第13章

Andtheonehasbeenprovedbothtobeandnottobe?

Yes。

Andthereforeisandisnotinthesamestate?

Yes。

Thustheonethatisnothasbeenshowntohavemotionalso,becauseitchangesfrombeingtonot—being?

Thatappearstobetrue。

Butsurelyifitisnowhereamongwhatis,asisthefact,sinceitisnot,itcannotchangefromoneplacetoanother?

Impossible。

Thenitcannotmovebychangingplace?

No。

Norcanitturnonthesamespot,foritnowheretouchesthesame,forthesameis,andthatwhichisnotcannotbereckonedamongthingsthatare?

Itcannot。

Thentheone,ifitisnot,cannotturninthatinwhichitisnot?

No。

Neithercantheone,whetheritisorisnot,bealteredintootherthanitself,forifitalteredandbecamedifferentfromitself,thenwecouldnotbestillspeakingoftheone,butofsomethingelse?

True。

Butiftheoneneithersuffersalteration,norturnsroundinthesameplace,norchangesplace,canitstillbecapableofmotion?

Impossible。

Nowthatwhichisunmovedmustsurelybeatrest,andthatwhichisatrestmuststandstill?

Certainly。

Thentheonethatisnot,standsstill,andisalsoinmotion?

Thatseemstobetrue。

Butifitbeinmotionitmustnecessarilyundergoalteration,foranythingwhichismoved,insofarasitismoved,isnolongerinthesamestate,butinanother?

Yes。

Thentheone,beingmoved,isaltered?

Yes。

And,further,ifnotmovedinanyway,itwillnotbealteredinanyway?

No。

Then,insofarastheonethatisnotismoved,itisaltered,butinsofarasitisnotmoved,itisnotaltered?

Right。

Thentheonethatisnotisalteredandisnotaltered?

Thatisclear。

Andmustnotthatwhichisalteredbecomeotherthanitpreviouslywas,andloseitsformerstateandbedestroyed;butthatwhichisnotalteredcanneithercomeintobeingnorbedestroyed?

Verytrue。

Andtheonethatisnot,beingaltered,becomesandisdestroyed;

andnotbeingaltered,neitherbecomesnorisdestroyed;andsotheonethatisnotbecomesandisdestroyed,andneitherbecomesnorisdestroyed?

True。

Andnow,letusgobackoncemoretothebeginning,andseewhethertheseorsomeotherconsequenceswillfollow。

Letusdoasyousay。

Ifoneisnot,weaskwhatwillhappeninrespectofone?Thatisthequestion。

Yes。

Donotthewords\"isnot\"signifyabsenceofbeinginthattowhichweapplythem?

Justso。

Andwhenwesaythatathingisnot,dowemeanthatitisnotinonewaybutisinanother?ordowemean,absolutely,thatwhatisnothasinnosortorwayorkindparticipationofbeing?

Quiteabsolutely。

Then,thatwhichisnotcannotbe,orinanywayparticipateinbeing?

Itcannot。

Anddidwenotmeanbybecoming,andbeingdestroyed,theassumptionofbeingandthelossofbeing?

Nothingelse。

Andcanthatwhichhasnoparticipationinbeing,eitherassumeorlosebeing?

Impossible。

Theonethen,sinceitinnowayis,cannothaveorloseorassumebeinginanyway?

True。

Thentheonethatisnot,sinceitinnowaypartakesofbeing,neithernorbecomes?

No。

Thenitisnotalteredatall;forifitwereitwouldbecomeandbedestroyed?

True。

Butifitbenotaltereditcannotbemoved?

Certainlynot。

Norcanwesaythatitstands,ifitisnowhere;forthatwhichstandsmustalwaysbeinoneandthesamespot?

Ofcourse。

Thenwemustsaythattheonewhichisnotneverstandsstillandnevermoves?

Neither。

Noristhereanyexistingthingwhichcanbeattributedtoit;foriftherehadbeen,itwouldpartakeofbeing?

Thatisclear。

Andthereforeneithersmallness,norgreatness,norequality,canbeattributedtoit?

No。

Noryetlikenessnordifference,eitherinrelationtoitselfortoothers?

Clearlynot。

Well,andifnothingshouldbeattributedtoit,canotherthingsbeattributedtoit?

Certainlynot。

Andthereforeotherthingscanneitherbelikeorunlike,thesame,ordifferentinrelationtoit?

Theycannot。

Norcanwhatisnot,beanything,orbethisthing,orberelatedtoortheattributeofthisorthatorother,orbepast,present,orfuture。Norcanknowledge,oropinion,orperception,orexpression,orname,oranyotherthingthatis,haveanyconcernwithit?

No。

Thentheonethatisnothasnoconditionofanykind?

Suchappearstobetheconclusion。

Yetoncemore;ifoneisnot,whatbecomesoftheothers?Letusdeterminethat。

Yes;letusdeterminethat。

Theothersmustsurelybe;forifthey,liketheone,werenot,wecouldnotbenowspeakingofthem。

True。

Buttospeakoftheothersimpliesdifference—theterms\"other\"

and\"different\"aresynonymous?

True。

Othermeansotherthanother,anddifferent,differentfromthedifferent?

Yes。

Then,iftherearetobeothers,thereissomethingthanwhichtheywillbeother?

