Commentary
Postquam philosophus prosecutus est quaestionem primam pertinentem ad ipsa sensibilia, hic accedit ad quaestionem secundam, quae pertinet ad immutationem sensus a sensibilibus.
| 446a20 After the Philosopher bas followed up the first question, which concerns sensible things themselves, here he proceeds to the second question, which concerns the alteration of the sense-power by sensible objects.
| Et circa hoc tria facit. Primo movet quaestionem. Secundo argumentatur ad ipsam, ibi, quemadmodum et Empedocles. Tertio solvit, ibi, vel circa sonum.
| On this point he does three things. First he raises the question. Second he argues it, where he says Empedocles says (446a26). Third he solves it, where he says On the other hand (446b 13).
| Circa primum considerandum est, quod, sicut supra habitum est, quidam posuerunt sensum immutari a sensibilibus per modum cuiusdam defluxus, ita quod ipsa sensibilia et defluentia ab eis, perveniunt usque ad sensum: ipse vero posuit quod sensibilia per modum cuiusdam alterationis immutant medium, ita quod huiusmodi permutationes perveniunt usque ad sensum.
| On the first point it must be considered that, as was established above, some held that a sense-power is changed by sensible things by way of an emanation, so that it is the sensible things themselves—that is, the emanations from them—that reach the sense-power. But Aristotle himself held that the sensible things change the medium by way of a certain alteration, so that it is the changes of this kind that reach the sense-power.
| Est ergo quaestio, qualitercumque fiat sensus, utrum vel sensibilia secundum aliorum opinionem, vel immutationes quae sunt a sensibilibus secundum suam opinionem, primo perveniant ad medium, quam ad sensum. Et hoc non habet dubitationem in auditu et odoratu. Manifestum est enim quod aliquis de propinquo prius sentit odorem, et similiter sonus posterius pervenit ad auditum quam faciat ictus percussionis quae causat sonum, sicut manifeste potest percipere, qui percussionem inspicit ex longinquo. Manifestum est etiam quod in gustu et tactu haec quaestio locum non habet, quia non sentiunt per medium extrinsecum. Unde dubitatio videtur esse de solo visu, utrum scilicet visibile, et lumen quod facit videre, prius perveniat ad medium quam ad sensum, vel ad quemcumque terminum.
| Therefore there is a question, however sensation occurs: whether the sensible objects themselves—according to the opinion of others—or alterations caused by the sensible objects—according to Aristotle’s own opinion—first reach a midpoint before reaching the sense-power. There is no difficulty about this in the case of hearing and smell, for it is clear that one senses odor earlier from nearby, and similarly that sound reaches hearing after the striking of the blow that causes sound occurs, as one who sees the blow from a distance can clearly perceive. And it is clear that this question has no place in the case of taste and touch, because they do not perceive through an external medium. Hence the difficulty seems to be about sight alone, that is, whether a visible object and the light that causes seeing first reach a midpoint before reaching the sense-power or any terminus.
| Deinde cum dicit quemadmodum et obiicit ad quaestionem motam.
| 446a26 Then, when he says Empedocles says, he raises an objection concerning the question asked.
| Et primo argumentatur ad partem falsam quaestionis. Secundo excludit quamdam falsam solutionem, ibi, et si omne simul.
| First he argues on the false side of the question. Second he eliminates a false solution where he says Everything simultaneously hears (446b2).
| Argumentatur autem ad quaestionem, primo per auctoritatem Empedoclis, qui dixit quod lumen a sole progrediens, primo pervenit ad medium quam ad visum qui videt lumen, vel ad terram, quae videtur per lumen et ultra, quam radius solis non procedit. Et hanc quidem opinionem tetigit in secundo de anima; sed improbavit eam per hoc, quod in tam magno spatio, sicut est ab oriente usque ad nos, latere nos temporis successionem impossibile est.
| He argues in response to the question first by the authority of Empedocles, who said that light proceeding from the sun first reaches a midpoint before reaching the sense of sight that sees the light, or the earth that is seen by means of the light, and beyond which the sun’s ray does not proceed. He touched on this question in On the Soul II, but disproved the opinion as follows: in such a great distance as there is from the rising sun to ourselves, it is impossible for a temporal succession to escape our notice.
