Page - 1605 - in The Complete Aristotle
Image of the Page - 1605 -
Text of the Page - 1605 -
Book VI
Translated by W. D. Ross
<
div id=“section72” class=“section” title=“1”>
1
We are seeking the principles and the causes of the things that are, and
obviously of them qua being. For, while there is a cause of health and of good
condition, and the objects of mathematics have first principles and elements
and causes, and in general every science which is ratiocinative or at all
involves reasoning deals with causes and principles, more or less precise, all
these sciences mark off some particular being-some genus, and inquire into
this, but not into being simply nor qua being, nor do they offer any discussion
of the essence of the things of which they treat; but starting from the essence-
some making it plain to the senses, others assuming it as a hypothesis-they
then demonstrate, more or less cogently, the essential attributes of the genus
with which they deal. It is obvious, therefore, that such an induction yields no
demonstration of substance or of the essence, but some other way of
exhibiting it. And similarly the sciences omit the question whether the genus
with which they deal exists or does not exist, because it belongs to the same
kind of thinking to show what it is and that it is.
And since natural science, like other sciences, is in fact about one class of
being, i.e. to that sort of substance which has the principle of its movement
and rest present in itself, evidently it is neither practical nor productive. For in
the case of things made the principle is in the maker-it is either reason or art
or some faculty, while in the case of things done it is in the doer-viz. will, for
that which is done and that which is willed are the same. Therefore, if all
thought is either practical or productive or theoretical, physics must be a
theoretical science, but it will theorize about such being as admits of being
moved, and about substance-as-defined for the most part only as not separable
from matter. Now, we must not fail to notice the mode of being of the essence
and of its definition, for, without this, inquiry is but idle. Of things defined,
i.e. of ‘whats’, some are like ‘snub’, and some like ‘concave’. And these
differ because ‘snub’ is bound up with matter (for what is snub is a concave
nose), while concavity is independent of perceptible matter. If then all natural
things are a analogous to the snub in their nature; e.g. nose, eye, face, flesh,
1605
back to the
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