Book 7
8
Now since that which is composed of something in such a way that the whole is a unity; not as an aggregate is a unity, but as a syllable isThis sentence is not finished; the parenthesis which follows lasts until the end of the chapter.—the syllable is not the letters, nor is BA the same as B and A; nor is flesh fire and earth; because after dissolution the compounds, e.g. flesh or the syllable, no longer exist; but the letters exist, and so do fire and earth.
9
Therefore the syllable is some particular thing; not merely the letters, vowel and consonant, but something else besides. And flesh is not merely fire and earth, or hot and cold, but something else besides.
10
Since then this something else must be either an element or composed of elements, (a) if it is an element, the same argument applies again; for flesh will be composed of this and fire and earth, and again of another element, so that there will be an infinite regression. And (b) if it is composed of elements, clearly it is composed not of one (otherwise it will itself be that element) but of several; so that we shall use the same argument in this case as about the flesh or the syllable.
11
It would seem, however, that this something else is something that is not an element, but is the cause that this matter is flesh and that matter a syllable, and similarly in other cases.
