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Theophrastus · Fragments §58.1

The Definitions of the Necessary, Actual, and Possible

Passage 53 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Theophrastus discusses the definitions and distinctions among the necessary, the actually existing, and the contingent, based on his Prior Analytics.

§58.1Fr. 58 Ὁ γοῦν Θ. ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν Προτέρων Ἀναλυτικῶν λέγων περὶ τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀναγκαίου σημαινομένων οὕτως γράφει· "Τρίτον τὸ ὑπάρχον· ὅτε γὰρ ὑπάρχει τότε οὐχ οἷόν τε μὴ ὑπάρχειν.
Theophrastus, at any rate, in the first book of the Prior Analytics, speaking about the things signified by "the necessary," writes as follows: "Third, the actually existing; for when it actually exists, then it is impossible not to actually exist.
Ἴδιον δὲ τοῦ ἐνδεχομένου τὸ τὸ μὴ ὂν ὑποτίθεσθαι εἶναι, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ ἀναγκαῖον καὶ τὸ ὑπάρχον ἂν λάβῃ τις εἶναι, οὐκ ἀδύνατόν τι ἀκολουθήσει.
But what is peculiar to the contingent is that what is not is assumed to be, since even if one should assume the necessary and the actually existing to be, nothing impossible will follow.
Καὶ ἔσται ἐφαρμόζων ὁ λόγος καὶ τῷ ἀναγκαίῳ καὶ τῷ ὑπάρχοντι· διὸ ἴδιον τοῦ ἐνδεχομένου τὸ μὴ ὑπάρχον αὐτὸ ὡς ὑπάρχον ὑποτεθὲν μηδὲν ἀδύνατον ἔχειν ἑπόμενον. "
And the definition will apply to both the necessary and the actually existing; therefore, what is peculiar to the contingent is that that which does not actually exist, when assumed itself to actually exist, has nothing impossible following it."

Notes

  1. §58.1τὸ τὸ μὴ ὂν ὑποτίθεσθαι εἶναι — The first article τὸ nominalizes the entire infinitive phrase τὸ μὴ ὂν ὑποτίθεσθαι εἶναι ("that what is not is assumed to be"), serving as the subject complement of ἴδιον. The infinitive ὑποτίθεσθαι is used passively, with τὸ μὴ ὄν as its subject in the accusative, and εἶναι as a complementary infinitive.
  2. §58.1τὸ μὴ ὑπάρχον αὐτὸ ὡς ὑπάρχον ὑποτεθὲν μηδὲν ἀδύνατον ἔχειν ἑπόμενον — The article τὸ goes with the nominalized infinitive ἔχειν, substantivizing the entire clause. The subject of ἔχειν is τὸ μὴ ὑπάρχον αὐτό ("that which does not actually exist itself"), which is modified conditionally by the aorist passive participle ὑποτεθέν ("when assumed"). The object of ἔχειν is μηδὲν ἀδύνατον ("nothing impossible"), which is modified by the participle ἑπόμενον ("following").

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §58.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:58.1

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