下载辰思小说免费APP
Wemightraisesimilarquestionsabouttheoneandthemany。For
ifthemanyareabsolutelyopposedtotheone,certainimpossible
resultsfollow。Onewillthenbefew,whetherfewbetreatedhereas
singularorplural;forthemanyareopposedalsotothefew。Further,
twowillbemany,sincethedoubleismultipleand’double’derives
itsmeaningfrom’two’;thereforeonewillbefew;forwhatisthatin
comparisonwithwhichtwoaremany,exceptone,whichmusttherefore
befew?Forthereisnothingfewer。Further,ifthemuchandthe
littleareinpluralitywhatthelongandtheshortareinlength,and
whateverismuchisalsomany,andthemanyaremuch(unless,
indeed,thereisadifferenceinthecaseofaneasily-bounded
continuum),thelittle(orfew)willbeaplurality。Thereforeone
isapluralityifitisfew;andthisitmustbe,iftwoaremany。But
perhaps,whilethe’many’areinasensesaidtobealso’much’,itis
withadifference;e。g。waterismuchbutnotmany。But’many’is
appliedtothethingsthataredivisible;intheonesenseitmeans
apluralitywhichisexcessiveeitherabsolutelyorrelatively
(while’few’issimilarlyapluralitywhichisdeficient),andin
anothersenseitmeansnumber,inwhichsensealoneitisopposedto
theone。Forwesay’oneormany’,justasifoneweretosay’oneand
ones’or’whitethingandwhitethings’,ortocomparethethingsthat
havebeenmeasuredwiththemeasure。Itisinthissensealsothat
multiplesaresocalled。Foreachnumberissaidtobemanybecauseit
consistsofonesandbecauseeachnumberismeasurablebyone;and
itis’many’asthatwhichisopposedtoone,nottothefew。In
thissense,then,eventwoismany-not,however,inthesenseofa
pluralitywhichisexcessiveeitherrelativelyorabsolutely;itis
thefirstplurality。Butwithoutqualificationtwoisfew;foritis
firstpluralitywhichisdeficient(forthisreasonAnaxagoraswasnot
rightinleavingthesubjectwiththestatementthat’allthings
weretogether,boundlessbothinpluralityandinsmallness’-wherefor
’andinsmallness’heshouldhavesaid’andinfewness’;forthey
couldnothavebeenboundlessinfewness),sinceitisnotone,as
somesay,buttwo,thatmakeafew。
Theoneisopposedthentothemanyinnumbersasmeasuretothing
measurable;andtheseareopposedasaretherelativeswhicharenot
fromtheirverynaturerelatives。Wehavedistinguishedelsewhere
thetwosensesinwhichrelativesaresocalled:-(1)ascontraries;
(2)asknowledgetothingknown,atermbeingcalledrelative
becauseanotherisrelativetoit。Thereisnothingtopreventone
frombeingfewerthansomething,e。g。thantwo;forifoneisfewer,
itisnotthereforefew。Pluralityisasitweretheclasstowhich
numberbelongs;fornumberispluralitymeasurablebyone,andoneand
numberareinasenseopposed,notascontrary,butaswehavesaid
somerelativetermsareopposed;forinasmuchasoneismeasureand
theothermeasurable,theyareopposed。Thisiswhynoteverything
thatisoneisanumber;i。e。ifthethingisindivisibleitisnot
anumber。Butthoughknowledgeissimilarlyspokenofasrelativeto
theknowable,therelationdoesnotworkoutsimilarly;forwhile
knowledgemightbethoughttobethemeasure,andtheknowablethe
thingmeasured,thefactthatallknowledgeisknowable,butnotall
thatisknowableisknowledge,becauseinasenseknowledgeis
measuredbytheknowable-Pluralityiscontraryneithertothefew
(themanybeingcontrarytothisasexcessivepluralitytoplurality
exceeded),nortotheoneineverysense;butintheonesense