Categoria: Neoplatonismo

About the Movement of the Heavens. QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS OF THE HEAVENS. 1. Why do the heavens move in a circle? Because they imitate Intelligence. But to what does this movement belong? To the Soul, or to the body? Does it occur because the Soul is within the celestial sphere, which tends to revolve…

Tractate Second Ennead. Second tractate. The heavenly circuit. 1. But whence that circular movement? In imitation of the Intellectual-Principle. And does this movement belong to the material part or to the Soul? Can we account for it on the ground that the Soul has itself at once for centre and for the goal to which…

Whether Astrology is of any Value. OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE STARS. 1. It has been said that the course of the stars indicates what is to happen to each being; though, it does not, as many persons think, cause every event. To the supporting proofs hereof we are to add now more precise demonstrations,…

Tractate 52 Second Ennead. Third tractate. Are the stars causes? 1. That the circuit of the stars indicates definite events to come but without being the cause direct of all that happens, has been elsewhere affirmed, and proved by some modicum of argument: but the subject demands more precise and detailed investigation for to take…

Of Matter. MATTER AS SUBSTRATE AND RESIDENCE OF FORMS. 1. Matter is a substrate (or subject) underlying nature, as thought Aristotle, and a residence for forms. Thus much is agreed upon by all authors who have studied matter, and who have succeeded in forming a clear idea of this kind of nature; but further than…

Tractate 12 Second Ennead. Fourth tractate. Matter in its two kinds. 1. By common agreement of all that have arrived at the conception of such a Kind, what is known as Matter is understood to be a certain base, a recipient of Form-Ideas. Thus far all go the same way. But departure begins with the…

Of the Aristotelian Distinction Between Actuality and Potentiality. QUESTIONS TO BE DISCUSSED. 1. (Aristotle) spoke of (things) existing “potentially,” and “actually”; and actuality is spoken of as a “being.” We shall, however, have to examine this potential and actual existence; and whether this actual existence be the same as actuality, and whether this potential existence…

Tractate 25 Second Ennead. Fifth tractate. On potentiality and actuality. 1. A distinction is made between things existing actually and things existing potentially; a certain Actuality, also, is spoken of as a really existent entity. We must consider what content there is in these terms. Can we distinguish between Actuality [an absolute, abstract Principle] and…

Of Essence and Being. DISTINCTION BETWEEN ESSENCE AND BEING. 1. Is “essence” something different from “being”? Does essence indicate an abstraction of the other (four categories), and is being, on the contrary, essence with the other (four categories), motion and rest, identity and difference? Are these the elements of being? Yes: “being” is the totality…

Tractate 17 Second Ennead. Sixth tractate. Quality and form-idea. 1. Are not Being and Reality (to on and he ousia) distinct; must we not envisage Being as the substance stripped of all else, while Reality is this same thing, Being, accompanied by the others – Movement, Rest, Identity, Difference – so that these are the…

About Mixture to the Point of Total Penetration. REFUTATION OF ANAXAGORAS AND DEMOCRITUS. 1. The subject of the present consideration is mixture to the point of total penetration of the different bodies. This has been explained in two ways: that the two liquids are mingled so as mutually to interpenetrate each other totally, or that…

Tractate 37 Second Ennead. Seventh tractate. On complete transfusion. 1. Some enquiry must be made into what is known as the complete transfusion of material substances. Is it possible that fluid be blended with fluid in such a way that each penetrate the other through and through? or – a difference of no importance if…

Of Sight; or of Why Distant Objects Seem Small. (OF PERSPECTIVE.) VARIOUS THEORIES OF PERSPECTIVE. 1. What is the cause that when distant visible objects seem smaller, and that, though separated by a great space, they seem to be close to each other, while if close, we see them in their true size, and their…

Tractate 35 Second Ennead. Eighth tractate. Why distant objects appear small. 1. Seen from a distance, objects appear reduced and close together, however far apart they be: within easy range, their sizes and the distances that separate them are observed correctly. Distant objects show in this reduction because they must be drawn together for vision…

Against the Gnostics; or, That the Creator and the World are Not Evil. THE SUPREME PRINCIPLES MUST BE SIMPLE AND NOT COMPOUND. 1. We have already seen that the nature of the Good is simple and primary, for nothing that is not primary could be simple. We have also demonstrated that the nature of the…

Tractate 33 Second Ennead. Ninth tractate. Against those that affirm the creator of the kosmos and the kosmos itself to be evil: [generally quoted as “Against the gnostics”]. 1. We have seen elsewhere that the Good, the Principle, is simplex, and, correspondingly, primal – for the secondary can never be simplex – that it contains…