| Secundo ibi putabitur autem argumentatur ad idem per rationem. Et dicit quod hoc videtur rationabiliter accidere, scilicet quod visibile vel lumen primo perveniat ad medium quam ad visum. Videtur enim esse quidam motus ipsius visibilis, vel luminis pervenientis ad visum. Omne autem quod movetur ab aliquo in aliud, ita se habet quod prius sit in termino a quo movetur, et posterius in termino ad quem movetur: alioquin, si simul esset in utroque termino, non moveretur de uno in aliud. Prius autem et posterius in motu, numeratur tempore: ergo necesse est esse aliquod tempus, in quo visibile vel lumen movetur a corpore visibili vel illuminante usque ad visum: omne autem tempus est divisibile, ut probatum est in sexto physicorum. Si ergo accipiamus medium illius temporis, adhuc radius luminis, vel ipsius visibilis, nondum pervenit ad visum, sed adhuc movebatur per medium, quia oportet dividi per magnitudinem per quam aliquid movetur, secundum divisionem temporis, ut probatum est in sexto physicorum.
| 446a28 Second, where he says It might be thought reasonable, he argues the same point by reason. He says that it seems reasonable for this to happen—that is, for the visible object or light to first reach a midpoint before reaching the sense of sight. For there seems to be some movement of the visible object itself, or of the light, in coming to the sense of sight. But everything that is moved is moved from something to something, in such a way that before, it is in the terminus from which it is moved, and after, it is at the terminus to which it is moved: otherwise, if it were simultaneously at both termini, it would not be moved from one to the other. But before and after in movement are counted by time. Therefore there is necessarily some time in which the visible object, or the light, is moved from the visible or illuminating body to the sense of sight. But every length of time is divisible, as was proved in Physics VI.
Therefore if we take the midpoint of the time in question, at that point the ray of light, or the visible object itself, has not yet reached the sense of sight, but is still being moved through the medium, because the magnitude through which something is moved must be divided according to division of time, as was proved in Physics VI.
| Deinde cum dicit et in omne excludit quamdam insufficientem responsionem. Posset enim aliquis putare quod sensibilia non prius perveniant ad medium quam ad sensum, quia sensus simul percipit sensibile absque successione, ita quod in auditione non prius est audire quam auditum esse, sicut in successivis prius est moveri quam motum esse; sed simul dum aliquis audit, iam audivit, quia in instanti perficitur tota auditio. Et universaliter hoc est verum in omni sensu, quod simul scilicet aliquod sentit et sensit. Et hoc ideo quia non est generatio eorum, sed sunt absque fieri.
| 446b2 Then, when he says Everything simultaneously hears, he eliminates an inadequate response. Someone could think that sensible objects do not first reach a midpoint before reaching the sense-power because sense perceives a sensible object all at once, without successiveness. Thus, in hearing, hearing does not come before having been heard in the way that, in what is successive, being moved does come before having been moved: rather, when someone is hearing, he simultaneously already has heard, because the whole act of hearing is completed in an instant. And this is universally true of every sense, that is, that it simultaneously senses and has sensed something. This is so because there is no generation of sensations; they have no coming into being.
| +0+
| Illorum enim dicitur esse generatio, ad quorum esse pervenitur per aliquem motum successivum; sive illius successivi motus sit ipsa eorum forma terminus, sicut si album dicatur generari, quia per successivam alterationem pervenitur ad albedinem; sive ipsa dispositio ad formam ipsorum sit motus successivi termini, sicut ignis et aqua dicuntur generari, quia dispositiones ad formam ipsorum, quae sunt qualitates elementales, per alterationem successivam acquiruntur.
| We say that there is a “generation” of things that have a being (esse) which is reached by a successive or gradual movement: whether the terminus of the successive movement is the very form of the things, as when a white thing is said to be generated because a thing reaches whiteness through successive alteration; or whether the terminus of the successive movement is a disposition to their form, as fire and water are said to be generated because dispositions to their forms—that is, elemental qualities—are acquired through successive alteration.
| Illa vero incipiunt esse absque hoc quod generentur vel fiant, quae nec secundum se, nec secundum aliquas dispositiones praecedentes in ipsis per motum successivum causantur, sicut dextrum causatur in aliquo, nullo successivo motu praeexistente in ipso, sed quodam alio facto sibi sinistro. Similiter et aer incipit illuminari nullo motu successivo praeexistente in ipso, sed ad praesentiam corporis illuminantis. Et similiter sensus incipit sentire, nullo motu in ipso praeexistente, sed ad debitam oppositionem sensibilis. Et ideo simul aliquis sentit, et iam sensit.
