Authors/Thomas Aquinas/metaphysics/liber8/lect1

Lecture 1

Latin	English
lib. 8 l. 1 n. 1 Postquam determinavit philosophus in septimo de substantia modo logico, considerando scilicet definitionem et partes definitionis, et alia huiusmodi quae secundum rationem considerantur; in hoc libro octavo intendit de sensibilibus substantiis determinare per propria principia, applicando ea quae superius inquisita sunt logice, ad substantias illas. Et dividitur in duas partes. In prima continuat se ad praecedentia. In secunda prosequitur suam intentionem, ibi, sensibiles autem substantiae omnes materiam habent. Circa primum tria facit. Primo proponit in generali suam intentionem. Secundo repetit quaedam quae dicta sunt, ibi, dictum est autem. Tertio ponit continuationem dictorum ad dicenda, ibi, quoniam autem quod quid erat esse substantia. Dicit ergo primo quod, cum multa dicta sint in septimo logica consideratione circa substantiam, oportet syllogizare ex his quae dicta sunt, ut applicentur quae secundum considerationem logicam dicta sunt, ad res naturales existentes. Et oportet colligentes ea, idest summarie et recapitulatim recolligentes quae dicta sunt, imponere finem complendo tractatum de substantia; quod fiet tractando ea quae superius tractatis desunt.	1681. Having dealt with substance by means of the dialectical method in Book VII, i.e., by examining the definition and its parts and other things of this kind which are considered from the viewpoint of dialectics, the Philosopher now intends in Book VIII to deal with sensible substances through their proper principles, by applying to those substances the things that were investigated above by means of the dialectical method. This is divided into two parts. In the first (691)C 1681), he links up this discussion with the preceding one; and in the second (696:C 1686), he carries out his intention (“All sensible substances”). In regard to the first he does three things. First, he states in a general way what he intends to do. Second (692:C 1682), he repeats some of the statements which have been made (“It has been stated”). Third (695:C 1685), he links up the foregoing discussion with the one that is to come (“Further, since the essence”). He says first (691), then, that since many of the statements made about substance in Book VII belong to the consideration of dialectics, we must reason from the statements which have been made in order that the things stated from the viewpoint of dialectics may be applied to things existing in reality. And “after making a summary,” i.e., after bringing these together again in a brief and summary way, we must bring our investigation to a close by completing the treatise on substance. He does this by discussing those things which were omitted from the foregoing treatise.
lib. 8 l. 1 n. 2 Deinde cum dicit dictum est resumit quaedam eorum quae dicta sunt; quia dictum est in septimo quod in hac scientia principaliter quaeruntur causae et principia et elementa substantiarum. Cum enim haec scientia consideret ens commune sicut proprium subiectum, quod quidem dividitur per substantiam et novem genera accidentium, accidentium vero cognitio ex substantia dependeat, ut in septimo probatum est, relinquitur quod principalis intentio huiusmodi scientiae sit circa substantias. Et quia scire unumquodque non contingit nisi cognitis principiis et causis eius, sequitur quod ad hanc scientiam pertineat inquirere principia et causas et elementa substantiarum. Quae tria qualiter differant, superius in quinto ostensum est.	1682. It has been stated (692). Here he repeats some of the statements which have been made, because it was stated in Book VII (564:C 1260) that the principal objects of our search in this science are the causes, principles and elements of substances. For since this science investigates as its proper subject being in general, and this is divided into substance and the nine classes of accidents, and a knowledge of accidents depends upon substance, as was shown in Book VII (585-6:C 1342-50), it follows that this science is principally concerned with substances. And since we know each thing only when we know its principles and causes, it also follows that this science must be principally concerned with the principles, causes and elements of substances. The way in which these three differ has been shown above in Book V (403-12:C 751-807).
