Book 13
1
Let us now mention a point which presents some difficulty both to those who hold the Ideal theory and to those who do not. It has been stated already, at the beginning of our treatise, among the problems.Cf. Aristot. Met. 3.4.8-10, Aristot. Met. 3.6.7-9. If we do not suppose substances to be separate, that is in the way in which particular things are said to be separate, we shall do away with substance in the sense in which we wish to maintain it; but if we suppose substances to be separable, how are we to regard their elements and principles?
2
If they are particular and not universal, there will be as many real things as there are elements, and the elements will not be knowable. For let us suppose that the syllables in speech are substances, and that their letters are the elements of substances. Then there must be only one BA, and only one of each of the other syllables; that is, if they are not universal and identical in form, but each is numerically one and an individual, and not a member of a class bearing a common name.