| But those things begin to be without being generated or coming into being that are not—either of themselves or with respect to any preceding dispositions in them—caused through successive movement. For example, “to the right” is caused in a thing not by any successive movement pre-existing in it, but by something else having been made “to the left” of it. Likewise, air begins to be illuminated not by any movement pre-existing in it, but at the presence of an illuminating body. And likewise, a sense-power begins to sense not by any movement pre-existing in it, but at the requisite placing of a sensible object before it. Thus one simultaneously senses and already has sensed.
| +0+
| Nihilominus tamen propter hoc non oportet quod sensibilia vel motus sensibilium, absque successione sensibilium perveniant ad sensus; manifeste enim apparet, quod simul aliquis audit, et audivit statim, et tamen sonus, non statim facto ictu, qui causat sonum, pervenit ad auditum.
| Nevertheless it is not for this reason necessary that sensible objects, or movements of sensible objects, reach a sense-power without succession. For it is clear that one simultaneously is hearing and has heard, and nevertheless sound does not reach hearing immediately when the blow that causes the sound is struck.
| Et hoc fit manifestum per transfigurationem literarum, quando alicuius locutio auditur ex longinquo, ac si sonus vocis literatae deferatur per medium successive. Propter hoc enim audientes sonum, non videntur auditu discrevisse literas prolatas, quia aer motus in medio transfiguratur, quasi admittens impressionem primi sonantis.
| This is made clear by the reconfiguration of letters that occurs when someone’s speech is heard from a distance, indicating that the sound of the voice formed into letters is being carried successively through the medium. It is for this reason that those who hear the sound apparently have not by hearing distinguished the letters pronounced: because the air moved in the medium is reconfigured, as if losing the impression made by the one who first caused the sound.
| Quod quidem contingit quandoque propter aliquam aliam aeris immutationem, sicut cum multis loquentibus non potest discerni quod aliquis eorum dicat, propter hoc quod motus invicem se impediunt. Quandoque vero contingit propter distantiam: sicut enim actio calefacientis, in remotioribus debilitatur, ita etiam immutatio aeris, quae est a primo sonante; ex quo contingit quod ad illos qui sunt prope loquentem, perfecte contingit sonus locutionis cum debita expressione litterarum; ad remotos autem cum quadam confusione.
| This sometimes happens because of some other alteration in the air, for example when, because many are speaking, it is impossible to make out what one of them is saying, for it the movements impede one another. But sometimes it happens because of distance: for as the action of heating is weakened in what is farther away, so also does the alteration of the air by the one who first produces the sound, and as a result the sound of the speech may reach those who are near the speaker perfectly, with the requisite articulation of letters, but reach those who are farther away with some confusion.
| Videtur igitur similiter se habere et de colore et de lumine; quia etiam color et lumen non videntur quomodocumque sint disposita secundum situm, sed requiritur determinata distantia. Sicut enim locutiones a remotis audiuntur, absque discretione literarum, ita etiam corpora videntur a remotis absque discretione dispositionis singularum partium.
| 446b9 The case of color and light, then, seems to be similar, for color and light also cannot be seen by being positioned in just any way: rather, a determinate distance is required. For just as utterances are heard by those at a distance without distinction of the letters, so also bodies are by those at a distance without distinction of the arrangement of individual parts.
| Nec est ita de relatione visus et visibilis, sicut de relatione aequalitatis: ad hoc enim quod aliqua sint aequalia, non requiritur aliquis determinatus situs, sed qualitercumque varietur eorum situs, semper manent eodem modo aequalia. Nec differt utrum sint prope vel longe. Videtur ergo quod sicut transfiguratio literarum manifestat sonum successive pervenire ad auditum, quamvis postquam iam pervenerit simul audiatur, ita etiam imperfecta visio visibilium remotorum, videtur significare quod color et lumen successive perveniant ad visum quamvis simul videantur.
| The relation between the sense of sight and the visible object is not like the relation of equality: for no determinate location is required in order for things to be equal; rather, however their location varies, they always remain equal in the same way, and it makes no difference whether they are near or far. Therefore it seems that just as the the configuration of letters makes it clear that sound reaches the sense of hearing by succession, although once it has reached hearing, it is heard it at once; so the incomplete vision of remote visible objects seems to indicate that color and light reach the sense of sight by succession, although they are seen all at once.
