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1、350BCONTHESOULbyAristotletranslatedbyJ.A.SmithBookI1HOLDINGaswedothat,whileknowledgeofanykindisathingtobehonouredandprized,onekindofitmay,eitherbyreasonofitsgreaterexactnessorofahigherdignityandgreaterwonderfulnessinitsobjects,bemorehonourableandpreciousthanano
2、ther,onbothaccountsweshouldnaturallybeledtoplaceinthefrontrankthestudyofthesoul.Theknowledgeofthesouladmittedlycontributesgreatlytotheadvanceoftruthingeneral,and,aboveall,toourunderstandingofNature,forthesoulisinsomesensetheprincipleofanimallife.Ouraimistograsp
3、andunderstand,firstitsessentialnature,andsecondlyitsproperties;ofthesesomearetaughttobeaffectionspropertothesoulitself,whileothersareconsideredtoattachtotheanimalowingtothepresencewithinitofsoul.Toattainanyassuredknowledgeaboutthesoulisoneofthemostdifficultthin
4、gsintheworld.Astheformofquestionwhichherepresentsitself,viz.thequestion'Whatisit?',recursinotherfields,itmightbesupposedthattherewassomesinglemethodofinquiryapplicabletoallobjectswhoseessentialnature(asweareendeavouringtoascertainthereisforderivedpropertiesthes
5、inglemethodofdemonstration);inthatcasewhatweshouldhavetoseekforwouldbethisuniquemethod.Butifthereisnosuchsingleandgeneralmethodforsolvingthequestionofessence,ourtaskbecomesstillmoredifficult;inthecaseofeachdifferentsubjectweshallhavetodeterminetheappropriatepro
6、cessofinvestigation.Iftothistherebeaclearanswer,e.g.thattheprocessisdemonstrationordivision,orsomeknownmethod,difficultiesandhesitationsstillbesetus-withwhatfactsshallwebegintheinquiry?Forthefactswhichformthestarting-pointsindifferentsubjectsmustbedifferent,ase
7、.g.inthecaseofnumbersandsurfaces.First,nodoubt,itisnecessarytodetermineinwhichofthesummagenerasoullies,whatitis;isit'athis-somewhat,'asubstance,orisitaqualeoraquantum,orsomeotheroftheremainingkindsofpredicateswhichwehavedistinguished?Further,doessoulbelongtothe
8、classofpotentialexistents,orisitnotratheranactuality?Ouranswertothisquestionisofthegreatestimportance.Wemustconsideralsowhethersoulisdivisibleoriswithoutparts,andwhetheritis
