Generation & Corruption

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Chapter 1:
Our next task is to study coming-to-be and passing-away, distinguishing their causes and defining these processes in general. We will examine growth and alteration, questioning if alteration is the same as coming-to-be or if they are distinct processes. Early philosophers are divided on this: some assert that unqualified coming-to-be is alteration, while others see them as distinct. Those who believe in a single underlying substance view coming-to-be as alteration, while those positing multiple substances, like Empedocles and Anaxagoras, separate the two processes. Anaxagoras sees coming-to-be and passing-away as alteration despite affirming multiple elements.
Chapter 2:
We must discuss unqualified coming-to-be and passing-away, investigating if and how they occur, and examine growth and alteration. Plato focused only on the coming-to-be of elements, neglecting how compound things like flesh or bones form and how alteration or growth happen. This criticism applies to all predecessors except Democritus, who considered all problems thoroughly and distinguished his method. Most philosophers thought coming-to-be distinct from alteration, associating coming-to-be with association and dissociation of elements and alteration with quality changes. Democritus and Leucippus postulated figures causing alteration and coming-to-be through dissociation and association, addressing many unanswered questions.
Chapter 3:
We must first consider whether anything comes-to-be and passes-away unqualifiedly or if everything always comes-to-be something out of something, e.g., healthy from ill. For unqualified coming-to-be, something must come-to-be from not-being, making not-being an attribute of some things. Qualified coming-to-be arises from qualified not-being (e.g., not-white), but unqualified coming-to-be arises from unqualified not-being. We have discussed these problems in another work, establishing that things come-to-be from what potentially is but actually is not. Coming-to-be implies pre-existence of something potentially being. Understanding this distinction is crucial for further examination of coming-to-be and passing-away.
Chapter 4:
Difference Between Coming-to-Be and Alteration:
Coming-to-be and alteration are distinct. Alteration occurs when the substratum is perceptible and persists, but changes in its properties, which are opposed as contraries or intermediates. For example, a body remains the same but changes from healthy to ill, or bronze changes shape while remaining the same bronze. When the substratum does not persist and the thing changes as a whole, such as seed to blood or water to air, it is coming-to-be or passing-away, not alteration. Changes in quantity are growth and diminution, changes in place are motion, and changes in property are alteration.
Chapter 5:
Difference Between Growth, Coming-to-Be, and Alteration:
We must explain the differences between growth, coming-to-be, and alteration, and the processes of growing and diminishing. Growth differs from coming-to-be as it involves the increase in magnitude, while coming-to-be involves a change from potential to actual substance. Alteration is a change in quality. Growth necessitates a change in spatial position but retains the identity of the growing thing. For example, a body grows by the accession of matter, changing its spatial position without changing its essential form. Growth, therefore, is an increase in magnitude, not a change in substance or quality.
Chapter 6:
Investigating the matter of coming-to-be involves understanding whether elements are eternal or come-to-be, and if they do, whether they transform reciprocally or if one is primary. Pluralist philosophers use dissociation, association, action, and passion to explain this process. Combination, involving touching and interaction, is essential for understanding these changes. Contact occurs when separate magnitudes with position have their extremes together. Action and passion require things to touch, and the nature of touching involves position and place. Movers impart motion either by being moved themselves or by remaining unmoved, leading to diverse interactions.
Chapter 7:
Next, we discuss action and passion. Most thinkers argue that like cannot affect like, while unlikes can act on each other. Democritus, however, believes agent and patient are identical, meaning action occurs between likes. This conflict arises because each group considers only part of the issue. Contraries, within a single kind, reciprocally act and suffer action. Agent and patient must be identical in kind but contrary in species. This explains why fire heats and cold cools: action changes the patient into the agent. Both views hold some truth, emphasizing the interplay of substratum and contraries.
Chapter 8:
Some philosophers think the agent acts through pores, explaining sensory perception and combination. Leucippus and Democritus assert that indivisible atoms move in a void, creating coming-to-be and passing-away through contact and separation. Empedocles suggests solids have pores, but this is similar to Leucippus' theory. Problems arise with the idea of indivisible solids and their properties. If properties like heat and cold belong to indivisibles, it leads to paradoxes. Furthermore, the concept of pores is unnecessary; bodies can interact without them if they are naturally adapted for action and passion. Thus, pores are superfluous in explaining interaction.
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Chapter 2-1:
We have discussed ‘combination,’ ‘contact,’ ‘action-passion,’ and ‘alteration.’ Next, we investigate the ‘elements’ of bodies, their underlying matter, and philosophers' disagreements. We agree that primary materials, undergoing change, result in coming-to-be and passing-away. Matter underlying contrary qualities is always inseparable. There are three ‘originative sources’: perceptible body, contrarieties (heat/cold), and primary bodies (Fire, Water). These sources are derived from matter and contrarieties, not changing themselves but changing into one another. Elements are defined by tangible qualities, segregating them to primary hot-cold and dry-moist qualities.
Chapter 2-2:
Primary bodies are differentiated by tangible contrarieties (hot-cold, dry-moist) corresponding to touch. Heavy-light are not active or susceptible, while hot and cold, and dry and moist are terms implying action and susceptibility. Hot associates things, cold brings together homogeneous and heterogeneous things. Moist is adaptable, dry is determinable by its limit. Derived qualities include fine-coarse, viscous-brittle, and hard-soft. The moist derives fine, viscous, and soft; dry derives coarse, brittle, and hard. Damp opposes dry, solidified opposes moist. Primary differences reduce to four: hot-cold and dry-moist.
