by Aristotle
From these are derived the fine and coarse, viscous and brittle, hard and soft, and the remaining differences. For since the moist has no determinate shape, but is readily adaptable and follows the outline of that which is in contact with it, it is [330a1] characteristic of it to be such as to fill up. Now the fine is such as to fill up. For the fine consists of subtle particles; but that which consists of small particles is such as to fill up, inasmuch as it is in contact whole with whole—and the fine exhibits this character in a superlative degree. Hence it is evident that the fine derives from the moist, while the coarse derives from the dry. Again the viscous derives from the [5] moist; for the viscous (e.g. oil) is a moist thing modified in a certain way. The brittle, on the other hand, derives from the dry; for brittle is that which is completely dry—so completely, that it has actually solidified due to failure of moisture. Further the soft derives from the moist. For soft is that which yields by retiring into itself, though it does change position, as the moist does—which [10] explains why the moist is not soft, although the soft derives from the moist. The hard, on the other hand, derives from the dry; for hard is that which is solidified, and the solidified is dry.
The terms ‘dry’ and ‘moist’ have more senses than one. For the damp, as well as the moist, is opposed to the dry: and again the solidified, as well as the dry, is [15] opposed to the moist. But all these derive from the dry and moist we mentioned first. For the dry is opposed to the damp; and the damp is that which has foreign moisture on its surface (sodden being that which is penetrated to its core), while dry is that which has lost foreign moisture. Hence it is evident that the damp will derive from the moist, and the dry which is opposed to it will derive from the primary dry. Again [20] the moist and the solidified derive in the same way from the primary pair. For moist is that which contains moisture of its own deep within it (sodden being that which contains foreign moisture), whereas solidified is that which has lost this inner moisture. Hence these too derive one from the dry and the other from the moist.
[25] It is clear, then, that all the other differences reduce to the first four, but that these admit of no further reduction. For the hot is not essentially moist or dry, nor the moist essentially hot or cold; nor are the cold and the dry derivative forms, either of one another or of the hot and the moist. Hence these must be four.
[30] 3 · The elements are four, and any four terms can be combined in six couples. Contraries, however, refuse to be coupled; for it is impossible for the same thing to be hot and cold, or moist and dry. Hence it is evident that the couplings of the elements will be four: hot with dry and moist with hot, and again cold with dry [330b1] and cold with moist. And these four couples have attached themselves to the apparently simple bodies (Fire, Air, Water, and Earth) in a manner consonant with theory. For Fire is hot and dry, whereas Air is hot and moist (Air being a sort of [5] vapour); and Water is cold and moist, while Earth is cold and dry. Thus the differences are reasonably distributed among the primary bodies, and the number of the latter is consonant with theory. For all who make the simple bodies elements postulate either one, or two, or three, or four. Now those who assert there is one only, and then generate everything else by condensation and rarefaction, are in [10] effect making their principles two, viz. the rare and the dense, or rather the hot and the cold; for it is these which are the moulding forces, while the one underlies them as matter. But those who postulate two from the start—as Parmenides postulated Fire and Earth—make the intermediates (e.g. Air and Water) blends of these. The [15] same course is followed by those who advocate three. (We may compare what Plato does in the divisions15; for he makes ‘the middle’ a blend.) Indeed, there is practically no difference between those who postulate two and those who postulate three, except that the former split the middle element into two, while the latter treat it as only one. But some advocate four from the start, e.g. Empedocles; yet he too [20] draws them together so as to reduce them to the two, for he opposes all the others to Fire.
