Authors/Aristotle/metaphysics/l7/c1

Chapter 1

Latin	English
METAPHISICE ARISTOTILIS LIBER SEPTIMUS	Aristotle's Metaphysics book seven
↵ ƿ ENS dicitur multipliciter, sicut prius divisimus in hiis quae de quotiens. Significat enim hoc quidem quid est et hoc aliquid, illud vero quod quale aut quantum aut aliorum unumquodque sic predicatorum. Totiens autem dicto palam ↵ quia horum primum ens quod quid est, quod significat substantiam.	Chapter 1. THERE are several senses in which a thing may be said to ‘be’, as we pointed out previously in our book on the various senses of words;’ for in one sense the ‘being’ meant is ‘what a thing is’ or a ‘this’, and in another sense it means a quality or quantity or one of the other things that are predicated as these are. While ‘being’ has all these senses, obviously that which ‘is’ primarily is the ‘what’, which indicates the substance of the thing.
Nam quando dicimus quale quid hoc, aut bonum dicimus aut malum, sed non tricubitum aut hominem; quando vero quid est, nec album nec calidum nec tricubitum, sed hominem aut deum. Alia vero dicuntur entia eo quod taliter entis haec quidem qualitates esse, illa vero quantitates, alia passiones, alia aliud ↵ quid tale.	For when we say of what quality a thing is, we say that it is good or bad, not that it is three cubits long or that it is a man; but when we say what it is, we do not say ‘white’ or ‘hot’ or ‘three cubits long’, but ‘a man’ or ‘a ‘god’. And all other things are said to be because they are, some of them, quantities of that which is in this primary sense, others qualities of it, others affections of it, and others some other determination of it.
Unde et utique dubitabit aliquis utrum vadere et sanare et sedere unumquodque ipsorum sit ens aut non ens; similiter autem et in aliis talibus. Nihil enim ipsorum est secundum se aptum natum nec separari possibile a ↵ substantia, sed magis siquidem vadens entium est aliquid et sedens et sanans. Hec autem magis apparent entia, quia est aliquid subiectum ipsis determinatum, hoc autem est substantia et unumquodque quod autem in cathegorica tali apparet; bonum enim aut sedens non sine hoc dicitur.	And so one might even raise the question whether the words ‘to walk’, ‘to be healthy’, ‘to sit’ imply that each of these things is existent, and similarly in any other case of this sort; for none of them is either self-subsistent or capable of being separated from substance, but rather, if anything, it is that which walks or sits or is healthy that is an existent thing. Now these are seen to be more real because there is something definite which underlies them (i.e. the substance or individual), which is implied in such a predicate; for we never use the word ‘good’ or ‘sitting’ without implying this.
Palam ergo quia ↵ propter eam et illorum singula sunt. Quare primo ens et non aliquid ens sed ens simpliciter substantia utique erit. ƿ	Clearly then it is in virtue of this category that each of the others also is. Therefore that which is primarily, i.e. not in a qualified sense but without qualification, must be substance.
Multipliciter quidem igitur dicitur quod primum. Sed substantia omnium primum, ratione et notitia et tempore. Aliorum enim cathegoreumatum nullum est separabile, hec autem sola. Et ratione autem hoc primum. Necesse enim in ↵ uniuscuiusque ratione substantiae rationem inesse. Et scire autem tunc singula maxime putamus, quando quid est homo cognoscimus aut ignis, magis quam quale aut quantum aut ubi; quoniam ↵ tunc horum eorundem singula scimus, quando quid est ipsum quale aut quantum scimus.	Now there are several senses in which a thing is said to be first; yet substance is first in every sense – (1) in definition, (2) in order of knowledge, (3) in time. For (3) of the other categories none can exist independently, but only substance. And (1) in definition also this is first; for in the definition of each term the definition of its substance must be present. And (2) we think we know each thing most fully, when we know what it is, e.g. what man is or what fire is, rather than when we know its quality, its quantity, or its place; since we know each of these predicates also, only when we know what the quantity or the quality is.
Et quod olim et nunc et semper quaesitum est et semper dubitatum, quid ens, hoc est que substantia. Hoc enim hii quidem unum esse dicunt illi vero plura ↵ quam unum, et hii quidem finita illi vero infinita. Quapropter nobis maxime et primum et solum ut est dicere de sic ente speculandum est quid est.	And indeed the question which was raised of old and is raised now and always, and is always the subject of doubt, viz. what being is, is just the question, what is substance? For it is this that some assert to be one, others more than one, and that some assert to be limited in number, others unlimited. And so we also must consider chiefly and primarily and almost exclusively what that is which is in this sense.