| Deinde cum dicit vel circa hoc ponit veram solutionem, ostendens differentiam visus ad alios duos sensus, qui sunt per media exteriora, auditum et olfactum.
| 446bl3 Then, when he says On the other hand, he presents the true solution, showing the difference between sight and the other two senses that perceive through external media, namely hearing and smell.
| Et dividitur in partes duas. Primo namque assignat differentiam visus ad auditum et odoratum. Secundo excludit obiectionem, ibi, rationabiliter autem.
| This is divided into two parts. First he gives the difference of sight from hearing and smell. Second he concludes to his proposal, where he says But it is reasonable (447a8).
| Prima pars dividitur in duas secundum duas differentias quas ponit. Secunda incipit, ibi, omnino autem, nec similiter.
| The first part is divided into two according to the two differences he gives. The second begins where he says In general, alteration and transfer (446b28).
| Dicit ergo primo, quod rationabile est hoc accidere circa sonum et odorem, quod successive perveniant. Cuius rationem assignat ex hoc, quod aer et aqua quae sunt media, quibus huiusmodi sensibilia deferuntur ad sensus sunt quidem secundum suam substantiam continua, sed tamen in eis possunt fieri motus abinvicem divisi;
| Accordingly he first says that it is reasonable for this to happen in the case of sound and odor, namely that they reach the sense-power by succession. He gives as the reason for this the fact that air and water, which are the media by which these objects are brought to the sense-power, are indeed in their substance, continua, and yet movements distinct from one another can take place in them.
| quod contingit propter facilem divisionem aeris et aquae, sicut patet in motu proiectionis, ut philosophus ostendit septimo physicorum, in quo sunt multi motus, multa moventia et mota. Nam una pars aeris movetur ab alia, et sic sunt diversi motus sibi invicem succedentes, quia pars aeris mota adhuc remanet movens, postquam cessat moveri, et sic non omnes motus partium aeris sunt simul, sed sibi invicem succedunt, ut ostenditur in octavo physicorum.
| This can happen because of the easy divisibility of air and water which, as the Philosopher shows in Physics VII, is evident in the movement of throwing something, where there are many movements, many movers, and many things moved.
For one part of the air is moved by another, and thus there are different movements succeeding one another, because a part of the air that has been moved still remains a mover after it ceases to be moved. Thus the movements of the parts of the air are not all simultaneous; rather they succeed one another, as is shown in Physics VIII.
| Et hoc etiam apparet in sono, qui causatur ex quadam aeris percussione; non tamen ita quod totus aer, qui est medius, uno motu moveatur a percutiente; sed sunt motus multi sibi succedentes ex eo quod una pars primo mota movet aliam. Et inde est quod quodammodo idem est quod audit primus qui est propinquus percussioni causanti sonum, et extremus qui est remotus; quodam autem modo non idem.
| This is also evident in the case of sound, which is caused by a striking of air, but not in such a way that the whole of the air in between is moved by what strikes it in one movement. Rather, there are many movements succeeding one another, for one part, having been moved first, then moves another. Thus in a way it is the same thing that the first person hears—the one who is close to the striking that causes the sound—and that the last person hears—the one who is at a distance. But in a way it is not the same thing.
| Apud quosdam enim videtur de hoc esse dubitatio: quia quidam dicunt, quod, cum diversi per diversa organa sentiant, impossibile est quod idem sentiant. Quod quidem verum est, si referatur ad id quod proxime movet sensum, quia diversorum sensus immutantur immediate a diversis partibus medii sibi propinquis, et ita intercipitur hoc, et distinguitur illud quod unus sentit, ab eo quod sentit alius. Si vero accipitur id quod primo movet medium, sic erit unum idem quod omnes sentiunt, sicut unius percussionis sonum audiunt omnes, sive propinqui sive remoti; et similiter unum corpus odoriferum, puta cothonium vel thus in igne ardens, odorant omnes; sed id, quod iam proprie pervenit ad unumquemque est alterum numero, sed est idem specie, quia ab eadem forma primi activi, omnes huiusmodi immutationes causantur. Unde simul multi vident et odorant et audiunt idem sensibile, per diversas immutationes ad eos pervenientes.
