Authors/Thomas Aquinas/physics/L2/lect5

Lecture 5 PHYSICS DETERMINES WHAT THE CAUSES ARE AND HOW MANY SPECIES OF CAUSES THERE ARE

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	LECTURE 5 (194 b 16-195 a 27) PHYSICS DETERMINES WHAT THE CAUSES ARE AND HOW MANY SPECIES OF CAUSES THERE ARE
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 1 Postquam philosophus ostendit de quibus considerat scientia naturalis, hic incipit ostendere ex quibus causis demonstret. Et dividitur in partes duas: in prima determinat de causis; in secunda vero ostendit ex quibus causis naturalis demonstret, ibi: quoniam autem causae quatuor et cetera. Circa primum duo facit: primo ostendit necessitatem determinandi de causis; secundo incipit de causis determinare, ibi: uno quidem modo et cetera. Dicit ergo primo quod postquam determinatum est quid cadat sub consideratione scientiae naturalis, restat considerandum de causis, quae et quot sunt. Et hoc ideo, quia hoc negotium quo intendimus de natura tractare, non ordinatur ad operationem, sed ad scientiam: quia nos non possumus facere res naturales, sed solum de eis scientiam habere. Sed nos non opinamur nos scire unumquodque, nisi cum accipimus propter quid, quod est accipere causam: unde manifestum est quod hoc observandum est nobis circa generationem et corruptionem et omnem naturalem mutationem, ut cognoscamus causas, et reducamus unumquodque de quo quaeritur propter quid, in proximam causam. Hoc autem ideo dicit, quia considerare de causis inquantum huiusmodi, proprium est philosophi primi: nam causa in eo quod causa est non dependet a materia secundum esse, eo quod in his etiam quae a materia sunt separata, invenitur ratio causae. Sed a philosopho naturali assumitur consideratio de causis propter aliquam necessitatem; nec tamen assumitur ab eo considerare de causis nisi secundum quod sunt causae naturalium mutationum.	176. Having shown what natural science considers, the Philosopher here begins to designate the causes from which it should demonstrate. This section is divided into two parts. First he treats the causes. Secondly, where he says, ‘Now the causes...’ (198 a 23; L11 #241), he points out the causes from which natural science should demonstrate. Concerning the first part he makes two points. First he shows the need for treating the causes. Secondly, where he says, ‘In one sense...’ (194 b 23 #177), he begins to treat the causes. He says, therefore, first that after it has been determined what falls under the consideration of natural science, there remains to be considered the causes—what they are and how many there are. This is so because the business of studying nature is not ordered to operation, but to science. For we are not able to make natural things, but only to have science of them. Now we do not think that we know anything unless we grasp the ‘why’, which is to grasp the cause. Hence it is clear that we must observe generation and corruption and every natural change in such a way that we know the causes and that we reduce to its proximate cause each thing concerning which we seek the ‘why’. He says this because the consideration of causes insofar as they are causes is proper to first philosophy. For a cause insofar as it is a cause does not depend upon matter for its existence, because the nature [ratio] of cause is found also in those things which are separated from matter. But the consideration of causes because of a certain necessity is taken up by the natural philosopher. However he considers causes only insofar as they are the causes of natural mutations.