lib. 8 l. 1 n. 3 Deinde cum dicit substantiae vero resumit aliquid superius dictorum; scilicet modos quibus accipitur substantia. Et primo ponit quae dicuntur substantiae in rerum natura existentes, quarum quasdam omnes confitentur esse, scilicet substantias sensibiles, ut terra et aqua et alia elementa; et ulterius secundum ordinem nobilitatis et perfectionis, plantae et animalia et partes eorum, et ultimo caelum, et partes caeli, sicut sunt orbes, et sidera quae transcendunt alias substantias sensibiles in nobilitate. Quasdam vero substantias non omnes confitentur in rerum natura subsistere. Sed quidam posuerunt singulariter eas esse, qui ponunt species et mathematica separata secundum esse, volentes quod cuilibet abstractioni intellectus, respondeat abstractio in esse rerum. Et quia intellectus abstrahit universale a particularibus ut hominem a Socrate et Platone, posuerunt species separatim per se subsistere. Quia vero intellectus abstrahit aliquas formas a materiis sensibilibus, utputa curvum, de cuius intellectu non est nasus sicut de ratione simi, et linea et alia huiusmodi, quae mathematica dicuntur, posuerunt mathematica separata.	1683. Now some substances (693). Then he repeats one of the points discussed above, i.e., the various senses in which substance is used. First, he gives the things which are said to be real substances. Among these there are some whose existence is admitted by all thinkers, namely, sensible substances, such as earth, water and the other elements; and above these, in the order of their nobility and perfection, plants and animals and their parts; and lastly the heaven and its parts, as the orbs and the stars, which surpass in nobility the other sensible substances. However, there are some substances whose existence is not admitted by all but only by certain particular thinkers, who claim that the Forms and the objects of mathematics have separate existence. They adopted this position because they thought that for every abstraction of the intellect there is a corresponding abstraction in reality. Thus, because the intellect considers the universal apart from particular things, as “man” apart from Socrates and Plato, they held that the Forms have separate existence of themselves. And since the intellect considers some forms apart from sensible material things, as curvature (whose concept does not contain nose as does the concept of pugnose) and a line and other things of this kind, which we call the objects of mathematics, they also held that the objects of mathematics have separate existence.
lib. 8 l. 1 n. 4 Deinde cum dicit alias vero ponit modos accipiendi substantias secundum rationis acceptionem. Et ponit duos modos: quorum unus est quod substantia dicitur quidditas alicuius substantiae naturalis; quae quidem nihil aliud est quam ipsum quid est rei naturalis. Alio modo dicitur substantia secundum aliam acceptionem, secundum quam genus dicitur magis substantia quam species, et universale magis quam singularia, ut quidam posuerunt, prout in tertio libro in quaestionibus tractatum est. Et huic acceptioni substantiae secundum quam universale et genus substantia dicuntur, coniuncta est ratio de ideis quas supra dixit species. Eadem enim ratione ponuntur ideae esse substantiae et universalia.	1684. From other arguments (694). Here he gives the different ways in which substance is considered from the viewpoint of its intelligible structure; and there are two of these. The first is that substance means the quiddity of any natural substance, and this is merely the whatness of a natural being. In the second way substance is considered in a different sense, that is, in the sense that a genus is said to be substance to a greater degree than species, and a universal to a greater degree than singular things, as some men held according to what was treated in the questions in Book III (220-234:C 423-442). And with this way of considering substance, according to which both a genus and a universal are called substances, is connected the theory of Ideas, or Forms as Aristotle called them above (693:C 1683); for this theory maintains that both Ideas and universals are substances on the same grounds.
