Dialogue

  1 Parme|     assault on his own doctrine of Being, appears to be the height
  2 Parme|            Panathenaea, the former being at the time about sixty-five
  3 Parme|           Socrates, ‘to argue that being, if it is many, must be
  4 Parme|           from the assumption that being is many.’ ‘Such is my meaning.’ ‘
  5 Parme|         also many. For example, I, being many, that is to say, having
  6 Parme|            and partake of the one, being one of seven who are here
  7 Parme|  corresponds to absolute truth and being, and particular knowledge
  8 Parme|            to particular truth and being.’ Clearly.’ ‘And there is
  9 Parme|            generation, corruption, being and not being. And the consequences
 10 Parme|          corruption, being and not being. And the consequences must
 11 Parme|        obvious fact, that the body being one has many members, and
 12 Parme|             From the crude idea of Being in the abstract, he was
 13 Parme|        Xenophon of any such method being attributed to Socrates;
 14 Parme|           as the notions of One or Being were to an ancient Eleatic. ‘
 15 Parme|         speaks of a similar method being applied to all Ideas. Yet
 16 Parme|           the Hegelian identity of Being and Not-being. The Being
 17 Parme|           Being and Not-being. The Being and Not-being of Plato never
 18 Parme|          asserted the existence of Being, which they at first regarded
 19 Parme|          philosophy was to deny to Being all predicates. The Megarians,
 20 Parme|         also converted the idea of Being into an abstraction of Good,
 21 Parme|    language of modern philosophy: ‘Being is not only neither finite
 22 Parme|             you cannot even assert being or time of this without
 23 Parme|        still remained the idea of ‘being’ or ‘good,’ which could
 24 Parme|            ever touched the Divine Being (compare Phil.). The same
 25 Parme|       difficulties about Unity and Being are raised in the Sophist;
 26 Parme|            one is one, Or, one has being,~from which opposite consequences
 27 Parme|           nothing. 1.b. If one has being, it is all things.~To which
 28 Parme|     consequences: 1.aa. If one has being, all other things are. 1.
 29 Parme|        things. 2.b. If one has not being, it is nothing.~Involving
 30 Parme|          all. 2.bb. If one has not being, other things are not.~...~‘
 31 Parme|            and therefore formless, being neither round nor straight,
 32 Parme|    therefore not one but two. This being premised, let us consider
 33 Parme|          impossible is coming into being in place, which implies
 34 Parme|           still is the coming into being either as a whole or parts
 35 Parme|          if not other by virtue of being one, not by virtue of itself;
 36 Parme|      affection which is other than being one would be more than one.
 37 Parme|       unlike itself or other. This being the case, neither can the
 38 Parme|        these are the only modes of being, one is not, and is not
 39 Parme|            one is, one partakes of being, which is not the same with
 40 Parme|          same with one; the words ‘being’ and ‘one’ have different
 41 Parme|         consequence: In the one of being or the being of one are
 42 Parme|            the one of being or the being of one are two parts, being
 43 Parme|        being of one are two parts, being and one, which form one
 44 Parme|            subdivided into one and being, and is therefore not one
 45 Parme|       abstraction we separate from being: will this abstract one
 46 Parme|            In the first place, the being of one is other than one;
 47 Parme|        other than one; and one and being, if different, are so because
 48 Parme|          therefore neither one nor being; and whether we take being
 49 Parme|         being; and whether we take being and other, or being and
 50 Parme|           take being and other, or being and one, or one and other,
 51 Parme|           every number partakes of being; therefore being has the
 52 Parme|       partakes of being; therefore being has the greatest number
 53 Parme|          were wrong in saying that being has the greatest number
 54 Parme|      greatest number of parts; for being is coequal and coextensive
 55 Parme|            broken up into parts by being is many and infinite. But
 56 Parme|        combination of the two, and being a whole includes all the
 57 Parme|        itself and in another. This being the case, the one is at
 58 Parme|          again contradicted by one being in another place from itself
 59 Parme|       place; this follows from one being in itself and in another;
 60 Parme|            one. And therefore, not being other than the one or related
 61 Parme|            sameness. One, then, as being other than others, and other
 62 Parme|          than others, and other as being other than one, are alike
 63 Parme|       relations. And everything as being other of everything is also
 64 Parme|             and since in virtue of being other than the others the
 65 Parme|            like them, in virtue of being the same it must be unlike.
 66 Parme|          and unlike. Thus, one, as being the same and not the same
 67 Parme|           contact. And the others, being other than one, have no