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 2 Deinde cum dicit: uno quidem modo etc., determinat de causis. Et circa hoc tria facit: primo assignat diversas species causarum manifestas; secundo de quibusdam immanifestis causis determinat, ibi: dicitur autem fortuna etc.; tertio ostendit quod non sunt plures neque pauciores, ibi: quae autem sunt causae et cetera. Prima dividitur in duas: in prima determinat species causarum; in secunda determinat modos diversarum causarum secundum unamquamque speciem, ibi: modi autem causarum et cetera. Circa primum duo facit: primo inducit diversas species causarum; secundo reducit eas ad quatuor, ibi: omnes autem nunc et cetera. Circa primum duo facit: primo ponit diversitatem causarum; secundo exponit quaedam consequentia ex diversitate praedicta, ibi: contingit autem multipliciter et cetera.	177. Next where he says, ‘In one sense ...’ (194 b 23), he treats the causes. Concerning this he makes three points. First he names the clearly diverse species of causes. Secondly, where he says, ‘But chance also (195 b 31; L7 #198), he treats certain less obvious causes. Thirdly, where he says, ‘They differ ...’ (197 a 36; L10 #226) he shows that the causes are neither more nor less. The first part is divided into two parts. First he treats the species of causes. Secondly, where hip says, ‘Now the modes ...’ (195 a 27; L6 #187), he treats the modes of diverse causes in each species. Concerning the first part he makes two points. First he sets forth the different species of causes. Secondly, where he says, ‘All the causes... (195 a 15 #184) he reduces them to four. Concerning the first part he makes two points. First he sets forth the different causes. Secondly, where he says, ‘As the word ...’ (195 a 3 #182), he points out certain consequences which follow from the above mentioned diversity.
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 3 Dicit ergo primo quod uno modo dicitur causa ex quo fit aliquid cum insit, sicut aes dicitur causa statuae et argentum causa phialae: et etiam genera horum dicuntur causae earundem rerum, sicut metallum vel liquabile vel huiusmodi. Apposuit autem cum insit, ad differentiam privationis et contrarii: nam statua quidem fit ex aere, quod inest statuae iam factae; fit etiam ex infigurato, quod quidem non inest statuae iam factae. Unde aes est causa statuae, non autem infiguratum, cum sit principium per accidens tantum, ut in primo dictum est.	178. He says, therefore, first that in one way a cause is said to be that from which something comes to be when it is in it, as bronze is said to be the cause of a statue and* silver the cause of a vase. The genera of these things, i.e., the metallic, or the liquifiable, and such things, are also called causes of these same things. He adds ‘when it is in it’ in order to differentiate this cause from the privation and the contrary. For the statue, indeed, comes to be from bronze, which is in the statue when it is made. It also comes to be from the unshaped, which, however, is not in the statue when it is made. Hence bronze is a cause of statue, but the unshaped is not, since it is only a per accidens principle, as was said in Book I [L13 #112].
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 4 Secundo modo dicitur causa species et exemplum: et hoc dicitur causa inquantum est ratio quidditativa rei; hoc enim est per quod scimus de unoquoque quid est. Et sicut dictum est circa materiam quod etiam genera materiae dicuntur causa, ita et genera speciei dicuntur causa. Et ponit exemplum in quadam consonantia musicae quae vocatur diapason, cuius forma est proportio dupla, quae est duorum ad unum. Nam proportiones numerales applicatae ad sonos sicut ad materiam, consonantias musicales constituunt: et cum duo vel duplum sit forma consonantiae quae est diapason, et genus duorum, quod est numerus, est causa. Sicut enim dicimus quod forma diapason est proportio duorum ad unum, quae est proportio dupla, ita possumus dicere quod forma diapason, est proportio duorum ad unum, quae est multiplicitas. Et ita ad hunc modum causae reducuntur omnes partes quae ponuntur in definitione: nam partes speciei ponuntur in definitione, non autem partes materiae, ut dicitur in VII Metaphys. Nec est hoc contra id quod supra dictum est, quod in definitione rerum naturalium ponitur materia: nam in definitione speciei non ponitur materia individualis, sed materia communis; sicut in definitione hominis ponuntur carnes et ossa, non autem hae carnes et haec ossa. Natura igitur speciei constituta ex forma et materia communi, se habet ut formalis respectu individui quod participat talem naturam; et pro tanto hic dicitur quod partes quae ponuntur in definitione, pertinent ad causam formalem. Considerandum est etiam quod duo posuit pertinentia ad quidditatem rei, scilicet speciem et exemplum, propter diversas opiniones de essentiis rerum. Nam Plato posuit naturas specierum esse quasdam formas abstractas, quas dicebat exemplaria et ideas; et propter hoc posuit exemplum vel paradigma. Naturales autem philosophi qui aliquid de forma tetigerunt, posuerunt formas in materia; et propter hoc nominavit speciem.	