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coming-to-be which occurs in nature. For the things which come-to-be by
natural process all exhibit, in their coming-to-be, a uniformity either absolute
or highly regular: while any exceptions any results which are in accordance
neither with the invariable nor with the general rule are products of chance
and luck. Then what is the cause determining that man comes-to-be from
man, that wheat (instead of an olive) comes-to-be from wheat, either
invariably or generally? Are we to say āBone comes-to-be if the āelementsā
be put together in such-and such a mannerā? For, according to his own
estatements, nothing comes-to-be from their āfortuitous consilienceā, but only
from their āconsilienceā in a certain proportion. What, then, is the cause of this
proportional consilience? Presumably not Fire or Earth. But neither is it Love
and Strife: for the former is a cause of āassociationā only, and the latter only of
ādissociationā. No: the cause in question is the essential nature of each thing-
not merely to quote his words) āa mingling and a divorce of what has been
mingledā. And chance, not proportion, āis the name given to these
occurrencesā: for things can be āmingledā fortuitously.
The cause, therefore, of the coming-to-be of the things which owe their
existence to nature is that they are in such-and-such a determinate condition:
and it is this which constitutes, the ānatureā of each thing-a ānatureā about
which he says nothing. What he says, therefore, is no explanation of ānatureā.
Moreover, it is this which is both āthe excellenceā of each thing and its āgoodā:
whereas he assigns the whole credit to the āminglingā. (And yet the āelementsā
at all events are ādissociatedā not by Strife, but by Love: since the āelementsā
are by nature prior to the Deity, and they too are Deities.)
Again, his account of motion is vague. For it is not an adequate explanation
to say that āLove and Strife set things moving, unless the very nature of Love
is a movement of this kind and the very nature of Strife a movement of that
kind. He ought, then, either to have defined or to have postulated these
characteristic movements, or to have demonstrated them-whether strictly or
laxly or in some other fashion. Moreover, since (a) the āsimpleā bodies appear
to move ānaturallyā as well as by compulsion, i.e. in a manner contrary to
nature (fire, e.g. appears to move upwards without compulsion, though it
appears to move by compulsion downwards); and since (b) what is ānaturalā is
contrary to that which is due to compulsion, and movement by compulsion
actually occurs; it follows that ānatural movementā can also occur in fact. Is
this, then, the movement that Love sets going? No: for, on the contrary, the
ānatural movementā moves Earth downwards and resembles ādissociationā,
and Strife rather than Love is its cause-so that in general, too, Love rather
than Strife would seem to be contrary to nature. And unless Love or Strife is
actually setting them in motion, the āsimpleā bodies themselves have
absolutely no movement or rest. But this is paradoxical: and what is more,
695
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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