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Sensiblesubstanceischangeable。Nowifchangeproceedsfrom
oppositesorfromintermediates，andnotfromallopposites(forthe
voiceisnot-white，(butitdoesnotthereforechangetowhite))，
butfromthecontrary，theremustbesomethingunderlyingwhich
changesintothecontrarystate；forthecontrariesdonotchange。
Further，somethingpersists，butthecontrarydoesnotpersist；
thereis，then，somethirdthingbesidesthecontraries，viz。the
matter。Nowsincechangesareoffourkinds-eitherinrespectofthe
’what’orofthequalityorofthequantityoroftheplace，and
changeinrespectof’thisness’issimplegenerationand
destruction，andchangeinquantityisincreaseanddiminution，and
changeinrespectofanaffectionisalteration，andchangeofplace
ismotion，changeswillbefromgivenstatesintothosecontraryto
themintheseseveralrespects。Thematter，then，whichchangesmust
becapableofbothstates。Andsincethatwhich’is’hastwosenses，
wemustsaythateverythingchangesfromthatwhichispotentially
tothatwhichisactually，e。g。frompotentiallywhitetoactually
white，andsimilarlyinthecaseofincreaseanddiminution。Therefore
notonlycanathingcometobe，incidentally，outofthatwhichis
not，butalsoallthingscometobeoutofthatwhichis，butis
potentially，andisnotactually。Andthisisthe’One’ofAnaxagoras；
forinsteadof’allthingsweretogether’-andthe’Mixture’of
EmpedoclesandAnaximanderandtheaccountgivenbyDemocritus-itis
bettertosay’allthingsweretogetherpotentiallybutnotactually’。
Thereforethesethinkersseemtohavehadsomenotionofmatter。Now
allthingsthatchangehavematter，butdifferentmatter；andof
eternalthingsthosewhicharenotgenerablebutaremovablein
spacehavematter-notmatterforgeneration，however，butformotion
fromoneplacetoanother。
Onemightraisethequestionfromwhatsortofnon-being
generationproceeds；for’non-being’hasthreesenses。If，then，one
formofnon-beingexistspotentially，stillitisnotbyvirtueofa
potentialityforanyandeverything，butdifferentthingscomefrom
differentthings；norisitsatisfactorytosaythat’allthings
weretogether’；fortheydifferintheirmatter，sinceotherwisewhy
didaninfinityofthingscometobe，andnotonething？For
’reason’isone，sothatifmatteralsowereone，thatmusthave
cometobeinactualitywhichthematterwasinpotency。Thecauses
andtheprinciples，then，arethree，twobeingthepairof
contrariesofwhichoneisdefinitionandformandtheotheris
privation，andthethirdbeingthematter。
Note，next，thatneitherthematternortheformcomestobe-andI
meanthelastmatterandform。Foreverythingthatchangesis
somethingandischangedbysomethingandintosomething。Thatby
whichitischangedistheimmediatemover；thatwhichischanged，the
matter；thatintowhichitischanged，theform。Theprocess，then，
willgoontoinfinity，ifnotonlythebronzecomestoberoundbut
alsotheroundorthebronzecomestobe；thereforetheremustbea
stop。
Note，next，thateachsubstancecomesintobeingoutof
somethingthatsharesitsname。(Naturalobjectsandotherthingsboth
rankassubstances。)Forthingscomeintobeingeitherbyartorby
natureorbyluckorbyspontaneity。Nowartisaprincipleof
movementinsomethingotherthanthethingmoved，natureisa
principleinthethingitself(formanbegetsman)，andtheother
causesareprivationsofthesetwo。
Therearethreekindsofsubstance-thematter，whichisa’this’
inappearance(forallthingsthatarecharacterizedbycontactand
not，byorganicunityarematterandsubstratum，e。g。fire，flesh，
head；fortheseareallmatter，andthelastmatteristhematterof
thatwhichisinthefullsensesubstance)；thenature，whichisa
’this’orpositivestatetowardswhichmovementtakesplace；and
again，thirdly，theparticularsubstancewhichiscomposedofthese
two，e。g。SocratesorCallias。Nowinsomecasesthe’this’doesnot
existapartfromthecompositesubstance，e。g。theformofhouse
