PART XII

nal, but if it be faid to be Generated, it will j be found to be Inexiftent, forafniuch as Gene-j ration icfelf is not. Much more might be faid,' but not CO itifift longer hereon, we (hall, from what bath been faid, infer. That the Sceptkks ought not to afient to any thing, that is faid by the Dogmatifis^ cor.ccrning Place, but to Sufpend,
CHAP, XVI!.
Of Time.
THe f^ie we do in the Qi^eftion eoncerning Time- For by Phenomena’s^ Time feetn- eth CO be fomething ; but by that which is faid of *it , it feems to have no Being ^ for fonie affirm , That Time is the Interval of the motion of Time , ( by Time underlfanding the World ;) others. That it is the motion of the World. Ariftotle^ or, as fome, Plato^ that it is the number of Prius dr* Fojierius in motion. Strata., or, as fome, Arifiotle., that it is the Mea- pure of Motion and Ref. Epicurus., ( as Demetri¬ us the Lacedemonian faith ) that it is an Accident of Accidents, accompanying Days, and Nights, and Hours, and Affecfions, and Apathies, and Motions, and Refts. As to its Eflence, fome af¬ firm it is a Body, as the Followers of Emefide- mus ; for they hold, it differs nothing from Be¬ ing, and from the firfl: Body •, others, that it is Incorporeal. Now therefore, either all thefe dilTonant Opinions are true, or all are faife • or fome are true, fome faife. But all cannot be true, for moll: of them are repugnant to one another ; neither will the Dogmatijis yield that all are faife. Befides, if we Ihould grant it to be faife, that Time is a Body ; and faife likewife, that it is Incorporeal, it mull immediately be granted, that Time is not at ail ; for befides thefe, there can be nothing. Neither is it pof- fible to comprehend which are true, which faife, by reafon of the equivalence of the Arguments on both fides, and the uncertainty of the Cri- terie and the Deraonftration. For thefe Rea- fons therefore, we cannot aflert any thing con¬ cerning Time. Moreover, feeing that Time exifts not without Motion or Reft, if Motion and Reft be taken away. Time alfo is, taken a- way. Neverchelefs, fome bring thefe Argu¬ ments againft Time ,
If Time be, either it is Determinate, or Infi¬ nite*, if Determinate, it began from fome Time, and will end in fome Time ; and con- fequently there was once a Time, when Time was not, that is, before it began to be • and tliere will be a Tiffie,v/henTime fhall not be,that is,when it Ihall haveceasM to be,which is abfurd ; Therefore Time is not Determinate. Now if it be infinite, forafmucb as one is faid to be Paft, another Prefent, another Future ; the Future and Prefent either are or arc not *, but if they are not, feeing there only remains the Prefent, than which nothing can be Ihorter, Time will foe Determinate, and coafequencly there will artfe the feme difficulties as at firft. But if the PaS: exift, and the Future exift, they rauft both be Prefent-, but it is abfurd to fay. That that which is Paft and Future is Pref^t, tharefore
Time is not Infinite. Now if it be neither In¬ finite nor Determinate, it is not at all.
Moreover, if Time be, 'tis either Divifibk or Indivifible ^ Indivifible it is not, for it is di¬ vided, as they lay, into Prefent, Paft, and Fu¬ ture ; but neither is it Divifibie, for every Di- vifible is meafured by fome part of itfelf, thk which meafureth being applied to every pan of the thing meafured, as when we meafure a Cubit with a Digit. But Time cannot be mea- fured by any part of itfelf ; for if the Prefent (for example) meafureth the Paft, it rauft be in the Paft, and confequently Paft • and, if the Future, it muft be in the Future, and confe- quently Future, In like manner the Future, if k meafure the others, muft be' Prefent and Paft and the Paft muft be Future and Ptefent, which is a Contradidion • therefore it is not Divifibie. Now, if it be neither Divifibie nor Indivifible, it is not at all.
Again, Time is faid to have three Parts, the Paft, the Pi»efent, and the Future •, of which, the Paft and Future are not, ( for if the Pail and Future were now, each of them would be the Prefent ) neither is the Prefent alfo. For if tire Prefent Time be, it is either Indivifible or Di¬ vifibie • Indivifible it is not, for things that arc changed, are faid to be changed in prefent Time ^ but nothing is changed in indivifible Time, as, I am ioftned, or the like. T herefore the prefent Time is not indivifible. But nei¬ ther is it divifibie 5 it can no! be divided intc? Prefents • for by reafon of the fwife fluxion of things in the world, the Prefent is impercepti¬ bly changed into the Paft. * Neither is it divided into Paft and Future, for then it were inexiftent, as having one part no longer exiftent, the other not yet exiftent. Whence neither can the Pre¬ sent be the end of the Paft, and Beginning of the Future, for fo it will be, and not be; it will be, as it is Prefent ; and not be, becaufe its part« are not : Therefore it is not divifibie. Now if the Prefent be neither divifibie nor indivifible, it is not at all. But if there be neither Prefent, uor Paft, nor Future, Time is not for that: which confifts of what is not, itfelf is not.
Againft Time, is alfo brought this Argument r If Time is, it is either generate and corrupti¬ ble, or ingenerate and incorruptible. Ingene- ratc and incorruptible it is not, for Part is Paft, and hath no longer Being ; Part is Future, and hath no Being yet : But neither is it generate and corruptible ; for things that are generated, are generated of fome Being, and Things that are corrupted, are corrupted into fome Being, according to the Tenent of the Dogmatijls. If therefore it be corrupted into the Paft, it is corrupted into a Not-Bcing ; and if it be gene¬ rated of the Future, it is generated of a Not* Being, for neither of thefe is. But ic is abfurd to fay, that a Thing is generated of a Not- Being, or corrupted into a Not-Being*, there¬ fore Time is not generate and corruptible. Now if Time be neither ingererate and incor¬ ruptible, nor generate and corruptible, it is not at all.
Moreover, forafmuch as every thing that is generated, feems to be generated in Time • it Time be generated, it is generated in Time ; it is therefore either generated in itfelf, or one
time
SCEPTICISM.