179. Secondly a cause is said to be the species and exemplar. This is called a cause insofar as it is the quidditative nature [ratio] of the thing, for this is that through which we know of each thing ‘what it is’. And as was said above that even the genera of matter are called causes, so also the genera of a species are called causes. And he gives as an example that harmony of music which is called the octave. The form of an octave is a proportion of the double, which is a relation of two to one. For musical harmonies are constituted by the application of numerical proportions to sounds as to matter. And since two or the double is the form of that harmony which is the octave, the genus of two, which is number, is also a cause. Thus just as we say that the form of the octave is that proportion of two to one which is the proportion of the double, so also we can say that the form of the octave is that proportion of two to one which is multiplicity. And so all of the parts which are placed in the definition are reduced to this mode of cause. For the parts of the species are placed in the definition, but not the parts of the matter, as is said in Metaphysics, VII:10. Nor is this contrary to what was said above [L3 #163] about matter being placed in the definitions of natural things. For individual matter is not placed in the definition of the species, but common matter is. Thus flesh and bones are placed in’ the definition of man, but not this flesh and these bones. The nature of the species, therefore, which is constituted of form and common matter, is related as a formal cause to the individual which participates in such a nature, and to this extent it is said that the parts which are placed in the definition pertain to the formal cause. It must be noted, however, that he posits two things which pertain to the quiddity of the thing, i.e., the species and the exemplar. For there is a diversity of opinions concerning the essences of things. Plato held that the natures of species are certain abstracted forms, which he called exemplars and ideas, and because of this he posited the exemplar or paradigm. However those natural philosophers who said something about form placed the forms in matter, and because of this he named them species.
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 5 Ulterius autem dicit quod alio modo dicitur causa a quo est principium motus vel quietis; sicut consilians dicitur causa, et pater filii, et omne commutans commutati. Circa huiusmodi autem causas considerandum est quod quadruplex est causa efficiens, scilicet perficiens, praeparans, adiuvans et consilians. Perficiens enim est, quod dat complementum motui vel mutationi; sicut quod introducit formam substantialem in generatione. Praeparans autem seu disponens est, quod aptat materiam seu subiectum ad ultimum complementum. Adiuvans vero est, quod non operatur ad proprium finem, sed ad finem alterius. Consilians autem in his quae agunt a proposito, est quod dat agenti formam per quam agit. Nam agens a proposito agit per suam scientiam, quam consilians sibi tradit; sicut et in rebus naturalibus generans dicitur movere gravia vel levia, inquantum dat formam per quam moventur.	180. Next he says that that from which there is a beginning of motion or rest is in some way called a cause. Thus one who gives advice is a cause, and the father is a cause of the son, and everything which brings about a change is a cause of that which is changed. It must be noted with reference to causes of this sort that there are four kinds of efficient cause, namely, the perfecting, the preparing, the assisting, and the advising causes. The perfecting cause is that which gives fulfilment to motion or mutation, as that which introduces the substantial form in generation. The preparing or disposing cause is that which renders matter or the subject suitable for its ultimate completion. The assisting cause is that which does not operate for its own proper end, but for the end of another. The advising cause, which operates in those things which act because of something proposed to them, is that which gives to the agent the form through which it acts. For the agent acts because of something proposed to him through his knowledge, which the advisor has given to him, just as in natural things the generator is said to move the heavy or the light insofar as he gives the form through which they are moved.
