Authors/Aristotle/metaphysics/l7/c3

Chapter 3

Greek	Latin	English
λέγεται δ᾽ ἡ οὐσία, εἰ μὴ πλεοναχῶς, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τέτταρσί γε μάλιστα: καὶ γὰρ τὸ τί ἦν εἶναι καὶ τὸ καθόλου [35] καὶ τὸ γένος οὐσία δοκεῖ εἶναι ἑκάστου, καὶ τέταρτον τούτων τὸ ὑποκείμενον. τὸ δ᾽ ὑποκείμενόν ἐστι καθ᾽ οὗ τὰ ἄλλα λέγεται, ἐκεῖνο δὲ αὐτὸ μηκέτι κατ᾽ ἄλλου: διὸ πρῶτον περὶ τούτου διοριστέον: [1029α] [1] μάλιστα γὰρ δοκεῖ εἶναι οὐσία τὸ ὑποκείμενον πρῶτον.	Dicitur autem substantia, si non multiplicius, de quatuor ↵ maxime. Et enim quid erat esse et universale et genus videtur substantia esse cuiusque, et quartum horum subiectum. Subiectum vero est de quo alia dicuntur, et illud ipsum non ↵ adhuc de alio. Propter quod primum de hoc determinandum est; maxime namque videtur esse substantia subiectum primum.	Chapter 3. The word ‘substance’ is applied, if not in more senses, still at least to four main objects; for both the essence and the universal and the genus, are thought to be the substance of each thing, and fourthly the substratum. Now the substratum is that of which everything else is predicated, while it is itself not predicated of anything else. And so we must first determine the nature of this; for that which underlies [29a]a thing primarily is thought to be in the truest sense its substance.
τοιοῦτον δὲ τρόπον μέν τινα ἡ ὕλη λέγεται, ἄλλον δὲ τρόπον ἡ μορφή, τρίτον δὲ τὸ ἐκ τούτων (λέγω δὲ τὴν μὲν ὕλην οἷον τὸν χαλκόν, τὴν δὲ μορφὴν τὸ σχῆμα τῆς [5] ἰδέας, τὸ δ᾽ ἐκ τούτων τὸν ἀνδριάντα τὸ σύνολον),	Tale vero modo quodam materia dicitur, et alio modo forma, tertio vero quod ex hiis. Dico autem materiam quidem ↵ es, formam autem figuram speciei, quod autem ex hiis statuam totam.	And in one sense matter is said to be of the nature of substratum, in another, shape, and in a third, the compound of these. (By the matter I mean, for instance, the bronze, by the shape the pattern of its form, and by the compound of these the statue, the concrete whole.)
ὥστε εἰ τὸ εἶδος τῆς ὕλης πρότερον καὶ μᾶλλον ὄν, καὶ τοῦ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν πρότερον ἔσται διὰ τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον.	Quare si species materia est prior et magis ens, et ipso quod ex utrisque prior erit propter eandem rationem.	Therefore if the form is prior to the matter and more real, it will be prior also to the compound of both, for the same reason.
νῦν μὲν οὖν τύπῳ εἴρηται τί ποτ᾽ ἐστὶν ἡ οὐσία, ὅτι τὸ μὴ καθ᾽ ὑποκειμένου ἀλλὰ καθ᾽ οὗ τὰ ἄλλα: δεῖ δὲ μὴ μόνον οὕτως: οὐ γὰρ ἱκανόν: [10] αὐτὸ γὰρ τοῦτο ἄδηλον, καὶ ἔτι ἡ ὕλη οὐσία γίγνεται. εἰ γὰρ μὴ αὕτη οὐσία, τίς ἐστιν ἄλλη διαφεύγει: περιαιρουμένων γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων οὐ φαίνεται οὐδὲν ὑπομένον: τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα τῶν σωμάτων πάθη καὶ ποιήματα καὶ δυνάμεις, τὸ δὲ μῆκος καὶ πλάτος καὶ βάθος ποσότητές τινες ἀλλ᾽ [15] οὐκ οὐσίαι (τὸ γὰρ ποσὸν οὐκ οὐσία), ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ᾧ ὑπάρχει ταῦτα πρώτῳ, ἐκεῖνό ἐστιν οὐσία. ἀλλὰ μὴν ἀφαιρουμένου μήκους καὶ πλάτους καὶ βάθους οὐδὲν ὁρῶμεν ὑπολειπόμενον, πλὴν εἴ τί ἐστι τὸ ὁριζόμενον ὑπὸ τούτων, ὥστε τὴν ὕλην ἀνάγκη φαίνεσθαι μόνην οὐσίαν οὕτω σκοπουμένοις.	Nunc quidem igitur typo dictum est quid est substantia, quia quod non de subiecto sed de quo alia. Oportet autem ↵ non solum ita; non enim sufficiens. Ipsum enim hoc immanifestum, et adhuc materia substantia fit. Si enim non ipsa substantia, quae est alia diffugit. Aliis enim sublatis nil apparet remanens. Nam alia quidem corporum sunt passiones et factiones et potentiae, longitudo vero et latitudo et profunditas quantiƿtates quaedam sunt sed non substantiae (quantitas enim non ↵ substantia); sed magis cui insunt haec ipsa primum, illo modo est substantia. At vero ablata longitudine et latitudine et profundo nihil videmus remanens, nisi si quid est determinatum ab hiis; quare materiam necesse videri solam substantiam sic intendentibus.	We have now outlined the nature of substance, showing that it is that which is not predicated of a stratum, but of which all else is predicated. But we must not merely state the matter thus; for this is not enough. The statement itself is obscure, and further, on this view, matter becomes substance. For if this is not substance, it baffles us to say what else is. When all else is stripped off evidently nothing but matter remains. For while the rest are affections, products, and potencies of bodies, length, breadth, and depth are quantities and not substances (for a quantity is not a substance), but the substance is rather that to which these belong primarily. But when length and breadth and depth are taken away we see nothing left unless there is something that is bounded by these; so that to those who consider the question thus matter alone must seem to be substance.
