下载辰思小说免费APP
attribute，butfromtheirmakingtheoneaprinciple-andaprinciple
inthesenseofanelement-andgeneratingnumberfromtheone。)The
oldpoetsagreewiththisinasmuchastheysaythatnotthosewho
arefirstintime，e。g。NightandHeavenorChaosorOcean，reign
andrule，butZeus。Thesepoets，however，areledtospeakthusonly
becausetheythinkoftherulersoftheworldaschanging；forthose
ofthemwhocombinethetwocharactersinthattheydonotuse
mythicallanguagethroughout，e。g。Pherecydesandsomeothers，make
theoriginalgeneratingagenttheBest，andsodotheMagi，andsome
ofthelatersagesalso，e。g。bothEmpedoclesandAnaxagoras，of
whomonemadeloveanelement，andtheothermadereasona
principle。Ofthosewhomaintaintheexistenceoftheunchangeable
substancessomesaytheOneitselfisthegooditself；butthey
thoughtitssubstancelaymainlyinitsunity。
This，then，istheproblem，-whichofthetwowaysofspeakingis
right。Itwouldbestrangeiftothatwhichisprimaryandeternaland
mostself-sufficientthisveryquality——self-sufficiencyand
self-maintenance——belongsprimarilyinsomeotherwaythanasa
good。Butindeeditcanbefornootherreasonindestructibleor
self-sufficientthanbecauseitsnatureisgood。Thereforetosaythat
thefirstprincipleisgoodisprobablycorrect；butthatthis
principleshouldbetheOneor，ifnotthat，atleastanelement，
andanelementofnumbers，isimpossible。Powerfulobjectionsarise，
toavoidwhichsomehavegivenupthetheory(viz。thosewhoagree
thattheOneisafirstprincipleandelement，butonlyof
mathematicalnumber)。Foronthisviewalltheunitsbecome
identicalwithspeciesofgood，andthereisagreatprofusionof
goods。Again，iftheFormsarenumbers，alltheFormsareidentical
withspeciesofgood。ButletamanassumeIdeasofanythinghe
pleases。IftheseareIdeasonlyofgoods，theIdeaswillnotbe
substances；butiftheIdeasarealsoIdeasofsubstances，allanimals
andplantsandallindividualsthatshareinIdeaswillbegood。
Theseabsurditiesfollow，anditalsofollowsthatthecontrary
element，whetheritispluralityortheunequal，i。e。thegreatand
small，isthebad-itself。(Henceonethinkeravoidedattachingthe
goodtotheOne，becauseitwouldnecessarilyfollow，sincegeneration
isfromcontraries，thatbadnessisthefundamentalnatureof
plurality；whileotherssayinequalityisthenatureofthebad。)It
follows，then，thatallthingspartakeofthebadexceptone——the
Oneitself，andthatnumberspartakeofitinamoreundilutedform
thanspatialmagnitudes，andthatthebadisthespaceinwhichthe
goodisrealized，andthatitpartakesinanddesiresthatwhichtends
todestroyit；forcontrarytendstodestroycontrary。Andif，aswe
weresaying，thematteristhatwhichispotentiallyeachthing，
e。g。thatofactualfireisthatwhichispotentiallyfire，thebad
willbejustthepotentiallygood。
Alltheseobjections，then，follow，partlybecausetheymakeevery
principleanelement，partlybecausetheymakecontraries
principles，partlybecausetheymaketheOneaprinciple，partly
becausetheytreatthenumbersasthefirstsubstances，andascapable
ofexistingapart，andasForms。
If，then，itisequallyimpossiblenottoputthegoodamongthe
firstprinciplesandtoputitamongtheminthisway，evidentlythe
principlesarenotbeingcorrectlydescribed，norarethefirst
substances。Nordoesanyoneconceivethemattercorrectlyifhe
comparestheprinciplesoftheuniversetothatofanimalsandplants，
onthegroundthatthemorecompletealwayscomesfromthe
indefiniteandincomplete-whichiswhatleadsthisthinkertosaythat
thisisalsotrueofthefirstprinciplesofreality，sothatthe
Oneitselfisnotevenanexistingthing。Thisisincorrect，for
eveninthisworldofanimalsandplantstheprinciplesfromwhich
thesecomearecomplete；foritisamanthatproducesaman，and
theseedisnotfirst。
Itisoutofplace，also，togenerateplacesimultaneouslywith
themathematicalsolids(forplaceispeculiartotheindividual
things，andhencetheyareseparateinplace；butmathematicalobjects
arenowhere)，andtosaythattheymustbesomewhere，butnotsaywhat
kindofthingt