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 6 Quartum autem modum causae ponit, quod aliquid dicitur causa ut finis; et hoc est cuius causa aliquid fit, sicut sanitas dicitur ambulationis. Et hoc patet quia respondetur ad quaestionem factam propter quid: cum enim quaerimus propter quid ambulat? Dicimus ut sanetur; et hoc dicentes opinamur nos assignare causam. Ideo autem potius probat de fine quod sit causa quam de aliis, quia hoc minus videbatur propterea quia finis est ultimum in generatione. Et ulterius addit quod omnia quae sunt intermedia inter primum movens et ultimum finem, omnia sunt quodammodo fines: sicut medicus ad sanitatem inducendam extenuat corpus, et sic sanitas est finis maciei; maciem autem operatur per purgationem; purgationem autem per potionem; potionem autem praeparat per aliqua instrumenta. Unde omnia haec sunt quodammodo finis: nam macies est finis purgationis, et purgatio potionis, et potio organorum, et organa sunt fines in operatione vel inquisitione organorum. Et sic patet quod ista intermedia differunt ad invicem, inquantum quaedam sunt organa et quaedam opera, operata scilicet per organa. Et hoc inducit ne aliquis credat quod solum id quod est ultimum sit causa sicut cuius gratia, propter hoc quod hoc nomen finis ultimum quoddam esse videtur. Est igitur omnis finis ultimum non simpliciter, sed respectu alicuius. Et ultimo concludit quod fere tot modis dicuntur causae. Et addit fere, propter causas quae sunt per accidens, sicut sunt casus et fortuna.	181. Further, he posits a fourth mode of cause. A thing is called a cause as an end. This is that for the sake of which something comes to be, as health is said to be a cause of walking. And this is evident because it answers the proposed question ‘why’. For when we ask, ‘Why does he walk?’, we say, ‘That he may become healthy’; and we say this thinking that we assign a cause. And thus he gives more proof that the end is a cause than that the other things are causes, because the end is less evident, inasmuch as it is last in generation. And he adds further that all things which are intermediates between the first mover and the ultimate end are in some way ends. Thus the doctor reduces the body in order to produce health, and so health is the end of thinness. But thinness is produced by purgation~ and purgation is produced by a drug, and the drug is prepared by instruments. Hence all of these things are in some way ends, for the thinness is the end of the purging, the purging is the end of the drug, and the drug is the end of the instruments, and the instruments are the ends in the operation or in the seeking for the instruments. And thus it is clear that these intermediate things -differ from each other insofar as some of them are instruments and some of them are operations performed by instruments. And he brings this out lest anyone think that only that which is last is a cause in the sense of ‘that for the sake of which’. For the name ‘end’ seems to refer to something which is last. Thus every end is last, not simply, but in respect to something. He finally concludes that this is perhaps all the ways in which the name ‘cause’ is used. He adds ‘perhaps’ because of the causes which are per accidens, such as chance and fortune.
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 7 Deinde cum dicit: contingit autem multipliciter etc., manifestat tria consequentia ex iam dicta causarum diversitate. Quorum primum est quod cum causae dicantur multipliciter, contingit unius et eiusdem esse multas causas per se et non per accidens; sicut causa statuae est ars statuifica ut efficiens, et aes ut materia. Et inde est quod aliquando unius rei assignantur plures definitiones secundum diversas causas; sed perfecta definitio omnes causas complectitur. Secundum est quod quaedam sibi invicem sunt causae secundum diversam speciem causae; sicut laborare est causa efficiens bonae habitudinis, bona autem habitudo est causa finalis laboris. Nihil enim prohibet aliquid esse prius et posterius altero secundum diversas rationes: finis enim est prius secundum rationem, sed posterius in esse; agens autem e converso. Et similiter forma est prior quam materia secundum rationem complementi, materia autem est prius quam forma generatione et tempore in omni eo quod movetur de potentia in actum. Tertium est quod idem est causa contrariorum quandoque; sicut per suam praesentiam gubernator est causa salutis navis, per absentiam autem suam causa est submersionis eius.	182. Next where he says, ‘As the word has ...’ (195 a 3), he makes clear three things which follow from what he has said about the different causes. The first point is that since there are many causes, then one and the same thing has many causes per se, and not per accidens. Thus the art of the sculptor is a cause of a statue as an efficient cause, and bronze is a cause as matter. And so it is that many definitions of one thing are sometimes given in accordance with the different causes. But the perfect definition embraces all of the causes. The second point is that some things are causes of each other in respect to different species of cause. Thus work is an efficient cause of a good habit, yet a good habit is a final cause of work. For nothing prevents a thing from being prior and posterior to another according to different aspects [ratio]. The end is prior according to reason [ratio], but posterior in existence; the converse is true of the agent. And in like manner, the form is prior to matter in respect to the nature [ratio] of being a complement, but the matter is prior to form in respect to generation and time in everything which is moved from potency to act. The third point is that the same thing is, at times, the cause of contraries. Thus through his presence the navigator is the cause of the safety of the ship, through his absence, however, he is a cause of its sinking.