lib. 8 l. 1 n. 5 Deinde cum dicit quoniam autem continuat se ad praecedentia; dicens quid determinatum sit, et quid determinandum restat. Dicit ergo: quia quod quid erat esse est substantia, et ratio significativa eius est definitio; propter hoc in praecedenti libro determinatum est de definitione. Et quia definitio constat ex his quae praedicantur per se, propter hoc etiam ibi determinatum est de eo quod est secundum se. Et quia definitio ratio est partes habens, necessarium fuit determinare de partibus definitionis, quae scilicet sint partes rei definitae, et quae non; et utrum eaedem sint definitionis partes et definiti. Et secundum aliam literam utrum partes definitionis oporteat definiri. Et primum melius est. Item in septimo ostensum est quod neque universale nec genus est substantia. Et sic tota consideratio quae accipitur de rationibus et de substantia, in septimo libro pertractata est. Inter has substantias vero quae in rerum natura existunt, de ideis et mathematicis posterius est perscrutandum, quas quidam dicunt per se singulariter subsistere praeter substantias sensibiles. De hoc enim agetur in ultimis libris huius doctrinae. Nunc autem immediate oportet tractare de illis substantiis quas omnes confitentur esse, scilicet de sensibilibus, ut ex manifestis ad immanifesta procedatur.	1685. Further, since the essence (695). He links up this discussion with the preceding one by stating what has been solved and what remains to be solved. He says that, since the essence is substance, and the intelligible expression which signifies it is the definition, for this reason it was necessary in the preceding book to deal with definition. And since a definition is composed of those attributes which are predicated of a thing essentially, for this reason it was also necessary in that book to settle the issue about essential predication (576-597:C 1299-1380). Further, since the definition of a thing is its intelligible expression, and this is made up of parts, then concerning the parts of a definition it was also necessary to determine what parts are parts of the thing defined and what are not; and whether the parts of the definition and those of the thing defined are the same (625-649:C 1482-1565). Another text has “Whether the parts of the definition must be defined,” but the first version is better. In Book VII (650-681:C 1566-1647) it was shown also that neither the universal nor the genus is substance. Thus the entire study which may be made of definitions and substance was carried out in Book VII. But of those substances which exist in reality, it will be necessary to examine later the Ideas and the objects of mathematics, which one school of thinkers claim to subsist by themselves apart from sensible substances. This is done in the last books of this work. But now it is necessary to treat at once of those substances which all men admit to exist, namely, sensible substances, so that we may proceed from what has been made evident to what as yet remains unknown. Sensible substance is matter, form, composite.
lib. 8 l. 1 n. 6 Deinde cum dicit sensibiles autem posita continuitate dictorum ad dicenda, hic incipit philosophus tractare de substantiis sensibilibus inquirendo principia eorum. Et dividitur in partes duas. In prima determinat de materia et forma, quae sunt principia substantiarum sensibilium. In secunda de unione earum adinvicem, ibi, de dubitatione. Circa primum duo facit. Primo ostendit, quod materia et forma sunt principia substantiarum sensibilium. Secundo determinat ea, quae sunt consideranda circa utrumque, ibi, oportet autem non ignorare. Circa primum duo facit. Primo manifestat, quod materia sit principium substantiarum sensibilium. Secundo manifestat hoc idem de forma, ibi, quoniam autem et quae quidem. Circa primum tria facit. Primo ostendit quid sit materia, dividens eam contra alias acceptiones substantiae. Unde dicit, quod omnes substantiae sensibiles habent materiam; quod ideo est quia omnes sunt in motu, et motus non est sine materia.	1686. All sensible substances (696). Having linked up the foregoing discussion with the one that is to come, the Philosopher begins here to treat of sensible substances by investigating their principles. This is divided into two parts. In the first (1686) he establishes what is true concerning matter and form, which are the principles of sensible substances. In the second (1755) he considers the way in which they are united to each other (“It seems that we must”). In regard to the first he does two things. First, he shows that matter and form are principles of sensible substances. Second (1705), he deals with those points which must be investigated about each of these principles (“And we must not”). In regard to the first he does two things. First, he shows that matter is a principle of sensible substances; and second (1691), that the same is true of form (“But since that which has the character of a subject”). In regard to the first he does three things. First he shows what matter is by distinguishing it from the other ways in which substance is considered. Hence he says that all sensible substances have matter; and the reason is that all are in motion, and motion does not exist without matter.
