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Single Idea 628

[filed under theme 2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 5. Opposites ]

Full Idea

All things are not composed of opposites, because matter is not the opposite of anything.

Gist of Idea

Not everything is composed of opposites; what, for example, is the opposite of matter?

Source

Aristotle (Metaphysics [c.324 BCE], 1075a28)

Book Ref

Aristotle: 'Metaphysics', ed/tr. Lawson-Tancred,Hugh [Penguin 1998], p.386

A Reaction

A nice counterexample

The 5 ideas with the same theme [concepts held to be totally opposed to each other]:

416 Beautiful harmony comes from things that are in opposition to one another [Heraclitus]
425 A thing can have opposing tensions but be in harmony, like a lyre [Heraclitus]
232 Opposites are as unlike as possible [Plato]
627 If everything is made of opposites, are the opposed things made of opposites? [Aristotle]
628 Not everything is composed of opposites; what, for example, is the opposite of matter? [Aristotle]