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Anonymous

Candida Phoenix Philosophica

The White Philosophical Phoenix

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Candida Phoenix PhilosophicaPart II — Chapter 11: Theophrastus and the Homunculus

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English Page · Branch 298 of 411

Part II — Chapter 11: Theophrastus and the Homunculus

Book Mode

German & Latin

195–196

Da ich dann meines wenigen Orts befinde / daß der gute Theophrastus (sit salvus tamen ipsius honor) in einem doppelten Irrthumb begriffen gewesen / anerwogen / ob zwar hier auß scheinet / daß Er de origine animæ so weit recht / in deme er die creationem nicht / sondern / daß die Seele propagirt werde / geglaubet; So hat derselbe jedoch hierin gefehlet / weiln Er 1. statuiret, quod anima per solum patrem propagetur (sive per eductionem, sive per traducem, und wie seine Meynung dißfalls gewesen seyn mag / das thue ich auff dißmahl an seinen Ort stellen) Wie Er auch 2. sonsten die Ordnung der Natur diß Orts nicht betrachtet.

195–196

Candida Phoenix Philosophica: Part II — Chapter 11: Theophrastus and the Homunculus

195–196

For my modest part, I find that good Theophrastus—with his honour nevertheless preserved—has fallen into a double error. From this account it appears that he was right so far concerning the soul’s origin: he believed it to be propagated, rather than separately created. Yet he erred, first, in maintaining that the soul is propagated through the father alone. Whether he supposed this to occur by eduction or by transmission, and whatever precisely his opinion was, I shall set aside for now. Second, he failed here to consider the order of Nature.

195–196

About This Reading Edition

An anonymous Hermetic treatise of 1680, presented in its original German and Latin with a new English translation, 279 explanatory notes, the historical phoenix frontispiece, an introduction, reading guide, outline, glossary, bibliography, and original registers.

Historical Text and Translation

Anonymous, Candida Phoenix philosophica. Frankfurt am Main: Christian Hermsdorff, 1680. The chosen witness is the Wellcome Library copy digitized as b32993456; German and Latin, with French, Greek, and Hebrew passages retained.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The 1680 source is identified as public domain by the Wellcome/Internet Archive record. The supplied 2026 transcription, English translation, introduction, notes, reading guide, outline, glossary, bibliography, and editorial arrangement are published with the site owner’s authorization. The frontispiece is retained from the supplied edition and credited to its historical witness.