From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAdiaireton means not divisible.
- In StobaeusThe report on Ecphantus makes indivisible bodies and void principles of everything and treats Pythagorean units as corporeal.
- In this edition“Indivisible” is not substituted for “without parts” where the source uses the latter expression.
- A place to beginIndivisible bodies and void serve as principles.
- English renderings
- indivisible
Meaning
Adiaireton means not divisible. The reason for denying division matters: a smallest body, an incorporeal principle, and something merely treated as a unit need not be indivisible in the same way.
Use in the book
The report on Ecphantus makes indivisible bodies and void principles of everything and treats Pythagorean units as corporeal. The Democritean notice says division stops at things without parts. By contrast, the Aristotelian report permits bodily division without limit potentially. These statements place the stopping point of division at issue rather than merely disagreeing about the sizes of visible pieces.
Places to read
- I.10.16a.1Indivisible bodies and void serve as principles.
- I.14.1gDivision terminates at things without parts.
- I.14.1bA competing account allows unlimited potential division.
- Arith.2bThe One is described as an undivided primary form.
Translation in this edition
“Indivisible” is not substituted for “without parts” where the source uses the latter expression. The formulations are related but not verbally identical.
Without division
Ameristos means undivided or indivisible. In Arith.2b the reported Aristotelian description makes the One the primary undivided form of the odd and indivisible principle. The distinction between an undivided principle and divisible numbered things helps explain why “indivisible” is not restricted to the physical atoms of atomism.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 16, 127, 141, 143.