Against the Professors, Books I-VI of Against the Learned Section 19

ἵνα πολλὰ ᾖ τὰ μετ- έχοντα ταύτης· πρῶτον μέν γὰρ ἔσται ἕκαστον οὐ τῆς τοῦ ἑνὸς ἰδέας μετέχον, μέρους δὲ αὐτῆς, εἶτα καὶ ἡ μο- νὰς ἀδιαίρετος καὶ ἀμερὴς ἐνοεῖτο κατ’ αὐτούς. εἰ δέ πλείους εἰσὶν ἰδέαι τοῦ ἑνός, 〈ὡς〉 ἕκαστον τῶν καθʼ ἓν τασσομένων ἀριθμητῶν 〈ἰδίας τινὸς μετέχειν ἰδέας〉, ἤτοι 〈ἡ〉 τοῦ Α 〈καὶ〉 ἡ τοῦ Β [καθ’ ἓν ἑκάτερον] μετέχει τινὸς κοινῆς ἰδέας 〈καθʼ ἣν ἑκάτερον αὐτῶν προσαγο- ρεύεται ἕν〉, ἢ οὐ μετέχει.

It cannot have many parts so that many things may participate in it. First, each thing would participate not in the form of the one but in a part of it. Second, according to them the unit was conceived as indivisible and partless. But if there are several forms of the one, so that each of the countable things classed as one participates in some form of its own, then either the form of A and the form of B participate in some common form according to which each of them is called one, or they do not participate in one.

Il ne saurait en être ainsi afin que soient multiples les choses qui y participent. D’abord, chacune participerait non à l’idée de l’un, mais à une partie de celle-ci. Ensuite, selon eux, l’unité était conçue comme indivisible et sans parties. Mais s’il existe plusieurs idées de l’un, de sorte que chacune des choses particulières rangées sous l’un participe à une idée qui lui soit propre, ou bien l’idée de A et celle de B participent à une idée commune, en vertu de laquelle chacune est appelée une, ou bien elles n’y participent pas.