositio vero privationis est immediata in determinato susceptivo; non autem est immediata simpliciter. Ex quo patet quod contrarietas, quae nata est habere medium, propinquior est privationi quam contradictioni. Nondum tamen habetur, quod privatio sit contrarietas.	2048. Hence the opposition of contradiction has no intermediate whatsoever, whereas the opposition of privation has no intermediate in a determinate subject; but it is not without an intermediate in an absolute sense. And from this it is evident that contrariety, which is such as to have an intermediate, is closer to privation than to contradiction. Yet it still does not follow that privation is the same as contrariety.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 14 Si itaque restat tertio ostendendum, quod contrarietas sit privatio; et circa hoc duo facit. Primo ostendit per syllogismum quod contrarietas sit privatio, hoc modo. Omne illud ex quo fit generatio, aut est species sive quicumque habitus speciei; aut est privatio speciei, sive cuiuscumque formae. Omne quidem dicit, quia est duplex generatio. Generatur enim aliquid simpliciter in genere substantiae, et secundum quid in genere accidentium. Generationes enim sunt ex contrariis in materia. Manifestum est ergo, quod omnis contrarietas est aliqua privatio. Si enim alterum extremorum in qualibet generatione est privatio, et utrumque contrariorum est extremum generationis, quia contraria generantur ex invicem, sicut album ex nigro, et nigrum ex albo; necesse est quod semper alterum contrariorum sit privatio.	2049. If, then, the processes (852). Third, it remains to be shown that contrariety is privation, and in regard to this he does two things. First, he shows by a syllogism that contrariety is privation. He argues as follows: everything from which a process of generation arises is either a form (i.e., the possession of some form) or the privation of some specifying principle (i.e., some form). He says “everything” because generation is twofold. For things are generated absolutely in the genus of substance, but in a qualified sense in the genus of accidents; for generations arise from contraries in matter. Hence it is evident that every contrariety is a privation; for if in any process of generation one of the two extremes is a privation, and each of the contraries is an extreme in the process of generation (because contraries are generated from each other, as white from black and black from white), then one of the two contraries must be a privation.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 15 Deinde cum dicit privatio vero ostendit quod non omnis privatio est contrarietas, quod etiam supra dixerat, dicens: non omnis privatio est contrarietas. Et causa huius est, quia privatum contingit multipliciter privari. Quocumque enim modo id quod natum est habere aliquam formam, non habeat illam, dici potest esse privatum; sive sit in dispositione propinqua ad formam illam, sive remota. Sed contrarium est semper in dispositione remota: quia contraria sunt ex quibus fiunt permutationes sicut ex extremis. Unde supra dictum est, quod sunt maxime distantia. Aliquid enim privari dicitur albedine si non sit album, sive sit pallidum, sive quocumque alio colore coloratum. Sed non ideo dicitur esse contrarium nisi quando est maxime distans ab albo, scilicet quando est nigrum. Unde manifestum est quod non omnis privatio est contrarietas.	2050. But perhaps (853). Here he proves another assertion made above, that not every privation is a contrariety. He says that the reason for this is that there are many ways of being deprived; for a thing that is capable of having a form and does not have it in any way can be said to be deprived of it, and it makes no difference whether it is proximately or remotely disposed for that form. Now a contrary is always remotely disposed; for contraries are the sources, in the sense of extremes from which changes arise. Hence it was said above (2038) that they are farthest removed from each other. For whether a thing is yellowish or of some other color, it is said to be deprived of whiteness if it is not white. But it is not on that account called a contrary except when it is farthest removed from whiteness, namely, when it is black. Thus it is clear that not every privation is a contrariety.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 16 Ex hoc etiam apparet quod, cum privatio nihil aliud requirat nisi absentiam formae, supposita tantum habitudine in subiecto, sine hoc quod determinet aliquam dispositionem in subiecto, per quam subiectum sit propinquum formae vel distans ab ea: quod privatio non significat aliquam naturam in subiecto, sed praesupponit subiectum cum aptitudine. Contrarium vero requirit determinatam dispositionem subiecti, secundum quam maxime distet a forma. Unde de necessitate aliquam naturam significat in subiecto, quae est eiusdem generis cum forma absente; sicut nigrum est in genere albi.	2051. And since privation requires nothing else than the absence of form (merely presupposing a disposition in a subject without conferring upon that subject any definite disposition through which the subject is close to a form or distant from it), it is evident that privation does not designate any positive reality in a subject, but presupposes a subject with an aptitude. But a contrary requires a definite disposition in a subject, by which it is farthest removed from a form. Therefore it necessarily designates in a subject some positive reality which belongs to the same class as the absent form, as black belongs to the same class as white.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 17 Considerandum est etiam quod est duplex privatio. Quaedam quae habet immediatum ordinem ad subiectum formae, sicut tenebra habet immediatum ordinem ad diaphanum. Et inter huiusmodi privationem et formam oppositam est mutua transmutatio. Aer enim de lucido fit tenebrosus, et de tenebroso fit lucidus. Quaedam autem privatio est quae non comparatur ad subiectum formae nisi mediante forma, cum sit ut quaedam corruptio eius; sicut caecitas est corruptio visus, mors est corruptio vitae. Et in talibus non est mutua conversio, sicut supra in nono habitum est.	2052. It should also be noted that privation is of two kinds. (1) There is one which has an immediate relationship to the subject of the form (as darkness has an immediate relationship to the transparent medium), and between a privation of this kind and its opposite form there is (+) reciprocal change; for the atmosphere passes from a state of illumination to one of darkness, and from a state of darkness to one of illumination. (2) And there is another kind of privation which is related to the subject of the form only by means of the form, since it has the nature of a corruption of form; for example, blindness is the corruption of sight, and death the corruption of life. In such cases there is no (~) reciprocal change, as has been pointed out in Book IX (1785).
