Page:Ferrier Works vol 2 1888 LECTURES IN GREEK PHILOSOPHY.pdf/126

Rh 15. Another form which the Pythagoreans employed to express their principle was the expression , the one, and , the indeterminate or indefinite two. Of these terms, the latter, in particular, is very obscure, and has been very insufficiently explained. I will endeavour to throw what light upon them I can out of my own reflections. First of all, these terms seem to be merely another form of expression for the  and the ; the ; or one is the  or limit; the  is the , the unlimited and indeterminate. Everything in being limited is one. This is expressed by the term , which stands for the sameness or identity in things; but the diversity of things is inexhaustible; and this capacity of infinite diversity is indicated by the term , indefinite difference; so that, according to the Pythagoreans, the general scheme of the universe, as regarded by pure reason, is identity, combined with a capacity of infinite diversity. Neither of the terms has any meaning out of relation to the other. But let us for a moment consider each term by itself; , taken by itself, stands for absolute diversity. Everything in the universe is absolutely different from every other; all things are particular, and they are held together by no universal. The , in short, signifies, when taken by itself, the unbounded and inexhaustible particular. The , again, taken by itself, stands for their unity; it signifies their feature of agreement. In a word, it is their genus, just as the   is a