Thus，then，arenaturalproductsproduced；allotherproductions
arecalled’makings’。Andallmakingsproceedeitherfromartor
fromafacultyorfromthought。Someofthemhappenalsospontaneously
orbyluckjustasnaturalproductssometimesdo；fortherealsothe
samethingssometimesareproducedwithoutseedaswellasfrom
seed。Concerningthesecases，then，wemustinquirelater，butfrom
artproceedthethingsofwhichtheformisinthesouloftheartist。
ByformImeantheessenceofeachthinganditsprimary
substance。Forevencontrarieshaveinasensethesameform；forthe
substanceofaprivationistheoppositesubstance，e。g。healthisthe
substanceofdiseasefordiseaseistheabsenceofhealth；and
healthistheformulainthesoulortheknowledgeofit。The
healthysubjectisproducedastheresultofthefollowingtrainof
thought:-sincethisishealth，ifthesubjectistobehealthythis
mustfirstbepresent，e。g。auniformstateofbody，andifthisisto
bepresent，theremustbeheat；andthephysiciangoesonthinking
thusuntilhereducesthemattertoafinalsomethingwhichhehimself
canproduce。Thentheprocessfromthispointonward，i。e。theprocess
towardshealth，iscalleda’making’。Thereforeitfollowsthatina
sensehealthcomesfromhealthandhousefromhouse，thatwith
matterfromthatwithoutmatter；forthemedicalartandthe
buildingartaretheformofhealthandofthehouse，andwhenIspeak
ofsubstancewithoutmatterImeantheessence。
Oftheproductionsorprocessesonepartiscalledthinkingand
theothermaking，-thatwhichproceedsfromthestarting-pointand
theformisthinking，andthatwhichproceedsfromthefinalstepof
thethinkingismaking。Andeachoftheother，intermediate，thingsis
producedinthesameway。Imean，forinstance，ifthesubjectisto
behealthyhisbodilystatemustbemadeuniform。Whatthendoesbeing
madeuniformimply？Thisorthat。Andthisdependsonhisbeingmade
warm。Whatdoesthisimply？Somethingelse。Andthissomethingis
presentpotentially；andwhatispresentpotentiallyisalreadyinthe
physician’spower。
Theactiveprinciplethenandthestartingpointfortheprocess
ofbecominghealthyis，ifithappensbyart，theforminthesoul，
andifspontaneously，itisthat，whateveritis，whichstartsthe
making，forthemanwhomakesbyart，asinhealingthestarting-point
isperhapstheproductionofwarmthandthisthephysicianproduces
byrubbing。Warmthinthebody，then，iseitherapartofhealthor
isfollowedeitherdirectlyorthroughseveralintermediatestepsby
somethingsimilarwhichisapartofhealth；andthis，viz。thatwhich
producesthepartofhealth，isthelimiting-point——andsotoowith
ahousethestonesarethelimiting-pointhereandinallother
cases。Therefore，asthesayinggoes，itisimpossiblethatanything
shouldbeproducediftherewerenothingexistingbefore。Obviously
thensomepartoftheresultwillpre-existofnecessity；forthe
matterisapart；forthisispresentintheprocessanditisthis
thatbecomessomething。Butisthematteranelementeveninthe
formula？Wecertainlydescribeinbothwayswhatbrazencirclesare；
wedescribeboththematterbysayingitisbrass，andtheformby
sayingthatitissuchandsuchafigure；andfigureisthe
proximategenusinwhichitisplaced。Thebrazencircle，then，has
itsmatterinitsformula。
Asforthatoutofwhichasmattertheyareproduced，some
thingsaresaid，whentheyhavebeenproduced，tobenotthatbut
’thaten’；e。g。thestatueisnotgoldbutgolden。Andahealthymanis
notsaidtobethatfromwhichhehascome。Thereasonisthat
thoughathingcomesbothfromitsprivationandfromits
substratum，whichwecallitsmattere。g。whatbecomeshealthyis
bothamanandaninvalid，itissaidtocomeratherfromits
privatione。g。itisfromaninvalidratherthanfromamanthata
healthysubjectisproduced。Andsothehealthysubjectisnotsaid
toheaninvalid，buttobeaman，andthemanissaidtobe
healthy。Butasforthethingswhoseprivationisobscureand
nameless，e。g。inbrasstheprivationofaparticularshapeorin
bricksandtimbertheprivationofarrangementasahouse，thething
isthoughttobeproducedfromthesematerials，asintheformer
