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possible for what is desirable in itself to be desirable for something else as
well: but still to define what is desirable in itself in such a way is none the less
wrong: for the essence contains par excellence what is best in anything, and it
is better for a thing to be desirable in itself than to be desirable for something
else, so that this is rather what the definition too ought to have indicated.
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13
See also whether in defining anything a man has defined it as an âA and Bâ,
or as a âproduct of A and Bâ or as an âA+Bâ. If he defines it as and Bâ, the
definition will be true of both and yet of neither of them; suppose, e.g. justice
to be defined as âtemperance and courage.â For if of two persons each has one
of the two only, both and yet neither will be just: for both together have
justice, and yet each singly fails to have it. Even if the situation here
described does not so far appear very absurd because of the occurrence of this
kind of thing in other cases also (for it is quite possible for two men to have a
mina between them, though neither of them has it by himself), yet least that
they should have contrary attributes surely seems quite absurd; and yet this
will follow if the one be temperate and yet a coward, and the other, though
brave, be a profligate; for then both will exhibit both justice and injustice: for
if justice be temperance and bravery, then injustice will be cowardice and
profligacy. In general, too, all the ways of showing that the whole is not the
same as the sum of its parts are useful in meeting the type just described; for a
man who defines in this way seems to assert that the parts are the same as the
whole. The arguments are particularly appropriate in cases where the process
of putting the parts together is obvious, as in a house and other things of that
sort: for there, clearly, you may have the parts and yet not have the whole, so
that parts and whole cannot be the same.
If, however, he has said that the term being defined is not âA and Bâ but the
âproduct of A and Bâ, look and see in the first place if A and B cannot in the
nature of things have a single product: for some things are so related to one
another that nothing can come of them, e.g. a line and a number. Moreover,
see if the term that has been defined is in the nature of things found primarily
in some single subject, whereas the things which he has said produce it are
not found primarily in any single subject, but each in a separate one. If so,
clearly that term could not be the product of these things: for the whole is
bound to be in the same things wherein its parts are, so that the whole will
then be found primarily not in one subject only, but in a number of them. If,
313
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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