Page:O. F. Owen's Organon of Aristotle Vol. 2 (1853).djvu/173

 concluded through many things, by him who wishes to assume continuously from the first, or the arguments appear captious, as we cannot demonstrate any thing without beginning from appropriate principles, and continuing in a regular series, as far as the last. Respondents, therefore, neither think fit to define, nor consider whether the questionist defines, but when it is not evident what the proposition is, it is not easy to attack it; now, such a thing especially occurs about principles, for other things are demonstrated through these, but these cannot possibly be through others, but it is necessary to make known each thing of this kind by definition.

Those also are difficult to impugn which are very near the principle, since it is impossible to provide many arguments against them, since there are but few media between the thing itself and the principle, through which it is necessary that things subsequent to them should be demonstrated. Still, of all definitions, those are most difficult to impugn which employ such names, as at first are uncertain whether they are predicated simply or multifariously; besides which, it is unknown, whether they are predicated by the definer properly or metaphorically. For from their obscurity a person does not obtain arguments, but from his being ignorant whether such things are said metaphorically, he is without reprehension.

In short, every problem, when it is difficult of opposition, must be supposed either to stand in need of definition, or as among the number of things predicated multifariously, or metaphorically, or as not remote from principles, or from its not being first apparent to us, to which of the before-named modes this