第6章

Ithas。

Thenitwillneitherpartakeofonemeasure,norofmany,noroffew,norofthesameatall,norbeequaltoitselforanother;norbegreaterorlessthanitself,orother?

Certainly。

Well,anddowesupposethatonecanbeolder,oryoungerthananything,orofthesameagewithit?

Whynot?

Why,becausethatwhichisofthesameagewithitselforother,mustpartakeofequalityorlikenessoftime;andwesaidthattheonedidnotpartakeeitherofequalityoroflikeness?

Wedidsayso。

Andwealsosaid,thatitdidnotpartakeofinequalityorunlikeness。

Verytrue。

Howthencanone,beingofthisnature,beeitherolderoryoungerthananything,orhavethesameagewithit?

Innoway。

Thenonecannotbeolderoryounger,orofthesameage,eitherwithitselforwithanother?

Clearlynot。

Thentheone,beingofthisnature,cannotbeintimeatall;formustnotthatwhichisintime,bealwaysgrowingolderthanitself?

Certainly。

Andthatwhichisolder,mustalwaysbeolderthansomethingwhichisyounger?

True。

Then,thatwhichbecomesolderthanitself,alsobecomesatthesametimeyoungerthanitself,ifitistohavesomethingtobecomeolderthan。

Whatdoyoumean?

Imeanthis:—Athingdoesnotneedtobecomedifferentfromanotherthingwhichisalreadydifferent;itisdifferent,andifitsdifferenthasbecome,ithasbecomedifferent;ifitsdifferentwillbe,itwillbedifferent;butofthatwhichisbecomingdifferent,therecannothavebeen,orbeabouttobe,oryetbe,adifferent—theonlydifferentpossibleisonewhichisbecoming。

Thatisinevitable。

But,surely,theelderisadifferencerelativetotheyounger,andtonothingelse。

True。

Thenthatwhichbecomesolderthanitselfmustalso,atthesametime,becomeyoungerthanitself?

Yes。

Butagain,itistruethatitcannotbecomeforalongerorforashortertimethanitself,butitmustbecome,andbe,andhavebecome,andbeabouttobe,forthesametimewithitself?

Thatagainisinevitable。

Thenthingswhichareintime,andpartakeoftime,mustineverycase,Isuppose,beofthesameagewiththemselves;andmustalsobecomeatonceolderandyoungerthanthemselves?

Yes。

Buttheonedidnotpartakeofthoseaffections?

Notatall。

Thenitdoesnotpartakeoftime,andisnotinanytime?

Sotheargumentshows。

Well,butdonottheexpressions\"was,\"and\"hasbecome,\"and\"wasbecoming,\"signifyaparticipationofpasttime?

Certainly。

Anddonot\"willbe,\"\"willbecome,\"\"willhavebecome,\"signifyaparticipationoffuturetime?

Yes。

And\"is,\"or\"becomes,\"signifiesaparticipationofpresenttime?

Certainly。

Andiftheoneisabsolutelywithoutparticipationintime,itneverhadbecome,orwasbecoming,orwasatanytime,orisnowbecomeorisbecoming,oris,orwillbecome,orwillhavebecome,orwillbe,hereafter。

Mosttrue。

Butarethereanymodesofpartakingofbeingotherthanthese?

Therearenone。

Thentheonecannotpossiblypartakeofbeing?

Thatistheinference。

Thentheoneisnotatall?

Clearlynot。

Thentheonedoesnotexistinsuchwayastobeone;forifitwereandpartookofbeing,itwouldalreadybe;butiftheargumentistobetrusted,theoneneitherisnorisone?

True。

Butthatwhichisnotadmitsofnoattributeorrelation?

Ofcoursenot。

Thenthereisnoname,norexpression,norperception,noropinion,norknowledgeofit?

Clearlynot。

Thenitisneithernamed,norexpressed,noropined,norknown,nordoesanythingthatisperceiveit。

Sowemustinfer。

Butcanallthisbetrueabouttheone?

Ithinknot。

Suppose,now,thatwereturnoncemoretotheoriginalhypothesis;

letusseewhether,onafurtherreview,anynewaspectofthequestionappears。

Ishallbeveryhappytodoso。

Wesaythatwehavetoworkouttogetheralltheconsequences,whatevertheymaybe,whichfollow,iftheoneis?

Yes。

Thenwewillbeginatthebeginning:—Ifoneis,canonebe,andnotpartakeofbeing?

Impossible。

Thentheonewillhavebeing,butitsbeingwillnotbethesamewiththeone;forifthesame,itwouldnotbethebeingoftheone;

norwouldtheonehaveparticipatedinbeing,forthepropositionthatoneiswouldhavebeenidenticalwiththepropositionthatoneisone;

butourhypothesisisnotifoneisone,whatwillfollow,butifoneis:—amInotright?

Quiteright。

Wemeantosay,thatbeinghasnotthesamesignificanceasone?

Ofcourse。

Andwhenweputthemtogethershortly,andsay\"Oneis,\"thatisequivalenttosaying,\"partakesofbeing\"?

Quitetrue。

Oncemorethenletusask,ifoneiswhatwillfollow。Doesnotthishypothesisnecessarilyimplythatoneisofsuchanatureastohaveparts?

Howso?

Inthisway:—Ifbeingispredicatedoftheone,iftheoneis,andoneofbeing,ifbeingisone;andifbeingandonearenotthesame;andsincetheone,whichwehaveassumed,is,mustnotthewhole,ifitisone,itselfbe,andhaveforitsparts,oneandbeing?

Certainly。

Andiseachoftheseparts—oneandbeingtobesimplycalledapart,ormusttheword\"part\"berelativetotheword\"whole\"?

Thelatter。

Thenthatwhichisoneisbothawholeandhasapart?

Certainly。

Again,ofthepartsoftheone,ifitis—Imeanbeingandone—doeseitherfailtoimplytheother?istheonewantingtobeing,orbeingtotheone?

Impossible。

Thus,eachofthepartsalsohasinturnbothoneandbeing,andisattheleastmadeupoftwoparts;andthesameprinciplegoesonforever,andeverypartwhateverhasalwaysthesetwoparts;forbeingalwaysinvolvesone,andonebeing;sothatoneisalwaysdisappearing,andbecomingtwo。

Certainly。

Andsotheone,ifitis,mustbeinfiniteinmultiplicity?

Clearly。

Letustakeanotherdirection。

Whatdirection?

Wesaythattheonepartakesofbeingandthereforeitis?

Yes。