| 446b17 According to some, there seems to be a difficulty on this point: some say that, since different people sense by means of different organs, it is impossible that they sense the same thing. Now this is true if it refers to what proximately moves the sense-power, because the senses of different people are immediately altered by the different parts of the medium that are close to them, and so what one senses is “cut off,” and distinct from, what another senses. But if what is understood is what first moved the medium, then all sense one and the same thing. For instance everyone, whether near or far, hears the sound of the one blow; likewise, everyone smells the one odorous body, for example the quince, or the incense burning in fire. What reaches each one individually one is numerically different, but is specifically the same, because all these alterations are caused by the same form, the form of what first activates them. Hence many simultaneously see and smell and hear the same sensible object by the different alterations that reach them.
| Huiusmodi autem quae perveniunt ad singulorum sensus, non sunt corpora defluentia a corpore sensibili, ut quidam posuerunt; sed singulum eorum est motus et passio medii immutati per actionem sensibilis. Si enim essent diversa corpora, quae ad diversos per defluxum pervenirent, non accideret hoc, quod scilicet idem omnes sentirent, sed unum sentiret, scilicet solum corpus ad ipsum perveniens. Et quamvis non sint corpora, non tamen sunt sine corpore, vel medio, quasi passo et moto a sensibili, quasi primo movente et agente. Sic ergo per praedicta patet, quod sonus pervenit ad auditum per multos motus partium medii sibiinvicem succedentes; et simile est de odore, nisi quod mutatio odoris fit per alterationem medii: immutatio autem soni per motum localem.
| 446b25 But these things that reach the senses of each individual are not bodies emanating from a sensible body, as some held: rather, every individual one of them is a movement and an affection of a medium that has been altered by the action of a sensible object. For if they were different bodies that reached different individuals by emanation, then this—that is, everyone sensing the same thing—would not happen, but each would perceive only the body that reached him. And although they are not bodies, nevertheless they are not independent of body, or of the medium that is as it were affected and moved, or of the sensible object that is as it were what first moves and acts. 446b27 It is clear, then, from what has been said that sound reaches the sense of hearing through many successive movements of parts. And it is similar in the case of odor, except that alteration by odor occurs through alteration of a medium, but alteration by sound through local movement.
| Sed de lumine est alia ratio. Non enim per motus sibi succedentes in diversis partibus medii pervenit lumen usque ad visum; sed per unum aliquod esse, idest per hoc quod totum medium sicut unum mobile, movetur uno motu a corpore illuminante. Sed non est ibi motus, qui succedat motui, sicut dictum est de odore et sono.
| But the account of light is different. For light does not reach the sense of sight through many movements succeeding one another in different parts of the medium, but through one single being (esse)—that is, by the whole medium being moved, as one moveable thing, in one movement, by an illuminating body. In this case there is not one movement succeeding another, as there was said to be in the case of odor and sound.
| +0+
| Huiusmodi autem differentiae ratio est: quia quod recipitur in aliquo sicut proprio subiecto et naturali, potest in eo permanere et esse principium actionis; quod autem recipitur in aliquo solum sicut adventitia qualitas, non potest permanere, nec esse principium actionis.
| The reason for this difference is that what is received in something as in its proper and natural subject can remain in it and be a principle of action, but what is received in something only as an adventitious quality can neither remain in it nor be a principle of action.
| Quia vero formae substantiales sunt principia qualitatum et omnium accidentium, illa qualitas recipitur in subiecto aliquo secundum esse proprium et naturale, quae disponit subiectum ad formam naturalem, cuius est susceptivum; sicut aqua ratione suae materiae, est susceptiva formae substantialis ignis, quae est principium caloris. Et ideo calor recipitur in aqua, disponens ipsam ad formam ignis; et ideo remoto igne adhuc aqua remanet calida calefacere potens.
| Now because substantial forms are the principles of qualities and of it accidents, that quality is received in a subject according to its proper and natural being which disposes the subject to the natural form of which it is receptive. For instance, water, by reason of its matter, is receptive of the substantial form of fire, which is the principle of heat; and so heat is received in water as disposing it to the form of fire, and when fire is removed, the water still remains hot and capable of heating.
| Et similiter odor recipitur in aere et aqua et sonus in aere secundum suum esse proprium et naturale et secundum quod aer et aqua immutantur ab enchyma siccitate et aer a percussione alicuius corporis. Et inde est quod cessante percussione, remanet sonus in aere, et remoto corpore odorifero adhuc sentitur odor in aere, propter hoc quod pars aeris immutata ad sonum vel ad odorem potest aliam similiter immutare, ut sic fiant diversi motus sibiinvicem succedentes.
