This lesson was short, but unbelievably difficult to understand; and it did not open up for me until I fully understood what mutation actually was, and its implications. In order to find the answer, I had to go back to re-read every chapter containing the term: chapter 5 on substance, chapter 8 on quality, and chapter 10 concerning opposites. After doing so, I came back to chapter 24, paragraph 6 concerning contraries, and the outline of an idea began to form in my mind of what mutation according to place could mean. I made the raw assertion to the tutor that, “… it is physically moving from, or remaining at, a location.”
The tutor confirmed my reasoning, and referred me to Aristotle’s Physics, Book V, chapters 2 through 5, and Metaphysics Book XII, chapter 1, for further reading. I went down the rabbit hole and, admittedly, much of it was far beyond my current level of reasoning, and comprehension. However, I was able to scrounge up some helpful gems along the way. I did learn from Metaphysics that there are 3 types of motion: quality, quantity, and place; Aristotle says explicitly, “If, therefore, the categories are divided by substance, quality, place, action and passion, relation and quantity, it is necessary that there should be three motions, viz. of quality, of quantity, and of place.”
From Physics, I learned that generation, and corruption, were mutations into being, and non-being, respectively; again, the Philosopher says plainly, “… for mutation is more denominated from that into which, than from that from which it is moved; and on this account, corruption is a mutation into nonbeing; though also that which is corrupted is changed from being; and generation is a mutation into being, though it should be from non-being.” Learning these two ideas, were immensely helpful in being able to classify the 6 species of motion, into 4 classifications in my mind: generation with corruption being mutations of essence, increase with diminutions being mutations of quantity, variations being mutations of quality, and mutations with rest according to place referring to locomotion, or the absence thereof.
Having discovered all that, after more prayer, more re-readings out loud, and more walking contemplations: suddenly, today, I noticed in paragraph 7, that every time Aristotle mentioned “mutation of a quality”, he was speaking of the species of motion called variation. Thus, it seemed to me that variation is what is opposed to rest according to place, and mutation of quality into a contrary quality. So, all that being said, simply put, I have learned that:
Mutation is a kind of change, of which there are different kinds, depending on the predication being made, between a subject, and its particular motion.
EAR