In fact, however, fire and air, and each of the bodies we have mentioned, are not simple, but combined. The simple bodies are indeed similar in nature to them, but not identical with them. Thus the simple body corresponding to fire is fire-like, not fire; that which corresponds to air is air-like; and so on with the rest of them. But [25] fire is an excess of heat, just as ice is an excess of cold. For freezing and boiling are excesses of cold and heat respectively. Assuming, therefore, that ice is a freezing of moist and cold, fire analogously will be a boiling of dry and hot—a fact which explains why nothing comes-to-be either out of ice or out of fire. [30]
The simple bodies, since they are four, fall into two pairs which belong to the two regions, each to each; for Fire and Air are forms of the body moving towards the limit, while Earth and Water are forms of the body which moves towards the centre. Fire and Earth, moreover, are extremes and purest; Water and Air, on the contrary, are intermediates and more combined. And, further, the members of either pair are [331a1] contrary to those of the other, Water being contrary to Fire and Earth to Air; for they are constituted from contrary qualities. Nevertheless, since they are four, each of them is characterized simply by a single quality: Earth by dry rather than by cold, Water by cold rather than by moist, Air by moist rather than by hot, and Fire [5] by hot rather than by dry.
4 · It has been established before that the coming-to-be of the simple bodies is reciprocal. At the same time, it is manifest, on the evidence of perception, that they do come-to-be; for otherwise there would not have been alteration, since alteration is change in respect to the qualities of the objects of touch. Consequently, [10] we must explain what is the manner of their reciprocal transformation, and whether every one of them can come-to-be out of every one—or whether some can do so, but not others.
Now it is evident that all of them are by nature such as to change into one another; for coming-to-be is a change into contraries and out of contraries, and the elements all involve a contrariety in their mutual relations because their distinctive [15] qualities are contrary. For in some of them both qualities are contrary—e.g. in Fire and Water, the first of these being dry and hot, and the second moist and cold; while in others one of the qualities is contrary—e.g. in Air and Water, the first being [20] moist and hot, and the second moist and cold. It is evident, therefore, if we consider them in general, that every one is by nature such as to come-to-be out of every one; and when we come to consider them severally, it is not difficult to see the manner in which their transformation is effected. For, though all will result from all, both the speed and the facility of their conversion will differ in degree.
Thus the process of conversion will be quick between those which tally with one [25] another, but slow between those which do not. The reason is that it is easier for a single thing to change than for many. Air, e.g., will result from Fire if a single quality changes; for Fire, as we saw, is hot and dry while Air is hot and moist, so that there will be Air if the dry be overcome by the moist. Again, Water will result [30] from Air if the hot be overcome by the cold; for Air, as we saw, is hot and moist while Water is cold and moist, so that, if the hot changes, there will be Water. So too, in the same manner, Earth will result from Water and Fire from Earth, since both tally with both. For Water is moist and cold while Earth is cold and dry—so that, if the moist be overcome, there will be Earth; and again, since Fire is dry and [331b1] hot while Earth is cold and dry, Fire will result from Earth if the cold pass-away.
It is evident, therefore, that the coming-to-be of the simple bodies will be cyclical; and that this method of transformation is the easiest, because the consecutive elements tally. On the other hand the transformation of Fire into Water [5] and of Air into Earth, and again of Water and Earth into Fire and Air, though possible, is more difficult because it involves the change of more qualities. For if Fire is to result from Water, both the cold and the moist must pass-away; and again, both the cold and the dry must pass-away if Air is to result from Earth.
So, too, if [10] Water and Earth are to result from Fire and Air—both must change.
This second method of coming-to-be, then, takes a longer time. But if one quality in each of two elements pass-away, the transformation, though easier, is not reciprocal. Still, from Fire and Water there will result Earth and Air, and from Air [15] and Earth Fire and Water. For there will be Air, when the cold of the Water and the dry of the Fire have passed-away (since the hot of the latter and the moist of the former are left); whereas, when the hot of the Fire and the moist of the Water have passed-away, there will be Earth, owing to the survival of the dry of the Fire and the cold of the Water. So, too, in the same way, Fire and Water will result from Air and [20] Earth. For there will be Water, when the hot of the Air and the dry of the Earth have passed-away (since the moist of the former and the cold of the latter are left); whereas, when the moist of the Air and the cold of the Earth have passed-away, there will be Fire, owing to the survival of the hot of the Air and the dry of the Earth—qualities constitutive of Fire. Moreover, this mode of Fire’s coming-to-be is [25] confirmed by perception. For flame is par excellence Fire; but flame is burning smoke, and smoke consists of Air and Earth.