 68 Parme|           others (talla). Yet one, being in itself, must also be
 69 Parme|             if the one partakes of being. For ‘to be’ is the participation
 70 Parme|            is the participation of being in present time, ‘to have
 71 Parme|            more than one, and one, being the least of all numbers,
 72 Parme|           hand, one must come into being in a manner accordant with
 73 Parme|    contemporaneously with the end, being therefore younger, while
 74 Parme|          again, the one comes into being in each of the parts as
 75 Parme|        true of becoming as well as being? Thus much may be affirmed,
 76 Parme|         than others, has come into being a longer time than they
 77 Parme|          be a time at which one as being one partakes of being, and
 78 Parme|           as being one partakes of being, and a time when one as
 79 Parme|         and a time when one as not being one is deprived of being?
 80 Parme|           being one is deprived of being? But these two contradictory
 81 Parme|         destruction, into and from being and not-being, the one and
 82 Parme|       would be a part of many, and being itself one of them, of itself,
 83 Parme|         are other than one, and as being other than one are many
 84 Parme|         one. Yet the fact of their being parts furnishes the others
 85 Parme|           their own nature. And as being finite, they are alike;
 86 Parme|             they are alike; and as being infinite, they are alike;
 87 Parme|             they are alike; but as being both finite and also infinite,
 88 Parme|    therefore unlike them; and they being other than the one, are
 89 Parme|    therefore unlike them. But one, being unlike other, must be like
 90 Parme|             for that would suppose being in the one, and the others
 91 Parme|           the one which is not has being; for that which is true
 92 Parme|          if remitting aught of the being of non-existence, would
 93 Parme|           become existent. For not being implies the being of not-being,
 94 Parme|          For not being implies the being of not-being, and being
 95 Parme|            being of not-being, and being the not-being of not-being;
 96 Parme|           not-being; or more truly being partakes of the being of
 97 Parme|        truly being partakes of the being of being and not of the
 98 Parme|           partakes of the being of being and not of the being of
 99 Parme|            of being and not of the being of not-being, and not-being
100 Parme|    not-being, and not-being of the being of not-being and not of
101 Parme|           the one which is not has being and also not-being. And
102 Parme|        not-being. And the union of being and not-being involves change
103 Parme|           not’ implies negation of being:—do we mean by this to say
104 Parme|            mean absolutely to deny being of it? The latter. Then
105 Parme|        will have the appearance of being equal with the fractions.
106 Parme|      arrested by the one. Thus all being is one at a distance, and
107 Parme|            particles which compose being seem to be like and unlike,
108 Parme|      consequence followed from one being affirmed to be equivalent
109 Parme|    consequence is deduced from one being equivalent to the many.~
110 Parme|         double notions, instead of being anomalies, are among the
111 Parme|       involve each other, such as, being and not-being, one and many,
112 Parme|           in them: (6) The idea of being or not-being is identified
113 Parme|         motion or change: (9) One, being, time, like space in Zeno’
114 Parme|           by him is also the same, being a criticism on received
115 Parme|    doctrine of Ideas; secondly, of Being. From the Platonic Ideas
116 Parme|      proceed to the Eleatic One or Being which is the foundation
117 Parme|           the aboriginal notion of Being. No one can answer the questions
118 Parme|            the Eleatic doctrine of Being, not intending to deny Ontology,
119 Parme|         notion, and the very name ‘Being,’ is unable to maintain
120 Parme|           did not mean to say that Being or Substance had no existence,
121 Parme|           still have thought that ‘Being was,’ just as Kant would
122 Parme|           of the Eleatic notion of Being, but also of the methods
123 Parme|     objective side in the Sophist: Being and Not-being are no longer
124 Parme|            the Eleatic doctrine of Being. Neither are absolutely
125 Parme|       Socrates; the Eleatic One or Being is tried by the severer
126 Parme|         The words ‘one,’ ‘other,’ ‘being,’ ‘like,’ ‘same,’ ‘whole,’
127 Parme|            mind in which Unity and Being occupied the attention of
128 Parme|           particular, ‘Unity’ and ‘Being,’ which had grown up in
129 Parme|           One is one’ and ‘One has being’ have saved us from this
130 Parme|           the notions of Unity and Being. These weeds of philosophy
131 Parme|         doing so. About the Divine Being Himself, in whom all true
132 Parme|         the assertion either that ‘Being is’ or that ‘Being is not,’
133 Parme|           that ‘Being is’ or that ‘Being is not,’ by no means intends
134 Parme|            Do you maintain that if being is many, it must be both
135 Parme|             then according to you, being could not be many; for this