casethehealthymanisproducedfromaninvalid。Andso，asthere
alsoathingisnotsaidtobethatfromwhichitcomes，herethe
statueisnotsaidtobewoodbutissaidbyaverbalchangetobe
wooden，notbrassbutbrazen，notgoldbutgolden，andthehouseis
saidtobenotbricksbutbrickenthoughweshouldnotsaywithout
qualification，ifwelookedatthemattercarefully，eventhata
statueisproducedfromwoodorahousefrombricks，becausecomingto
beimplieschangeinthatfromwhichathingcomestobe，andnot
permanence。Itisforthisreason，then，thatweusethiswayof
speaking。
Sinceanythingwhichisproducedisproducedbysomethingand
thisIcallthestarting-pointoftheproduction，andfrom
somethingandletthisbetakentobenottheprivationbutthe
matter；forthemeaningweattachtothishasalreadybeenexplained，
andsincesomethingisproducedandthisiseitherasphereora
circleorwhateverelseitmaychancetobe，justaswedonotmake
thesubstratumthebrass，sowedonotmakethesphere，except
incidentally，becausethebrazensphereisasphereandwemakethe
forme。Fortomakea’this’istomakea’this’outofthe
substratuminthefullsenseoftheword。Imeanthattomakethe
brassroundisnottomaketheroundorthesphere，butsomething
else，i。e。toproducethisforminsomethingdifferentfromitself。
Forifwemaketheform，wemustmakeitoutofsomethingelse；for
thiswasassumed。E。g。wemakeabrazensphere；andthatinthe
sensethatoutofthis，whichisbrass，wemakethisother，whichisa
sphere。If，then，wealsomakethesubstratumitself，clearlywe
shallmakeitinthesameway，andtheprocessesofmakingwill
regresstoinfinity。Obviouslythentheformalso，orwhateverwe
oughttocalltheshapepresentinthesensiblething，isnot
produced，noristhereanyproductionofit，noristheessence
produced；forthisisthatwhichismadetobeinsomethingelse
eitherbyartorbynatureorbysomefaculty。Butthatthereisa
brazensphere，thiswemake。Forwemakeitoutofbrassandthe
sphere；webringtheformintothisparticularmatter，andthe
resultisabrazensphere。Butiftheessenceofsphereingeneral
istobeproduced，somethingmustbeproducedoutofsomething。For
theproductwillalwayshavetobedivisible，andonepartmustbe
thisandanotherthat；Imeantheonemustbematterandtheother
form。If，then，asphereis’thefigurewhosecircumferenceisat
allpointsequidistantfromthecentre’，partofthiswillbethe
mediuminwhichthethingmadewillbe，andpartwillbeinthat
medium，andthewholewillbethethingproduced，whichcorrespondsto
thebrazensphere。Itisobvious，then，fromwhathasbeensaid，
thatthatwhichisspokenofasformorsubstanceisnotproduced，but
theconcretethingwhichgetsitsnamefromthisisproduced，andthat
ineverythingwhichisgeneratedmatterispresent，andonepartof
thethingismatterandtheotherform。
Isthere，then，asphereapartfromtheindividualspheresora
houseapartfromthebricks？Ratherwemaysaythatno’this’would
everhavebeencomingtobe，ifthishadbeenso，butthatthe
’form’meansthe’such’，andisnota’this’-adefinitething；butthe
artistmakes，orthefatherbegets，a’such’outofa’this’；andwhen
ithasbeenbegotten，itisa’thissuch’。Andthewhole’this’，
CalliasorSocrates，isanalogousto’thisbrazensphere’，butmanand
animalto’brazensphere’ingeneral。Obviously，then，thecausewhich
consistsoftheFormstakeninthesenseinwhichsomemaintainthe
existenceoftheForms，i。e。iftheyaresomethingapartfromthe
individualsisuseless，atleastwithregardtocomings-to-beand
tosubstances；andtheFormsneednot，forthisreasonatleast，be
self-subsistentsubstances。Insomecasesindeeditisevenobvious
thatthebegetterisofthesamekindasthebegottennot，however，
thesamenoroneinnumber，butinform，i。e。inthecaseof
naturalproductsformanbegetsman，unlesssomethinghappens
contrarytonature，e。g。theproductionofamulebyahorse。And
eventhesecasesaresimilar；forthatwhichwouldbefoundtobe
commontohorseandass，thegenusnextabovethem，hasnotreceiveda
name，butitwoulddoubtlessbebothinfactsomethinglikeamule。
Obviously，therefore，itisquiteunnecessarytosetupaFormasa
