way into a καθόλου, such that other men are only other fathers. Opposed to this immediacy of the καθόλου, an entry must be made into what is ἀρχή in the genuine sense—the primary determination of beings as to what they are. From this genuine ἀρχή, a return must be made to concrete being-there itself (Methodology of ἀρχή-research: Metaphysics, Book 3).
It is therefore manifest (1) ἐντελεχείᾳ μόνον,33 “as pure presence,” (2) “as possibility and presence.”34 It is a question of the beings of φύσει ὄντα, that in themselves already are, that would not be merely δυνάμει. A being that is present is still δυνάμει in this being-present. In the context of what is being discussed, δύναμις always means δύναμις of an ἐντελεχείᾳ ὄν. Thus the third member considered δυνάμει is superfluous.35 The being that is there is characterized according to two possibilities: on the one hand, as pure presence, on the other hand as ἐντελεχείᾳ and in addition δυνάμει ὄν.
α. ἐντελέχεια and ἐνέργεια
Beginning with the investigation of ἐντελέχεια: (1) clarification of its meaning with regard to its content, what it means; (2) the word-formation itself, which immediately stands out.
A passage from Metaphysics Θ 3 is instructive for the clarification of the meaning: ἐλήλυθε δ’ ἡ ἐνέργεια τοὔνομα, ἡ πρὸς τὴν ἐντελέχειαν συντιθεμένη, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἐκ τῶν κινήσεων μάλιστα· δοκεῖ γὰρ ἡ ἐνέργεια μάλιστα ἡ κίνησις εἶναι.36 “It happened that the name ἐνέργεια also came to be carried over to the other, to what contrasted with determinations of movement; ἐνέργεια, specifically, is related in itself πρὸς τὴν ἐντελέχειαν” (to replace συντιθεμένη with συντεινομένη, compare διὸ καὶ τοὔνομα ἐνέργεια λέγεται κατὰ τὸ ἔργον, καὶ συντείνει πρὸς τὴν ἐντελέχειαν).37 Here, is the distinction between ἐνέργεια and ἐντελέχεια:
1. Ἐντελέχεια: “presence, being-present of a being as end,” in the sense of the final point that is completed, that has itself in itself in its “end”—τέλος as character of being-there, which constitutes being-completed; ἐντελέχεια: that which maintains itself in its being-completed, what is there in the genuine sense.
2. Ἐνέργεια, on the other hand, συντείνει πρὸς τὴν ἐντελέχειαν, “stretches itself out to the end”—also a character of being-there, but such that it determines beings in their being-there so that they are not there in their being-completed; ἐνέργεια: the being-character of being-grasped in becoming-completed. In
33. Phys. Γ 1, 200 b 26.
34. Phys. Γ 1, 200 b 26 sq.: δυνάμει καὶ ἐντελεχείᾳ.
35. Phys. Γ 1, 200 b 26.--Anm. d. Hg.: Bei der Ergänzung des “dritten Gliedes” τὸ δὲ δυνάμει zwischen ἐντελεχείᾳ μόνον und τὸ δὲ δυνάμει καὶ ἐντελεχείᾳ handelt es sich um eine Konjektur von Spengal und Bonitz, die Prantl in den Text seiner Ausgabe aufgenommen hat.
36. Met. Θ 3, 1047 a 30 sqq.
37. Met. Θ 8, 1050 a 22 sq.