§2.22.
2.
Ἐπεὶ οὖν ζητοῦμεν αἰσθητοῦ σώματος ἀρχάς, τοῦτο δ᾿ ἐστὶν ἁπτοῦ, ἁπιὸν δ᾿ οὗ ἡ αἴσθησις ἁφή, φανερὸν ὅτι οὐ πᾶσαι αἱ ἐναντιώσεις σώματος εἴδη καὶ ἀρχὰς ποιοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ μόνον αἱ κατὰ τὴν ἁφήν· κατ᾿ ἐναντίωσίν τε γὰρ διαφέρουσι, καὶ κατὰ ἁπτὴν ἐναντίωσιν.
Since, then, we are seeking the principles of a sensible body, and this is a tangible body, and a tangible body is that of which the sensation is touch, it is manifest that not all contrarieties of a body produce its forms and principles, but only those according to touch; for they differ according to contrariety, and indeed according to tangible contrariety.
διὸ οὔτε λευκότης καὶ μελανία οὔτε γλυκύτης καὶ πικρότης, ὁμοίως δ᾿ οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐναντιώσεων οὐδὲν ποιεῖ στοιχεῖον.
Therefore, neither whiteness and blackness, nor sweetness and bitterness, and similarly none of the other sensible contrarieties produces an element.
καίτοι πρότερον ὄψις ἁφῆς, ὥστε καὶ τὸ ὑποκείμενον πρότερον.
And yet, sight is prior to touch, so that the underlying subject is also prior.
ἀλλ᾿ οὐκ ἔστι σώματος ἁπτοῦ πάθος ᾗ ἀπτόν, ἀλλὰ καθ᾿ ἕτερον, καὶ εἰ ἔτυχε τῇ φύσει πρότερον.
But they are not affections of a tangible body qua tangible, but according to something else, even if it happens to be prior by nature.
Αὐτῶν δὲ πρῶτον τῶν ἁπτῶν διαιρετέον ποῖαι πρῶται διαφοραὶ καὶ ἐναντιώσεις.
But of the tangibles themselves, we must first divide what kind are the primary differences and contrarieties.
εἰσὶ δ᾿ ἐναντιώσεις κατὰ τὴν ἁρὴν αἵδε, θερμὸν ψυχρόν, ξηρὸν ὑγρόν, βαρὺ κοῦφον, σκληρὸν μαλακόν, γλίσχρον κραῦρον, τραχὺ λεῖον, παχὺ λεπτόν.
And the contrarieties according to touch are these: hot and cold, dry and wet, heavy and light, hard and soft, viscous and brittle, rough and smooth, coarse and fine.
τούτων δὲ βαρὺ μὲν καὶ κοῦφον οὐ ποιητικὰ οὐδὲ παθητικά· οὐ γὰρ τῷ ποιεῖν τι ἕτερον ἢ πάσχειν ὑφ᾿ ἑτέρου λέγονται.
Of these, heavy and light are neither active nor passive; for they are not spoken of in virtue of acting on something else or being acted upon by another.
δεῖ δὲ ποιητικὰ εἶναι ἀλλήλων καὶ παθητικὰ τὰ στοιχεῖα· μίγνυται γὰρ καὶ μεταβάλλει εἰς ἄλληλα.
But the elements must be active and passive toward one another; for they mix and change into one another.
θερμὸν δὲ καὶ ψυχρὸν καὶ ὑγρὸν καὶ ξηρὸν τὰ μὲν τῷ ποιητικὰ εἶνσι τὰ δὲ τῷ παθητικὰ λέγεται· θερμὸν γάρ ἐστι τὸ συγκρῖνον τὰ ὁμογενῆ (τὸ γὰρ διακρίνειν, ὅπερ φασὶ ποιεῖν τὸ πῦρ, συγκρίνειν ἐστὶ τὰ ὁμόφυλα· συμβαίνει γὰρ ἐξαιρεῖν τὰ ἀλλότρια), ψυχρὸν δὲ τὸ συνάγον καὶ συγκρῖνον ὁμοίως τά τε συγγενῆ καὶ τὰ μὴ ὁμόφυλα, ὑγρὸν δὲ τὸ ἀόριστον οἰκείῳ ὅρῳ εὐόριστον ὄν, ξηρὸν δὲ τὸ εὐόριστον μὲν οἰκείῳ ὅρῳ, δυσόριστον δέ.
On the other hand, hot and cold, and wet and dry, are spoken of, some by being active and others by being passive; for hot is that which combines things of the same kind (for 'separating', which they say fire does, is combining things of the same tribe; for it happens that it eliminates foreign matters), while cold is that which brings together and combines similarly both things that are kindred and those that are not of the same tribe, and wet is that which is indefinite by any boundary of its own but is easily bounded, and dry is that which is easily bounded by its own boundary but is difficult to bound.
τὸ δὲ λεπτὸν καὶ παχὺ καὶ γλίσχρον καὶ κραῦρον καὶ σκληρὸν καὶ μαλακὸν καὶ αἱ ἄλλαι διαφοραὶ ἐκ τούτων· ἐπεὶ γὰρ τὸ ἀναπληστικόν ἐστι τοῦ ὑγροῦ διὰ τὸ μὴ ὡρίσθαι μὲν εὐόριστον δ᾿ εἶναι καὶ ἀκολουθεῖν τῷ ἁπτομένῳ, τὸ δὲ λεπτὸν ἀναπληστικόν (λεπτομερές γάρ, καὶ τὸ μικρομερὲς ἀναπληστικόν· ὅλον γὰρ ὅλου ἅπτεται· τὸ δὲ λεπτὸν μάλιστα τοιοῦτοι), φανερὸν ὅτι τὸ μὲν λεπτὸν ἔσται τοῦ ὑγροῦ, τὸ δὲ παχὺ τοῦ ξηροῦ.
