Commentary on the Beginning of Damascius' De Primis Principiis

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26ἡνωμένον, which generates the divided, disting uished realities ( διακεκριμένα) whichfollow further below in their orderly devolvement from the unitedness of theἡνωμένον [56].C. 6.17-7.8. The One is reached by a last strained effort of our conceptualpowers, by the utmost thorough purification of our “suspecting” or divining, ratherthan properly intellectually conceiving, powers. But the absolutely ultimate Groundmust be absolutely unreachable, incomprehensible by any of our divining orconceiving faculties. From such absolutely ineffable principle everything must beineffably produced.We may ask “Why?” is that. More than that, we are entitled to ask “why?” inaccordance with Neoplatonic Principles. For if I am right in constr uing Neoplatonism(and especially Athenian Neoplatonism) as a methodologic ally Absolute Rationalism(indeed as the unique system in the History of the World determinedly pushing to thevery last consequences what is implied by such Rationalism), then there must be,according to Neoplatonism, an adequate and sufficient reason for everythingincluding that which transcends in absolutely all ways Reason.The answer to our legitimate question, is then this. We ascend from thealready given or reached to its presupposition, from the derivative to its principle,from the secondary to the primary, from the effect to its metaphysical cause. And werepeat the process again and again, to the extent that Reason necessitates us to doso. And Reason constrains us to do so in all cases where the presupposed cannot betaken as the ultimate Datum, as not itself requiring a presupposition, as not standingin need of a further ontological explanation of its presence in the Universal Reality.We can only stop , we are rationalistically entitled to suspend further movement,when we have ascended to so mething, in which Reason acknowledges the Platonicἀνυπόθετον.Retracing then thus the derivation-chain upwards we reach at the end theOne. This is presupposed (in a structured and orderly way) by everything else whichwe can in whatever direct or devious way conceive. But does it presuppose in its turnsomething else? Or have we come to the rock bottom of the Universe, the ultimatefoundation of all reality, the absolutely unpresupposing reality?To answer this crucial question let it be asked: Is the One “given” in reality insuch a way as to require no explanation of its presence there? Is the question “Why
27is there at all an One to begin with?” totally devoid of meaning? To be sure, if whatis immediately given to us (say, this sensible World) subsists in one way or other,and if its subsistence and nature ultimately presuppose the subsistence of the One,then the One must subsist; further, if everything presupposes the One, while theOne presupposes nothing else (nothing which we can form some sort of c onceptionof), then the One must be given as the fountainhead of all reality, as the beginningand the first link in the chain of reality. But why should there be a sensible World atall? Why there should be anything at all to begin with? True, if anything exists, theOne must subsist as the firstly given reality. But this does not answer the question“Why and whence and How does the One subsist?” We, as Neoplatonists, do notdoubt of its subsistence. But Reason demands an explanation for it.When we have thus clearly seen that to ask for an ontological explanation ofthe subsistence of the One is not to doubt its subsistence; and when we have alsoproperly understood the associated point that such a demand for the One ’spresupposition and derivation cannot possibly be answered by an appeal in thecertain existence of its products and effects (since this settles the question about thereal subsistence of the One, and not that about the “Reason” or ground for itssubsistence); then we also see that the One is not the painfully sought after ultimatedatum. Reason compels us to proceed further.But to proceed further whereto? We assumed that every conceivable realitydepends on the One, without the One depending in any one of them. Therefore noconceivable realit y can in any way whatsoever provide the explanation for thesubsistence of the One. But “something”, as we have argued, must account for thatsubsistence. From which two propositions there necessarily and rationalisticallyfollow, that the ultimate ground and ontological explanation of the One and ofeverything conceivable is “Something” absolutely inconceivable; and since everyconceivable derivation leads back to the One, the production of everything from thatinconceivable reality must also be inconceiva ble. Hence the most significantstatement, 6.26-7.2: “And if we inquire about a “use” for that ultimate groundinconceivable, then this is the all-necessary “use”: that everything must proceed fromthence as if from a sanctuary, from the Ineffable in an ineffable way” etc. εἰ δὲ χρεἰαναὐτοῦ τινα ἐπιζητοῦμεν, αὔτη ἐστὶν ἡ πάντων ἀναγκαιοτάτη χρεία, τὸ ἐκεῖθεν, ὥσπερἐξ ἀδύτου, πάντα προιέναι, ἔκ τε ἀπορρήτου καὶ τὸν ἀπόρρητον τρόπον.
Page 2 and 3: 2GENERAL REMARKThe first section is
Page 4 and 5: 4Four reasons are, in aporematic fa
Page 6 and 7: 6ὐθύς, i.e. without any prior
Page 8 and 9: 8ἀμερές). Thus nothing is mi
Page 10 and 11: 10separate them. Basically, as Aris
Page 12 and 13: 12produced by, it; the principle in
Page 14 and 15: 14the fashion of its one-ness, i.e.
Page 16 and 17: 16[36] it may be. Now the def inite
Page 18 and 19: 18found, and (there found) in accor
Page 20 and 21: 20in its elf (apart from the orderi
Page 22 and 23: 22something whose immediate product
Page 24 and 25: 24clearer, as the system is further
Page 28 and 29: 28We find in this here a good insta
Page 30 and 31: 30fully see his point, and to take,
Page 32 and 33: 32NOTES[1] Not quite “given” th
Page 34 and 35: 34forget that, for the time being,
Page 36 and 37: 36[28] The interpretation given to
Page 38 and 39: 38[39] It can be shown that there c
Page 40 and 41: 40being immersed in it, handling it

Commentary on the Beginning of Damascius' De Primis Principiis

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