Diotimos Library · Greek Antiquity Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 575 of 879
Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.32.1–I.49.32.2
Ancient Greek
p. 114632.1 · ⟨Ἰαμβλίχου⟩
⟨Ἰαμβλίχου ἐκ τοῦ περὶ ψυχῆς.⟩
Ἀριστοτέλης μὲν οὖν τὰ μάλιστα δοκοῦντα τῇ ψυχῇ ὑπάρχειν εἰς τρία τὰ κυριώτατα γένη ἀναγαγών, κίνησίν τε καὶ γνῶσιν καὶ λεπτότητα οὐσίας, ἣν ἐνίοτε καὶ ἀσώματον ὑπόστασιν ἐπονομάζει, ἐς ταῦτα τὰ τρία τὰς καθ᾽ ἕκαστα διωρισμένας ἐπαναφέρει δόξας, πέρας τῶν ἀπείρων ἀνευρὼν οὕτω καὶ σαφῆ καὶ σύντομον περίληψιν.
32.2
Ἐγὼ δὲ ὁρῶ ἐν τούτοις τοῖς ὅροις πολὺ μὲν τὸ ὁμώνυμον καὶ συγκεχυμένον, (οὐ γὰρ ὡσαύτως αἱ κατὰ μεταβολὴν καὶ αἱ κατὰ ζωὴν θεωροῦνται κινήσεις, ἢ αἱ μορφωτικαὶ καὶ ⟨αἱ⟩ ἄμορφοι γνώσεις, ἢ αἱ τοῦ ἀέρος καὶ αἱ τῶν καθ᾽ αὐτὰ ἀσωμάτων καθαρότητες τῆς οὐσίας,) πολὺ δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀτελὲς αὐτῶν καὶ ἐνδεές· οὐ γὰρ ἔνεστι πάντα περιλαβεῖν τὰ γένη τῶν δοξῶν ἐν τοῖς τρισὶ τούτοις ὅροις.
Stobaeus, Volume I: Book I Chapter 49
p. 114732.1 · ⟨Iamblichus⟩: Aristotle’s classification
⟨From Iamblichus’s On the Soul.⟩1413
Aristotle, then, reduces the attributes most generally thought to belong to soul to three principal classes: motion, cognition, and fineness of substance, which he sometimes also calls incorporeal subsistence. To these three he refers the various specifically defined opinions, thus finding a limit to their boundless variety and a clear, concise summary.1414
32.2 · Ambiguity and incompleteness
But I see much ambiguity and confusion in these terms. Motions involving change and motions belonging to life are not understood in the same way; nor are cognitions that give form and ⟨those⟩ without form, nor the purity of substance belonging to air and that belonging to things incorporeal in themselves. I also see much that is incomplete and deficient in them: these three terms cannot encompass every class of opinion.1415
Socrates
Reading Stobaeus, Volume I · Book I Chapter 49 · I.49.32.1–I.49.32.2
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Stobaeus gathered Greek philosophy and poetry for his son Septimius. Volume I presents the dedication testimony, On Arithmetic, Book I through chapter 60, and the ancient contents of all four books. This complete bilingual edition includes an introduction and 2,117 explanatory notes.
Historical Text and Translation
The Greek follows Curt Wachsmuth’s 1884 Volume I, checked against the supplied scan. Gaps, lost-chapter headings, and uncertain attributions remain visible. Chapter 2 includes a labeled proposed reconstruction. The appendix outlines Books I–IV; the full texts of Books II–IV are outside this volume. Reader pages preserve the companion PDF’s numbering.
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Diotimos Editions prepared this independent English translation directly from the Greek. Prose and verse retain their distinct forms, with mixed passages preserving their quoted verse. Every passage is paired with its Greek and identified by the edition’s reference number. All 2,117 notes remain linked to their passages, with continuous numbering across the introduction and text.
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