And fine and coarse, viscous and brittle, hard and soft, and the other differences are from these; for since the filling property belongs to the wet, because of its not being bounded, but being easily bounded and following that which touches it, and the fine is filling (for it consists of fine parts, and that which consists of small parts is filling; for the whole touches the whole, and the fine is especially of this kind), it is manifest that the fine will belong to the wet, and the coarse to the dry.
πάλιν δὲ τὸ μὲν γλίσχρον τοῦ ὑγροῦ (τὸ γὰρ γλίσχρον ὑγρὸν πεπονθός τί ἐστιν, οἷον τὸ ἔλαιον), τὸ δὲ κραῦρον τοῦ ξηροῦ· κραῦρον γὰρ τὸ τελέως ξηρόν, ὥστε καὶ πεπηγέναι δι᾿ ἔλλειψιν ὑγρότητος.
Again, the viscous belongs to the wet (for the viscous is the wet having been affected in some way, such as oil), and the brittle to the dry; for brittle is that which is completely dry, so as to have even solidified through lack of moisture.
ἔτι τὸ μὲν μαλακὸν τοῦ ὑγροῦ (μαλακὸν γὰρ τὸ ὑπεῖκον εἰς ἑαυτὸ καὶ μὴ μεθιστάμενον, ὅπερ ποιεῖ τὸ ὑγρόν· διὸ καὶ οὐκ ἔστι τὸ ὑγρὸν μαλακόν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μαλακὸν τοῦ ὑγροῦ), τὸ δὲ σκληρὸν τοῦ ξηροῦ· σκληρὸν γάρ ἐστι τὸ πεπηγός, τὸ δὲ πεπηγὸς ξηρόν.
Further, the soft belongs to the wet (for soft is that which yields into itself and does not displace itself, which is what the wet does; wherefore also the wet is not soft, but the soft belongs to the wet), and the hard to the dry; for hard is that which is solidified, and the solidified is dry.
λέγεται δὲ ξηρὸν καὶ ὑγρὸν πλεοναχῶς· ἀντίκειται γὰρ τῷ ξηρῷ καὶ τὸ ὑγρὸν καὶ τὸ διερόν, καὶ πάλιν τῷ ὑγρῷ καὶ τὸ ξηρὸν καὶ τὸ πεπηγός· ἅπαντα δὲ ταῦτ᾿ ἐστὶ τοῦ ξηροῦ καὶ τοῦ ὑγροῦ τῶν πρώτων λεχθέντων.
But dry and wet are spoken of in many ways; for opposed to the dry are both the wet and the moist, and again opposed to the wet are both the dry and the solidified; and all these belong to the dry and the wet which were first mentioned.
ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἀντίκειται τῷ διερῷ τὸ ξηρόν, καὶ διερὸν μέν ἐστι τὸ ἔχον ἀλλοτρίαν ὑγρότητα ἐπιπολῆς, βεβρεγμένον δὲ τὸ εἰς βάθος, ξηρὸν δὲ τὸ ἐστερημένον ταύτης, φανερὸν ὅτι τὸ μὲν διερὸν ἔσται τοῦ ὑγροῦ, τὸ δ᾿ ἀντικείμενον ξηρὸν τοῦ πρώτου ξηροῦ.
For since the dry is opposed to the moist, and the moist is that which has extraneous moisture on the surface, while the sodden is that which has it deep down, and the dry is that which is deprived of this, it is manifest that the moist will belong to the wet, and the opposed dry will belong to the primary dry.
πάλιν δὲ τὸ ὑγρὸν καὶ τὸ πεπηγὸς ὡσαύτως· ὑγρὸν μὲν γάρ ἐστι τὸ ἔχον οἰκείαν ὑγρότητα, βεβρεγμένον δὲ τὸ ἔχον ἀλλοτρίαν ὑγρότητα ἐν τῷ βάθει, πεπηγὸς δὲ τὸ ἐστερημένον ταύτης.
Again, the wet and the solidified are likewise; for wet is that which has its own proper moisture, while the sodden is that which has extraneous moisture in its depth, and the solidified is that which is deprived of this.
ὥστε καὶ τούτων ἔσται τὸ μὲν ξηροῦ τὸ δὲ ὑγροῦ.
So that of these too, one will belong to the dry and the other to the wet.
δῆλον τοίνυν ὅτι πᾶσαι αἱ ἄλλαι διαφοραὶ ἀνάγονται εἰς τὰς πρώτας τέτταρας.
It is clear, then, that all the other differences are reduced to the primary four.
αὗται δὲ οὐκέτι εἰς ἐλάττους· οὔτε γὰρ τὸ θερμὸν ὅπερ ὑγρὸν ἢ ὅπερ ξηρόν, οὔτε τὸ ὑγρὸν ὅπερ θερμὸν ἢ ὅπερ ψυχρόν, οὔτε τὸ ψυχρὸν καὶ τὸ ξηρὸν οὔθ᾿ ὑπ᾿ ἄλληλ᾿ οὔθ᾿ ὑπὸ τὸ θερμὸν καὶ τὸ ὑγρόν εἰσιν· ὥστ᾿ ἀνάγκη τέτταρας εἶναι ταύτας.
And these are no longer reduced to fewer; for neither is the hot that which is wet or that which is dry, nor is the wet that which is hot or that which is cold, nor are the cold and the dry either under each other or under the hot and the wet; so that it is necessary that these be four.