No transformation, however, into any of the bodies can result from the passing-away of one quality in each of two elements when they are taken in their consecutive order, because either identical or contrary qualities are left—and from them no body can be formed. E.g. if the dry of Fire and the moist of Air were to [30] pass-away, the hot is left in both; and if the hot pass-away out of both, the contraries—dry and moist—are left. A similar result will occur in all the others too; for all the consecutive bodies contain one identical and one contrary quality. Hence, too, it clearly follows that, when one is transformed into one, the coming-to-be is [35] effected by the passing-away of a single quality; whereas, when two are transformed into a third, more than one quality must have passed-away.
5 · We have stated that all the bodies come-to-be out of any one of them; [332a1] and we have explained the manner in which their mutual conversion takes place. Let us nevertheless supplement our theory by the following speculations concerning them.
If Water, Air, and the like are a matter of which the natural bodies consist, as [5] some thinkers in fact believe, they must be either one, or two, or more. Now they cannot all of them be one—they cannot, e.g., all be Air or Water or Fire or Earth—because change is into contraries. For if they all were Air, then (assuming Air to persist) there will be alteration instead of coming-to-be. Besides, nobody supposes it to persist in such a way that it is Water as well as Air (or anything else) at the same time. So there will be a certain contrariety, i.e. a differentiating quality; [10] and the other member of this contrariety, e.g. heat, will belong to Fire. But Fire will certainly not be ‘hot Air’. For a change of that kind is alteration, and is not what is observed. Moreover if Air is again to result out of the Fire, it will do so by the conversion of the hot into its contrary; this contrary, therefore, will belong to Air, [15] and Air will be a cold something; hence it is impossible for Fire to be hot Air, since in that case the same thing will be simultaneously hot and cold. Both Fire and Air, therefore, will be something else which is the same; i.e. there will be some other matter common to both.
The same argument applies to all, proving that there is no single one of them out of which they all originate. But neither is there anything else beside these [20] four—something intermediate, e.g., between Air and Water (coarser than Air, but finer than Water), or between Air and Fire (coarser than Fire, but finer than Air). For the supposed intermediate will be Air and Fire when a pair of contrasted qualities is added to it; but, since one of every two contrary qualities is a privation, the intermediate never can exist—as some thinkers assert the ‘Boundless’ or the [25] ‘Environing’ exists—in isolation. It is, therefore, indifferently any one of them, or else it is nothing.
Since, then, there is nothing perceptible prior to these, they must be all. That being so, either they must always persist and not be transformable into one another; or they must undergo transformation—either all of them, or some only (as Plato wrote in the Timaeus)16 Now it has been proved before that they must undergo [30] reciprocal transformation, and that the speed with which they come-to-be one out of another is not uniform—since the process of reciprocal transformation is relatively quick between those that tally, but relatively slow between those which do not.
Assuming, then, that the contrariety, in respect to which they are transformed, is one, they must be two; for matter is the mean between the two contraries, and is [332b1] imperceptible and inseparable. Since, however, the elements are seen to be more than two, the contrarieties must at the least be two. But the contrarieties being two, the elements must be four (as they evidently are) and cannot be three; for the couplings are four, since, though six are possible, the two in which the qualities are contrary to one another cannot occur.
