Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers

​Of opposites, then, some are opposite as goods to evils, some as evils to evils, and some as neutrals to neutrals. There are three genera of goods: for some are possessable, some participable, and some inherent. Now possessable goods are all those which it is possible to possess, such as justice and health; participable goods are all those which it is not possible to possess, but in which it is possible to participate, as it is not possible to possess the Good itself, but it is possible to participate in it. Inherent goods are all those which it is possible neither to participate in nor to possess, but which must belong inherently: as being virtuous and being just is a good; and it is possible neither to possess nor to participate in these, but they must belong inherently. Of goods, then, some are possessable, some participable, and some inherent.

​Deliberation is divided into three: for one kind of it is taken from past times, one from future times, and one from present times. Now that taken from the past consists of examples, such as what the Lacedaemonians suffered through having trusted; that from the present consists of showing, for instance, that walls are weak, men are cowardly, provisions are scarce; and that from the future consists of such advice as not to wrong the embassies on mere suspicions, so that Greece may not fall into disrepute. Of deliberation, then, some is from the past, some from the present, and some from the future.

​Voice (sound) is divided into two: one kind of it is animate, and one inanimate. Animate is the voice of animals, while inanimate consists of sounds and noises. Of animate voice, one kind is literate (articulate), and the other illiterate (inarticulate). The literate is that of human beings, and the illiterate that of animals. Of voice, then, one is animate and the other inanimate. Of existing things, some are divisible, and some indivisible. Of these divisible things, some are homoeomerous (with parts like the whole), and some anomoeomerous (with parts unlike the whole). Indivisible things are all those which admit of no division and are not compounded of anything, such as the monad, the point, and the musical tone; and divisible things are all those which are compounded of something, such as syllables, concords, animals, water, and gold.

​Homoeomerous things are all those which are compounded of like parts and where the whole differs in no respect from the part except in quantity, such as water, gold, all that is fusible, and the like. Anomoeomerous things are all those which are compounded of unlike parts, such as a house and the like. Of existing things, then, some are divisible and some indivisible; and of the divisible, some are homoeomerous and some anomoeomerous. Of existing things, some are spoken of in themselves (absolute), and some in relation to something (relative). Those spoken of in themselves are all those which in their expression need nothing further; these would be such as man, horse, and the other animals.

​For none of these proceeds by way of relative qualification. But those spoken of in relation to something are all those which need some qualification, such as what is larger than something, faster than something, more beautiful, and the like; for the larger is larger than the smaller, and the faster is faster than something. Of existing things, then, some are spoken of in themselves, and some in relation to something. In this way too, according to Aristotle, he used to divide the primary terms. There was also another Plato, a philosopher of Rhodes, a pupil of Panaetius, as Seleucus the grammarian says in the first book of On Philosophy; and another, a Peripatetic, a pupil of Aristotle; and another, a pupil of Praxiphanes; and the poet of the Old Comedy.