Authors/Aristotle/metaphysics/l5/c20

Chapter 20 Having

Greek	Latin	English
ξις δὲ λέγεται ἕνα μὲν τρόπον οἷον ἐνέργειά τις τοῦ [5] ἔχοντος καὶ ἐχομένου, ὥσπερ πρᾶξίς τις ἢ κίνησις (ὅταν γὰρ τὸ μὲν ποιῇ τὸ δὲ ποιῆται, ἔστι ποίησις μεταξύ: οὕτω καὶ τοῦ ἔχοντος ἐσθῆτα καὶ τῆς ἐχομένης ἐσθῆτος ἔστι μεταξὺ ἕξις): ταύτην μὲν οὖν φανερὸν ὅτι οὐκ ἐνδέχεται ἔχειν ἕξιν (εἰς ἄπειρον γὰρ βαδιεῖται, εἰ τοῦ ἐχομένου ἔσται ἔχειν τὴν [10] ἕξιν), ἄλλον δὲ τρόπον ἕξις λέγεται διάθεσις καθ᾽ ἣν ἢ εὖ ἢ κακῶς διάκειται τὸ διακείμενον, καὶ ἢ καθ᾽ αὑτὸ ἢ πρὸς ἄλλο, οἷον ἡ ὑγίεια ἕξις τις: διάθεσις γάρ ἐστι τοιαύτη. ἔτι ἕξις λέγεται ἂν ᾖ μόριον διαθέσεως τοιαύτης: διὸ καὶ ἡ τῶν μερῶν ἀρετὴ ἕξις τίς ἐστιν. [15]	Habitus vero dicitur uno quidem modo tamquam actio ↵ quaedam habentis et habiti, ut actus quidam aut motus. Nam quando hoc quidem facit illud vero fit, est factio intermedia; sic et habentis uestem et habite uestis est intermedius habitus. Hanc quidem igitur manifestum quod non contingit habere habitum; in infinitum enim uadet, si habiti fuerit ↵ habere habitum. Alio vero modo habitus dispositio dicitur secundum quam bene aut male disponitur dispositum, et aut secundum se aut ad aliud, ut sanitas habitus quidam; dispositio namque talis. Amplius habitus dicitur, si est pars dispositionis talis; quapropter et partium virtus habitus quidam est.	Chapter 20. Having means (1) a kind of activity of the haver and of what he has – something like an action or movement. For when one thing makes and one is made, between them there is a making; so too between him who has a garment and the garment which he has there is a having. This sort of having, then, evidently we cannot have; for the process will go on to infinity, if it is to be possible to have the having of what we have. (2) Having or habit means a disposition according to which that which is disposed is either well or ill disposed, and either in itself or with reference to something else; e.g. health is a habit ; for it is such a disposition. (3) We speak of a habit if there is a portion of such a disposition; and so even the excellence of the parts is a habit of the whole thing.