Porphyry - Faculties of the Soul.pdf

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1、PorphyryOntheFacultiesoftheSoul“Onthefacultiesofthesoul”isfromStobaeus,EclogaePhysicae,1.52,ed.Heeren.TranslatedbyKennethSylvanGuthrie.Someofthewordinghasbeenchangedtofacilityeasierreading.Thisdocumentisinthepublicdomain.platonic-philosophy.orgOBJECTOFTHEBOOKWeproposetodescribethefacultieso

2、fthesoul,andtosetforththevariousopinionsofthesubjectheldbybothancientandmodernthinkers.DIFFERENCEBETWEENSENSATIONANDINTELLIGENCE1Aristoattributestothesoulaperceptivefaculty,whichhedividesintotwoparts.Accordingtohim,thefirst,calledsensibility,theprincipleandoriginofsensations,isusuallykeptacti

3、vebyoneofthesense-organs.Theother,whichsubsistsbyitselfandwithoutorgans,doesnotbearanyspecialnameinbeingsdevoidofreason,inwhomreasondoesnotmanifest,oratleastmanifestsonlyinafeebleorobscuremanner.However,itiscalledintelligenceinbeingsendowedwithreason,amongwhomitsometimesmanifestsclearly.Arist

4、oholdsthatsensibilityactsonlywiththehelpofthesense-organs;andthatintelligencedoesnotneedthemtoenterintoactivity.Whythendoeshesubordinatebothofthesetoasinglegenus,calledtheperceptivefaculty?Bothdoubtlessperceive,buttheoneperceivesthesense-formofbeings,whiletheotherperceivestheiressence.Indeed,

5、sensibilitydoesnotperceivetheessence,butonlythesense-formandthefigure;itisintelligencethatperceiveswhethertheobjectbeamanorahorse.Thereare,therefore,twokindsofperceptionthatareverydifferentfromeachother:sense-perceptionreceivesanimpression,andappliesitselftoanexteriorobject,whileintellectualp

6、erceptiondoesnotreceiveanimpression.Therehavebeenphilosopherswhoseparatedthesetwoparts.Theycalledintelligenceordiscursivereasontheunderstandingwhichisexercisedwithoutimaginationandsensation;andtheycalledopiniontheunderstandingwhichisexercisedwithimaginationandsensation.Others,onthecontrary,co

7、nsideredrationalbeing,ornature,asimpleessence,andattributedtoitoperationswhosenatureisentirelydifferent.Nowitisunreasonabletorefertothesameessencefacultieswhichdiffercompletelyinnature;forthoughtandsensationcouldnotdependonthesameessentialpri