第9章

Theonewasshowntobeinitselfwhichwasawhole?

True。

Andalsoinotherthings?

Yes。

Insofarasitisinotherthingsitwouldtouchotherthings,butinsofarasitisinitselfitwouldbedebarredfromtouchingthem,andwouldtouchitselfonly。

Clearly。

Thentheinferenceisthatitwouldtouchboth?

Itwould。

Butwhatdoyousaytoanewpointofview?Mustnotthatwhichistotouchanotherbenexttothatwhichitistotouch,andoccupytheplacenearesttothatinwhichwhatittouchesissituated?

True。

Thentheone,ifitistotouchitself,oughttobesituatednexttoitself,andoccupytheplacenexttothatinwhichitselfis?

Itought。

Andthatwouldrequirethattheoneshouldbetwo,andbeintwoplacesatonce,andthis,whileitisone,willneverhappen。

No。

Thentheonecannottouchitselfanymorethanitcanbetwo?

Itcannot。

Neithercanittouchothers。

Whynot?

Thereasonis,thatwhateveristotouchanothermustbeinseparationfrom,andnextto,thatwhichitistotouch,andnothirdthingcanbebetweenthem。

True。

Twothings,then,attheleastatenecessarytomakecontactpossible?

Theyare。

Andiftothetwoathirdbeaddedindueorder,thenumberoftermswillbethree,andthecontactstwo?

Yes。

Andeveryadditionaltermmakesoneadditionalcontact,whenceitfollowsthatthecontactsareonelessinnumberthantheterms;thefirsttwotermsexceededthenumberofcontactsbyone,andthewholenumberoftermsexceedsthewholenumberofcontactsbyoneinlikemanner;andforeveryonewhichisafterwardsaddedtothenumberofterms,onecontactisaddedtothecontacts。

True。

Whateveristhewholenumberofthings,thecontactswillbealwaysoneless。

True。

Butiftherebeonlyone,andnottwo,therewillbenocontact?

Howcantherebe?

Anddowenotsaythattheothersbeingotherthantheonearenotoneandhavenopartintheone?

True。

Thentheyhavenonumber,iftheyhavenooneinthem?

Ofcoursenot。

Thentheothersareneitheronenortwo,noraretheycalledbythenameofanynumber?

No。

One,then,aloneisone,andtwodonotexist?

Clearlynot。

Andiftherearenottwo,thereisnocontact?

Thereisnot。

Thenneitherdoestheonetouchtheothers,northeotherstheone,ifthereisnocontact?

Certainlynot。

Forallwhichreasonstheonetouchesanddoesnottouchitselfandtheothers?

True。

Further—istheoneequalandunequaltoitselfandothers?

Howdoyoumean?

Iftheoneweregreaterorlessthantheothers,ortheothersgreaterorlessthantheone,theywouldnotbegreaterorlessthaneachotherinvirtueoftheirbeingtheoneandtheothers;but,ifinadditiontotheirbeingwhattheyaretheyhadequality,theywouldbeequaltooneanother,oriftheonehadsmallnessandtheothersgreatness,ortheonehadgreatnessandtheotherssmallness—whicheverkindhadgreatnesswouldbegreater,andwhicheverhadsmallnesswouldbesmaller?

Certainly。

Thentherearetwosuchideasasgreatnessandsmallness;foriftheywerenottheycouldnotbeopposedtoeachotherandbepresentinthatwhichis。

Howcouldthey?

If,then,smallnessispresentintheoneitwillbepresenteitherinthewholeorinapartofthewhole?

Certainly。

Supposethefirst;itwillbeeitherco—equalandco—extensivewiththewholeone,orwillcontaintheone?

Clearly。

Ifitbeco—extensivewiththeoneitwillbecoequalwiththeone,orifcontainingtheoneitwillbegreaterthantheone?

Ofcourse。

Butcansmallnessbeequaltoanythingorgreaterthananything,andhavethefunctionsofgreatnessandequalityandnotitsownfunctions?

Impossible。

Thensmallnesscannotbeinthewholeofone,but,ifatall,inapartonly?

