the six enneads- 第165部分

　notion　and　take　what　that　gives　us…　opposites　that　still　are　not　opposed：　we　think　of　large　and　small　and　the　unlimited　becomes　either；　of　stationary　and　moving；　and　it　will　be　either　of　these。　But　primarily　it　can　be　neither　in　any　defined　degree；　or　at　once　it　is　under　limit。　Limitless　in　this　unlimited　and　undefined　way；　it　is　able　to　appear　as　either　of　a　pair　of　opposites：　draw　near；　taking　care　to　throw　no　net　of　limit　over　it；　and　you　have　something　that　slips　away；　you　come　upon　no　unity　for　so　it　would　be　defined；　approach　the　thing　as　a　unit；　and　you　find　it　manifold；　call　it　a　manifold；　and　again　you　falsify；　for　when　the　single　thing　is　not　a　unity　neither　is　the　total　a　manifold。　In　one　manifestation　it　takes　the　appearance　of　movement；　in　another　of　rest；　as　the　mind　envisages　it。　　　　　And　there　is　movement　in　its　lack　of　consciousness；　it　has　passed　out　of　Intellectual…Principle；　slid　away。　That　it　cannot　break　free　but　is　under　compulsion　from　without　to　keep　to　its　circling　with　no　possibility　of　advance；　in　this　would　be　its　rest。　Thus　it　is　not　true　to　speak　of　Matter　as　being　solely　in　flux。　　　　　4。　We　have　to　enquire　into　the　existence　of　the　Numbers　in　the　Intellectual。　Are　they　Ideas　added　to　the　other　Ideas？　Or　are　they　no　more　than　necessary　concomitants　to　the　Ideas？　　　　　In　the　latter　case；　Being；　as　the　first　＇in　the　Intellectual＇　would　give　us　the　conception　of　the　Monad；　then　since　Being　produces　motion　and　rest；　Three　exists；　and　so　on　for　all　the　other　members　of　the　realm　of　Being。　Or　perhaps　there　is　one　monad　for　each　member；　or　a　monad　for　the　first；　with　a　dyad　for　its　next；　since　there　exists　a　series；　and　a　corresponding　number　for　every　successive　total；　decad　for　ten；　and　so　on。　　　　　If；　on　the　contrary；　Number　is　a　direct　production　of　the　Intellectual…Principle　＇an　Idea　in　itself＇；　there　is　the　question　whether　it　preceded　or　followed　the　other　Ideas。　　　　　Plato；　where　he　says　that　men　arrived　at　the　conception　of　Number　by　way　of　the　changes　of　day　and　night…　thus　making　the　concept　depend　upon　variation　among　things…　seems　to　hold　that　the　things　numerable　precede　and　by　their　differences　produce　number：　Number　then　would　consist　in　a　process　within　the　human　mind　passing　onwards　from　thing　to　thing；　it　results　by　the　fact　that　the　mind　takes　count；　that　is　when　the　mind　traverses　things　and　reports　their　differences；　observing　pure　identity　unbroken　by　difference；　it　says　One。　But　there　is　the　passage　where　he　tells　us　that　the　veritable　Number　has　Being；　is　a　Being；　this　is　the　opposed　view　that　Number　is　no　product　of　the　reckoning　mind　but　a　reality　in　itself；　the　concept　of　which　is　reawakened　in　the　mind　by　changes　in　things　of　sense。　　　　　5。　What　then　is　the　veritable　nature　of　Number？　　　　　Is　it　an　accompaniment　upon　each　substance；　something　seen　in　the　things　as　in　a　man　we　see　one　man；　in　a　being　one　being　and　in　the　total　of　presentations　the　total　of　number？　　　　　But　how　explain　the　dyad　and　triad？　How　comes　the　total　to　be　unitary　and　any　particular　number　to　be　brought　under　unity？　The　theory　offers　a　multiplicity　of　units；　and　no　number　is　reducible　to　unity　but　the　simple　〃one。〃　It　might　be　suggested　that　a　dyad　is　that　thing…　or　rather　what　is　observed　upon　that　thing…　which　has　two　powers　combined；　a　compound　thing　related　to　a　unity：　or　numbers　might　be　what　the　Pythagoreans　seem　to　hold　them　in　their　symbolic　system　in　which　Justice；　for　example；　is　a　Tetrad：　but　this　is　rather　to　add　the　number；　a　number　of　manifold　unity　like　the　decad；　to　the　multiplicity　of　the　thing　which　yet　is　one　thing。　Now　it　is　not　so　that　we　treat　the　ten　things；　we　bring　them　together　and　apply　the　figure　ten　to　the　several　items。　Or　rather　in　that　case　we　say　ten；　but　when　the　several　items　form　a　unity　we　say　decad。　This　would　apply　in　the　Intellectual　as　in　the　sensible。　　　　　But　how　then　can　number；　observed　upon　things；　rank　among　Real　Beings？　　　　　One　answer　might　be　that　whiteness　is　similarly　observed　upon　things　and　yet　is　real；　just　as　movement　is　observed　upon　things　and　there　is　still　a　real　existence　of　movement。　But　movement　is　not　on　a　par　with　number：　it　is　because　movement　is　an　entity　that　unity　can　be　observed　upon　it。　Besides；　the　kind　of　real　existence　thus　implied　annuls　the　reality　of　number；　making　it　no　more　than　an　attribute；　but　that　cannot　be　since　an　attribute　must　exist　before　it　can　be　attributed；　it　may　be　inseparable　from　the　subject　but　still　must　in　itself　be　something；　some　entity　as　whiteness　is；　to　be　a　predicate　it　must　be　that　which　is　to　be　predicated。　