136 Parme|     purpose except to disprove the being of the many? and is not
137 Parme|      separate proof of this, there being in all as many proofs of
138 Parme|            their hypothesis of the being of many, if carried out,
139 Parme|         than the hypothesis of the being of one. Zeal for my master
140 Parme|        wood, stones, and the like, being many are also one, we admit
141 Parme|        whole idea is one, and yet, being one, is in each one of the
142 Parme|            so each idea instead of being one will be infinitely multiplied.~
143 Parme|    recognizes as attaching to all, being a single form or nature?~
144 Parme|           argues that these ideas, being such as we say they ought
145 Parme|           to each kind of absolute being?~Yes.~But the knowledge
146 Parme|          knowledge of each kind of being which we have?~Certainly.~
147 Parme|          by parity of reason they, being gods, are not our masters,
148 Parme|           on the hypothesis of the being of the many, but also what
149 Parme|           destruction, and even of being and not-being. In a word,
150 Parme|          supposition either of the being or of the not-being of one?~
151 Parme|          made up of parts; both as being a whole, and also as having
152 Parme|    straight nor round?~Right.~And, being of such a nature, it cannot
153 Parme|          Yes.~Then its coming into being in anything is still more
154 Parme|          anything which comes into being in anything, can neither
155 Parme|            while still coming into being, nor be altogether out of
156 Parme|             if already coming into being in it.~Certainly not.~And
157 Parme|      therefore whatever comes into being in another must have parts,
158 Parme|           not a whole, coming into being anywhere, since it cannot
159 Parme|          since it cannot come into being either as a part or as a
160 Parme|          somewhere and coming into being in something; nor again,
161 Parme|        True.~Then not by virtue of being one will it be other?~Certainly
162 Parme|            But if not by virtue of being one, not by virtue of itself;
163 Parme|         not itself, and itself not being other at all, will not be
164 Parme|       other affection than that of being one, it would be affected
165 Parme|         the one, as appears, never being affected otherwise, is never
166 Parme|         other?~Plainly not.~Again, being of this nature, it can neither
167 Parme|            true.~How then can one, being of this nature, be either
168 Parme|         Clearly not.~Then the one, being of this nature, cannot be
169 Parme|          any modes of partaking of being other than these?~There
170 Parme|         cannot possibly partake of being?~That is the inference.~
171 Parme|          if it were and partook of being, it would already be; but
172 Parme|         one be, and not partake of being?~Impossible.~Then the one
173 Parme|             Then the one will have being, but its being will not
174 Parme|           will have being, but its being will not be the same with
175 Parme|          same, it would not be the being of the one; nor would the
176 Parme|           one have participated in being, for the proposition that
177 Parme|        right.~We mean to say, that being has not the same significance
178 Parme|            to saying, ‘partakes of being’?~Quite true.~Once more
179 Parme|            How so?~In this way:—If being is predicated of the one,
180 Parme|          if the one is, and one of being, if being is one; and if
181 Parme|           is, and one of being, if being is one; and if being and
182 Parme|            if being is one; and if being and one are not the same;
183 Parme|        have for its parts, one and being?~Certainly.~And is each
184 Parme|        each of these parts—one and being—to be simply called a part,
185 Parme|           the one, if it is—I mean being and one—does either fail
186 Parme|       other? is the one wanting to being, or being to the one?~Impossible.~
187 Parme|           one wanting to being, or being to the one?~Impossible.~
188 Parme|           has in turn both one and being, and is at the least made
189 Parme|        always these two parts; for being always involves one, and
190 Parme|       always involves one, and one being; so that one is always disappearing,
191 Parme|           that the one partakes of being and therefore it is?~Yes.~
192 Parme|            way, the one, if it has being, has turned out to be many?~
193 Parme|             as we say, partakes of being, and try to imagine it apart
194 Parme|           Let us see:—Must not the being of one be other than one?
195 Parme|            one? for the one is not being, but, considered as one,
196 Parme|            as one, only partook of being?~Certainly.~If being and
197 Parme|            of being?~Certainly.~If being and the one be two different
198 Parme|          one that it is other than being; nor because being is being
199 Parme|            than being; nor because being is being that it is other
200 Parme|        being; nor because being is being that it is other than the
201 Parme|        either with the one or with being?~Certainly not.~And therefore
202 Parme|          therefore whether we take being and the other, or being
203 Parme|            being and the other, or being and the one, or the one
