g. all those terms which are not used
essentially in relation to both things: as medicine is said to deal
with the production of disease and health; for it is said
essentially to do the latter, but the former only by accident: for
it is absolutely alien to medicine to produce disease. Here, then, the
man who renders medicine as relative to both of these things has not
defined it any better than he who mentions the one only. In fact he
has done it perhaps worse, for any one else besides the doctor is
capable of producing disease.
Moreover, in a case where the term to be defined is used in relation
to several things, see if he has rendered it as relative to the
worse rather than to the better; for every form of knowledge and
potentiality is generally thought to be relative to the best.
Again, if the thing in question be not placed in its own proper
genus, one must examine it according to the elementary rules in regard
to genera, as has been said before.'
Moreover, see if he uses language which transgresses the genera of
the things he defines, defining, e.g. justice as a 'state that
produces equality' or 'distributes what is equal': for by defining
it so he passes outside the sphere of virtue, and so by leaving out
the genus of justice he fails to express its essence: for the
essence of a thing must in each case bring in its genus.
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