Page:The Dialogues of Plato v. 4.djvu/99

perfect unity framed out of all—of this the part will be a part.

Certainly.

Again, each part is not only a part but also a perfect whole in itself.

If, then, the others have parts, they will participate in the whole and in the one.

True.

Then the others than the one must be one perfect whole, having parts.

Certainly.

And the same argument holds of each part, for the part must participate in the one; for if each of the parts is a part, ¹⁵⁸ this means, I suppose, that it is one separate from the rest and self-related; otherwise it is not each.

True.

But when we speak of the part participating in the one, it must clearly be other than one; for if not, it would not merely have participated, but would have been one; whereas only the one itself can be one.

Very true.

The whole and the part are both one, and therefore they must participate in the one and be other than the one, and more than one and infinite in number.

Both the whole and the part must participate in the one; for the whole will be one whole, of which the parts will be parts; and each part will be one part of the whole which is the whole of the part.

True.

And will not the things which participate in the one, be other than it?

Of course.

And the things which are other than the one will be many; for if the things which are other than the one were neither one nor more than one, they would be nothing.

True.

But, seeing that the things which participate in the one as a part, and in the one as a whole, are more than one, must not those very things which participate in the one be infinite in number?

How so?

Let us look at the matter thus:— Is it not a fact that in partaking of the one they are not one, and do not partake of the one at the very time when they are partaking of it?