204 Parme|          this way—you may speak of being?~Yes.~And also of one?~Yes.~
205 Parme|          Well, and when I speak of being and one, I speak of them
206 Parme|       Certainly.~And if I speak of being and the other, or of the
207 Parme|           infinite multiplicity of being; for number is infinite
208 Parme| multiplicity, and partakes also of being: am I not right?~Certainly.~
209 Parme|         all number participates in being, every part of number will
210 Parme|        also participate?~Yes.~Then being is distributed over the
211 Parme|        that which is, be devoid of being?~In no way.~And it is divided
212 Parme|        into the smallest, and into being of all sizes, and is broken
213 Parme|           these which is a part of being, and yet no part?~Impossible.~
214 Parme|            to every single part of being, and does not fail in any
215 Parme|      present with all the parts of being, unless divided.~True.~And
216 Parme|           in saying just now, that being was distributed into the
217 Parme|            one is never wanting to being, or being to the one, but
218 Parme|         never wanting to being, or being to the one, but being two
219 Parme|           or being to the one, but being two they are co-equal and
220 Parme|            broken up into parts by being, is many and infinite?~True.~
221 Parme|         not only the one which has being is many, but the one itself
222 Parme|          one itself distributed by being, must also be many?~Certainly.~
223 Parme|             Then the one if it has being is one and many, whole and
224 Parme|           it would be nothing; but being a whole, and not being in
225 Parme|         but being a whole, and not being in itself, it must be in
226 Parme|           another, but regarded as being all its parts, is in itself;
227 Parme|           Certainly.~The one then, being of this nature, is of necessity
228 Parme|         since it is in itself, for being in one, and not passing
229 Parme|         motion?~True.~Then the one being always itself in itself
230 Parme|         they not altogether escape being other than one another?~
231 Parme|         shall we say that the one, being in this relation to the
232 Parme|          others is the opposite of being other than the others?~Certainly.~
233 Parme|        affected otherwise, and not being affected otherwise is not
234 Parme|   otherwise is not unlike, and not being unlike, is like; but in
235 Parme|         other it is otherwise, and being otherwise affected is unlike.~
236 Parme|             And in the same way as being other than itself and the
237 Parme|            not say that the others being other than the one are not
238 Parme|           other in virtue of their being the one and the others;
239 Parme|            if in addition to their being what they are they had equality,
240 Parme|          any power of exceeding or being exceeded in relation to
241 Parme|        must be on an equality; and being on an equality, must be
242 Parme|       Clearly so.~And yet the one, being itself in itself, will also
243 Parme|        which it is less.~True.~And being greater and less than itself,
244 Parme|        also of parts?~It will.~And being of equal parts with itself,
245 Parme|   numerically equal to itself; and being of more parts, more, and
246 Parme|           of more parts, more, and being of less, less than itself?~
247 Parme|            do you mean?~If one is, being must be predicated of it?~
248 Parme|           is only participation of being in present time, and to
249 Parme|            is the participation of being at a past time, and to be
250 Parme|            is the participation of being at a future time?~Very true.~
251 Parme|          one, since it partakes of being, partakes of time?~Certainly.~
252 Parme|        with the one during all its being; for whenever it is it is
253 Parme|            one, then, becoming and being the same time with itself,
254 Parme|          is the first to come into being; but all other things have
255 Parme|           things have also number, being plural and not singular.~
256 Parme|             And since it came into being first it must be supposed
257 Parme|         supposed to have come into being prior to the others, and
258 Parme|         the things which came into being later, are younger than
259 Parme|         Can the one have come into being contrary to its own nature,
260 Parme|           other things, comes into being first of all; and after
261 Parme|           a nature as to come into being with the last; and, since
262 Parme|           the one cannot come into being except in accordance with
263 Parme|           that it should come into being after the others, simultaneously
264 Parme|           be a part and not parts, being a part, be also of necessity
265 Parme|         will not the one come into being together with each part—
266 Parme|          part when that comes into being, and together with the second
267 Parme|            say? Shall we say as of being so also of becoming, or
268 Parme|          the others, has come into being a longer time than the others.~
269 Parme|           less than formerly, from being older will become younger
270 Parme|         one because they came into being later; and in the same way
