第12章

Yes,allthings。

Thenwecannotsupposethatthereisanythingdifferentfromtheminwhichboththeoneandtheothersmightexist?

Thereisnothing。

Thentheoneandtheothersareneverinthesame?

True。

Thentheyareseparatedfromeachother?

Yes。

Andwesurelycannotsaythatwhatistrulyonehasparts?

Impossible。

Thentheonewillnotbeintheothersasawhole,noraspart,ifitbeseparatedfromtheothers,andhasnoparts?

Impossible。

Thenthereisnowayinwhichtheotherscanpartakeoftheone,iftheydonotpartakeeitherinwholeorinpart?

Itwouldseemnot。

Thenthereisnowayinwhichtheothersareone,orhaveinthemselvesanyunity?

Thereisnot。

Noraretheothersmany;foriftheyweremany,eachpartofthemwouldbeapartofthewhole;butnowtheothers,notpartakinginanywayoftheone,areneitheronenormany,norwhole,norpart。

True。

Thentheothersneitherarenorcontaintwoorthree,ifentirelydeprivedoftheone?

True。

Thentheothersareneitherlikenorunliketheone,norislikenessandunlikenessinthem;foriftheywerelikeandunlike,orhadinthemlikenessandunlikeness,theywouldhavetwonaturesinthemoppositetooneanother。

Thatisclear。

Butforthatwhichpartakesofnothingtopartakeoftwothingswasheldbyustobeimpossible?

Impossible。

Thentheothersareneitherlikenorunlikenorboth,foriftheywerelikeorunliketheywouldpartakeofoneofthosetwonatures,whichwouldbeonething,andiftheywereboththeywouldpartakeofoppositeswhichwouldbetwothings,andthishasbeenshowntobeimpossible。

True。

Thereforetheyareneitherthesame,norother,norinmotion,noratrest,norinastateofbecoming,norofbeingdestroyed,norgreater,norless,norequal,norhavetheyexperiencedanythingelseofthesort;for,iftheyarecapableofexperiencinganysuchaffection,theywillparticipateinoneandtwoandthree,andoddandeven,andinthese,ashasbeenproved,theydonotparticipate,seeingthattheyarealtogetherandineverywaydevoidoftheone。

Verytrue。

Thereforeifoneis,theoneisallthings,andalsonothing,bothinrelationtoitselfandtootherthings。

Certainly。

Well,andoughtwenottoconsidernextwhatwillbetheconsequenceiftheoneisnot?

Yes;weought。

Whatisthemeaningofthehypothesis—Iftheoneisnot;isthereanydifferencebetweenthisandthehypothesis—Ifthenotoneisnot?

Thereisadifference,certainly。

Isthereadifferenceonly,orratherarenotthetwoexpressions—iftheoneisnot,andifthenotoneisnot,entirelyopposed?

Theyareentirelyopposed。

Andsupposeapersontosay:—Ifgreatnessisnot,ifsmallnessisnot,oranythingofthatsort,doeshenotmean,wheneverheusessuchanexpression,that\"whatisnot\"isotherthanotherthings?

Tobesure。

Andsowhenhesays\"Ifoneisnot\"heclearlymeans,thatwhat\"isnot\"isotherthanallothers;weknowwhathemeans—dowenot?

Yes,wedo。

Whenhesays\"one,\"hesayssomethingwhichisknown;andsecondlysomethingwhichisotherthanallotherthings;itmakesnodifferencewhetherhepredicateofonebeingornotbeing,forthatwhichissaid\"nottobe\"isknowntobesomethingallthesame,andisdistinguishedfromotherthings。

Certainly。

ThenIwillbeginagain,andask:Ifoneisnot,whataretheconsequences?Inthefirstplace,aswouldappear,thereisaknowledgeofit,ortheverymeaningofthewords,\"ifoneisnot,\"

wouldnotbeknown。

True。

Secondly,theothersdifferfromit,oritcouldnotbedescribedasdifferentfromtheothers?