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 18 Cum igitur hic ostenditur contrarietatem esse privationem ex mutua transmutatione, quae est in contrariis et privatione et forma, manifestum est quod non dicitur ista esse contrarietas quae est corruptio formae, sed quae habet immediatum ordinem ad subiectum formae. Et sic cessat illa obiectio quae ponitur in praedicamentis, quod a privatione ad habitum non fit reversio. Contraria autem transmutantur invicem.	2053. Therefore, since it has been shown here that contrariety is the privation arising from reciprocal change which involves contraries and privation and form, it is clear that contrariety is not the type of privation which is the corruption of a form, but that which has an immediate relation to the subject of the form. Hence the objection raised in the Categories, that it is impossible to revert from privation to possession, does not apply here. But contraries are changed into each other.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 19 Deinde cum dicit palam autem ostendit per inductionem quod contrarietas sit privatio; et hoc dupliciter. Primo inducendo in singulis contrariis. Secundo reducendo ad prima contraria, ibi, sufficit autem et si prima et cetera. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ostendit per inductionem quod contrarietas sit privatio; dicens, quod hoc quod supra ratione syllogistica ostensum est palam est etiam per inductionem. Quia omnis contrarietas invenitur habere privationem alterius contrariorum. Semper enim duorum contrariorum unum est defectivum respectu alterius. Sed tamen non in omnibus contrariis similiter invenitur unum privatio alterius, ut infra dicetur. Et quod unum contrariorum sit privatio alterius, ex hoc apparet, quia inaequalitas est privatio aequalitatis, et dissimilitudo similitudinis, et malitia virtutis.	2054. This also becomes (854). Then he shows by induction that contrariety is privation, and he does this in two ways. First, by making an induction from each type of contrary; and second (856:C 2058), by reducing them to a primary kind of contrary (“But it is”). In regard to the first (854) he does two things. First, he shows by an induction that contrariety is privation. He says that the point proved above by a syllogistic argument is also made clear by an induction; for every contrariety is found to include the privation of one of the two contraries, since one of the two is always lacking in the other. Yet one contrary is not found to be the privation of the other in the same way in all types of contraries, as will be stated below (855:C 2055). That one of two contraries is the privation of the other is evident from the fact that inequality is the privation of equality, and unlikeness the privation of likeness, and evil the privation of virtue.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 20 Deinde cum dicit differt autem ostendit quod diversimode unum contrariorum est privatio alterius. Hoc enim contingit secundum diversam rationem privationis. Quae quidem diversitas attenditur dupliciter. Uno modo ex hoc quod privatio potest dici, vel quia solum aliquod privatum est modo quocumque. Vel quia est privatum in aliquo tempore determinato, vel in aliqua parte determinata. In tempore quidem determinato, sicut si sit privatum in aliqua aetate. In parte autem determinata, sicut si sit privatum in aliqua parte principali. Aut etiam in omni, idest in toto. Dicitur enim aliquis insensatus, si in aetate perfecta discretione careat, non autem in puerili aetate. Et similiter aliquis nudus, non si aliqua pars eius non sit tecta, sed si plures aut principales partes intectae remaneant.	2055. And privation differs (855). Then he shows that one contrary is the privation of the other in various ways; for this is relative to different types of privation. Now this difference may be considered from two points of view. First, privation can mean either that a thing has been deprived of something in any way at all; or, that it is deprived at some definite time or in some definite way. For example, it is deprived at some definite time if this occurs at some definite age; and it is deprived in some definite part if the privation is found in some important part. Or it may also be “entirely,” i.e., in the whole. For a man is said to be senseless if he lacks discretion at a mature age but not as a child. And similarly a person is said to be naked, not if any part of him is uncovered, but if many of his parts or the principal ones are left uncovered.