John of Damascus, Dialectic Brief Recension

of inanimate things, the older one; but they are also used improperly for one another. -second, that which is prior by nature, which is implied, but does not imply, and which destroys but is not destroyed with, as animal is prior to man; for if there is no animal, there will be no man, for man is an animal. But if there is no man, there will be an animal, for both the horse and the dog are animals; and if man exists, there will certainly be an animal, for man is an animal. But if an animal exists, not necessarily a man, but perhaps a horse, a dog; for these are also animals. -third, that which is according to order, just as we say first alpha, second beta, then the syllables, then the numbers. -fourth, that which is according to worth, as we say: first bishop, then presbyter. But some reject this mode; for it is possible for the first according to order to be later according to worth. - fifth, as we say the cause and the effect, as Socrates is prior to his own image; for he himself is the cause of his own image. And the father is prior to and greater than the son; for the father is the cause of the son, for the son is born from the father. Therefore also the blessed Gregory took what was said by our Lord in the holy gospels according to this meaning: "My Father is greater than I." But others add that which is according to conception, as the wall is prior to the foundations. But this is referred to the fourth mode, that according to worth; for that which is prior in conception is later in reality. In as many ways as the prior, in so many ways also the later. But the prior and the later and the more and the less are not homonyms but from one thing. 44 Concerning 'at the same time'. 'At the same time' is said properly, of things whose generation is at the same time, as for instance two certain persons were born in the same instant. This mode is opposed to the first mode of the meanings of 'prior'. A second meaning of 'at the same time' is things that coexist with one another and are not cause or effect of one another, as the double and the half; for they coexist at the same time and destroy one another and imply one another. But this mode is opposed to the second and the fifth mode of 'prior'; for in the second they do not imply nor destroy one another, while in the fifth the one is cause, the other effect. A third meaning of 'at the same time' is the species which are contradistinguished; and contradistinguished species are said to be those derived from the same division, as for instance the rational and the irrational from the animal. But this mode is opposed to the first and the second and almost to the other three. 45 Concerning motion. Motion is the actuality of what is potential, insofar as it is such, as for instance bronze is potentially a statue; for bronze is able to receive the form of the statue. The actuality, therefore, of the bronze that is potentially a statue is to be melted down, to be molded, to be polished, which are motions. In as many categories, therefore, as the potential is considered, in these will motion be considered; but in as many as the potential is not considered, motion will not be considered either. It is considered, therefore, in the category of substance, in that of quantity, in that of quality, in that of place. In substance, generation and corruption; in quantity, increase and decrease; in quality, alteration; and in place, that which is borne in a circle, which is called revolution, and that which is moved in a straight line, which is called rectilinear motion. And of rectilinear motion there are six differences: up, down, in, out, right, left. Wherefore with revolution there are seven local motions; for everything that changes either in itself

