Authors/Aristotle/metaphysics/l5/c27

Chapter 27 Mutilated

Greek	Latin	English
κολοβὸν δὲ λέγεται τῶν ποσῶν οὐ τὸ τυχόν, ἀλλὰ μεριστόν τε δεῖ αὐτὸ εἶναι καὶ ὅλον. τά τε γὰρ δύο οὐ κολοβὰ θατέρου ἀφαιρουμένου ἑνός (οὐ γὰρ ἴσον τὸ καλόβωμα καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν οὐδέποτ᾽ ἐστίν) οὐδ᾽ ὅλως ἀριθμὸς οὐδείς: καὶ [15] γὰρ τὴν οὐσίαν δεῖ μένειν: εἰ κύλιξ κολοβός, ἔτι εἶναι κύλικα: ὁ δὲ ἀριθμὸς οὐκέτι ὁ αὐτός. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις κἂν ἀνομοιομερῆ ᾖ, οὐδὲ ταῦτα πάντα (ὁ γὰρ ἀριθμὸς ἔστιν ὡς καὶ ἀνόμοια ἔχει μέρη, οἷον δυάδα τριάδα), ἀλλ᾽ ὅλως ὧν μὴ ποιεῖ ἡ θέσις διαφορὰν οὐδὲν κολοβόν, οἷον ὕδωρ ἢ πῦρ, [20] ἀλλὰ δεῖ τοιαῦτα εἶναι ἃ κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν θέσιν ἔχει. ἔτι συνεχῆ: ἡ γὰρ ἁρμονία ἐξ ἀνομοίων μὲν καὶ θέσιν ἔχει, κολοβὸς δὲ οὐ γίγνεται.	Colobon vero dicitur quantorum non quodcumque, sed partibile oportet illud esse et totum. Nam duo non sunt coloba altero ablato uno (non enim equale coloboma et reli↵quum numquam est) nec totaliter numerus nullus; et enim subƿstantiam oportet manere; si calix colobos, adhuc oportet esse calicem, numerus autem non adhuc * idem. Ad haec autem et si partium dissimilium sint, nec haec omnia (numerus enim est ut dissimiles habet partes, ut dualitatem et trinitatem), sed * totaliter quorum non facit positio differentiam nullum est colobon, ut aqua aut ignis; sed oportet talia esse quae in sub↵stantia positionem habeant. Amplius continua; nam armonia est ex eis quae sunt dissimilium partium et positionem habent, coloba autem non fit.	Chapter 27. It is not any chance quantitative thing that can be said to be mutilated ; it must be a whole as well as divisible. For not only is two not mutilated if one of the two ones is taken away (for the part removed by mutilation is never equal to the remainder), but in general no number is thus mutilated; for it is also necessary that the essence remain; if a cup is mutilated, it must still be a cup; but the number is no longer the same. Further, even if things consist of unlike parts, not even these things can all be said to be mutilated, for in a sense a number has unlike parts (e.g. two and three) as well as like; but in general of the things to which their position makes no difference, e.g. water or fire, none can be mutilated; to be mutilated, things must be such as in virtue of their essence have a certain position. Again, they must be continuous; for a musical scale consists of unlike parts and has position, but cannot become mutilated.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις οὐδ᾽ ὅσα ὅλα, οὐδὲ ταῦτα ὁτουοῦν μορίου στερήσει κολοβά. οὐ γὰρ δεῖ οὔτε τὰ κύρια τῆς οὐσίας οὔτε τὰ ὁπουοῦν ὄντα: οἷον ἂν τρυπηθῇ ἡ [25] κύλιξ, οὐ κολοβός, ἀλλ᾽ ἂν τὸ οὖς ἢ ἀκρωτήριόν τι, καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἐὰν σάρκα ἢ τὸν σπλῆνα, ἀλλ᾽ ἐὰν ἀκρωτήριόν τι, καὶ τοῦτο οὐ πᾶν ἀλλ᾽ ὃ μὴ ἔχει γένεσιν ἀφαιρεθὲν ὅλον. διὰ τοῦτο οἱ φαλακροὶ οὐ κολοβοί.	Ad haec autem nec quaelibet tota, nec haec cuiuscumque particule privatione coloba. Non enim oportet neque quae * principalia substantiae nec * ubicumque entia; ut si perforetur calix, non colobos, sed si auris aut extremitas ↵ aliqua, et homo non si carnem aut splenem, sed si extremitatem, et hoc non omne sed quae non habet generationem ablata tota. Quapropter calui non sunt colobi.	Besides, not even the things that are wholes are mutilated by the privation of any part. For the parts removed must be neither those which determine the essence nor any chance parts, irrespective of their position; e.g. a cup is not mutilated if it is bored through, but only if the handle or a projecting part is removed, and a man is mutilated not if the flesh or the spleen is removed, but if an extremity is, and that not every extremity but one which when completely removed cannot grow again. Therefore baldness is not a mutilation.