| Likewise odor is received in air and water, and sound in air, both according to their proper and natural being, and according as air and water are altered by enchymous dryness, or air by the striking of a body. Thus, when the striking ceases, sound remains in the air; and when the odor causing body is removed, odor is still perceived in the air. The reason is that the part of the air that has been changed so as to take on a sound or odor can likewise change another part, and thus different movements are produced that succeed one another.
| Sed diaphanum non est susceptivum formae substantialis corporis illuminantis, puta solis, qui est prima radix luminis; neque per receptionem luminis disponetur ad aliquam formam substantialem. Unde recipitur lumen in diaphano sicut quaedam qualitas adventitia, quae non remanet absente corpore illuminante, nec potest esse principium actionis in aliud. Unde una pars aeris non illuminatur ab alia; sed totus aer illuminatur a primo illuminante quantum potest se extendere virtus illuminantis; et ideo est unum illuminatum et una illuminatio totius medii.
| But the transparent is not receptive of the substantial form of the illuminating body, for instance the sun, which is the first “root” of light, and neither is it disposed by reception of light to any substantial form. Hence light is received in the transparent as an adventitious quality that neither remains when the illuminating body is absent, nor is able to be a principle of action on something else. Hence one part of the air is not illuminated by another, but the whole of the air is illuminated by what first illuminates it, however far the power of the illuminating body is able to reach. Thus, there is one thing illuminated, and one illumination of the whole medium.
| +0+
| Deinde cum dicit omnino autem ostendit secundam differentiam. Et dicit, quod si universaliter loquamur de alteratione, idest loci mutatione, non similiter se habet in utroque, quia loci mutationes rationabiliter perveniunt prius ad medium magnitudinis, supra quam est motus, quam ad ultimum; quia scilicet in loci mutatione est motus de extremo magnitudinis, ad extremum eius, unde oportet quod mobile in medio temporis pertingat ad medium magnitudinis; et tunc ratio superinducta locum habet in loci mutatione. Sonus autem consequitur quemdam motum localem, inquantum scilicet ex percussione causante sonum commovetur aer usque ad auditum; et ideo rationabile est, quod sonus prius perveniat ad medium, quam ad auditum.
| 446b28 Then, when he says In general, alteration and transfer, he shows the second difference. He says that, to speak generally about alteration and “transfer”—that is, change of place—the two are not alike. It is reasonable that changes of place should first reach the midpoint of the magnitude over which the movement takes place before reaching the terminus, since in change of place there is movement from one extreme of a magnitude to the other extreme. Hence, the moveable thing must reach the midpoint of the magnitude at the midpoint of the time. Thus the argument introduce above has a place in the case of change of place. And sound is a consequence of local movement inasmuch as the air is disturbed by the striking that causes the sound all the way to the power of hearing. it is reasonable, then, that sound should reach a midpoint before reaching the sense of hearing.
| Sed in his quae alterantur non similiter se habet. Termini enim alterationis non sunt ipsa extrema magnitudinis. Et ideo non oportet, quod tempus alterationis, per se loquendo, commensuretur alicui magnitudini, ita quod in medio temporis, motus perveniat ad medium magnitudinis super quam fit motus; quia hoc non est dare in alteratione, quae non est motus in quantitate vel in ubi, sed in qualitate, neque ad medium magnitudinis quae movetur.
| But in the case of what is altered, it is not like this. For the termini of alteration are not extremes of a magnitude, and so the time of the alteration is not necessarily, of itself, commensurate with a magnitude in such a way that at the midpoint of the lime, the movement would reach the midpoint of the magnitude, whether the midpoint of the magnitude over which the movement occurs (for this cannot be given in alteration, which is not a movement in a quantity or a “where,” but in a quality), or the midpoint of a magnitude that is itself moved.
| Contingit enim aliquando quod totum corpus simul alteratur, non autem dimidium eius prius, sicut videmus quod tota aqua simul congelatur.
| 447a1 For it can sometimes happen that the whole of a body is altered all at once, not half of it first, as we see that a whole body of water may be frozen all at once.
| Sicut enim in motu locali tempus commensuratur distantiae magnitudinis, super quam transit motus, et secundum divisionem eius dividitur, ut probatur in sexto physicorum; ita etiam in alteratione, tempus commensuratur distantiae terminorum. Et ideo maius tempus requiritur ceteris paribus, ad hoc quod de frigido fiat calidum, quam ad hoc quod de tepido fiat calidum.
| In local movement, the time is commensurable with the magnitude over which the movement passes, and is divided according to division of the magnitude, as is proved in Physics VI.
