METAPHYSICS

第34章

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

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