Aristotle's Concept of Chance: Accidents, Cause, Necessity, and Determinism

1. The Doctrine of Phys. II, IV-VI

1 THE DOCTRINE OF PHYS. II, i-i – “In Aristotle we find the recapitulation of all that had been significantly said about Fortune before him, and a definition which, with its implications, contains practically all the views which will subsequently come to be entertained on the subject [sc. until the 14th century].” – V. Cioffari, Fortune and Fate…16 (i) Context and method Aristotle’s main discussion of chance is that found in Book II of the Physics, which may be described as an investigation into causes, as is apparent from the first sentence of chapters 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8.1 Chance must be examined in a treatise on causality, since people speak of things happening ‘by chance’, as if chance were a cause. The atomists attributed the order in the universe to chance. Other people denied any reality to chance, and yet others held chance to be something divine and a mysterious power (THLRYQ WL RX?VD NDL GDLPRQLZYWHURQ).2 Aristotle therefore felt called upon to examine these claims in a treatise on causes. Chapters iv-vi of Phys. II contain Aristotle’s main discussion of WXYFK and WDXMWRYPDWRQ. It will be argued in the next chapter that Aristotle originally wrote an account of WXYFK which comprised Phys. II, iv-v and only at a later stage wrote the more specialised doctrine of Phys. II, vi. In the present chapter an attempt will be made to set out Aristotle’s 1 Cf. also Phys. II, vi, 198 a 2. 2 Phys. II, iv, 196 b 6-7. 20 ARISTOTLE’S CONCEPT OF CHANCE final doctrine of chance, i.e. the doctrine of the three chapters. The inconsistencies that remain due to imperfect revision of II, iv-v will not be dealt with here, but will be reserved for the next chapter.3 The method adopted in this chapter is that of systematically elucidating Aristotle’s own highly cryptic notes on chance in Phys. II, v-vi. This chapter thus constitutes a commentary on the doctrine of Phys. II, v-vi. A commentary on the doctrine of Phys. II, iv will be given in Chapter II, where it will be used at the same time to clarify the structure of Phys. II, iv-vi. (ii) Terminology In the following account Aristotle’s two terms WXYFK and WDXMWRYPDWRQ will be retained in their Greek form for the sake of clarity. However, it is worthwhile discussing briefly the most appropriate English equivalents for these terms. In Phys. II, vi the best equivalent for WXYFK is doubtless ‘luck’ (the term used by Hope, Apostle, and Charlton), since Aristotle restricts WXYFK to human beings (cf. infra §xiv) and in English ‘luck’ is also only usable when referring to human beings or anthropomorphized animals. For WDXMWRYPDWRQ the best equivalent is undoubtedly ‘chance’ (Apostle’s term), since WDXMWRYPDWRQ includes WXYFK. The translations ‘spontaneity’ (Ross, Hardie and Gaye) and ‘the automatic’ (Charlton) are not used to refer to chance events in English, and it does not appear necessary to use an invented term remote from English usage to translate a term in common Greek usage. As will be seen, however, WXYFK is frequently used in Phys. II, iv-v and in other works to refer to chance as a whole (the domain of WDXMWRYPDWRQ in Phys. II, vi) and hence cannot always be translated by ‘luck’ .4 It would accordingly 3 My aim is to avoid the danger well expressed by Graham, Aristotle’s Two Systems …291: “…the developmentalists tend to fragment Aristotle’s thought, while the Unitarians try to reconcile too much.” 4 It is a mistake to translate WXYFK by ‘luck’ throughout Phys. II, iv-vi, as do Hope, Charlton and Apostle. However, it is equally incorrect to translate WXYFK by ‘chance’ in Phys. II, vi, as does Lacey, Philoponus, On Aristotle’s Physics 2. Cf. infra this chapter n. 135, Ch. 2, B, pp. 69-70 and Ch. 1 passim. Fleet, Simplicius, On Aristotle’s Physics 2… incorrectly translates WXYFK by ‘luck’ throughout Phys. II, iv-vi (although he anomalously translates WXYFK by ‘chance’ at II, iv, 196 b 4). He regularly translates WDXMWRYPDWRQ by ‘chance’, but incorrectly translates DMSRWRXDXMWRPDYWRX at 196 a 34 as ‘from luck’. He translates HXMWXFLYD (good fortune) by ‘a godsend’ and GXVWXFLYD (bad THE DOCTRINE OF PHYS. II, IVVI 21 appear most appropriate to translate WXYFK by ‘chance’ when it...