ρεαλισμός (Aristotle)

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Ἔτι τὸ μὲν ἐπιστητὸν ἀναιρεθὲν συναναιρεῖ τὴν ἐπιστήμην, ἡ δὲ ἐπιστήμη
τὸ ἐπιστητὸν οὐ συναναιρεῖ· ἐπιστητοῦ γὰρ μὴ ὄντος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπιστήμη, —
οὐδενὸς γὰρ ἔτι ἔσται ἐπιστήμη, — ἐπιστήμης δὲ μὴ οὔσης οὐδὲν κωλύει
ἐπιστητὸν εἶναι· οἷον καὶ ὁ τοῦ κύκλου τετραγωνισμὸς εἴ γε ἔστιν
ἐπιστητόν, ἐπιστήμη μὲν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδέπω, αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ ἐπιστητὸν ἔστιν.

Ἔτι ζῴου μὲν ἀναιρεθέντος οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπιστήμη, τῶν δ᾿ ἐπιστητῶν πολλὰ
ἐνδέχεται εἶναι.

— Ὁμοίως δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς αἰσθήσεως ἔχει· τὸ γὰρ αἰσθητὸν
πρότερον τῆς αἰσθήσεως δοκεῖ εἶναι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ αἰσθητὸν ἀναιρεθὲν
συναναιρεῖ τὴν αἴσθησιν, ἡ δὲ αἴσθησις τὸ αἰσθητὸν οὐ συναναιρεῖ.

Αἱ γὰρ αἰσθήσεις περὶ σῶμα καὶ ἐν σώματί εἰσιν, αἰσθητοῦ δὲ ἀναιρεθέντος
ἀνῄρηται καὶ σῶμα, — τῶν γὰρ αἰσθητῶν καὶ τὸ σῶμα, — σώματος δὲ μὴ ὄντος
ἀνῄρηται καὶ ἡ αἴσθησις, ὥστε συναναιρεῖ τὸ αἰσθητὸν τὴν αἴσθησιν.

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Ἡ δέ γε αἴσθησις τὸ αἰσθητὸν οὔ· ζῴου γὰρ ἀναιρεθέντος αἴσθησις μὲν
ἀνῄρηται, αἰσθητὸν δὲ ἔσται, οἷον σῶμα, θερμόν, γλυκύ, πικρόν, καὶ τὰ
ἄλλα πάντα ὅσα ἐστὶν αἰσθητά.

Ἔτι ἡ μὲν αἴσθησις ἅμα τῷ αἰσθητικῷ γίγνεται, — ἅμα γὰρ ζῷόν τε γίγνεται
καὶ αἴσθησις, — τὸ δέ γε αἰσθητὸν ἔστι καὶ πρὸ τοῦ αἴσθησιν εἶναι, — πῦρ
γὰρ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἐξ ὧν καὶ τὸ ζῷον συνίσταται, ἔστι καὶ πρὸ
τοῦ ζῷον ὅλως εἶναι ἢ αἴσθησιν, — ὥστε πρότερον ἂν τῆς αἰσθήσεως τὸ
αἰσθητὸν εἶναι δόξειεν.

Again, while the object of knowledge, if it ceases to exist, cancels
at the same time the knowledge which was its correlative, the converse
of this is not true. It is true that if the object of knowledge does
not exist there can be no knowledge: for there will no longer be anything
to know. Yet it is equally true that, if knowledge of a certain object
does not exist, the object may nevertheless quite well exist. Thus,
in the case of the squaring of the circle, if indeed that process
is an object of knowledge, though it itself exists as an object of
knowledge, yet the knowledge of it has not yet come into existence.
Again, if all animals ceased to exist, there would be no knowledge,
but there might yet be many objects of knowledge. 

This is likewise the case with regard to perception: for the object
of perception is, it appears, prior to the act of perception. If the
perceptible is annihilated, perception also will cease to exist; but
the annihilation of perception does not cancel the existence of the
perceptible. For perception implies a body perceived and a body in
which perception takes place. Now if that which is perceptible is
annihilated, it follows that the body is annihilated, for the body
is a perceptible thing; and if the body does not exist, it follows
that perception also ceases to exist. Thus the annihilation of the
perceptible involves that of perception. 

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But the annihilation of perception does not involve that of the perceptible.
For if the animal is annihilated, it follows that perception also
is annihilated, but perceptibles such as body, heat, sweetness, bitterness,
and so on, will remain. 

Again, perception is generated at the same time as the perceiving
subject, for it comes into existence at the same time as the animal.
But the perceptible surely exists before perception; for fire and
water and such elements, out of which the animal is itself composed,
exist before the animal is an animal at all, and before perception.
Thus it would seem that the perceptible exists before perception.
[Translated by E. M. Edghill]