Physics 19

...and the numbered number original: "numerus numeratus"; this refers to the things being counted, like three apples.. The numbering number original: "Numerus numerans"; the abstract concept of number or the act of counting itself. is a stable number through which many things can be numbered, such as "ten," "eight," and similar concepts by which eight donkeys and ten men are numbered. But the numbered number is the thing being numbered, such as dogs, donkeys, and sheep. Furthermore, the numbered number is divided into two categories: namely, according to potentiality and according to act. According to potentiality, it is properly called "numberable" Something that has the capacity to be counted.. According to act, they are things actually numbered. Likewise, a numbered number is numbered in two ways: first, by the cause of the number—that is, by the cause that makes it be a number. In this way, time is numbered by motion, because there is a "before" and "after" in time. And the "now" does not have the same being according to whether it is here or there (that is, before and after); thus, the "now" is the same in substance, but the moments are caused or counted together from the before and after in motion. In another way, a numbered number is numbered by its parts and by its own substance (if it has one); and according to this, time is numbered in a twofold way: namely, by the "before" and "after" in time as its parts, and it is numbered by the "now" repeated according to its being, while nevertheless remaining the same in its substance—acting as its own substance.

Thus, it appears how time is the number of motion according to the before and the after. Also, the number which is time is considered in another way: namely, as a measure yielding the quantity of motion; and in this way, time is the numbering number of motion. For first, the quantity of time is determined original: "certificatur", which arises from motion as from its cause, and from the number of its parts and its substance; and once this quantity is determined, it determines the quantity of motion. And this is what Aristotle original: "Aris." says: That time is the minimum number. But the minimum number is two. I mean the minimum number of a numbered number. For the minimum number of a numbering number is the binary original: "binarius" or duality. Whence time numbers motion or measures it in that way, just as the number "two," when taken many times, explains the divided parts of some quantity through an equal number. Whence time does not multiply the number beyond two (namely, "before" and "after"), but those two are taken many times according to the parts of the motion itself—that is, in the total quantity of the motion.

And thus it is clear how time is the number of motion, or the measure, according to the before and the after. From this, it is also clear that motion cannot be the number of time in itself, but only by accident original: "per accidens"; meaning a non-essential or indirect relationship., although it may be the cause of time; this is because motion is not an internal cause, but an efficient cause The external force or agent that brings something into being.. Furthermore, in motion, there is not the same thing repeated that remains identical in substance, nor remains in the same state of being, because that which we grasp of motion does not remain the same. However, that which we grasp of time is permanent and the same in substance, and it stands in the place of the unit The number one. repeated in a number. And so it is clear what time is: for it is a proper attribute original: "propria passio"; a necessary characteristic. of motion. And clear also is how it measures motion. But it should be noted that the "now" original: "nunc"; the instant. is taken in two ways, as Avicenna original: "Auicena" says: namely, for the "now" which is the substance of time (which has been discussed), and for the designated "now"; and that designation depends on...