Kitap 7
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.
12
And this is the substance of each thing, for it is the primary cause of its existence. And since, although some things are not substances, all substances are constituted in accordance with and by nature, substance would seem to be this nature, which is not an element but a principle.i.e. the formal cause. Cf. Aristot. Met. 5.4.4-6. An element is that which is present as matter in a thing, and into which the thing is divided; e.g., A and B are the elements of the syllable.