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 8 Deinde cum dicit: omnes autem nunc dictae causae etc., reducit omnes causas superius enumeratas in quatuor species: et dicit quod omnes causae quae enumeratae sunt superius, reducuntur ad quatuor modos, qui sunt manifesti. Nam elementa, idest litterae, sunt causae syllabarum; et similiter terra est causa vasorum et argentum phialae; et ignis et similia, corpora scilicet simplicia, sunt causae corporum; et similiter quaelibet partes sunt causa totius; et suppositiones, idest propositiones syllogismi, sunt causa conclusionum: et omnia ista habent unam rationem causae, prout dicitur causa id ex quo fit aliquid: hoc enim est commune in omnibus praemissis. Omnium autem nunc enumeratorum, quaedam se habent ut materia et quaedam ut forma, quae causat quidditatem rei: sicut omnes partes se habent ut materia, ut elementa syllabarum et quatuor elementa corporum mistorum; sed ea quae important totum vel compositionem vel quamcumque speciem, se habent in ratione formae; ut species referatur ad formas simplicium, totum autem et compositio ad formas compositorum.	183. Next where he says, ‘All the causes.. .’(195 a 15), he reduces all the causes mentioned above to four species. He says that all the causes enumerated above are reduced to four modes, which are evident. For the elements, i.e., the letters, are causes of syllables, and in like manner earth is a cause of vases, and silver of a vial, and fire and such things, i.e., the simple bodies, are causes of bodies. And in the same way every part is a cause of the whole, and the propositions in a syllogism are a cause of the conclusion. And all of these things are understood as causes in the same way, namely, as that from which something comes to be is called a cause, for this is common to all the instances mentioned above. However, of all the things just enumerated some are causes as matter, and some as form, which causes the quiddity of the thing. Thus all parts, such as the elements of syllables, and the four elements of mixed bodies, are causes as matter. But those things which imply a whole or a composition or some species are understood as form. Thus species is referred to the forms of simple things, and the whole and composition are referred to the forms of composites.
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 9 Videntur autem hic esse duo dubia. Primo quidem de hoc quod dicit, quod partes sunt causae materiales totius, cum supra partes definitionis reduxerit ad causam formalem. Et potest dici quod supra locutus est de partibus speciei, quae cadunt in definitione totius: hic autem loquitur de partibus materiae, in quarum definitione cadit totum, sicut circulus cadit in definitione semicirculi. Sed melius dicendum est quod licet partes speciei quae ponuntur in definitione, comparentur ad suppositum naturae per modum causae formalis, tamen ad ipsam naturam cuius sunt partes, comparantur ut materia: nam omnes partes comparantur ad totum ut imperfectum ad perfectum, quae quidem est comparatio materiae ad formam. Item potest esse dubium de hoc quod dicit, quod propositiones sunt materia conclusionis. Materia enim inest ei cuius est materia: unde supra notificans causam materialem, dixit quod est ex quo fit aliquid cum insit; propositiones autem sunt seorsum a conclusione. Sed dicendum quod ex terminis propositionum constituitur conclusio: unde secundum hoc propositiones dicuntur materia conclusionis, in quantum termini, qui sunt materia propositionum, sunt etiam materia conclusionis, licet non secundum quod stant sub ordine propositionum; sicut et farina dicitur materia panis, licet non secundum quod stat sub forma farinae. Ideo tamen potius dicuntur propositiones materia conclusionis quam e converso, quia termini qui coniunguntur in conclusione, separatim ponuntur in praemissis. Sic igitur habemus duos modos causae.	