ἀψύχων τὸ παλαιότερον· καταχρηστικῶς δὲ καὶ ἀντ' ἀλλήλων λαμβάνονται. -δεύτερον δὲ τὸ φύσει πρότερον, ὅπερ συνεισφέρεται μέν, οὐ συνεισφέρει δέ, καὶ συναναιρεῖ καὶ οὐ συναναιρεῖται ὡς τὸ ζῷον πρότερον τοῦ ἀνθρώπου· ζῴου γὰρ μὴ ὄντος οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπος ἔσται, ζῷον γὰρ ὁ ἄνθρωπος. Ἀνθρώπου δὲ μὴ ὄντος ἔσται ζῷον, καὶ ὁ ἵππος γὰρ καὶ ὁ κύων ζῷά εἰσι· καὶ ἀνθρώπου ὄντος πάντως ἔσται ζῷον, ζῷον γὰρ ὁ ἄνθρωπος. Ζῴου δὲ ὄντος οὐ πάντως ἄνθρωπος ἀλλ' ἴσως ἵππος, κύων· καὶ ταῦτα γὰρ ζῷά εἰσι. -τρίτον τὸ κατὰ τάξιν, ὥσπερ φαμὲν πρῶτον τὸ ˉα, δεύτερον τὸ ˉβ, εἶτα τὰ συλλάβια, εἶτα αἱ ψῆφοι. -τέταρτον τὸ κατ' ἀξίαν, ὥς φαμεν· πρῶτον ἐπίσκοπος, εἶτα πρεσβύτερος. Ἐκβάλλουσι δὲ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον τινές· ἐνδέχεται γὰρ τὸν πρῶτον κατὰ τάξιν ὕστερον εἶναι κατ' ἀξίαν. - πέμπτον, ὥς φαμεν τὸ αἴτιον καὶ αἰτιατόν, ὡς ὁ Σωκράτης πρότερος τῆς ἰδίας εἰκόνος· αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν αἴτιος τῆς ἰδίας εἰκόνος. Καὶ ὁ πατὴρ πρότερος καὶ μείζων τοῦ υἱοῦ· ὁ γὰρ πατήρ ἐστιν αἴτιος τοῦ υἱοῦ, ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ πατρὸς ὁ υἱὸς γεννᾶται. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Γρηγόριος κατὰ τοῦτο τὸ σημαινόμενον ἔλαβε τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς εὐαγγελίοις ῥηθέν· «Ὁ πατήρ μου μείζων μού ἐστιν.» Ἄλλοι δὲ προστιθέασι τὸ κατ' ἐπίνοιαν, ὡς πρότερον τῶν θεμελίων τὸν τοῖχον. Τοῦτο δὲ ἀνάγεται ὑπὸ τὸν τέταρτον τρόπον, τὸν κατ' ἀξίαν· τὸ γὰρ τῇ ἐπινοίᾳ πρότερον, τοῦτο τῷ πράγματι ὕστερον. Ὁσαχῶς δὲ τὸ πρότερον, τοσαυταχῶς καὶ τὸ ὕστερον. Τὸ δὲ πρότερον καὶ τὸ ὕστερον καὶ τὸ μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον οὔκ εἰσι τῶν ὁμωνύμων ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀφ' ἑνός. 44 Περὶ τοῦ ἅμα. Ἅμα λέγεται κυρίως μέν, ὧν ἡ γένεσις ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ χρόνῳ, οἷον δύο τινὲς ἐγεννήθησαν ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ ῥοπῇ. Οὗτος ὁ τρόπος ἀντίκειται τῷ πρώτῳ τρόπῳ τῶν σημαινομένων τοῦ προτέρου. ∆εύτερον σημαινόμενον τῶν ἅμα τὰ ἀλλήλοις συνυπάρχοντα καὶ μὴ ὄντα ἕτερον ἑτέρου αἴτιον ἢ αἰτιατὸν ὡς τὸ διπλάσιον καὶ τὸ ἥμισυ· ἅμα γὰρ συνυπάρχουσι καὶ συναναιροῦσιν ἄλληλα καὶ συνεισφέρουσιν. Οὗτος δὲ ὁ τρόπος ἀντίκειται τῷ δευτέρῳ καὶ τῷ πέμπτῳ τρόπῳ τοῦ προτέρου· ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ δευτέρῳ οὐ συνεισάγουσιν οὐδὲ συναναιροῦσιν ἄλληλα, ἐν δὲ τῷ πέμπτῳ τὸ μὲν αἴτιον, τὸ δὲ αἰτιατόν. Τρίτον σημαινόμενον τῶν ἅμα τὰ ἀντιδιῃρημένα εἴδη· ἀντιδιῃρημένα δὲ εἴδη λέγεται τὰ ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς διαιρέσεως κατενεχθέντα οἷον τὸ λογικὸν καὶ τὸ ἄλογον ἐκ τοῦ ζῴου. Οὗτος δὲ ὁ τρόπος ἀντίκειται τῷ πρώτῳ καὶ τῷ δευτέρῳ καὶ σχεδὸν τοῖς ἄλλοις τρισί. 45 Περὶ κινήσεως. Κίνησίς ἐστιν ἐντελέχεια τοῦ δυνάμει, καθὸ τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν, οἷον ὁ χαλκὸς δυνάμει ἐστὶν ἀνδριάς· δύναται γὰρ ὁ χαλκὸς ἀπολαβεῖν τὸ εἶδος τοῦ ἀνδριάντος. Ἐντελέχεια οὖν ἐστι τοῦ χαλκοῦ τοῦ δυνάμει ὄντος ἀνδριάντος τὸ διαλύεσθαι, τὸ διαπλάττεσθαι, τὸ διαξέεσθαι, ἅπερ εἰσὶ κινήσεις. Ἐν ὅσαις οὖν κατηγορίαις θεωρεῖται τὸ δυνάμει, ἐν ταύταις θεωρηθήσεται ἡ κίνησις· ἐν ὅσαις δὲ οὐ θεωρεῖται τὸ δυνάμει, οὐδὲ ἡ κίνησις θεωρηθήσεται. Θεωρεῖται οὖν ἐν τῇ οὐσίᾳ, ἐν τῷ ποσῷ, ἐν τῷ ποιῷ, ἐν τῇ ποῦ κατηγορίᾳ. Ἐν μὲν τῇ οὐσίᾳ γένεσις καὶ φθορά, ἐν δὲ τῷ ποσῷ αὔξησις καὶ μείωσις, ἐν δὲ τῷ ποιῷ ἀλλοίωσις, ἐν δὲ τῇ ποῦ τὸ κύκλῳ φερόμενον, ὅπερ καλεῖται περιφορά, καὶ τὸ ἐπ' εὐθείας κινούμενον, ὅπερ λέγεται ἐπ' εὐθείας κίνησις. Τῆς δὲ ἐπ' εὐθείας κινήσεως διαφοραί εἰσιν ἕξ· τὸ ἄνω, τὸ κάτω, τὸ ἔσω, τὸ ἔξω, τὸ δεξιά, τὸ ἀριστερά. ∆ιὸ μετὰ τῆς περιφορᾶς ἑπτὰ τοπικαὶ κινήσεις εἰσί· πᾶν γὰρ μεταβαλλόμενον ἢ καθ' αὑτὸ