第6章
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  Ithas。

  Thenitwillneitherpartakeofonemeasure,norofmany,noroffew,norofthesameatall,norbeequaltoitselforanother;norbegreaterorlessthanitself,orother?

  Certainly。

  Well,anddowesupposethatonecanbeolder,oryoungerthananything,orofthesameagewithit?

  Whynot?

  Why,becausethatwhichisofthesameagewithitselforother,mustpartakeofequalityorlikenessoftime;andwesaidthattheonedidnotpartakeeitherofequalityoroflikeness?

  Wedidsayso。

  Andwealsosaid,thatitdidnotpartakeofinequalityorunlikeness。

  Verytrue。

  Howthencanone,beingofthisnature,beeitherolderoryoungerthananything,orhavethesameagewithit?

  Innoway。

  Thenonecannotbeolderoryounger,orofthesameage,eitherwithitselforwithanother?

  Clearlynot。

  Thentheone,beingofthisnature,cannotbeintimeatall;formustnotthatwhichisintime,bealwaysgrowingolderthanitself?

  Certainly。

  Andthatwhichisolder,mustalwaysbeolderthansomethingwhichisyounger?

  True。

  Then,thatwhichbecomesolderthanitself,alsobecomesatthesametimeyoungerthanitself,ifitistohavesomethingtobecomeolderthan。

  Whatdoyoumean?

  Imeanthis:—Athingdoesnotneedtobecomedifferentfromanotherthingwhichisalreadydifferent;itisdifferent,andifitsdifferenthasbecome,ithasbecomedifferent;ifitsdifferentwillbe,itwillbedifferent;butofthatwhichisbecomingdifferent,therecannothavebeen,orbeabouttobe,oryetbe,adifferent—theonlydifferentpossibleisonewhichisbecoming。

  Thatisinevitable。

  But,surely,theelderisadifferencerelativetotheyounger,andtonothingelse。

  True。

  Thenthatwhichbecomesolderthanitselfmustalso,atthesametime,becomeyoungerthanitself?

  Yes。

  Butagain,itistruethatitcannotbecomeforalongerorforashortertimethanitself,butitmustbecome,andbe,andhavebecome,andbeabouttobe,forthesametimewithitself?

  Thatagainisinevitable。

  Thenthingswhichareintime,andpartakeoftime,mustineverycase,Isuppose,beofthesameagewiththemselves;andmustalsobecomeatonceolderandyoungerthanthemselves?

  Yes。

  Buttheonedidnotpartakeofthoseaffections?

  Notatall。

  Thenitdoesnotpartakeoftime,andisnotinanytime?

  Sotheargumentshows。

  Well,butdonottheexpressions\"was,\"and\"hasbecome,\"and\"wasbecoming,\"signifyaparticipationofpasttime?

  Certainly。

  Anddonot\"willbe,\"\"willbecome,\"\"willhavebecome,\"signifyaparticipationoffuturetime?

  Yes。

  And\"is,\"or\"becomes,\"signifiesaparticipationofpresenttime?

  Certainly。

  Andiftheoneisabsolutelywithoutparticipationintime,itneverhadbecome,orwasbecoming,orwasatanytime,orisnowbecomeorisbecoming,oris,orwillbecome,orwillhavebecome,orwillbe,hereafter。

  Mosttrue。

  Butarethereanymodesofpartakingofbeingotherthanthese?

  Therearenone。

  Thentheonecannotpossiblypartakeofbeing?

  Thatistheinference。

  Thentheoneisnotatall?

  Clearlynot。

  Thentheonedoesnotexistinsuchwayastobeone;forifitwereandpartookofbeing,itwouldalreadybe;butiftheargumentistobetrusted,theoneneitherisnorisone?

  True。

  Butthatwhichisnotadmitsofnoattributeorrelation?

  Ofcoursenot。

  Thenthereisnoname,norexpression,norperception,noropinion,norknowledgeofit?

  Clearlynot。

  Thenitisneithernamed,norexpressed,noropined,norknown,nordoesanythingthatisperceiveit。

  Sowemustinfer。

  Butcanallthisbetrueabouttheone?

  Ithinknot。

  Suppose,now,thatwereturnoncemoretotheoriginalhypothesis;

  letusseewhether,onafurtherreview,anynewaspectofthequestionappears。

  Ishallbeveryhappytodoso。

  Wesaythatwehavetoworkouttogetheralltheconsequences,whatevertheymaybe,whichfollow,iftheoneis?

  Yes。

  Thenwewillbeginatthebeginning:—Ifoneis,canonebe,andnotpartakeofbeing?

  Impossible。

  Thentheonewillhavebeing,butitsbeingwillnotbethesamewiththeone;forifthesame,itwouldnotbethebeingoftheone;

  norwouldtheonehaveparticipatedinbeing,forthepropositionthatoneiswouldhavebeenidenticalwiththepropositionthatoneisone;

  butourhypothesisisnotifoneisone,whatwillfollow,butifoneis:—amInotright?

  Quiteright。

  Wemeantosay,thatbeinghasnotthesamesignificanceasone?

  Ofcourse。

  Andwhenweputthemtogethershortly,andsay\"Oneis,\"thatisequivalenttosaying,\"partakesofbeing\"?

  Quitetrue。

  Oncemorethenletusask,ifoneiswhatwillfollow。Doesnotthishypothesisnecessarilyimplythatoneisofsuchanatureastohaveparts?

  Howso?

  Inthisway:—Ifbeingispredicatedoftheone,iftheoneis,andoneofbeing,ifbeingisone;andifbeingandonearenotthesame;andsincetheone,whichwehaveassumed,is,mustnotthewhole,ifitisone,itselfbe,andhaveforitsparts,oneandbeing?

  Certainly。

  Andiseachoftheseparts—oneandbeingtobesimplycalledapart,ormusttheword\"part\"berelativetotheword\"whole\"?

  Thelatter。

  Thenthatwhichisoneisbothawholeandhasapart?

  Certainly。

  Again,ofthepartsoftheone,ifitis—Imeanbeingandone—doeseitherfailtoimplytheother?istheonewantingtobeing,orbeingtotheone?

  Impossible。

  Thus,eachofthepartsalsohasinturnbothoneandbeing,andisattheleastmadeupoftwoparts;andthesameprinciplegoesonforever,andeverypartwhateverhasalwaysthesetwoparts;forbeingalwaysinvolvesone,andonebeing;sothatoneisalwaysdisappearing,andbecomingtwo。

  Certainly。

  Andsotheone,ifitis,mustbeinfiniteinmultiplicity?

  Clearly。

  Letustakeanotherdirection。

  Whatdirection?

  Wesaythattheonepartakesofbeingandthereforeitis?

  Yes。

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