下载辰思小说免费APP
Further，whyshouldtherealwaysbebecoming，andwhatisthe
causeofbecoming？-thisnoonetellsus。Andthosewhosupposetwo
principlesmustsupposeanother，asuperiorprinciple，andsomust
thosewhobelieveintheForms；forwhydidthingscometo
participate，orwhydotheyparticipate，intheForms？Andallother
thinkersareconfrontedbythenecessaryconsequencethatthereis
somethingcontrarytoWisdom，i。e。tothehighestknowledge；butwe
arenot。Forthereisnothingcontrarytothatwhichisprimary；for
allcontrarieshavematter，andthingsthathavematterexistonly
potentially；andtheignorancewhichiscontrarytoanyknowledge
leadstoanobjectcontrarytotheobjectoftheknowledge；butwhat
isprimaryhasnocontrary。
Again，ifbesidessensiblethingsnoothersexist，therewillbe
nofirstprinciple，noorder，nobecoming，noheavenlybodies，but
eachprinciplewillhaveaprinciplebeforeit，asintheaccounts
ofthetheologiansandallthenaturalphilosophers。Butifthe
Formsorthenumbersaretoexist，theywillbecausesofnothing；
orifnotthat，atleastnotofmovement。Further，howisextension，
i。e。acontinuum，tobeproducedoutofunextendedparts？Fornumber
willnot，eitherasmoverorasform，produceacontinuum。Butagain
therecannotbeanycontrarythatisalsoessentiallyaproductive
ormovingprinciple；foritwouldbepossibleforitnottobe。Or
atleastitsactionwouldbeposteriortoitspotency。Theworld，
then，wouldnotbeeternal。Butitis；oneofthesepremisses，then，
mustbedenied。Andwehavesaidhowthismustbedone。Further，in
virtueofwhatthenumbers，orthesoulandthebody，oringeneral
theformandthething，areone-ofthisnoonetellsusanything；
norcananyonetell，unlesshesays，aswedo，thatthemovermakes
themone。Andthosewhosaymathematicalnumberisfirstandgoon
togenerateonekindofsubstanceafteranotherandgivedifferent
principlesforeach，makethesubstanceoftheuniverseamere
seriesofepisodes(foronesubstancehasnoinfluenceonanotherby
itsexistenceornonexistence)，andtheygiveusmanygoverning
principles；buttheworldrefusestobegovernedbadly。
’Theruleofmanyisnotgood；onerulerlettherebe。’
WEhavestatedwhatisthesubstanceofsensiblethings，dealing
inthetreatiseonphysicswithmatter，andlaterwiththesubstance
whichhasactualexistence。Nowsinceourinquiryiswhetherthere
isorisnotbesidesthesensiblesubstancesanywhichisimmovable
andeternal，and，ifthereis，whatitis，wemustfirstconsiderwhat
issaidbyothers，sothat，ifthereisanythingwhichtheysay
wrongly，wemaynotbeliabletothesameobjections，while，if
thereisanyopinioncommontothemandus，weshallhavenoprivate
grievanceagainstourselvesonthataccount；foronemustbecontent
tostatesomepointsbetterthanone’spredecessors，andothersno
worse。
Twoopinionsareheldonthissubject；itissaidthattheobjects
ofmathematics-i。e。numbersandlinesandthelike-aresubstances，and
againthattheIdeasaresubstances。And(1)sincesomerecognize
theseastwodifferentclasses-theIdeasandthemathematicalnumbers，
and(2)somerecognizebothashavingonenature，while(3)some
otherssaythatthemathematicalsubstancesaretheonlysubstances，
wemustconsiderfirsttheobjectsofmathematics，notqualifyingthem
byanyothercharacteristic-notasking，forinstance，whethertheyare
infactIdeasornot，orwhethertheyaretheprinciplesand
substancesofexistingthingsornot，butonlywhetherasobjectsof
mathematicstheyexistornot，andiftheyexist，howtheyexist。Then
afterthiswemustseparatelyconsidertheIdeasthemselvesina
generalway，andonlyasfarastheacceptedmodeoftreatment
demands；formostofthepointshavebeenrepeatedlymadeevenby
thediscussionsoutsideourschool，and，further，thegreaterpart
ofouraccountmustfinishbythrowinglightonthatinquiry，viz。
whenweexaminew
