Inviewofthesedistinctionsitisobviousthattheone-sided
theorieswhichsomepeopleexpressaboutallthingscannotbevalid-on
theonehandthetheorythatnothingistruefor，saythey，there
isnothingtopreventeverystatementfrombeinglikethestatement
’thediagonalofasquareiscommensuratewiththeside’，onthe
otherhandthetheorythateverythingistrue。Theseviewsare
practicallythesameasthatofHeraclitus；forhewhosaysthatall
thingsaretrueandallarefalsealsomakeseachofthese
statementsseparately，sothatsincetheyareimpossible，thedouble
statementmustbeimpossibletoo-Again，thereareobviously
contradictorieswhichcannotbeatthesametimetrue-norontheother
handcanallstatementsbefalse；yetthiswouldseemmorepossiblein
thelightofwhathasbeensaid-Butagainstallsuchviewswemust
postulate，aswesaidabove，’notthatsomethingisorisnot，but
thatsomethinghasameaning，sothatwemustarguefromadefinition，
viz。byassumingwhatfalsityortruthmeans。Ifthatwhichitistrue
toaffirmisnothingotherthanthatwhichitisfalsetodeny，it
isimpossiblethatallstatementsshouldbefalse；foronesideofthe
contradictionmustbetrue。Again，ifitisnecessarywithregardto
everythingeithertoassertortodenyit，itisimpossiblethat
bothshouldbefalse；foritisonesideofthecontradictionthat
isfalse-Thereforeallsuchviewsarealsoexposedtotheoften
expressedobjection，thattheydestroythemselves。Forhewhosays
thateverythingistruemakeseventhestatementcontrarytohisown
true，andthereforehisownnottrueforthecontrarystatement
deniesthatitistrue，whilehewhosayseverythingisfalsemakes
himselfalsofalse-Andiftheformerpersonexceptsthecontrary
statement，sayingitaloneisnottrue，whilethelatterexceptshis
ownasbeingnotfalse，nonethelesstheyaredriventopostulatethe
truthorfalsityofaninfinitenumberofstatements；forthatwhich
saysthetruestatementistrueistrue，andthisprocesswillgoon
toinfinity。
Evidently，again，thosewhosayallthingsareatrestarenot
right，norarethosewhosayallthingsareinmovement。Forifall
thingsareatrest，thesamestatementswillalwaysbetrueandthe
samealwaysfalse，-butthisobviouslychanges；forhewhomakesa
statement，himselfatonetimewasnotandagainwillnotbe。Andif
allthingsareinmotion，nothingwillbetrue；everythingtherefore
willbefalse。Butithasbeenshownthatthisisimpossible。Again，
itmustbethatwhichisthatchanges；forchangeisfromsomethingto
something。Butagainitisnotthecasethatallthingsareatrestor
inmotionsometimes，andnothingforever；forthereissomething
whichalwaysmovesthethingsthatareinmotion，andthefirst
moverisitselfunmoved。
’BEGINNING’means1thatpartofathingfromwhichonewould
startfirst，e。galineoraroadhasabeginningineitherofthe
contrarydirections。2Thatfromwhicheachthingwouldbestbe
originated，e。g。eveninlearningwemustsometimesbeginnotfromthe
firstpointandthebeginningofthesubject，butfromthepoint
fromwhichweshouldlearnmosteasily。4Thatfromwhich，asan
immanentpart，athingfirstcomestobe，e，g，asthekeelofaship
andthefoundationofahouse，whileinanimalssomesupposethe
heart，othersthebrain，otherssomeotherpart，tobeofthisnature。
4Thatfromwhich，notasanimmanentpart，athingfirstcomesto
be，andfromwhichthemovementorthechangenaturallyfirst
begins，asachildcomesfromitsfatheranditsmother，andafight
fromabusivelanguage。5Thatatwhosewillthatwhichismovedis
movedandthatwhichchangeschanges，e。g。themagistraciesincities，
andoligarchiesandmonarchiesandtyrannies，arecalledarhchai，
andsoarethearts，andoftheseespeciallythearchitectonicarts。
6Thatfromwhichathingcanfirstbeknown，-thisalsoiscalled
thebeginningofthething，e。g。thehypothesesarethebeginnings