[5] These subjects have been discussed before; but the following arguments will make it clear that, since the elements are transformed into one another, it is impossible for any one of them—whether it be at the end or in the middle—to be a principle of the rest. There can be no such principle at the ends; for all of them would then be Fire or Earth, and this theory amounts to the assertion that all things [10] are made of Fire or Earth. Nor can a middle element be such a principle—as some thinkers suppose that Air is transformed both into Fire and into Water, and Water both into Air and into Earth, while the end elements are not further transformed into one another. For the process must come to a stop, and cannot continue ad infinitum in a straight line in either direction, since otherwise an infinite number of [15] contrarieties would attach to the single element. Let E stand for Earth, W for Water, A for Air, and F for Fire. Then since A is transformed into F and W, there will be a contrariety belonging to A and F. Let these contraries be whiteness and blackness. Again since A is transformed into W, there will be another contrariety; for W is not the same as F. Let this second contrariety be dryness and moistness, D [20] being dryness and M moistness. Now if the white persists, Water will be moist and white; but if it does not persist, Water will be black, since change is into contraries. Water, therefore, must be either white or black. Let it then be the first. On similar grounds, therefore, D (dryness) will also belong to F. Consequently F (Fire) as well [25] will be able to be transformed into Water; for it has qualities contrary to those of Water, since Fire was first taken to be black and then to be dry, while Water was moist and then showed itself white. Thus it is evident that all will be able to be transformed out of one another; and that, in the instances we have taken, E (Earth) also will contain the remaining two tallies, viz. the black and the moist (for these [30] have not yet been coupled).
We have dealt with this last topic before the thesis we set out to prove. That thesis—viz. that the process cannot continue ad infinitum—will be clear from the following considerations. If Fire (which is represented by F) is not to revert, but is to be transformed in turn into some other element (e.g. into Q), a new contrariety, other than those mentioned, will belong to Fire and Q; for it has been assumed that [333a1] Q is not the same as any of the four, E W A and F. Let K, then, belong to F and Y to Q. Then K will belong to all four, E W A and F; for they are transformed into one another. This last point, however, we may admit, has not yet been proved; but at any rate it is clear that if Q is to be transformed in turn into yet another element, yet [5] another contrariety will belong not only to Q but also to F (Fire). And, similarly, every addition of a new element will carry with it the attachment of a new contrariety to the preceding elements. Consequently, if the elements are infinitely many, there will also belong to the single element an infinite number of contrarieties. But if that be so, it will be impossible to define any element; impossible also for any to come-to-be. For if one is to result from another, it will have to pass through so many contrarieties—and then more. Consequently into [10] some elements transformation wil
l never be effected—viz. if the intermediates are infinite in number, as they must be if the elements are infinitely many; further there will not even be a transformation of Air into Fire, if the contrarieties are infinitely many; moreover all the elements become one. For all the contrarieties of the elements above F must belong to those below F, and vice versa: hence they will all be [15] one.
6 · As for those who agree with Empedocles that the elements of body are more than one, so that they are not transformed into one another—one may well wonder in what sense it is open to them to maintain that the elements are comparable. Yet Empedocles says ‘For these are all equal…’17 [20]
If it is meant that they are comparable in their amount, all the comparables must possess an identical something whereby they are measured. If, e.g., one pint of Water yields ten of Air, both are measured by the same unit; and therefore both were from the first an identical something. On the other hand, suppose they are not comparable in their amount in the sense that so much of the one yields so much of the other, but comparable in power of action (a pint of Water, e.g., having a power [25] of cooling equal to that of ten pints of Air); even so, they are comparable in their amount, though not qua amount but qua having power. Instead of comparing their powers by the measure of their amount, they might be compared as terms in an analogy: e.g., ‘as x is hot, so y is white.’ But ‘as’, though it means equality in quantity, means similarity in quality. Thus it is manifestly absurd that the bodies, [30] though they are not transformable, are comparable not by analogy, but by a measure of their powers; i.e. that so much Fire is comparable with many times that amount of Air, as being equally or similarly hot. For the same thing, if it be greater in amount, will, since it belongs to the same kind, have its ratio correspondingly increased.