Early Greek Philosophy/Appendix

by John Burnet

Layout 2

APPENDIX

ON THE MEANING OF Φύσις

The account which I have given (pp. 10 sqq.) of the meaning of the term ϕύσις in early Greek philosophy has been criticised by Professor W. A. Heidel in a paper entitled Περὶ ϕύσεως, A Study of the Conception of Nature among the Pre-Socratics.^[1] It is an exceedingly valuable paper, and I cannot find that it contains anything inconsistent with my view, though the writer apparently thinks it does. The only point at issue, so far as I can see, is that Professor Heidel assumes that the original meaning of ϕύσις is "growth," which seems to me extremely doubtful. No doubt the verb ϕύομαι (i.e. ϕυίομαι) with a long vowel means "I grow," but the simple root ϕυ is the equivalent of the Latin fu and the English be, and need not necessarily have this derivative meaning.

There is an interesting article in support of my view by Professor Lovejoy in the Philosophical Review, vol. xviii. pp. 369 sqq., and Mr. Beardslee has recently examined the use of the word ϕύσις in Greek writers of the fifth century B.C. in a Ph.D. dissertation (University of Chicago Press, 1918). Here again, while acknowledging the value of the work, I can only say that I do not find its results inconsistent with the account I have given. I have never questioned the obvious fact that the word ϕύσις had a history, and developed meanings quite different from that which it may have had for an Ionian.

I should almost be willing to rest the case for this on the fragment of Euripides quoted on p. 10, where the significant epithet ἀθάνατος καὶ ἀγήρως is given to ϕύσις, but it may be well to collect here some of the passages on which I also rely.

1. Plato, Laws 891 c 1, κινδυνεύει γὰρ ὁ λέγων ταῦτα πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ γῆν καὶ ἀέρα πρῶτα ἡγεῖσθαι τῶν πάντων εἶναι, καὶ τὴν φύσιν ὀνομάζειν ταῦτα αὐτά. 892 c 2, φύσιν βούλονται λέγειν γένεσιν τὴν περὶ τὰ πρῶτα· εἰ δὲ φανήσεται ψυχὴ πρῶτον, οὐ πῦρ οὐδὲ ἀήρ, ψυχὴ δ᾽ ἐν πρώτοις γεγενημένη, σχεδὸν ὀρθότατα λέγοιτ᾽ ἂν εἶναι διαφερόντως φύσει.

In 891 c 7 the use of ϕύσις here criticised is expressly said to be that of ὁπόσοι πώποτε τῶν περὶ φύσεως ἐφήψαντο ζητημάτων.

2. Ar. Phys. Β, 1. 193 a 9, δοκεῖ δ' ἡ φύσις καὶ ἡ οὐσία τῶν φύσει ὄντων ἐνίοις εἶναι τὸ πρῶτον ἐνυπάρχον ἑκάστῳ, ἀρρύθμιστον καθ' ἑαυτό, οἷον κλίνης φύσις τὸ ξύλον, ἀνδριάντος δ' ὁ χαλκός. σημεῖον δέ φησιν Ἀντιφῶν ὅτι, εἴ τις κατορύξειε κλίνην καὶ λάβοι δύναμιν ἡ σηπεδὼν ὥστε ἀνεῖναι βλαστόν, οὐκ ἂν γενέσθαι κλίνην ἀλλὰ ξύλον.

Antiphon the Sophist was a contemporary of Sokrates.

3. Ar. Phys. Α, 6. 189 b 2, οἱ μίαν τινὰ φύσιν εἶναι λέγοντες τὸ πᾶν, οἷον ὕδωρ ἢ πῦρ ἢ τὸ μεταξὺ τούτων. Β, 1. 193 a 21, οἱ μὲν πῦρ, οἱ δὲ γῆν, οἱ δ' ἀέρα φασίν, οἱ δὲ ὕδωρ, οἱ δ' ἔνια τούτων, οἱ δὲ πάντα ταῦτα τὴν φύσιν εἶναι τὴν τῶν ὄντων. Γ, 4. 203 a 16, οἱ δὲ περὶ φύσεως πάντες ὑποτιθέασιν ἑτέραν τινὰ φύσιν τῷ ἀπείρῳ τῶν λεγομένων στοιχείων, οἷον ὕδωρ ἢ ἀέρα ἢ τὸ μεταξὺ τούτων.

4. Ar. Met. Δ, 4. 1014 b 16, ϕύσις λέγεται ἕνα μὲν τρόπον ἡ τῶν φυομένων γένεσις, οἷον εἴ τις ἐπεκτείνας λέγοι τὸ ῦ.

There is no doubt that this means that, to Aristotle, ϕύσις did not immediately suggest the verb ϕύομαι. That has a long υ and ϕύσις has a short υ. We need not discuss the question whether Aristotle's difficulty is a real one or not. All that concerns us is that he felt it.

5. Aristotle, Προτρεπτικός, fr. 52 Rose (ap. Iambi. Protr. p. 38. 22 Pistelli), ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τῶν περὶ φύσεως (ἐστί τις ἐπιμέλεια καὶ τέχνη)· πολὺ γὰρ πρότερον ἀναγκαῖον τῶν αἰτίων καὶ τῶν στοιχείων εἶναι φρόνησιν ἢ τῶν ὑστέρων· οὐ γὰρ ταῦτα τῶν ἄκρων οὐδ᾽ ἐκ τούτων τὰ πρῶτα πέφυκεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἐκείνων καὶ δι᾽ ἐκείνων τἆλλα γίγνεται καὶ συνίσταται φανερῶς. εἴτε γὰρ πῦρ εἴτ᾽ ἀὴρ εἴτ᾽ ἀριθμὸς εἴτε ἄλλαι τινὲς φύσεις αἰτίαι καὶ πρῶται τῶν ἄλλων, ἀδύνατον τῶν ἄλλων τι γιγνώσκειν ἐκείνας ἀγνοοῦντας· πῶς γὰρ ἄν τις ἢ λόγον γνωρίζοι συλλαβὰς ἀγνοῶν, ἢ ταύτας ἐπίσταιτο μηδὲν τῶν στοιχείων εἰδώς;

The importance of this passage for our purpose is that it is from a popular work, in which the phraseology is Academic (e.g. the use of φρόνησις for what Aristotle himself called σοφία).

The usage of Theophrastos is the same, but of course he simply reproduces Aristotle.

Footnotes

1. Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. xlv. No. 4.