§1.2#1ἐπεὶ δὲ ταύτην τὴν ἐπιστήμην ζητοῦμεν, τοῦτʼ ἂν εἴη σκεπτέον, ἡ περὶ ποίας αἰτίας καὶ περὶ ποίας ἀρχὰς ἐπιστήμη σοφία ἐστίν.
Since we are seeking this science, this must be considered: what kind of causes and what kind of principles the science which is wisdom is concerned with.
εἰ δὴ λάβοι τις τὰς ὑπολήψεις ἃς ἔχομεν περὶ τοῦ σοφοῦ, τάχʼ ἂν ἐκ τούτου φανερὸν γένοιτο μᾶλλον.
If indeed we should take the conceptions we have about the wise man, perhaps from this it would become more apparent.
ὑπολαμβάνομεν δὴ πρῶτον μὲν ἐπίστασθαι πάντα τὸν σοφὸν ὡς ἐνδέχεται, μὴ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἔχοντα ἐπιστήμην αὐτῶν· εἶτα τὸν τὰ χαλεπὰ γνῶναι δυνάμενον καὶ μὴ ῥᾴδια ἀνθρώπῳ γιγνώσκειν, τοῦτον σοφόν (τὸ γὰρ αἰσθάνεσθαι πάντων κοινόν, διὸ ῥᾴδιον καὶ οὐδὲν σοφόν)· ἔτι τὸν ἀκριβέστερον καὶ τὸν διδασκαλικώτερον τῶν αἰτιῶν σοφώτερον εἶναι περὶ πᾶσαν ἐπιστήμην· καὶ τῶν ἐπιστημῶν δὲ τὴν αὑτῆς ἕνεκεν καὶ τοῦ εἰδέναι χάριν αἱρετὴν οὖσαν μᾶλλον εἶναι σοφίαν ἢ τὴν τῶν ἀποβαινόντων ἕνεκεν, καὶ τὴν ἀρχικωτέραν τῆς ὑπηρετούσης μᾶλλον σοφίαν· οὐ γὰρ δεῖν ἐπιτάττεσθαι τὸν σοφὸν ἀλλʼ ἐπιτάττειν, καὶ οὐ τοῦτον ἑτέρῳ πείθεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τούτῳ τὸν ἧττον σοφόν.
We suppose indeed, first, that the wise man knows all things as far as possible, without having science of them individually; next, that he who is able to know difficult things, and those not easy for a human being to know, is wise (for perceiving is common to all, wherefore it is easy and not at all wise); further, that he who is more precise and more capable of teaching the causes is wiser in every science; and that of the sciences, that which is desirable for its own sake and for the sake of knowing is wisdom to a greater degree than that which is for the sake of results, and that the more authoritative science is wisdom to a greater degree than the ancillary one; for the wise man ought not to be commanded but to command, and he should not obey another, but the less wise should obey him.
—τὰς μὲν οὖν ὑπολήψεις τοιαύτας καὶ τοσαύτας ἔχομεν περὶ τῆς σοφίας καὶ τῶν σοφῶν·
Such, then, and so many are the conceptions we have about wisdom and the wise.
τούτων δὲ τὸ μὲν πάντα ἐπίστασθαι τῷ μάλιστα ἔχοντι τὴν καθόλου ἐπιστήμην ἀναγκαῖον ὑπάρχειν (οὗτος γὰρ οἶδέ πως πάντα τὰ ὑποκείμενα), σχεδὸν δὲ καὶ χαλεπώτατα ταῦτα γνωρίζειν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, τὰ μάλιστα καθόλου (πορρωτάτω γὰρ τῶν αἰσθήσεών ἐστιν), ἀκριβέσταται δὲ τῶν ἐπιστημῶν αἳ μάλιστα τῶν πρώτων εἰσίν (αἱ γὰρ ἐξ ἐλαττόνων ἀκριβέστεραι τῶν ἐκ προσθέσεως λεγομένων, οἷον ἀριθμητικὴ γεωμετρίας)·
And of these, the knowing all things must necessarily belong to him who especially possesses the universal science (for he knows in a way all the underlying subjects); and indeed these are also about the most difficult things for men to know, namely, the most universal things (for they are farthest from the senses).
ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ διδασκαλική γε ἡ τῶν αἰτιῶν θεωρητικὴ μᾶλλον (οὗτοι γὰρ διδάσκουσιν, οἱ τὰς αἰτίας λέγοντες περὶ ἑκάστου), τὸ δʼ εἰδέναι καὶ τὸ ἐπίστασθαι αὐτῶν ἕνεκα μάλισθʼ ὑπάρχει τῇ τοῦ μάλιστα ἐπιστητοῦ ἐπιστήμῃ (ὁ γὰρ τὸ ἐπίστασθαι διʼ αὑτὸ αἱρούμενος τὴν μάλιστα ἐπιστήμην μάλιστα αἱρήσεται, τοιαύτη δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ μάλιστα ἐπιστητου), μάλιστα δʼ ἐπιστητὰ τὰ πρῶτα καὶ τὰ αἴτια (διὰ γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ ἐκ τούτων τἆλλα γνωρίζεται ἀλλʼ οὐ ταῦτα διὰ τῶν ὑποκειμένων), ἀρχικωτάτη δὲ τῶν ἐπιστημῶν, καὶ μᾶλλον ἀρχικὴ τῆς ὑπηρετούσης, ἡ γνωρίζουσα τίνος ἕνεκέν ἐστι πρακτέον ἕκαστον· τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶ τἀγαθὸν ἑκάστου, ὅλως δὲ τὸ ἄριστον ἐν τῇ φύσει πάσῃ.
And the most precise of the sciences are those which are especially of first principles (for those from fewer elements are more precise than those spoken of with addition, as arithmetic is of geometry); but indeed, that which is theoretical of causes is also more capable of teaching (for those who teach are those who state the causes concerning each thing); and knowing and understanding for their own sake belong especially to the science of that which is most knowable (for he who chooses understanding for its own sake will especially choose the science which is most truly science, and such is the science of that which is most knowable). And the most knowable things are the first principles and the causes (for through these and from these other things are known, but not these through the underlying things); and the most authoritative of the sciences, and more authoritative than the ancillary one, is that which knows for the sake of what each thing must be done; and this is the good of each thing, and in general the best in all nature.
ἐξ ἁπάντων οὖν τῶν εἰρημένων ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἐπιστήμην πίπτει τὸ ζητούμενον ὄνομα· δεῖ γὰρ ταύτην τῶν πρώτων ἀρχῶν καὶ αἰτιῶν εἶναι θεωρητικήν· καὶ γὰρ τἀγαθὸν καὶ τὸ οὗ ἕνεκα ἓν τῶν αἰτίων ἐστίν.
From all that has been said, then, the name we are seeking falls upon the same science; for this must be theoretical of the first principles and causes; for indeed the good and that for the sake of which is one of the causes.
ὅτι δʼ οὐ ποιητική, δῆλον καὶ ἐκ τῶν πρώτων φιλοσοφησάντων· διὰ γὰρ τὸ θαυμάζειν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ νῦν καὶ τὸ πρῶτον ἤρξαντο φιλοσοφεῖν, ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν τὰ πρόχειρα τῶν ἀτόπων θαυμάσαντες, εἶτα κατὰ μικρὸν οὕτω προϊόντες καὶ περὶ τῶν μειζόνων διαπορήσαντες, οἷον περί τε τῶν τῆς σελήνης παθημάτων καὶ τῶν περὶ τὸν ἥλιον καὶ ἄστρα καὶ περὶ τῆς τοῦ παντὸς γενέσεως.
And that it is not a productive science is clear also from those who first philosophized; for it is owing to wonder that men both now and at first began to philosophize, having wondered at first at the obvious difficulties, and then having advanced little by little and raised difficulties about the greater matters, as about the phenomena of the moon and those of the sun and stars, and about the genesis of the universe.