Yes。

Andsurelynotinallofapart,forthenthedifficultyofthewholewillrecur;itwillbeequaltoorgreaterthananypartinwhichitis。

Certainly。

Thensmallnesswillnotbeinanything,whetherinawholeorinapart;norwilltherebeanythingsmallbutactualsmallness。

True。

Neitherwillgreatnessbeintheone,forifgreatnessbeinanythingtherewillbesomethinggreaterotherandbesidesgreatnessitself,namely,thatinwhichgreatnessis;andthistoowhenthesmallitselfisnotthere,whichtheone,ifitisgreat,mustexceed;

this,however,isimpossible,seeingthatsmallnessiswhollyabsent。

True。

Butabsolutegreatnessisonlygreaterthanabsolutesmallness,andsmallnessisonlysmallerthanabsolutegreatness。

Verytrue。

Thenotherthingsnotgreaterorlessthantheone,iftheyhaveneithergreatnessnorsmallness;norhavegreatnessorsmallnessanypowerofexceedingorbeingexceededinrelationtotheone,butonlyinrelationtooneanother;norwilltheonebegreaterorlessthanthemorothers,ifithasneithergreatnessnorsmallness。

Clearlynot。

Theniftheoneisneithergreaternorlessthantheothers,itcannoteitherexceedorbeexceededbythem?

Certainlynot。

Andthatwhichneitherexceedsnorisexceeded,mustbeonanequality;andbeingonanequality,mustbeequal。

Ofcourse。

Andthiswillbetruealsooftherelationoftheonetoitself;

havingneithergreatnessnorsmallnessinitself,itwillneitherexceednorbeexceededbyitself,butwillbeonanequalitywithandequaltoitself。

Certainly。

Thentheonewillbeequaltobothitselfandtheothers?

Clearlyso。

Andyettheone,beingitselfinitself,willalsosurroundandbewithoutitself;and,ascontainingitself,willbegreaterthanitself;and,ascontainedinitself,willbeless;andwillthusbegreaterandlessthanitself。

Itwill。

Nowtherecannotpossiblybeanythingwhichisnotincludedintheoneandtheothers?

Ofcoursenot。

But,surely,thatwhichismustalwaysbesomewhere?

Yes。

Butthatwhichisinanythingwillbeless,andthatinwhichitiswillbegreater;innootherwaycanonethingbeinanother。

True。

Andsincethereisnothingotherorbesidestheoneandtheothers,andtheymustbeinsomething,musttheynotbeinoneanother,theoneintheothersandtheothersintheone,iftheyaretobeanywhere?

Thatisclear。

Butinasmuchastheoneisintheothers,theotherswillbegreaterthantheone,becausetheycontaintheone,whichwillbelessthantheothers,becauseitiscontainedinthem;andinasmuchastheothersareintheone,theoneonthesameprinciplewillbegreaterthantheothers,andtheotherslessthantheone。

True。

Theone,then,willbeequaltoandgreaterandlessthanitselfandtheothers?

Clearly。

Andifitbegreaterandlessandequal,itwillbeofequalandmoreandlessmeasuresordivisionsthanitselfandtheothers,andifofmeasures,alsoofparts?

Ofcourse。

Andifofequalandmoreandlessmeasuresordivisions,itwillbeinnumbermoreorlessthanitselfandtheothers,andlikewiseequalinnumbertoitselfandtotheothers?

Howisthat?

Itwillbeofmoremeasuresthanthosethingswhichitexceeds,andofasmanypartsasmeasures;andsowiththattowhichitisequal,andthatthanwhichitisless。

True。

Andbeinggreaterandlessthanitself,andequaltoitself,itwillbeofequalmeasureswithitselfandofmoreandfewermeasuresthanitself;andifofmeasuresthenalsoofparts?

Itwill。

Andbeingofequalpartswithitself,itwillbenumericallyequaltoitself;andbeingofmoreparts,more,andbeingofless,lessthanitself?

Certainly。

Andthesamewillholdofitsrelationtootherthings;inasmuchasitisgreaterthanthem,itwillbemoreinnumberthanthem;andinasmuchasitissmaller,itwillbelessinnumber;andinasmuchasitisequalinsizetootherthings,itwillbeequaltotheminnumber。

Certainly。

Oncemorethen,aswouldappear,theonewillbeinnumberbothequaltoandmoreandlessthanbothitselfandallotherthings。

Itwill。

Doestheonealsopartakeoftime?Andisitanddoesitbecomeolderandyoungerthanitselfandothers,andagain,neitheryoungernorolderthanitselfandothers,byvirtueofparticipationintime?

Howdoyoumean?

Ifoneis,beingmustbepredicatedofit?

Yes。

Buttobe(einai)isonlyparticipationofbeinginpresenttime,andtohavebeenistheparticipationofbeingatapasttime,andtobeabouttobeistheparticipationofbeingatafuturetime?

Verytrue。

Thentheone,sinceitpartakesofbeing,partakesoftime?

Certainly。

Andisnottimealwaysmovingforward?

Yes。

Thentheoneisalwaysbecomingolderthanitself,sinceitmovesforwardintime?

Certainly。