Note 807 — Chapter VII · THE PYTHAGOREANS
Reading edition
Cf. the ὑποζώματα of Plato, Rep. 616 c 3. As ὕλη generally means “timber” for shipbuilding (when it does not mean firewood), I suggest that we should look in this direction for an explanation of the technical use of the word in later philosophy. Cf. Plato, Phileb. 54 c 1, γενέσεως ... ἕνεκα ... πᾶσαν ὕλην παρατίθεσθαι πᾶσιν, which is part of the answer to the question πότερα πλοίων ναυπηγίαν ἕνεκα φῂς γίγνεσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ πλοῖα ἕνεκα ναυπηγίας; (ib. b 2); Tim. 69 a 6, οἷα τέκτοσιν ἡμῖν ὕλη παράκειται.