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Clearly, then, the contrary of 'sharp' bears several meanings, and if
so, also does 'sharp'; for corresponding to each of the former terms
the meaning of its contrary will be different. For 'sharp' will not be
the same when contrary to 'dull' and to 'flat', though 'sharp' is the
contrary of each. Again Barhu ('flat', 'heavy') in the case of a note
has 'sharp' as its contrary, but in the case of a solid mass 'light',
so that Barhu is used with a number of meanings, inasmuch as its
contrary also is so used. Likewise, also, 'fine' as applied to a
picture has 'ugly' as its contrary, but, as applied to a house,
'ramshackle'; so that 'fine' is an ambiguous term.
In some cases there is no discrepancy of any sort in the names used,
but a difference of kind between the meanings is at once obvious: e.g.
in the case of 'clear' and 'obscure': for sound is called 'clear' and
'obscure', just as 'colour' is too. As regards the names, then, there
is no discrepancy, but the difference in kind between the meanings is
at once obvious: for colour is not called 'clear' in a like sense to
sound. This is plain also through sensation: for of things that are
the same in kind we have the same sensation, whereas we do not judge
clearness by the same sensation in the case of sound and of colour,
but in the latter case we judge by sight, in the former by hearing.
Likewise also with 'sharp' and 'dull' in regard to flavours and solid
edges: here in the latter case we judge by touch, but in the former by
taste. For here again there is no discrepancy in the names used, in
the case either of the original terms or of their contraries: for the
contrary also of sharp in either sense is 'dull'.
Moreover, see if one sense of a term has a contrary, while another has
absolutely none; e.g. the pleasure of drinking has a contrary in the
pain of thirst, whereas the pleasure of seeing that the diagonal is
incommensurate with the side has none, so that 'pleasure' is used in
more than one sense. To 'love' also, used of the frame of mind, has to
'hate' as its contrary, while as used of the physical activity
(kissing) it has none: clearly, therefore, to 'love' is an ambiguous
term. Further, see in regard to their intermediates, if some meanings
and their contraries have an intermediate, others have none, or if
both have one but not the same one, e.g. 'clear' and 'obscure' in the
case of colours have 'grey' as an intermediate, whereas in the case of
sound they have none, or, if they have, it is 'harsh', as some people
say that a harsh sound is intermediate. 'Clear', then, is an ambiguous
term, and likewise also 'obscure'. See, moreover, if some of them have
more than one intermediate, while others have but one, as is the case
with 'clear' and 'obscure', for in the case of colours there are
numbers of intermediates, whereas in regard to sound there is but one,
viz. 'harsh'.
Again, in the case of the contradictory opposite, look and see if it
bears more than one meaning. For if this bears more than one meaning,
then the opposite of it also will be used in more than one meaning;
e.g. 'to fail to see' a phrase with more than one meaning, viz. (1) to
fail to possess the power of sight, (2) to fail to put that power to
active use. But if this has more than one meaning, it follows
necessarily that 'to see' also has more than one meaning: for there
will be an opposite to each sense of 'to fail to see'; e.g. the
opposite of 'not to possess the power of sight' is to possess it,
while of 'not to put the power of sight to active use', the opposite
is to put it to active use.
Moreover, examine the case of terms that denote the privation or
presence of a certain state: for if the one term bears more than one
meaning, then so will the remaining term: e.g. if 'to have sense' be
used with more than one meaning, as applied to the soul and to the
body, then 'to be wanting in sense' too will be used with more than
one meaning, as applied to the soul and to the body. That the
opposition between the terms now in question depends upon the
privation or presence of a certain state is clear, since animals
naturally possess each kind of 'sense', both as applied to the soul
and as applied to the body.