Likewise, in alteration, the time is commensurable with the distance between the termini, and so, other things being equal, more time is required for something cold than for something tepid to be made hot.
| Et ideo, si aliqua extrema sunt inter quae non sit accipere medium, oportet quod de uno extremo in aliud fiat transitus absque medio. Contradictio autem est oppositio, cuius non est medium secundum se, ut dicitur in primo posteriorum, et eadem ratione supposita aptitudine subiecti, cum privatio nihil aliud sit quam negatio in subiecto. Unde omnes mutationes quarum termini sunt esse et non esse, vel privatio et forma, sunt instantaneae, et non possunt esse successivae. In alterationibus enim successivis attenditur successio secundum distantiam unius contrarii ab alio determinata media:
| Thus if there are some extremes between which one cannot take a midpoint, transition from one extreme to the other must occur without intermediary. Now a contradiction is an opposition that of itself has no intermediary, as is said in Posterior Analytics I.
And, with the supposition of the receptivity of a subject, the account of privation is the same, for privation is nothing but negation in a subject. Hence all alterations of which the termini are being and non-being, or privation and form, are instantaneous and cannot be successive, for in successive alterations the succession is noted by means of determinate intermediaries with respect to the distance of one contrary from the other.
| in qua quidem distantia tota magnitudo corporis, in quam potest immediate virtus primi alterantis, consideratur sicut unum subiectum, quod statim simul incipit moveri. Sed, si sit corpus alterabile tam magnum, quod virtus primi alterantis non possit ipsum attingere secundum totum, sed secundum partem eius, sequitur quod prima pars primo alterata, alterabit consequenter aliam.
| 447a3 Within this distance, the whole magnitude of the body over which the power of the first cause of the alteration immediately extends is considered as one single subject that instantaneously, all at once, begins to be moved. But if there is a body that is capable of being altered, but is so large that the power of the first cause of the alteration cannot reach it as a whole, but only part of it, it will follow that after the first part has been altered, it will subsequently alter another one.
| Et ideo dicit quod, si fuerit multum corpus quod calefit vel quod congelatur, necesse est quod habitum patiatur ab habito, idest quod consequens pars ab immediate praecedente alteretur. Sed prima pars alteratur ab ipso primo alterante, et simul et subito, quia scilicet non est ibi successio ex parte magnitudinis, sed solum ex parte contrariarum qualitatum, ut dictum est. Haec autem est causa quare odor prius pervenit ad medium quam ad sensum, quamvis hoc fiat per alterationem sine motu locali, quia corpus odoriferum non potest simul immutare totum medium, sed immutat partem unam, quae immutat aliam; et sic successive pervenit immutatio usque ad olfactum per plures motus, ut supra dictum est. Et esset simile in gustu sicut in odoratu, si nos viveremus in humido aqueo, quod solum susceptivum est saporis, sicut in aere, qui est susceptivus odoris, et si iterum posset sentiri sapor per alterationem medii a remotis, antequam tangeremus corpus saporosum, sicut contingit circa odoratum.
| And so he says that if it is a large body that is heated or frozen, what is contiguous is necessarily affected by the contiguous—that is, a subsequent part is necessarily altered by the immediately preceding one. But the first part is altered, all at once and instantaneously, by the very thing that first causes the alteration, because here there is not succession from the point of view of magnitude, but only from the point of view of contrary qualities, as was said. It is because of this that odor first reaches a midpoint before reaching the sense-power, even though this occurs by alteration without local movement. For an odorous body cannot alter the whole medium all at once; rather, it alters one part, which alters another, and so the alteration reaches the sense of smell by succession, through several movements, as was said above. And it would be the same in the case of taste as it is in the case of smell if we lived in watery moisture, which alone is receptive of flavor, as we now live in air, which is receptive of odor; and if, again, flavor could be sensed by alteration of the medium from a distance before we touched a flavored body, as is the case with smell.
| +0+
| Videtur autem quod hic dicitur esse contrarium ei, per quod philosophus probat in sexto physicorum, omne quod movetur esse divisibile, quia pars eius est in termino a quo, et pars in termino ad quem. Sic igitur videtur quod dum aliquid alteratur de albo in nigrum, quando una pars eius est alba, altera sit nigra, et sic non potest esse quod totum simul alteretur sed post partem.
| Now what is said here seems to be contrary to the argument by which the Philosopher proves in Physics VI that everything that is moved is divisible, because part of it is at the terminus a quo and part at the terminus ad quem.
