Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 2: In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four PeriodsPlotinus
Philosophy
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 2: In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four Periods
Plotinus
Plotinus
in that part of the body in which is the very principle of that organ.
REASON IS IN THE HEAD, BUT NOT IN THE BRAIN, WHICH IS THE SEAT OF THE
INTERMEDIARY, THE POWER OF SENSATION.
On the other hand, as the power of sensation and the power of appetite,
which belong to the sensible and imaginative soul, are beneath
reason, because they are related to what is inferior, while reason is
above,[136] the result was that the ancients localized reason in the
highest part of the animal, in the head; not that reason is in the
brain,[137] but because reason is seated in the sense-power, by the
intermediation of which, only, reason may be said to reside in the
brain. The sense-power, surely, had to be attributed to the body, and,
within the body, to the organs most capable of lending themselves to
its action. Reason, which has no (direct) dealing with the body, had
however to be in relation with the sense-power, which is a form of
the soul, and can participate in reason. The sense-power, does, to
a certain extent, judge; and the power of imagination has something
intellectual. Last, the appetite, and the desire somehow connect with
imagination and reason. Reason, therefore, is in the head, not as in
a locality, but because it is in relation with the sense-power which
resides in that organ, as has been shown above.
GROWTH IS LOCALIZED IN THE LIVER, ANGER IN THE HEART.
As the power of growth, nutrition, and generation operates all through
the entire body; and as it is by the blood that the body is nourished;
as the blood is contained in the veins; and as the veins, as well as
the blood, originate in the liver; this organ has been assigned as the
seat of that part of the soul called appetite; for appetite is involved
in the power of begetting, of feeding and increasing the body. Further
as the blood (purified by respiration) is subtle, light, mobile and
pure, the heart becomes a suitable instrument for the power of anger,
for the blood that possesses these qualities starts from the heart.
Therefore, with good reason, the heart is assigned as the seat of the
turbulent convulsions of the power of anger.
F. WHERE GOES THE SOUL AFTER DEATH?
THE SOUL AFTER DEATH GOES TO THE PLACE SUITED TO IT BY RETRIBUTION.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account