ofdemonstrations。Causesarespokenofinanequalnumberofsenses；
forallcausesarebeginnings。Itiscommon，then，toall
beginningstobethefirstpointfromwhichathingeitherisorcomes
tobeorisknown；butofthesesomeareimmanentinthethingand
othersareoutside。Hencethenatureofathingisabeginning，andso
istheelementofathing，andthoughtandwill，andessence，and
thefinalcause-forthegoodandthebeautifularethebeginning
bothoftheknowledgeandofthemovementofmanythings。
2
’Cause’means1thatfromwhich，asimmanentmaterial，athing
comesintobeing，e。g。thebronzeisthecauseofthestatueandthe
silverofthesaucer，andsoaretheclasseswhichincludethese。
Theformorpattern，i。e。thedefinitionoftheessence，andthe
classeswhichincludethise。g。theratio2:1andnumberingeneral
arecausesoftheoctave，andthepartsincludedinthedefinition。
Thatfromwhichthechangeortherestingfromchangefirst
begins；e。g。theadviserisacauseoftheaction，andthefathera
causeofthechild，andingeneralthemakeracauseofthethingmade
andthechange-producingofthechanging。4Theend，i。e。thatfor
thesakeofwhichathingis；e。g。healthisthecauseofwalking。For
’Whydoesonewalk？’wesay；’thatonemaybehealthy’；andin
speakingthuswethinkwehavegiventhecause。Thesameistrueof
allthemeansthatintervenebeforetheend，whensomethingelsehas
puttheprocessinmotion，ase。g。thinningorpurgingordrugsor
instrumentsintervenebeforehealthisreached；foralltheseare
forthesakeoftheend，thoughtheydifferfromoneanotherinthat
someareinstrumentsandothersareactions。
These，then，arepracticallyallthesensesinwhichcausesare
spokenof，andastheyarespokenofinseveralsensesitfollowsboth
thatthereareseveralcausesofthesamething，andinno
accidentalsensee。g。boththeartofsculptureandthebronzeare
causesofthestatuenotinrespectofanythingelsebutquastatue；
not，however，inthesameway，buttheoneasmatterandtheother
assourceofthemovement，andthatthingscanbecausesofone
anothere。g。exerciseofgoodcondition，andthelatterof
exercise；not，however，inthesameway，buttheoneasendandthe
otherassourceofmovement-Again，thesamethingisthecauseof
contraries；forthatwhichwhenpresentcausesaparticularthing，
wesometimescharge，whenabsent，withthecontrary，e。g。weimpute
theshipwrecktotheabsenceofthesteersman，whosepresencewas
thecauseofsafety；andboth-thepresenceandtheprivation-are
causesassourcesofmovement。
Allthecausesnowmentionedfallunderfoursenseswhichare
themostobvious。Forthelettersarethecauseofsyllables，and
thematerialisthecauseofmanufacturedthings，andfireandearth
andallsuchthingsarethecausesofbodies，andthepartsarecauses
ofthewhole，andthehypothesesarecausesoftheconclusion，in
thesensethattheyarethatoutofwhichtheserespectivelyaremade；
butofthesesomearecauseasthesubstratume。g。theparts，others
astheessencethewhole，thesynthesis，andtheform。Thesemen，
thephysician，theadviser，andingeneraltheagent，areall
sourcesofchangeorofrest。Theremainderarecausesastheend
andthegoodoftheotherthings；forthatforthesakeofwhichother
thingsaretendstobethebestandtheendoftheotherthings；let
ustakeitasmakingnodifferencewhetherwecallitgoodorapparent
good。
These，then，arethecauses，andthisisthenumberoftheir
kinds，butthevarietiesofcausesaremanyinnumber，thoughwhen
summarizedthesealsoarecomparativelyfew。Causesarespokenofin
manysenses，andevenofthosewhichareofthesamekindsomeare
causesinapriorandothersinaposteriorsense，e。g。both’the
physician’and’theprofessionalman’arecausesofhealth，andboth
’theratio2:1’and’number’arecausesoftheoctave，andtheclasses