Thus it can be seen that while something is being changed from white to black, when one part of it is white, another is black. This it cannot be that the whole is altered all at once, but rather part after part.
| Dicunt autem quidam, quod intentio philosophi ibi, est ostendere non quidem quod una pars mobilis sit in termino a quo, et alia in termino ad quem; sed quod mobile sit in una parte termini a quo, et in alia parte termini ad quem, et sic in alteratione non oportet quod una pars mobilis prius alteretur quam alia, sed quod totum mobile, quod alteratur, puta de albo in nigrum, habeat partem albedinis et partem nigredinis.
| But some say that the intention of the Philosopher there is to show not that one part of a moveable thing is at the terminus a quo and another at the terminus ad quem, but that the moveable thing is at one part of the terminus a quo and at another part of the terminus ad quem. And so in alteration it is necessary not that one part of the moveable thing be altered before another, but that the whole moveable thing that is altered, for instance from white to black, have a part of whiteness and a part of blackness.
| Hoc autem non convenit intentioni Aristotelis; quia per hoc non probaretur directe quod mobile esset divisibile, sed quod termini motus sint aliqualiter divisibiles, nec etiam competit verbis quibus utitur, sicut patet diligenter literam eius intuenti, in qua manifeste hoc refert ad partes mobiles.
| But this does not agree with Aristotle’s intention, because this would not directly prove that a moveable thing is divisible, but rather that the termini of movement are somehow divisible. Nor again does it agree with the words Aristotle uses, as is clear to anyone who carefully looks at his text, where the passage clearly refers to the parts of the moveable thing.
| Et ideo aliter dicendum est, quod demonstratio illa intelligitur de motu locali, qui est vere et secundum se continuus. Agit enim Aristoteles in sexto physicorum de motu sub ratione continui: motus vero augmenti et alterationis non sunt simpliciter continui, ut dictum est in octavo physicorum. Unde in alteratione non verificatur illud Aristotelis dictum omnino, sed solum quod accipit quamdam continuitatem ex mobili, cuius una pars alterat aliam. Mobile vero, quod totum simul attingitur a virtute primi alterantis, habet se sicut quiddam indivisibile, quantum ad hoc, quod simul alteratur.
| Thus a different explanation has to be given, namely that the demonstration is understood with reference to local movement, which is truly and of itself continuous. For in Physics VI Aristotle treats of movement under the aspect of the continuous. But movements of growth and alteration, as was said in Physics VIII, are not simply continuous.
Hence Aristotle’s remark is not universally true of all alteration, but only of alteration inasmuch as it gets continuity from a moveable thing in which one part alters another. But a moveable thing that the power of the first cause of the alteration reaches all at once, as a whole, is something indivisible inasmuch as it is altered all at once.
| +0+
| Deinde cum dicit rationabiliter autem concludit ex praemissis principale intentum. Et dicit quod rationabiliter in sensibus in quibus est aliquod medium inter sensibile et organum sentiendi, non simul patitur et movetur totum medium, sed successive, praeter quam in lumine: et hoc propter praedicta. Primo quidem, quia illuminatio non fit per motum localem, ut sonatio, sicut Empedocles posuit, sed motum alterationis. Secundo, quia non sunt ibi multi motus, sicut dictum est de odore, sed unus tantum. Quibus addendum est tertio, quia lumen non habet contrarium, sed tenebra opponitur ei sicut simplex privatio, et ideo illuminatio fit subito.
| 447a8 Then, when he says But it is reasonable, he concludes from the foregoing to the principal intention. He says that it is reasonable, in the case of the senses for which there is a medium between the sensible object and the organ of sensing, that the whole medium be affected and moved not all at once, but by succession, except in the case of light, and this because of what has been said: first, because illumination does not, as Empedocles held, occur by local movement, as the spread of sound does, but by alteration; second, because in illumination there are not several movements, as there were said to be in the case of odor, but only one. To these points we must add a third: that light has no contrary, but darkness is rather opposed to it as simple privation, and so illumination occurs all at once.
| Et idem oportet dicere de visione, quia lumen facit videre, unde medium immutatur a visibilibus proportionabiliter lumini.
| And the same must be said about vision, because light causes seeing. And hence the medium is altered by visible objects analogously to the way it is altered by light.
| |