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Number, then, whether it be number in general or the number which
consists of abstract units, is neither the cause as agent, nor the matter, nor the
ratio and form of things. Nor, of course, is it the final cause.
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One might also raise the question what the good is that things get from
numbers because their composition is expressible by a number, either by one
which is easily calculable or by an odd number. For in fact honey-water is no
more wholesome if it is mixed in the proportion of three times three, but it
would do more good if it were in no particular ratio but well diluted than if it
were numerically expressible but strong. Again, the ratios of mixtures are
expressed by the adding of numbers, not by mere numbers; e.g. it is ‘three
parts to two’, not ‘three times two’. For in any multiplication the genus of the
things multiplied must be the same; therefore the product 1X2X3 must be
measurable by 1, and 4X5X6 by 4 and therefore all products into which the
same factor enters must be measurable by that factor. The number of fire,
then, cannot be 2X5X3X6 and at the same time that of water 2X3.
If all things must share in number, it must follow that many things are the
same, and the same number must belong to one thing and to another. Is
number the cause, then, and does the thing exist because of its number, or is
this not certain? E.g. the motions of the sun have a number, and again those of
the moon,-yes, and the life and prime of each animal. Why, then, should not
some of these numbers be squares, some cubes, and some equal, others
double? There is no reason why they should not, and indeed they must move
within these limits, since all things were assumed to share in number. And it
was assumed that things that differed might fall under the same number.
Therefore if the same number had belonged to certain things, these would
have been the same as one another, since they would have had the same form
of number; e.g. sun and moon would have been the same. But why need these
numbers be causes? There are seven vowels, the scale consists of seven
strings, the Pleiades are seven, at seven animals lose their teeth (at least some
do, though some do not), and the champions who fought against Thebes were
seven. Is it then because the number is the kind of number it is, that the
champions were seven or the Pleiad consists of seven stars? Surely the
champions were seven because there were seven gates or for some other
reason, and the Pleiad we count as seven, as we count the Bear as twelve,
while other peoples count more stars in both. Nay they even say that X, Ps
1746
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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