Seite - 294 - in The Complete Aristotle

expression used, though appropriate, yet does not declare the essence, if the word ‘number’ be eliminated. Which of the two is the real state of the case it is difficult to determine clearly: the right way to treat the matter in all cases is to be guided by convenience. Thus (e.g.) it is said that the definition of phlegm is the ‘undigested moisture that comes first off food’. Here the addition of the word ‘undigested’ is superfluous, seeing that ‘the first’ is one and not many, so that even when undigested’ is left out the definition will still be peculiar to the subject: for it is impossible that both phlegm and also something else should both be the first to arise from the food. Or perhaps the phlegm is not absolutely the first thing to come off the food, but only the first of the undigested matters, so that the addition ‘undigested’ is required; for stated the other way the definition would not be true unless the phlegm comes first of all. Moreover, see if anything contained in the definition fails to apply to everything that falls under the same species: for this sort of definition is worse than those which include an attribute belonging to all things universally. For in that case, if the remainder of the expression be peculiar, the whole too will be peculiar: for absolutely always, if to something peculiar anything whatever that is true be added, the whole too becomes peculiar. Whereas if any part of the expression do not apply to everything that falls under the same species, it is impossible that the expression as a whole should be peculiar: for it will not be predicated convertibly with the object; e.g. ‘a walking biped animal six feet high’: for an expression of that kind is not predicated convertibly with the term, because the attribute ‘six feet high’ does not belong to everything that falls under the same species. Again, see if he has said the same thing more than once, saying (e.g.) ‘desire’ is a ‘conation for the pleasant’. For ‘desire’ is always ‘for the pleasant’, so that what is the same as desire will also be ‘for the pleasant’. Accordingly our definition of desire becomes ‘conation-for-the-pleasant’: for the word ‘desire’ is the exact equivalent of the words ‘conation for-the- pleasant’, so that both alike will be ‘for the pleasant’. Or perhaps there is no absurdity in this; for consider this instance:-Man is a biped’: therefore, what is the same as man is a biped: but ‘a walking biped animal’ is the same as man, and therefore walking biped animal is a biped’. But this involves no real absurdity. For ‘biped’ is not a predicate of ‘walking animal’: if it were, then we should certainly have ‘biped’ predicated twice of the same thing; but as a matter of fact the subject said to be a biped is’a walking biped animal’, so that the word ‘biped’ is only used as a predicate once. Likewise also in the case of ‘desire’ as well: for it is not ‘conation’ that is said to be ‘for the pleasant’, but rather the whole idea, so that there too the predication is only made once. Absurdity results, not when the same word is uttered twice, but when the 294