Weighing

Use in the book

At 166b weighing supplies a second example after calculation. The heavier and lighter weight, or heavy and light, are different from the art by which they are assessed. Socrates needs only the distinction between a competence and its object; he is not explaining the construction of a balance or a theory of gravity.

The choice prepares the relational argument. At 168c something heavier than itself would also be lighter than itself. A weighing expertise is perfectly intelligible because its field includes comparative weights, while an impossible self-comparison within that field would require one object to occupy incompatible sides of the relation. These are different claims. Knowledge about a relation should not be confused with a thing's standing in that relation to itself.

The small example therefore links the craft analogy to the systematic testing of powers. It shows why the new question at 166a–b2 is about what a knowledge is of, independently of whether it leaves behind a manufactured product.

Places to read

1. 166bWeighing and its distinct field
2. 168cHeavier and lighter among incompatible self-comparisons

Translation in this edition

The repeated statikē at 166b is retained by Burnet though the apparatus records a proposed deletion. The edition’s repetition, “weighing is the weighing of…”, reflects the Greek construction rather than a new technical definition.

βαρύς

Attested: βαρυτέρου / βαρύ / βαρύτερον (baryterou / bary / baryteron). Heavy or heavier in weight; names the object of weighing and then a comparative relation whose application to itself would also require being lighter. References: 166b, 168c. Lexical identification: lemma: βαρύς. See Weighing.

κοῦφος

Attested: κουφοτέρου / κοῦφον / κουφότερον (kouphoterou / kouphon / kouphoteron). Light or lighter in weight; the correlate of heavy in weighing and in the argument that something heavier than itself would also be lighter than itself. References: 166b, 168c. Lexical identification: lemma: κοῦφος. See Weighing.

σταθμός

Attested: σταθμοῦ (stathmou). Weight; the greater or lesser weight that the art of weighing concerns, distinct from that art itself. References: 166b. Lexical identification: lemma: σταθμός. See Weighing.

στατική

Attested: στατικὴ / στατική / στατικῆς (statikē / statikē / statikēs). The art of weighing; its objects are heavier and lighter weights, so it supplies an example of expertise directed toward something other than itself. References: 166b. Lexical identification: lemma: στατική. See Weighing.