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. And if the cause be supposed not to exist but
to be coming to be, the same results will follow; everything will
occur of necessity. For to-morrow's eclipse will occur if A occurs,
and A if B occurs, and B if C occurs; and in this way if we subtract
time from the limited time between now and to-morrow we shall come
sometime to the already existing condition. Therefore since this
exists, everything after this will occur of necessity, so that all
things occur of necessity.
As to that which 'is' in the sense of being true or of being by
accident, the former depends on a combination in thought and is an
affection of thought (which is the reason why it is the principles,
not of that which 'is' in this sense, but of that which is outside and
can exist apart, that are sought); and the latter is not necessary but
indeterminate (I mean the accidental); and of such a thing the
causes are unordered and indefinite.
Adaptation to an end is found in events that happen by nature or
as the result of thought. It is 'luck' when one of these events
happens by accident. For as a thing may exist, so it may be a cause,
either by its own nature or by accident. Luck is an accidental cause
at work in such events adapted to an end as are usually effected in
accordance with purpose. And so luck and thought are concerned with
the same sphere; for purpose cannot exist without thought. The
causes from which lucky results might happen are indeterminate; and so
luck is obscure to human calculation and is a cause by accident, but
in the unqualified sense a cause of nothing
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