184. But there seems to be two difficulties here. The first is the fact that he says that the parts are material causes of the whole, whereas above [#179] he reduced the parts of the definition to the formal cause. It can be said that he spoke above of the parts of the species which fall in the definition of the whole. But here he speaks of the parts of the matter in whose definition falls the whole. Thus circle falls in the definition of semicircle. But it would be better to say that, although the parts of the species which are placed in the definition are related to the supposit of nature as a formal cause, they are, nevertheless, related to the very nature of which they are parts as matter. For all parts are related to the whole as the imperfect to the perfect, which is, indeed, the relation of matter to form. Further a difficulty can be raised with reference to what he says about propositions being the matter of conclusions. For matter is in that of which it is the matter. Hence speaking of the material cause above [#178] he said that it is that from which something comes to be when it is in it. But propositions are apart from the conclusion. But it must be pointed out that the conclusion is formed from the terms of the propositions. Hence in view of this the propositions are said to be the matter of the conclusion insofar as the terms which are the matter of the propositions are also the matter of the conclusion, although they are not in the same order as they are in the propositions. In this same way flour is called the matter of bread, but not insofar as it stands under the form of flour. And so propositions are better called the matter of the conclusion than conversely. For the terms which are joined in the conclusion are posited separately in the premises. Thus we have two modes of cause.
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 10 Quaedam vero dicuntur esse causae secundum aliam rationem, quia scilicet sunt principium motus et quietis. Et hoc modo semen, quod est activum in generatione, dicitur causa; et similiter medicus per hunc modum dicitur causa sanitatis; et consilians est causa per hunc modum, et omne faciens. Alia littera habet, et propositiones: nam propositiones quidem quantum ad terminos sunt materia conclusionis, ut dictum est; quantum autem ad vim illativam ipsarum reducuntur ad hoc genus causae; nam principium discursus rationis in conclusione est ex propositionibus.	185. Some things are called causes for another reason, i.e., because they are a principle of motion and rest. And in this way the seed which is active in generation is called a cause. Likewise the doctor is called a cause of health according to this mode; so also the adviser is a cause according to this mode, and everyone who makes something. Another text has ‘and propositions’. For although propositions, insofar as their terms are concerned, are the matter of the conclusion, as was said above [#184], nevertheless insofar as their inferential power is concerned, they are reduced to this genus of cause. For the principle of the discourse of reason to its conclusion is from propositions.
lib. 2 l. 5 n. 11 In aliis vero causis invenitur alia ratio causae, secundum scilicet quod finis vel bonum habet rationem causae. Et haec species causae potissima est inter alias causas: est enim causa finalis aliarum causarum causa. Manifestum est enim quod agens agit propter finem; et similiter ostensum est supra in artificialibus, quod formae ordinantur ad usum sicut ad finem, et materiae in formas sicut in finem: et pro tanto dicitur finis causa causarum. Et quia dixerat quod haec species causae habet rationem boni, et quandoque in his quae agunt per electionem contingit finem esse malum; ideo ad hanc dubitationem tollendam, dicit quod nihil differt utrum causa finalis sit vere bona vel apparens bona, quia quod apparet bonum non movet nisi sub ratione boni. Et sic ultimo concludit tot esse species causarum quot dictae sunt.	186. Another meaning of cause is found in other causes, i.e., insofar as the end or the good has the nature [ratio] of a cause. And this species of cause is the most powerful of all the causes, for the final cause is the cause of the other causes. It is clear that the agent acts for the sake of the end. And likewise it was shown above [L4 #173] in regard to artificial things that the form is ordered to use as to an end, and matter is ordered to form as to an end. And to this extent the end is called the cause of causes. Now since he has said that this species of cause has the nature of a good, while sometimes in those things which act by choice it happens that the end is evil, he forestalls this difficulty by saying that it makes no difference whether the final cause is a true or an apparent good. For what appears good does not move except under the aspect [ratio] of good. And thus he finally concludes that the species of cause are as many as were mentioned.