Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §23.1

Universal Definition of Motion as Incomplete Activity

Passage 12 of 196 · Greek

Summary

A passage from the fourteenth book of the *Physics* explaining the universal definition of motion as an incomplete activity of that which exists potentially, based on Aristotle.

§23.1Fr. 23 Ἐν τῷ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῳ τῶν Φυσικῶν οὕτως περὶ τῆς κινήσεως· Τὸν μὲν κοινὸν καὶ καθόλου λόγον οὐ χαλεπὸν ἀποδοῦναι καὶ εἰπεῖν ὡς ἐνέργειά τίς ἐστιν ἀτελὴς τοῦ δυνάμει ὄντος, ᾗ τοιοῦτον καθʼ ἕκαστον γένος τῶν κατηγοριῶν, ὃ καὶ διὰ τῆς αἰσθήσεως σχεδὸν φαίνεται.
Fr. 23 In the fourteenth book of the *Physics*, he writes as follows concerning motion: "It is not difficult to render and state the common and universal definition, namely that it is a certain incomplete activity of that which exists potentially, insofar as it is such, according to each genus of the categories, which is also almost apparent through perception."

Notes

  1. §23.1Ἐν τῷ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῳ τῶν Φυσικῶν οὕτως — The feminine noun βιβλίῳ ("book") is omitted after τῷ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῳ ("the fourteenth"), and a verb of writing or saying (such as γράφει or λέγει) is omitted after οὕτως ("thus").
  2. §23.1ᾗ τοιοῦτον — ᾗ is the dative feminine singular of the relative pronoun ὅς, functioning as a dative of restriction ("insofar as"). τοιοῦτον refers back to the preceding τοῦ δυνάμει ὄντος ("that which exists potentially"), forming the crucial qualification in the Aristotelian definition of motion: "insofar as it is potential (in that capacity)."
  3. §23.1ὃ καὶ διὰ τῆς αἰσθήσεως σχεδὸν φαίνεται — The relative pronoun ὃ (neuter singular) has as its antecedent the entire preceding statement or fact that motion is a kind of incomplete activity. The verb φαίνεται is interpreted in the objective sense of "is apparent" or "is manifest (through perception)" rather than a subjective "seems" or "appears."

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §23.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:23.1

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