lib. 8 l. 1 n. 7 Sed sciendum est, quod materia aliter dicitur substantia, et aliter forma, et aliter compositum. Materia enim dicitur substantia non quasi ens aliquid actu existens in se considerata, sed quasi in potentia, ut sit aliquid actu, haec dicitur esse hoc aliquid. Forma vero, quae et ratio nominatur, quia ex ipsa sumitur ratio speciei, dicitur substantia quasi ens aliquid actu, et quasi ens separabile secundum rationem a materia, licet non secundum rem. Compositum vero ex his dicitur esse substantia quasi separabile simpliciter, idest separatim per se existere potens in rerum natura; et eius solius est generatio et corruptio. Neque enim forma neque materia generatur aut corrumpitur nisi per accidens. Et licet compositum sit separabile simpliciter, tamen secundum rationem, aliorum quae dicuntur substantiae, quaedam sunt separabilia, et quaedam non. Forma enim est separabilis ratione, quia potest intelligi sine materia sensibili individuante; materia vero non potest intelligi sine intellectu formae, cum non apprehendatur nisi ut ens in potentia ad formam. Vel potest esse sensus quod substantiarum secundum rationem, idest formarum, quaedam sunt ratione separabiles, ut mathematicae, quaedam non, ut formae naturales. Vel iterum quod quaedam sunt formae separatae absque materia existentes, de quibus inferius determinabit.	1687. But it must be noted that in one sense substance means (1) matter, and in another (2) form, and in still another (3) the thing composed of these. For matter is called substance, not as though it were a being considered to have actual existence in itself, but as something capable of being actual (and this is said to be a particular thing). And form, which is also termed the intelligible structure because the intelligible structure of the species is derived from it, is called substance (1) inasmuch as it is something actual, and (2) inasmuch as it is separable from matter in thought but not in reality. And the thing composed of these is called substance inasmuch as it is something “separable in an absolute sense,” i.e., capable of existing separately by itself in reality; and it alone is subject to generation and corruption. For form and matter are generated and corrupted only by reason of something else. And although the composite is separable in an absolute sense, yet some of the other things which are called substances are separable in thought and some are not. For a form is separable in thought because it can be understood without understanding individuating sensible matter; but matter cannot be understood without understanding form, since it is apprehended only inasmuch as it is in potentiality to form. Or the, statements can mean that “according to the intelligible structure of substances,” i.e., of forms, some are separable in their intelligible structure, as the objects of mathematics, and some are not, as natural forms. Or again it may mean that there are certain separate forms existing without matter, about which he will establish the truth later on (2447-2454).
lib. 8 l. 1 n. 8 Secundo ibi, quia vero dicit, quod necesse est in substantiis sensibilibus ponere materiam quasi substantiam et subiectum. In omni enim mutatione oportet esse subiectum commune terminis mutationis in contrariis mutationibus; sicut in mutatione secundum locum est aliquod commune subiectum, quod nunc est hic, et iterum alibi. Et in augmento est aliquod subiectum commune, quod nunc habet tantam quantitatem, et iterum minorem, quantum ad decrementum, et maiorem quantum ad augmentum. Et in alteratione est aliquod subiectum, quod nunc est sanum, et nunc infirmum. Cum igitur sit quaedam mutatio secundum substantiam, scilicet generatio et corruptio: oportet esse aliquod commune subiectum, quod subiiciatur contrariis mutationibus secundum generationem et corruptionem; et hoc positis terminis, qui sunt forma et privatio; ita scilicet quod quandoque sit actu per formam, et quandoque sit subiectum privationis illius formae.	1688. Now it is evident (697). Second, he says that in sensible substances we must posit matter as substance and subject. For in every change between contraries, there must be a subject common to the termini of the change. For example, in change of place there is a common subject which is now here and afterwards somewhere else; and in growth there is a common subject which now has so much quantity and afterwards is smaller (if the change is decrease) or greater (if it is increase). And in alteration there is a common subject which is now healthy and afterwards diseased. Hence, since there is substantial change, that is, generation and corruption, there must be a common subject which underlies the opposite changes of generation and corruption. And this is the subject for the termini that have been given, i.e., form and privation, so that sometimes this subject is actual by reason of a form, and sometimes it is the subject of the privation of that form.