271 Parme|            as that which came into being earlier and that which came
272 Parme|           and that which came into being later must continually differ
273 Parme|           one, at times partake of being, and in as far as it is
274 Parme|            at times not partake of being?~Certainly.~But can it partake
275 Parme|   Certainly.~But can it partake of being when not partaking of being,
276 Parme|        being when not partaking of being, or not partake of being
277 Parme|           being, or not partake of being when partaking of being?~
278 Parme|            being when partaking of being?~Impossible.~Then the one
279 Parme|            and does not partake of being at different times, for
280 Parme|           time at which it assumes being and relinquishes being—for
281 Parme|     assumes being and relinquishes being—for how can it have and
282 Parme|    Impossible.~And the assuming of being is what you would call becoming?~
283 Parme|           And the relinquishing of being you would call destruction?~
284 Parme|            by taking and giving up being.~Certainly.~And being one
285 Parme|           up being.~Certainly.~And being one and many and in process
286 Parme|            process of becoming and being destroyed, when it becomes
287 Parme|          equalized?~True.~And when being in motion it rests, and
288 Parme|          motion it rests, and when being at rest it changes to motion,
289 Parme|       between rest and motion, not being in any time; and into this
290 Parme|       changes, when it passes from being into cessation of being,
291 Parme|            being into cessation of being, or from not-being into
292 Parme|            the one, if the one has being.~Of course.~1.aa. But if
293 Parme|      anything were a part of many, being itself one of them, it will
294 Parme|           one of the many; and not being a part of any one, it cannot
295 Parme|             which we call a whole, being one perfect unity framed
296 Parme|          state of becoming, nor of being destroyed, nor greater,
297 Parme|        whether he predicate of one being or not-being, for that which
298 Parme|          just now mentioned.~True.~Being, then, cannot be ascribed
299 Parme|         the others, for the others being different from the one will
300 Parme|        equality; but if one has no being, then it can neither be
301 Parme|        surely in a sort partake of being?~How so?~It must be so,
302 Parme|            relinquish something of being, so as to become not-being,
303 Parme|     maintain itself, must have the being of not-being as the bond
304 Parme|         bond of not-being, just as being must have as a bond the
305 Parme|           order to perfect its own being; for the truest assertion
306 Parme|            truest assertion of the being of being and of the not-being
307 Parme|          assertion of the being of being and of the not-being of
308 Parme|     not-being of not-being is when being partakes of the being of
309 Parme|         when being partakes of the being of being, and not of the
310 Parme|           partakes of the being of being, and not of the being of
311 Parme|           of being, and not of the being of not-being—that is, the
312 Parme|         that is, the perfection of being; and when not-being does
313 Parme|            of not-being but of the being of not-being—that is the
314 Parme|      not-being, and what is not of being, must not the one also partake
315 Parme|            the one also partake of being in order not to be?~Certainly.~
316 Parme|          if it is not, clearly has being?~Clearly.~And has not-being
317 Parme|            because it changes from being to not-being?~That appears
318 Parme|        another?~Yes.~Then the one, being moved, is altered?~Yes.~
319 Parme|      altered can neither come into being nor be destroyed?~Very true.~
320 Parme|           And the one that is not, being altered, becomes and is
321 Parme|          and is destroyed; and not being altered, neither becomes
322 Parme|            not’ signify absence of being in that to which we apply
323 Parme|           or kind participation of being?~Quite absolutely.~Then,
324 Parme|          in any way participate in being?~It cannot.~And did we not
325 Parme|          not mean by becoming, and being destroyed, the assumption
326 Parme|       destroyed, the assumption of being and the loss of being?~Nothing
327 Parme|           of being and the loss of being?~Nothing else.~And can that
328 Parme|            has no participation in being, either assume or lose being?~
329 Parme|       being, either assume or lose being?~Impossible.~The one then,
330 Parme|      cannot have or lose or assume being in any way?~True.~Then the
331 Parme|           it in no way partakes of being, neither perishes nor becomes?~
332 Parme|          been, it would partake of being?~That is clear.~And therefore
333 Parme|         other than one another, as being plural and not singular;
334 Parme|            as in a dream, and from being the smallest becomes very
335 Parme|       appearing to be one, but not being one, if one is not?~True.~
336 Parme|         not.~Very true.~And so all being, whatever we think of, must
337 Parme|         unity?~Certainly.~And such being when seen indistinctly and
338 Parme|          of rest, and becoming and being destroyed, and in neither