§65.8Quinque ergo causae sunt, ut Plato dicit: id ex quo, id a quo, id in quo, id ad quod, id propter quod.
Therefore, there are five causes, as Plato says: that from which, that by which, that in which, that toward which, that on account of which.
Novissime id quod ex his est.
And finally, that which is from these.
Tamquam in statua, quia de hac loqui coepimus, id ex quo aes est, id a quo artifex est, id in quo forma est, quae aptatur illi, id ad quod exemplar est, quod imitatur is, qui facit, id propter quod facientis propositum est, id quod ex istis est, ipsa statua est.
For example in a statue, since we have begun to speak of this, that from which is the bronze, that by which is the craftsman, that in which is the form which is fitted to it, that toward which is the pattern which he who makes it imitates, that on account of which is the purpose of the maker, and that which is from these is the statue itself.
§65.9Haec omnia mundus quoque, ut ait Plato, habet: facientem: hic deus est. Ex quo fit: haec materia est. Formam: haec est habitus et ordo mundi, quem videmus. Exemplar, scilicet, ad quod deus hanc magnitudinem operis pulcherrimi fecit.
The world also, as Plato says, has all of these: the maker, who is God; that from which it is made, which is matter; the form, which is the condition and order of the world that we see; the pattern, namely, toward which God made this greatness of the most beautiful work.
§65.10Propositum, propter quod fecit.
the purpose, on account of which he made it.
Quaeris, quod sit propositum deo? Bonitas Ita certe Plato ait: "Quae deo faciendi mundum fuit causa? Bonus est; bono nulla cuiusquam boni invidia est.
Do you ask what God's purpose was? Goodness. Indeed, Plato says: "What was God's cause for making the world? He is good; and to a good being there is no envy of anything that is good.
Fecit itaque quam optimum potuit. "Fer ergo, iudex, sententiam et pronuntia, quis tibi videatur verissimum dicere, non quis verissimum dicat.
Therefore, he made it as excellent as he could." Therefore, judge, pass sentence and declare who seems to you to speak most truly, not who does speak most truly.
Id enim tam supra nos est quam ipsa veritas.
For that is as far above us as truth itself.
§65.11Haec, quae ab Aristotele et Platone ponitur, turba causarum aut nimium multa aut nimium pauca conprendit.
This crowd of causes, which is posited by Aristotle and Plato, includes either too many or too few.
Nam si, quocumque remoto quid effici non potest, id causam iudicant esse faciendi, pauca dixerunt.
For if they judge that to be a cause of making without which, if removed, nothing can be produced, they have named too few.
Ponant inter causas tempus; nihil sine tempore potest fieri.
Let them place time among the causes; nothing can be done without time.
Ponant locum; si non fuerit, ubi fiat aliquid, ne fiet quidem.
Let them place space; if there is no place where something can be made, it will not even be made.
Ponant motum; nihil sine hoc nec fit nec perit.
Let them place motion; without this, nothing is either produced or perishes.
Nulla sine motu ars, nulla mutatio est.
Without motion, there is no art, no change.
§65.12Sed nos nunc primam et generalem quaerimus causam.
But we are now seeking the first and general cause.
Haec simplex esse debet; nam et materia simplex est.
This must be simple; for matter, too, is simple.
Quaerimus, quid sit causa? Ratio scilicet faciens, id est deus.
We are seeking what cause is. It is, of course, the active reason, that is, God.
Ista enim, quaecumque rettulistis, non sunt multae et singulae causae, sed ex una pendent, ex ea, quae faciet.
For those things, whatever you have brought forward, are not many and individual causes, but they depend on one, on that which will make.
§65.13Formam dicis causam esse? Hanc inponit artifex operi; pars causae est, non causa.
Do you say that form is a cause? The craftsman imposes this upon the work; it is a part of the cause, not the cause.
Exemplar quoque non est causa, sed instrumentum causae necessarium.
The pattern too is not a cause, but a necessary instrument of the cause.
Sic necessarium est exemplar artifici, quomodo scalprum, quomodo lima; sine his procedere ars non potest.
The pattern is as necessary to the craftsman as the chisel and the file; without these, art cannot proceed.
Non tamen hae partes artis aut causae sunt. "
Yet these are not parts of art or of the cause.
§65.14Propositum," inquit, "artificis, propter quod ad faciendum aliquid accedit, causa est. "Ut sit causa, non est efficiens causa, sed superveniens.
"The purpose of the craftsman," someone says, "on account of which he applies himself to making something, is a cause." Granted that it is a cause, it is not an efficient cause, but an accessory one.
Hae autem innumerabiles sunt; nos de causa generali quaerimus.
And these are innumerable; we are seeking the general cause.
Illud vero non pro solita ipsis subtilitate dixerunt, totum mundum et consummatum opus causam esse.
But they spoke without their usual subtlety when they said that the whole world and the completed work is a cause.
Multum enim interest inter opus et causam operis.
For there is a great difference between a work and the cause of a work.
§65.15Aut fer sententiam aut, quod facilius in eiusmodi rebus est, nega tibi liquere et nos reverti iube.
Either pass sentence or, what is easier in matters of this kind, say that it is not clear to you and order us to return.
"Quid te," inquis, "delectat tempus inter ista conterere, quae tibi nullum affectum eripiunt, nullam cupiditatem abigunt?" Ego quidem ut potiora illa ago ac tracto, quibus pacatur animus, et me prius scrutor, deinde hunc mundum.
"Why," you ask, "does it delight you to waste time among these things, which snatch away no passion from you, and drive away no desire?" I, indeed, act upon and treat those preferred matters by which the mind is pacified, and I examine myself first, then this world.