lib. 8 l. 1 n. 9 Ex hac autem Aristotelis ratione apparet, quod generatio et corruptio substantialis sunt principium veniendi in cognitionem materiae primae. Si enim materia prima de se haberet aliquam formam propriam, per eam esset aliquid actu. Et sic, cum superinduceretur alia forma, non simpliciter materia per eam esset, sed fieret hoc vel illud ens. Et sic esset generatio secundum quid et non simpliciter. Unde omnes ponentes primum subiectum esse aliquod corpus, ut aerem et aquam, posuerunt generationem idem esse quod alterationem. Patet autem ex hac ratione qualiter accipiendus sit intellectus materiae primae; quia ita se habet ad omnes formas et privationes, sicut se habet subiectum alterabile ad qualitates contrarias.	1689. Now from this argument of Aristotle it is clear that substantial generation and corruption are the source from which we derive our knowledge of prime matter. For if prime matter by nature had a form of its own, it would be an actual thing by reason of that form. Hence, when an additional form would be given [to prime matter], such matter would not exist in an absolute sense by reason of that form but would become this or that being; and then there would be generation in a qualified sense but not in an absolute sense. Hence all those who held that this first subject is a body, such as air or water, claimed that generation is the same as alteration. But it is clear from this argument what we must hold prime matter to be; for it is related to all forms and privations as the subject of qualitative change is to contrary qualities.
lib. 8 l. 1 n. 10 Deinde cum dicit et hanc sequuntur ostendit, quod materia non eodem modo est in omnibus substantiis sensibilibus; dicens, quod materiam existentem subiectum generationis et corruptionis sequuntur aliae mutationes. Sequitur enim, si sit generabile et corruptibile, quod sit alterabile et secundum locum mutabile. Sed ipsa, scilicet materia subiecta generationi et corruptioni, non sequitur ad quascumque alias mutationes, et praecipue ad illam, quae est loci mutatio. Non enim sequitur, si aliquid habeat materiam localem, idest per quam sit in potentia ad ubi, quod habeat materiam generabilem et corruptibilem, idest subiectam generationi et corruptioni. Deficit enim hoc in corporibus caelestibus, in quibus etiam est alteratio aliqualis secundum illuminationem et obscurationem, non tamen generatio et corruptio. Et ideo dixit unam propter loci mutationem, vel duas propter talem alterationem, quae tamen non vere est motus alterationis, quia illuminatio non est motus, sed terminus motus. Sic autem secundum quamlibet mutationem oportet accipere materiam, sicut in qualibet mutatione est aliquis modus fiendi simpliciter vel secundum quid. Quae autem est differentia eius quod est fieri simpliciter, et secundum quid, dictum est in primo physicorum: quia simpliciter fieri est secundum substantiam: fieri secundum quid, est secundum accidens.	1690. And the other changes (698). Here he shows that matter is not present in the same way in all sensible substances. He says that the other changes follow upon matter which is subject to generation and corruption; for if matter is subject to generation and corruption, it follows that it is subject to alteration and change of place. But this matter, i.e., one which is subject to generation and corruption, does not follow upon all the other changes, especially change of place. For if something has “matter which is subject to change of place,” i.e., by which it is potentially in a place, it does not follow that it also has “matter which is generable and corruptible,” namely, one which is subject to generation and corruption. For this kind of matter is lacking in the celestial bodies, in which there is a kind of alteration inasmuch as they are illuminated and deprived of light, but neither generation nor corruption. Hence he said one” because of change of place, or two” because of the kind of alteration just mentioned, although this is really not alteration, because illumination is not motion but the terminus of motion. Thus we must posit matter for every change according as there is in everything that changes a coming-to-be either in an absolute sense or in a qualified one. The difference between coming-to-be in an absolute sense and in a qualified one has been explained in the Physics, Book 1; 4 for coming-to-be in an absolute sense belongs to substance, and coming-to-be in a qualified sense belongs to accidents.