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of separation, not only for each thing, but for all. Each thing that comes to be
comes from a similar body, and there is a coming to be of all things, though
not, it is true, at the same time. Hence there must also be an origin of coming
to be. One such source there is which he calls Mind, and Mind begins its work
of thinking from some starting-point. So necessarily all things must have been
together at a certain time, and must have begun to be moved at a certain time.
Democritus, for his part, asserts the contrary, namely that no element arises
from another element. Nevertheless for him the common body is a source of
all things, differing from part to part in size and in shape.
It is clear then from these considerations that the inquiry concerns the
physicist. Nor is it without reason that they all make it a principle or source.
We cannot say that the infinite has no effect, and the only effectiveness which
we can ascribe to it is that of a principle. Everything is either a source or
derived from a source. But there cannot be a source of the infinite or limitless,
for that would be a limit of it. Further, as it is a beginning, it is both
uncreatable and indestructible. For there must be a point at which what has
come to be reaches completion, and also a termination of all passing away.
That is why, as we say, there is no principle of this, but it is this which is held
to be the principle of other things, and to encompass all and to steer all, as
those assert who do not recognize, alongside the infinite, other causes, such as
Mind or Friendship. Further they identify it with the Divine, for it is
‘deathless and imperishable’ as Anaximander says, with the majority of the
physicists.
Belief in the existence of the infinite comes mainly from five
considerations:
(1) From the nature of time-for it is infinite.
(2) From the division of magnitudes-for the mathematicians also use the
notion of the infinite.
(3) If coming to be and passing away do not give out, it is only because that
from which things come to be is infinite.
(4) Because the limited always finds its limit in something, so that there
must be no limit, if everything is always limited by something different from
itself.
(5) Most of all, a reason which is peculiarly appropriate and presents the
difficulty that is felt by everybody-not only number but also mathematical
magnitudes and what is outside the heaven are supposed to be infinite because
they never give out in our thought.
The last fact (that what is outside is infinite) leads people to suppose that
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Buch The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Titel
- The Complete Aristotle
- Autor
- Aristotle
- Datum
- ~322 B.C.
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- PD
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 2328
- Schlagwörter
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Kategorien
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156