academica of cicero. - 912 Freedom Library
academica of cicero. - 912 Freedom Library
academica of cicero. - 912 Freedom Library
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t??????a to be ?a?' ?a?t? ?a??et??. Aut omnia aut maxima: so frequently in Cic., e.g. D.F. IV.<br />
27, so Stob. II. 6, 8, ta p?e?sta ?a? ?????tata. Ea sunt maxima: so Stob., Varro in Aug. passim.<br />
Sensit: much misunderstood by edd., here = iudicavit not animadvertit cf. M.D.F. II. 6.<br />
Reperiebatur: for change <strong>of</strong> constr. cf. D.F. IV. 26 Nec tamen beatissimam: the question whether<br />
a?et? was a?ta??e? p??? e?da?µ???a? was one <strong>of</strong> the most important to the late Greek<br />
philosophy. As to Antiochus, consult M.D.F. V. 67.<br />
§23. Agendi aliquid: Gk. p?a?e??, the usual translation, cf. II. 24, 37. Officii ipsius initium: t?? ?<br />
a?????t?? a????, Stob. II. 6, 7. This sentence is covertly aimed at the New Academics, whose<br />
scepticism, according to the dogmatists, cut away the ground from action and duty, see II. 24.<br />
Recti honestique: these words are redolent <strong>of</strong> the Stoa. Earum rerum: Halm thinks something like<br />
appetitio has fallen out, susceptio however, above, is quite enough for both clauses; a similar use<br />
<strong>of</strong> it is found in D.F. III. 32. Descriptione naturae: Halm with one MS. (G) gives praescriptione,<br />
which is in II. 140, cf. also praescriberet above. The phrase is Antiochean; cf. prima constitutio<br />
naturae in D.F. IV. 15. Aequitas: not in the Roman legal sense, but as a translation <strong>of</strong> ep?e??e?a.<br />
Eaeque: so Halm for MSS. haeque, haecque. Of course haecque, like hicque, sicque, would be<br />
un-Ciceronian. Voluptatibus: a side blow at the Epicureans. Forma see n. on 33.<br />
§§24—29. Part III <strong>of</strong> Varro's Exposition. Antiochus' Physics. Summary. All that is<br />
consists <strong>of</strong> force and matter, which are never actually found apart, though they are<br />
thought <strong>of</strong> as separate. When force impresses form on the formless matter, it<br />
becomes a formed entity (p???? t? or quale)—(24). These formed entities are either<br />
primary or secondary. Air, fire, water, earth are primary, the two first having an<br />
active, the two last a passive function. Aristotle added a fifth (26). Underlying all<br />
formed entities is the formless matter, matter and space are infinitely subdivisible<br />
(27). Force or form acts on the formless matter and so produces the ordered<br />
universe, outside which no matter exists. Reason permeates the universe and makes<br />
it eternal. This Reason has various names—Soul <strong>of</strong> the Universe, Mind, Wisdom,<br />
Providence, Fate, Fortune are only different titles for the same thing (28, 29).<br />
§24. Natura: this word, it is important to observe, has to serve as a translation both <strong>of</strong> f?s?? and<br />
??s?a. Here it is ??s?a in the broadest sense, all that exists. In res duas: the distinction between<br />
Force and Matter, the active and passive agencies in the universe, is <strong>of</strong> course Aristotelian and<br />
Platonic. Antiochus however probably apprehended the distinction as modified by the Stoics, for<br />
this read carefully Zeller, 135 sq., with the footnotes. The clearest view <strong>of</strong> Aristotle's doctrine is<br />
to be got from Schwegler, Handbook, pp 99—105. R. and P. 273 sq. should be consulted for the<br />
important coincidence <strong>of</strong> Force with logical genus (e?d??), and <strong>of</strong> Matter (????) with logical<br />
differentia (d?af??a). For the duae res, cf. D.F. I. 18. Efficiens ... huic se praebens: an attempt to<br />
translate t? p????? and t? pas??? <strong>of</strong> the Theaetetus, t? ??e? and t? de??µe??? <strong>of</strong> the Timaeus<br />
(50 D). Cic. in Tim. has efficere and pati, Lucretius I. 440 facere and fungi. Ea quae: so Gruter,<br />
Halm for MSS. eaque. The meaning is this; passive matter when worked upon by an active<br />
generative form results in an aliquid, a t?de t? as Aristotle calls it. Passive matter ???? is only<br />
potentially t?de t?, passing into actual t?de t?, when affected by the form. (Cf. t?de, t??t?, Plato<br />
Tim. 49 E, 50 A, also Arist. Metaph H, 1, R. and P. 270—274). A figurative description <strong>of</strong> the<br />
process is given in Timaeus, 50 D. In eo quod efficeret ... materiam quandam: Cic. is hampered<br />
by the patrii sermonis egestas, which compels him to render simple Greek terms by laboured<br />
periphrases. Id quod efficit is not distinct from, but equivalent to vis, id quod efficitur to materia.<br />
Materiam quandam: it is extraordinary how edd. (esp Goer.) could have so stumbled over<br />
quandam and quasi used in this fashion. Both words (which are joined below) simply mark the<br />
unfamiliarity <strong>of</strong> the Latin word in its philosophical use, in the Greek ???? the strangeness had<br />
had time to wear <strong>of</strong>f. In utroque: for in eo quod ex utroque (sc. vi et materia) fit, the meaning is<br />
clearly given by the next clause, viz. that Force and Matter cannot actually exist apart, but only in<br />
the compound <strong>of</strong> the two, the formed entity, which doctrine is quite Aristotelian. See the reff.<br />
given above. Nihil enim est quod non alicubi esse cogatur: the meaning <strong>of</strong> this is clear, that<br />
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