[20] λέγω δ᾽ ὕλην ἣ καθ᾽ αὑτὴν μήτε τὶ μήτε ποσὸν μήτε ἄλλο μηδὲν λέγεται οἷς ὥρισται τὸ ὄν. ἔστι γάρ τι καθ᾽ οὗ κατηγορεῖται τούτων ἕκαστον, ᾧ τὸ εἶναι ἕτερον καὶ τῶν κατηγοριῶν ἑκάστῃ (τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα τῆς οὐσίας κατηγορεῖται, αὕτη δὲ τῆς ὕλης), ὥστε τὸ ἔσχατον καθ᾽ αὑτὸ οὔτε τὶ οὔτε ποσὸν [25] οὔτε ἄλλο οὐδέν ἐστιν: οὐδὲ δὴ αἱ ἀποφάσεις, καὶ γὰρ αὗται ὑπάρξουσι κατὰ συμβεβηκός. ἐκ μὲν οὖν τούτων θεωροῦσι συμβαίνει οὐσίαν εἶναι τὴν ὕλην:	Dico autem materiam quae secundum ↵ se neque quid neque quantitas neque aliud aliquid dicitur quibus ens est determinatum. Est enim quoddam de quo praedicatur horum quodlibet, cui est esse alterum et cathegoriarum unicuique; alia namque de substantia praedicantur, haec vero de materia. Quare quod est ultimum secundum se neque quid neque quantitas neque aliud est; neque itaque ↵ negationes, et enim hee erunt secundum accidens. Ex hiis ergo speculantibus accidit substantiam esse materiam.	By matter I mean that which in itself is neither a particular thing nor of a certain quantity nor assigned to any other of the categories by which being is determined. For there is something of which each of these is predicated, whose being is different from that of each of the predicates (for the predicates other than substance are predicated of substance, while substance is predicated of matter). Therefore the ultimate substratum is of itself neither a particular thing nor of a particular quantity nor otherwise positively characterized; nor yet is it the negations of these, for negations also will belong to it only by accident. If we adopt this point of view, then, it follows that matter is substance.
ἀδύνατον δέ: καὶ γὰρ τὸ χωριστὸν καὶ τὸ τόδε τι ὑπάρχειν δοκεῖ μάλιστα τῇ οὐσίᾳ, διὸ τὸ εἶδος καὶ τὸ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν οὐσία δόξειεν ἂν εἶναι μᾶλλον [30] τῆς ὕλης.	Sed impossibile; et enim separabile et hoc aliquid inesse videtur maxime substantiae. Quapropter species et quod ex ambobus substantia videbitur esse magis quam materia.	But this is impossible; for both separability and ‘thisness’ are thought to belong chiefly to substance. And so form and the compound of form and matter would be thought to be substance, rather than matter.
τὴν μὲν τοίνυν ἐξ ἀμφοῖν οὐσίαν, λέγω δὲ τὴν ἔκ τε τῆς ὕλης καὶ τῆς μορφῆς, ἀφετέον, ὑστέρα γὰρ καὶ δήλη: φανερὰ δέ πως καὶ ἡ ὕλη: περὶ δὲ τῆς τρίτης σκεπτέον, αὕτη γὰρ ἀπορωτάτη.	At tamen eam quae nunc ↵ ex ambobus substantiam, dico autem eam quae ex materia et forma, dimittendum; posterior enim est et aperta. Manifesta autem aliqualiter et materia. De tertia autem perscrutandum est, haec namque maxime dubitabilis.	The substance compounded of both, i.e. of matter and shape, may be dismissed; for it is posterior and its nature is obvious. And matter also is in a sense manifest. But we must inquire into the third kind of substance; for this is the most perplexing.
ὁμολογοῦνται δ᾽ οὐσίαι εἶναι τῶν αἰσθητῶν τινές, ὥστε ἐν ταύταις ζητητέον πρῶτον.	Confitentur autem substantiae esse sensibilium quaedam, quare in hiis quaerendum prius.	Some of the sensible substances are generally admitted to be substances, so that we must look first among these.