Averroes · thesis 7.25

Thesis 7.25

Latin

Exemplum Aristotelis in secundo Methaphysice, de nicticorace respectu solis, non denotat impossibilitatem, sed difficultatem, alioquin natura aliquid ociose egisset.

Copy-text: Farmer 1998, line 13277

English

Aristotle's example in the second book of the Metaphysics, of the night-bird's relation to the sun, points to a difficulty rather than an impossibility; otherwise nature would have acted to no purpose in something.

'nicticorax' left as 'night-bird'; Farmer's note at farmer1998:13308 surveys the rival identifications (owl, night-raven, night-heron, bat) and settles on 'owl' for metaphorical reasons — this translation leaves that identification open.

Translation: machine-drafted 2026-09-26 by TRANSLATOR-T02b; sense checked against farmer1998:13335; awaiting human check

Attribution: reported according to Averroes (section 7 of the historical theses) · Pico's stance: reports

Farmer's cross-references

• 2.40 Difficultas intelligendi et ex parte ipsius intellectus et ex parte ipsius intelligibilis prouenire potest.
• 4.19 Actus intelligendi ab obiecto et intellectu tanquam duobus agentibus partialibus, ut quod causatur.
• 4.20 Actus intelligendi nobiliori modo causatur ab intellectu quam ab obiecto, quodcunque sit obiectum, modo non sit beatificum.