thatincludeanyparticularcausearealwayscausesofthe
particulareffect。Again，thereareaccidentalcausesandthe
classeswhichincludethese；e。g。whileinonesense’thesculptor’
causesthestatue，inanothersense’Polyclitus’causesit，because
thesculptorhappenstobePolyclitus；andtheclassesthatinclude
theaccidentalcausearealsocauses，e。g。’man’-oringeneral
’animal’-isthecauseofthestatue，becausePolyclitusisaman，
andmanisananimal。Ofaccidentalcausesalsosomearemoreremote
ornearerthanothers，as，forinstance，if’thewhite’and’the
musical’werecalledcausesofthestatue，andnotonly’Polyclitus’
or’man’。Butbesidesallthesevarietiesofcauses，whetherproperor
accidental，somearecalledcausesasbeingabletoact，othersas
acting；e。g。thecauseofthehouse’sbeingbuiltisabuilder，ora
builderwhoisbuilding-Thesamevarietyoflanguagewillbefound
withregardtotheeffectsofcauses；e。g。athingmaybecalledthe
causeofthisstatueorofastatueoringeneralofanimage，and
ofthisbronzeorofbronzeorofmatteringeneral；andsimilarly
inthecaseofaccidentaleffects。Again，bothaccidentalandproper
causesmaybespokenofincombination；e。g。wemaysaynot
’Polyclitus’nor’thesculptor’but’Polyclitusthesculptor’。Yetall
thesearebutsixinnumber，whileeachisspokenofintwoways；
forAtheyarecauseseitherastheindividual，orasthegenus，
orastheaccidental，orasthegenusthatincludestheaccidental，
andtheseeitherascombined，orastakensimply；andBallmaybe
takenasactingorashavingacapacity。Buttheydifferinasmuchas
theactingcauses，i。e。theindividuals，exist，ordonotexist，
simultaneouslywiththethingsofwhichtheyarecauses，e。g。this
particularmanwhoishealing，withthisparticularmanwhois
recoveringhealth，andthisparticularbuilderwiththisparticular
thingthatisbeingbuilt；butthepotentialcausesarenotalways
inthiscase；forthehousedoesnotperishatthesametimeasthe
builder。
’Element’means1theprimarycomponentimmanentinathing，and
indivisibleinkindintootherkinds；e。g。theelementsofspeech
arethepartsofwhichspeechconsistsandintowhichitisultimately
divided，whiletheyarenolongerdividedintootherformsofspeech
differentinkindfromthem。Iftheyaredivided，theirpartsareof
thesamekind，asapartofwateriswaterwhileapartofthe
syllableisnotasyllable。Similarlythosewhospeakoftheelements
ofbodiesmeanthethingsintowhichbodiesareultimatelydivided，
whiletheyarenolongerdividedintootherthingsdifferingin
kind；andwhetherthethingsofthissortareoneormore，theycall
theseelements。Theso-calledelementsofgeometricalproofs，andin
generaltheelementsofdemonstrations，haveasimilarcharacter；
fortheprimarydemonstrations，eachofwhichisimpliedinmany
demonstrations，arecalledelementsofdemonstrations；andtheprimary
syllogisms，whichhavethreetermsandproceedbymeansofonemiddle，
areofthisnature。
2Peoplealsotransfertheword’element’fromthismeaning
andapplyittothatwhich，beingoneandsmall，isusefulformany
purposes；forwhichreasonwhatissmallandsimpleandindivisibleis
calledanelement。Hencecomethefactsthatthemostuniversalthings
areelementsbecauseeachofthembeingoneandsimpleispresent
inapluralityofthings，eitherinallorinasmanyaspossible，
andthatunityandthepointarethoughtbysometobefirst
principles。Now，sincetheso-calledgeneraareuniversaland
indivisibleforthereisnodefinitionofthem，somesaythe
generaareelements，andmoresothanthedifferentia，becausethe
genusismoreuniversal；forwherethedifferentiaispresent，the
genusaccompaniesit，butwherethegenusispresent，the
differentiaisnotalwaysso。Itiscommontoallthemeaningsthat
theelementofeachthingisthefirstcomponentimmanentineach。