Thus　if　unity　is　observed　in　every　subject；　and　〃one　man〃　says　more　than　〃man's　oneness　being　different　from　the　manness　and　common　to　all　things…　then　this　oneness　must　be　something　prior　to　man　and　to　all　the　rest：　only　so　can　the　unity　come　to　apply　to　each　and　to　all：　it　must　therefore　be　prior　also　to　even　movement；　prior　to　Being；　since　without　unity　these　could　not　be　each　one　thing：　of　course　what　is　here　meant　is　not　the　unity　postulated　as　transcending　Being　but　the　unity　predicable　of　the　Ideas　which　constitute　each　several　thing。　So　too　there　is　a　decad　prior　to　the　subject　in　which　we　affirm　it；　this　prior　would　be　the　decad　absolute；　for　certainly　the　thing　in　which　the　decad　is　observed　is　not　that　absolute。　　　　　Is　this　unity；　then；　connate　and　coexistent　to　the　Beings？　Suppose　it　coexistent　merely　as　an　accidental；　like　health　in　man；　it　still　must　exist　of　itself；　suppose　it　present　as　an　element　in　a　compound；　there　must　first　exist　unity　and　the　unity　absolute　that　can　thus　enter　into　composition；　moreover　if　it　were　compounded　with　an　object　brought　into　being　by　its　agency　it　would　make　that　object　only　spuriously　a　unity；　its　entry　would　produce　a　duality。　　　　　But　what　of　the　decad？　Where　lies　the　need　of　decad　to　a　thing　which；　by　totalling　to　that　power；　is　decad　already？　　　　　The　need　may　be　like　that　of　Form　to　Matter；　ten　and　decad　may　exist　by　its　virtue；　and；　once　more；　the　decad　must　previously　exist　of　its　own　existence；　decad　unattached。　　　　　6。　Granted；　then；　that　there　exist；　apart　from　things；　a　unity　absolute　and　a　decad　absolute　in　other　words；　that　the　Intellectual　beings；　together　with　their　characteristic　essence　have　also　their　order；　Henads；　Dyads；　Triads；　what　is　the　nature　of　these　numerical　entities　and　how　does　it　come　into　being？　We　cannot　but　think　that　some　reason　accounts　for　their　origin。　　　　　As　a　beginning；　what　is　the　origin　of　the　Ideas　in　general？　It　is　not　that　the　thinking　principle　thought　of　each　Idea　and　by　that　act　of　thought　procured　their　several　existences；　not　because　Justice　and　Movement　were　thus　thought　did　they　come　to　be；　that　would　imply　that　while　the　thought　is　later　than　the　thing…　the　concept　of　Justice　must　be　later　than　Justice　itself…　yet　the　thought　precedes　what；　as　founded　on　the　thinking；　owes　its　existence　to　it。　Besides；　if　justice　is　only　a　certain　definite　thought　we　have　the　absurdity　that　Justice　is　nothing　more　than　a　definition　of　Justice。　Thinking　of　Justice　or　Movement　is　but　grasping　their　nature；　this　would　mean　grasping　the　non…existent；　an　impossibility。　　　　　We　may　be　reminded　that　in　immaterial　objects　the　knowledge　is　identical　with　the　thing；　but　we　must　not　misapply　that　statement；　it　does　not　say　that　the　knowledge　is　the　thing　known；　or　that　the　reason　surveying　the　thing　is　the　thing；　but　that　the　immaterial　thing；　being　an　Intellectual　object　is　also　a　thought；　this　does　not　imply　a　definition　or　conception　of　the　object；　the　thing　itself；　as　belonging　to　the　Intellectual；　can　be　nothing　else　than　Intellect　or　knowledge。　This　is　not　a　case　of　knowledge　self…directed；　it　is　that　the　thing　in　the　Intellectual　transmutes　the　knowledge；　which　is　not　fixed　like　the　knowledge　of　material　things；　in　other　words　it　makes　it　true　knowledge；　that　is　to　say　no　image　of　the　thing　but　the　thing　directly。　　　　　Thus　it　is　not　the　conception　of　movement　that　brings　movement　to　be；　movement　absolute　produces　that　conception；　it　produces　itself　as　at　once　movement　and　the　concept　of　movement；　for　movement　as　it　exists　There；　bound　up　with　Being；　is　a　concept。　It　is　movement　absolute　because　it　is　the　first　movement…　there　can　be　none　till　this　exist…　and　it　is　the　authentic　Movement　since　it　is　not　accidental　to　something　else　but　is　the　activity　of　actual　Being　in　motion。　Thus　it　is　a　real　existent；　though　the　notion　of　Being　is　different。　　　　　Justice　therefore　is　not　the　thought　of　Justice　but；　as　we　may　put　it；　a　state　of　the　Intellectual…Principle；　or　rather　an　activity　of　it…　an　appearance　so　lovely　that　neither　evening　nor　dawn　is　so　fair；　nor　anything　else　in　all　the　realm　of　sense；　an　Intellectual　manifestation　self…rising；　self…seen；　or；　rather；　self…being。　　　　　7。　It　is　inevitably　necessary　to　think　of　all　as　contained　within　one　nature；　one　nature　must　hold　and　encompass　all；　there　cannot　be　as　in　the　realm　of　sense　thing　apart　from　thing；　here　a　sun　and　elsewhere　something　else；　all　must　be　mutually　present　within　a　unity。　This　is　the　very　nature　of　the　Intellectual…Principle　as　we　may　know　from　soul　which　reproduces　it　and　from　what　we　call　Nature　under　which　and　by　which　the　things　of　process　are　brought　into　their　disjoi