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 21 Et propter istam diversitatem privationis, quae in contrarietate includitur, contingit quod quorumdam contrariorum est medium, et quorumdam non. Inter bonum enim et malum, medium est. Est enim aliquis homo neque bonus neque malus. Dicitur enim bonus homo secundum virtutem. Nam virtus est quae bonum facit habentem. Non autem omnis qui caret virtute malus est. Nam puer caret virtute, et tamen non dicitur malus. Sed si in aetate, in qua debet habere virtutem, non habeat, malus dicitur. Vel etiam si aliquis virtute careat quantum ad aliquos actus minimos et quasi indifferentes ad vitam, non dicitur malus; sed solum si careat virtute quantum ad actus principales et necessarios ad vitam. Sed par et impar in numeris non habent medium: quia numerus dicitur impar ex hoc quod quocumque modo caret paritate.	2056. And because of the various kinds of privation which are included under contrariety it is possible for some contraries to have an intermediate and for some not. For there is an intermediate between good and evil, since a man may be neither good nor evil. For a man is said to be good by reason of virtue, because virtue is what causes its possessor to be good. However, not everyone who lacks virtue is evil; for a boy lacks virtue, yet he is not said to be evil. But if one does not have virtue at an age when he ought to have it, he is then said to be evil. Or if someone also lacks virtue as regards certain insignificant actions and those which, so to speak, make no difference to life, he is not said to be evil, but only if he lacks virtue as to the important and necessary acts of life. But the even and the odd in numbers do not have an intermediate; for a number is said to be odd in the sense that it lacks evenness in any way at all.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 22 Alia vero diversitas privationis est, quod privatio quaedam determinat sibi subiectum, quaedam vero non. Dictum est enim supra, quod id quod caret aliquo, etiam si non natum sit habere, quandoque dicitur privatum. Ex hac autem diversitate privationis potest contingere in aliquibus contrariis, quod habeant medium vel non habeant: sicut si dicamus, quod cum homo dicatur bonus secundum virtutes politicas, si malum quod includit privationem boni requirat determinatum subiectum, rusticus qui non participat conversatione civili, nec bonus nec malus est bonitate vel malitia civili. Sic igitur patet ex praedictis, quod alterum contrariorum dicitur secundum privationem.	2057. The second way in which privations differ is this: one kind of privation has a definite subject of its own, and another kind has not. For it was said above that everything which lacks an attribute, even though it is not naturally such as to have it, is sometimes said to be deprived of it. And according to this difference between privations it is possible for some contraries to have an intermediate or not. For example, we might say that, since man is said to be good with respect to political virtue, if evil, which includes the privation of good, requires a determinate subject, then a rustic who does not participate in civic affairs is neither good nor evil with respect to civic goodness or evil. Hence it is evident from what has been said that one of two contraries is used in a privative sense.
lib. 10 l. 6 n. 23 Deinde cum dicit sufficit autem ostendit idem reducendo ad prima contraria; dicens quod sufficit ad ostendendum quod alterum contrariorum sit privatio, si hoc invenitur in primis contrariis, quae sunt genera aliorum contrariorum, sicut sunt unum et multa. Et quod ista sint prima contraria, patet ex hoc, quod omnia alia contraria reducuntur ad illa. Nam ad unum et multa reducuntur aequale et inaequale, simile et dissimile, idem et diversum. Differentia autem, diversitas quaedam est, et contrarietas differentia quaedam, ut supra habitum est. Et sic patet quod omnis contrarietas reducitur ad unum et multa. Unum autem et multa opponuntur ut divisibile et indivisibile, ut supra habitum est. Et ita relinquitur, quod omnia contraria privationem includant.	2058. But it is enough (856). He proves the same point by reducing the other contraries to the primary ones. He says that in order to show that one of two contraries is a privation it is enough if this is found to be true in the case of the primary contraries, which are the genera of the others, for example, one and many. That these are the primary contraries is evident from the fact that all other contraries are reduced to them; for equal and unequal, like and unlike, same and other, are reduced to one and many. Moreover, difference is a kind of diversity, and contrariety is a kind of difference, as has been said above (2017; 2023). Hence, it is evident that every contrariety is reducible to one and many. But one and many are opposed as the indivisible and the divisible, as has been pointed out above (1983). Therefore it follows that all contraries include privation.