patternforweshouldhavelookedforFormsinthesecasesifinany；
forthesearesubstancesifanythingisso；thebegetteris
adequatetothemakingoftheproductandtothecausingoftheform
inthematter。Andwhenwehavethewhole，suchandsuchaformin
thisfleshandinthesebones，thisisCalliasorSocrates；andthey
aredifferentinvirtueoftheirmatterforthatisdifferent，but
thesameinform；fortheirformisindivisible。
Thequestionmightberaised，whysomethingsareproduced
spontaneouslyaswellasbyart，e。g。health，whileothersarenot，
e。g。ahouse。Thereasonisthatinsomecasesthematterwhich
governstheproductioninthemakingandproducingofanyworkofart，
andinwhichapartoftheproductispresent，-somematterissuch
astobesetinmotionbyitselfandsomeisnotofthisnature，and
oftheformerkindsomecanmoveitselfintheparticularway
required，whileothermatterisincapableofthis；formanythingscan
besetinmotionbythemselvesbutnotinsomeparticularway，e。g。
thatofdancing。Thethings，then，whosematterisofthissort，
e。g。stones，cannotbemovedintheparticularwayrequired，exceptby
somethingelse，butinanotherwaytheycanmovethemselves-andso
itiswithfire。Thereforesomethingswillnotexistapartfrom
someonewhohastheartofmakingthem，whileotherswill；formotion
willbestartedbythesethingswhichhavenottheartbutcan
themselvesbemovedbyotherthingswhichhavenottheartorwitha
motionstartingfromapartoftheproduct。
Anditisclearalsofromwhathasbeensaidthatinasenseevery
productofartisproducedfromathingwhichsharesitsnameas
naturalproductsareproduced，orfromapartofitselfwhich
sharesitsnamee。g。thehouseisproducedfromahouse，quaproduced
byreason；fortheartofbuildingistheformofthehouse，or
fromsomethingwhichcontainsaartofit，-ifweexcludethings
producedbyaccident；forthecauseofthething’sproducingthe
productdirectlyperseisapartoftheproduct。Theheatinthe
movementcausedheatinthebody，andthisiseitherhealth，orapart
ofhealth，orisfollowedbyapartofhealthorbyhealthitself。And
soitissaidtocausehealth，becauseitcausesthattowhich
healthattachesasaconsequence。
Therefore，asinsyllogisms，substanceisthestarting-pointof
everything。Itisfrom’whatathingis’thatsyllogismsstart；and
fromitalsowenowfindprocessesofproductiontostart。
Thingswhichareformedbynatureareinthesamecaseasthese
productsofart。Fortheseedisproductiveinthesamewayasthe
thingsthatworkbyart；forithastheformpotentially，andthat
fromwhichtheseedcomeshasinasensethesamenameasthe
offspringonlyinasense，forwemustnotexpectparentandoffspring
alwaystohaveexactlythesamename，asintheproductionof’human
being’from’human’fora’woman’alsocanbeproducedbya
’man’-unlesstheoffspringbeanimperfectform；whichisthereason
whytheparentofamuleisnotamule。Thenaturalthingswhichlike
theartificialobjectspreviouslyconsideredcanbeproduced
spontaneouslyarethosewhosemattercanbemovedevenbyitselfin
thewayinwhichtheseedusuallymovesit；thosethingswhichhave
notsuchmattercannotbeproducedexceptfromtheparentanimals
themselves。
Butnotonlyregardingsubstancedoesourargumentprovethat
itsformdoesnotcometobe，buttheargumentappliestoallthe
primaryclassesalike，i。e。quantity，quality，andtheother
categories。Forasthebrazenspherecomestobe，butnotthesphere
northebrass，andsotoointhecaseofbrassitself，ifitcomes
tobe，itisitsconcreteunitythatcomestobeforthematterand
theformmustalwaysexistbefore，soisitbothinthecaseof
substanceandinthatofqualityandquantityandtheothercategories
likewise；forthequalitydoesnotcometobe，butthewoodofthat
quality，andthequantitydoesnotcometobe，butthewoodorthe
animalofthatsize。Butwemaylearnfromtheseinstancesa
peculiarityofsubstance，thattheremustexistbeforehandincomplete
realityanothersubstancewhichproducesit，e。g。ananimalifan
animalisproduced；butitisnotnecessarythataqualityorquantity
shouldpre-existotherwisethanpotentially。