Certainly。

Andwhatcanthatbe?—foriftheoneisnot,theywillnotbeotherthantheone。

Theywillnot。

Thentheywillbeotherthaneachother;fortheonlyremainingalternativeisthattheyareotherthannothing。

True。

Andtheyareeachotherthanoneanother,asbeingpluralandnotsingular;forifoneisnot,theycannotbesingularbuteveryparticleofthemisinfiniteinnumber;andevenifapersontakesthatwhichappearstobethesmallestfraction,this,whichseemedone,inamomentevanescesintomany,asinadream,andfrombeingthesmallestbecomesverygreat,incomparisonwiththefractionsintowhichitissplitup?

Verytrue。

Andinsuchparticlestheotherswillbeotherthanoneanother,ifothersare,andtheoneisnot?

Exactly。

Andwilltherenotbemanyparticles,eachappearingtobeone,butnotbeingone,ifoneisnot?

True。

Anditwouldseemthatnumbercanbepredicatedofthemifeachofthemappearstobeone,thoughitisreallymany?

Itcan。

Andtherewillseemtobeoddandevenamongthem,whichwillalsohavenoreality,ifoneisnot?

Yes。

Andtherewillappeartobealeastamongthem;andeventhiswillseemlargeandmanifoldincomparisonwiththemanysmallfractionswhicharecontainedinit?

Certainly。

Andeachparticlewillbeimaginedtobeequaltothemanyandlittle;foritcouldnothaveappearedtopassfromthegreatertothelesswithouthavingappearedtoarriveatthemiddle;andthuswouldarisetheappearanceofequality。

Yes。

Andhavingneitherbeginning,middle,norend,eachseparateparticleyetappearstohavealimitinrelationtoitselfandother。

Howso?

Because,whenapersonconceivesofanyoneoftheseassuch,priortothebeginninganotherbeginningappears,andthereisanotherend,remainingaftertheend,andinthemiddletruermiddleswithinbutsmaller,becausenounitycanbeconceivedofanyofthem,sincetheoneisnot。

Verytrue。

Andsoallbeing,whateverwethinkof,mustbebrokenupintofractions,foraparticlewillhavetobeconceivedofwithoutunity?

Certainly。

Andsuchbeingwhenseenindistinctlyandatadistance,appearstobeone;butwhenseennearandwithkeenintellect,everysinglethingappearstobeinfinite,sinceitisdeprivedoftheone,whichisnot?

Nothingmorecertain。

Theneachoftheothersmustappeartobeinfiniteandfinite,andoneandmany,ifothersthantheoneexistandnottheone。

Theymust。

Thenwilltheynotappeartobelikeandunlike?

Inwhatway?

Justasinapicturethingsappeartobeallonetoapersonstandingatadistance,andtobeinthesamestateandalike?

True。

Butwhenyouapproachthem,theyappeartobemanyanddifferent;

andbecauseoftheappearanceofthedifference,differentinkindfrom,andunlike,themselves?

True。

Andsomusttheparticlesappeartobelikeandunlikethemselvesandeachother。

Certainly。

Andmusttheynotbethesameandyetdifferentfromoneanother,andincontactwiththemselves,althoughtheyareseparated,andhavingeverysortofmotion,andeverysortofrest,andbecomingandbeingdestroyed,andinneitherstate,andthelike,allwhichthingsmaybeeasilyenumerated,iftheoneisnotandthemanyare?

Mosttrue。

Oncemore,letusgobacktothebeginning,andaskiftheoneisnot,andtheothersoftheoneare,whatwillfollow。

Letusaskthatquestion。

Inthefirstplace,theotherswillnotbeone?

Impossible。

Norwilltheybemany;foriftheyweremanyonewouldbecontainedinthem。Butifnooneofthemisone,allofthemarenought,andthereforetheywillnotbemany。

True。

Iftherebenooneintheothers,theothersareneithermanynorone。

Theyarenot。

Nordotheyappeareitherasoneormany。

Whynot?

Becausetheothershavenosortormannerorwayofcommunionwithanysortofnot—being,norcananythingwhichisnot,beconnectedwithanyoftheothers;forthatwhichisnothasnoparts。

True。

Noristhereanopinionoranyappearanceofnot—beinginconnectionwiththeothers,norisnot—beingeverinanywayattributedtotheothers。

No。

Thenifoneisnot,theothersneitherare,noranyoftheotherseitherasoneormany;foryoucannotconceivethemanywithouttheone。

Youcannot。

Thenifoneisnot,thereisnoconceptionofcanbeconceivedtobeeitheroneormany?

Itwouldseemnot。

Noraslikeorunlike?

No。

Norasthesameordifferent,norincontactorseparation,norinanyofthosestateswhichweenumeratedasappearingtobe;—theothersneitherarenorappeartobeanyofthese,ifoneisnot?

True。

Thenmaywenotsumuptheargumentinawordandsaytruly:Ifoneisnot,thennothingis?

Certainly。

Letthusmuchbesaid;andfurtherletusaffirmwhatseemstobethetruth,that,whetheroneisorisnot,oneandtheothersinrelationtothemselvesandoneanother,allofthem,ineveryway,areandarenot,andappeartobeandappearnottobe。

Mosttrue。