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definition ought to be rendered through what is more intelligible to particular
individuals would not have to render the same definition at all times even to
the same person. It is clear, then, that the right way to define is not through
terms of that kind, but through what is absolutely more intelligible: for only in
this way could the definition come always to be one and the same. Perhaps,
also, what is absolutely intelligible is what is intelligible, not to all, but to
those who are in a sound state of understanding, just as what is absolutely
healthy is what is healthy to those in a sound state of body. All such points as
this ought to be made very precise, and made use of in the course of
discussion as occasion requires. The demolition of a definition will most
surely win a general approval if the definer happens to have framed his
expression neither from what is absolutely more intelligible nor yet from what
is so to us.
One form, then, of the failure to work through more intelligible terms is the
exhibition of the prior through the posterior, as we remarked before.’ Another
form occurs if we find that the definition has been rendered of what is at rest
and definite through what is indefinite and in motion: for what is still and
definite is prior to what is indefinite and in motion.
Of the failure to use terms that are prior there are three forms:
(1) The first is when an opposite has been defined through its opposite,
e.g.i. good through evil: for opposites are always simultaneous by nature.
Some people think, also, that both are objects of the same science, so that the
one is not even more intelligible than the other. One must, however, observe
that it is perhaps not possible to define some things in any other way, e.g. the
double without the half, and all the terms that are essentially relative: for in all
such cases the essential being is the same as a certain relation to something,
so that it is impossible to understand the one term without the other, and
accordingly in the definition of the one the other too must be embraced. One
ought to learn up all such points as these, and use them as occasion may seem
to require.
(2) Another is-if he has used the term defined itself. This passes
unobserved when the actual name of the object is not used, e.g. supposing any
one had defined the sun as a star that appears by day’. For in bringing in ‘day’
he brings in the sun. To detect errors of this sort, exchange the word for its
definition, e.g. the definition of ‘day’ as the ‘passage of the sun over the
earth’. Clearly, whoever has said ‘the passage of the sun over the earth’ has
said ‘the sun’, so that in bringing in the ‘day’ he has brought in the sun.
(3) Again, see if he has defined one coordinate member of a division by
another, e.g. ‘an odd number’ as ‘that which is greater by one than an even
number’. For the co-ordinate members of a division that are derived from the
297
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book The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Title
- The Complete Aristotle
- Author
- Aristotle
- Date
- ~322 B.C.
- Language
- English
- License
- PD
- Size
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Pages
- 2328
- Keywords
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Categories
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Table of contents
- 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