Chapter 2-3:
Elementary qualities combine into four couples: hot-dry, hot-moist, cold-dry, and cold-moist. Fire, Air, Water, and Earth possess these combinations: Fire is hot and dry, Air is hot and moist, Water is cold and moist, and Earth is cold and dry. Elements convert into one another through interchangeable qualities. Fire becomes Air (hot and dry to hot and moist), Air becomes Water (hot and moist to cold and moist), Water becomes Earth (cold and moist to cold and dry), and Earth becomes Fire (cold and dry to hot and dry).
Chapter 2-4:
The coming-to-be of simple bodies is reciprocal and perceptible, involving transformation through contraries. All elements change into one another, either quickly (with complementary factors) or slowly (without). Transformations include Fire to Air, Air to Water, Water to Earth, and Earth to Fire. Conversion methods vary in speed and difficulty, with some transformations requiring the change of more qualities than others. The cyclical transformation of elements (Fire to Water, Air to Earth, etc.) confirms their mutual conversion, based on the passing-away of qualities.
Chapter 2-5:
Elements (Water, Air, etc.) cannot all originate from a single source, as change requires contrariety. They undergo transformation into one another, involving multiple qualities. Elements must be more than two, as contrarieties are at least two, making four elements: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. Each element undergoes transformation into others, disproving the idea of a single originative source. Elements are interconnected and transform cyclically, proving their mutual conversion. An infinite number of contrarieties or elements leads to indefinability and impossibility of transformation, emphasizing the necessity of a finite set of elements.
Chapter 2-6:
Empedocles' theory of elements being comparable yet not transformable into one another presents several difficulties. If elements are comparable by amount or power of action, they must share a common measure. However, growth becomes impossible under his theory unless it's by addition, contradicting the natural process of growth. Moreover, his theory doesn't adequately explain natural coming-to-be, which occurs regularly and not by chance. The cause of proportional consilience remains unexplained. Additionally, Empedocles’ account of motion is vague, as it doesn’t clarify whether Love and Strife inherently possess the capacity to move elements, resulting in paradoxical implications.
Chapter 2-7:
Theories suggesting elements share a common matter and transform reciprocally are interconnected. Those denying elements' mutual transformation face challenges in explaining compound formation. If elements come-to-be from one another, how do distinct compounds arise? Empedocles’ notion implies composition, with small particles of elements juxtaposed. For those positing a single matter for elements, explaining transformation remains difficult. A potential solution is considering hot and cold in varying degrees, producing intermediates from combined contraries. Elements transform through mutual action, leading to the formation of compounds like flesh and bone, which result from balanced contraries reaching a mean state.
Chapter 2-8:
All compound bodies in the central region contain all simple bodies (Earth, Water, Air, and Fire). They include Earth for coherence, Water for shape adaptability, and Air and Fire due to their contrariness to Earth and Water. Compounds must contain contrasting elements, and the evidence comes from the diversity of substances in their diet. Even plants, primarily fed by Water, contain mixed elements. Fire, unique among elements, is ‘fed’ due to its nature and affinity to form, demonstrating why it alone among simple bodies is continuously fueled, supporting the theory that all compounds are composed of all elements.
Chapter 2-9:
Coming-to-be and passing-away occur in the central region, with originative sources equal in number and kind to those of primary eternal things: matter, form, and a third cause. Material origin for things is ‘that which can be-and-not-be,’ leading to generation and corruption within this realm. The form is their defining nature. A third cause, often overlooked, is necessary for continuous generation. Philosophers like Socrates and those focusing solely on matter missed this. Continuous coming-to-be follows from eternal motion causing the generator’s cyclical approach and retreat, ensuring perpetual natural processes and aligning with Nature’s pursuit of ‘the better.’
Chapter 2-10:
Continuous motion causes perpetual coming-to-be and passing-away. Eternal, circular motion generates these processes by alternating proximity and distance, leading to generation and decay. Approaching causes generation, retreating causes decay, resulting in equal durations for both. Observations confirm this: seasonal changes correlate with these processes, indicating the sun's influence. Coming-to-be and passing-away are thus constant due to circular motion. The theory aligns with Nature's pursuit of ‘the better,’ ensuring coherence and continuity in existence. Circular motion’s continuity makes time continuous, further supporting perpetual natural cycles, preventing the elements from becoming separated over time.

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Chapter 1:
We discussed combination, contact, action-passion, alteration, and elements' primary sources.
Chapter 2:
Elements defined by tangible contrarieties: hot-cold, dry-moist, heavy-light.
Chapter 3:
Elements combine into four couples: hot-dry, hot-moist, cold-dry, cold-moist.
Chapter 4:
Simple bodies change reciprocally: Fire to Air, Water to Earth.
Chapter 5:
Elements transform cyclically, disproving single origin source theory.
Chapter 6:
Empedocles’ elements aren’t transformed but compared, raising questions of growth.
Chapter 7:
Elements are comparable, reciprocal, and transform, forming compounds.
Chapter 8:
Compound bodies contain all elements: Earth, Water, Air, and Fire.
Chapter 9:
Elements' sources: matter, form, and a third originative cause.
Chapter 10:
Continuous motion drives perpetual coming-to-be and passing-away cycles.
Chapter 11:
Continuity shows consecutiveness: events occur without interval, some necessarily.
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