Certainly。

Difference,then,belongstoitaswellasknowledge;forinspeakingoftheoneasdifferentfromtheothers,wedonotspeakofadifferenceintheothers,butintheone。

Clearlyso。

Moreover,theonethatisnotissomethingandpartakesofrelationto\"that,\"and\"this,\"and\"these,\"andthelike,andisanattributeof\"this\";fortheone,ortheothersthantheone,couldnothavebeenspokenof,norcouldanyattributeorrelativeoftheonethatisnothavebeenorbeenspokenof,norcouldithavebeensaidtobeanything,ifitdidnotpartakeof\"some,\"oroftheotherrelationsjustnowmentioned。

True。

Being,then,cannotbeascribedtotheone,sinceitisnot;buttheonethatisnotmayorrathermustparticipateinmanythings,ifitandnothingelseisnot;if,however,neithertheonenortheonethatisnotissupposednottobe,andwearespeakingofsomethingofadifferentnature,wecanpredicatenothingofit。Butsupposingthattheonethatisnotandnothingelseisnot,thenitmustparticipateinthepredicate\"that,\"andinmanyothers。

Certainly。

Anditwillhaveunlikenessinrelationtotheothers,fortheothersbeingdifferentfromtheonewillbeofadifferentkind。

Certainly。

Andarenotthingsofadifferentkindalsootherinkind?

Ofcourse。

Andarenotthingsotherinkindunlike?

Theyareunlike。

Andiftheyareunliketheone,thatwhichtheyareunlikewillclearlybeunlikethem?

Clearlyso。

Thentheonewillhaveunlikenessinrespectofwhichtheothersareunlikeit?

Thatwouldseemtobetrue。

Andifunlikenesstootherthingsisattributedtoit,itmusthavelikenesstoitself。

Howso?

Iftheonehaveunlikenesstoone,somethingelsemustbemeant;norwillthehypothesisrelatetoone;butitwillrelatetosomethingotherthanone?

Quiteso。

Butthatcannotbe。

No。

Thentheonemusthavelikenesstoitself?

Itmust。

Again,itisnotequaltotheothers;forifitwereequal,thenitwouldatoncebeandbeliketheminvirtueoftheequality;butifonehasnobeing,thenitcanneitherbenorbelike?

Itcannot。

Butsinceitisnotequaltotheothers,neithercantheothersbeequaltoit?

Certainlynot。

Andthingsthatarenotequalareunequal?

True。

Andtheyareunequaltoanunequal?

Ofcourse。

Thentheonepartakesofinequality,andinrespectofthistheothersareunequaltoit?

Verytrue。

Andinequalityimpliesgreatnessandsmallness?

Yes。

Thentheone,ifofsuchanature,hasgreatnessandsmallness?

Thatappearstobetrue。

Andgreatnessandsmallnessalwaysstandapart?

True。

Thenthereisalwayssomethingbetweenthem?

Thereis。

Andcanyouthinkofanythingelsewhichisbetweenthemotherthanequality?

No,itisequalitywhichliesbetweenthem。

Thenthatwhichhasgreatnessandsmallnessalsohasequality,whichliesbetweenthem?

Thatisclear。

Thentheone,whichisnot,partakes,aswouldappear,ofgreatnessandsmallnessandequality?

Clearly。

Further,itmustsurelyinasortpartakeofbeing?

Howso?

Itmustbeso,forifnot,thenweshouldnotspeakthetruthinsayingthattheoneisnot。Butifwespeakthetruth,clearlywemustsaywhatis。AmInotright?

Yes。

Andsinceweaffirmthatwespeaktruly,wemustalsoaffirmthatwesaywhatis?

Certainly。

Then,aswouldappear,theone,whenitisnot,is;forifitwerenottobewhenitisnot,butweretorelinquishsomethingofbeing,soastobecomenot—being,itwouldatoncebe。

Quitetrue。

Thentheonewhichisnot,ifitistomaintainitself,musthavethebeingofnot—beingasthebondofnot—being,justasbeingmusthaveasabondthenot—beingofnot—beinginordertoperfectitsownbeing;forthetruestassertionofthebeingofbeingandofthenot—beingofnotbeingiswhenbeingpartakesofthebeingofbeing,andnotofthebeingofnot—being—thatis,theperfectionofbeing;

andwhennot—beingdoesnotpartakeofthenot—beingofnot—beingbutofthebeingofnot—being—thatistheperfectionofnot—being。

Mosttrue。

Sincethenwhatispartakesofnot—being,andwhatisnotofbeing,mustnottheonealsopartakeofbeinginordernottobe?

Certainly。

Thentheone,ifitisnot,clearlyhasbeing?

Clearly。

Andhasnot—beingalso,ifitisnot?

Ofcourse。

Butcananythingwhichisinacertainstatenotbeinthatstatewithoutchanging?

Impossible。

Theneverythingwhichisandisnotinacertainstate,implieschange?

Certainly。

Andchangeismotion—wemaysaythat?

Yes,motion。