Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge

Use in the book

At 980d the recalled account against the impious asserts gods who care for everything, small and greater, and are very nearly not to be soothed concerning justice. The supplied note connects this with Laws 10's rejection of the claim that sacrifices and prayers can buy the gods off. The phrase does not mean that divine care has vanished or that the gods are incapable of any response whatever. Its focus is the resistance of justice to attempted appeasement.

At 984e–985a the ethereal and aerial beings share extraordinary intelligence because their kind is quick to learn and remembers well. Both kinds are the subjects of these capacities. The description does not assign learning to one and memory to the other. They know all human thought, warmly welcome the fine and good among us, and hate the very bad, because they already share in pain. Cognitive penetration and affective response are joined in their intermediary condition.

The parenthesis about the completed god makes a contrast. The god who possesses the completion of the divine portion is outside pain and pleasure but fully shares in intelligence and knowing. Absence of these affects is therefore not lack of awareness. The passage expressly gives complete knowledge to the being placed beyond pleasure and pain. Nor is it safe to restate it as “gods have no emotions of any kind,” since the named exclusion is these two affects and the work elsewhere employs language of divine rejoicing and lack of envy.

Care also cannot simply be equated with suffering alongside a recipient. The opening theological premise affirms universal care, while the completed divine condition excludes pain and pleasure. The system thereby distinguishes attention and knowledgeable beneficence from the particular affective involvement attributed to middle beings. It does not work out a complete theory of how all these predicates interrelate, but it gives enough to block the inference that an unaffected god must be indifferent.

Human memory provides a useful contrast. At 976b–c2 quick learning and excellent memory do not suffice to make a human wise. The same capacities support the intermediaries' wonderful intelligence without being declared the entire definition of wisdom. The later education of the best human natures again requires learning and memory. Repetition of a capacity is not identity of rank or completed achievement.

At 991d the claim that all is full of gods is joined to the denial that superior beings slight us through forgetfulness or neglect. This recalls both memory and care. The cosmology is supposed to make human life intelligibly attended to, not merely surrounded by invisible observers. What remains an assertion of the Athenian's theology should not be reported as an independently verified fact about human thoughts or unseen beings.

Places to read

1. 980dθεοὶ ἐπιμελούμενοι πάντων, σμικρῶν καὶ μειζόνων — Divine care includes the small and the greater
2. 980dσχεδὸν ἀπαραμύθητοι — Divine justice is very nearly not to be soothed
3. 984e–985aγένους ὄντα εὐμαθοῦς τε καὶ μνήμονος — Both finer intermediary kinds are quick-learning and retentive
4. 985aσύμπασαν τὴν ἡμετέραν … διάνοιαν — Their knowledge reaches all human thought
5. 985aλύπης μετέχοντα ἤδη — They already participate in pain
6. 985aἔξω τούτων εἶναι, λύπης τε καὶ ἡδονῆς — The completed god is outside both pain and pleasure
7. 985aτοῦ … γιγνώσκειν κατὰ πάντα μετειληφέναι — Complete divinity nevertheless includes comprehensive knowledge
8. 991dμηδέποτε λήθῃ μηδὲ ἀμελείᾳ — The final theology denies divine forgetfulness and neglect

Translation in this edition

“Pain and pleasure” preserves the balanced exclusion. “Quick to learn and of good memory” is a characterization of the two ethereal and aerial living kinds, not of their human beneficiaries. “Not to be soothed” keeps the word-family linked to the earlier human attempt at soothing at 976a while the note specifies its judicial and religious application here.

Universal divine attention — ἐπιμελεῖσθαι (epimeleisthai)

ἐπιμελεῖσθαι (epimeleisthai)

Universal divine attention. The gods of the recalled argument care for everything, small and greater. Their attention is not equated with emotional suffering, and it remains compatible with the later completed god’s freedom from pain. Attested: ἐπιμελούμενοι (980d). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

A divine failure denied — λήθη (lēthē)

λήθη (lēthē)

A divine failure denied. The higher divine beings have not slighted humanity through forgetfulness. The denial develops the earlier conjunction of divine knowledge and care. Attested: λήθῃ (991d). Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect; Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Full divine condition — τέλος (telos)

τέλος (telos)

Full divine condition. Completion of the divine portion marks the condition beyond pleasure and pain while retaining comprehensive knowledge. It is a degree of divine fulfillment, not the death of this god. Attested: τέλος (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Caring and just divinity — θεός (theos)

θεός (theos)

Caring and just divinity. The recalled argument affirms gods who attend to all things and cannot readily be soothed in matters of justice. Attested: θεοὶ (980d). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Completed divine condition — θεός (theos)

θεός (theos)

Completed divine condition. The god possessing the completion of the divine portion is outside pain and pleasure while comprehensively intelligent and knowing. Attested: θεὸν (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Response to very bad humans — μισεῖν (misein)

μισεῖν (misein)

Response to very bad humans. The middle beings hate the very bad. The text associates their moral response with participation in pain, not with ignorance of human thought. Attested: μισεῖν (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Targets of the recalled argument — ἀσεβής (asebēs)

ἀσεβής (asebēs)

Targets of the recalled argument. The impious are those addressed by the earlier argument concerning divine existence, care, and resistance to appeasement. The source identifies the recalled argument with Laws 10. Attested: ἀσεβεῖς (980d). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Intermediary cognitive excellence — φρόνησις (phronēsis)

φρόνησις (phronēsis)

Intermediary cognitive excellence. Wonderful intelligence is shared by both finer middle kinds, supported by readiness to learn and memory. The capacities are not split between ether and air. Attested: φρονήσεως (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

A divine failure denied — ἀμέλεια (ameleia)

ἀμέλεια (ameleia)

A divine failure denied. Neglect accompanies forgetfulness as an explanation the final theology rejects. The populated cosmos is presented as an attended order rather than merely a collection of remote beings. Attested: ἀμελείᾳ (991d). Full of gods and freedom from divine neglect; Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Justice not readily appeased — ἀπαραμύθητος (aparamythētos)

ἀπαραμύθητος (aparamythētos)

Justice not readily appeased. The gods are very nearly not to be soothed in matters of justice. The source links this with the Laws’ opposition to buying divine favor through gifts, sacrifices, or prayers. Attested: ἀπαραμύθητοι (980d). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Affective middle condition — λύπη (lypē)

λύπη (lypē)

Affective middle condition. The ethereal and aerial beings already share in pain, helping explain their positive and negative responses to people. Attested: λύπης (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Excluded from completed divinity — λύπη (lypē)

λύπη (lypē)

Excluded from completed divinity. Pain, together with pleasure, lies outside the completed god’s condition. This exclusion coexists with full intelligence and knowing. Attested: λύπης (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

The balanced divine exclusion — ἡδονή (hēdonē)

ἡδονή (hēdonē)

The balanced divine exclusion. Pleasure is excluded from the completed god along with pain. Omitting it would turn the statement into a different claim about merely painless happiness. Attested: ἡδονῆς (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Completed divine allotment — μοῖρα (moira)

μοῖρα (moira)

Completed divine allotment. The divine portion has a completion possessed by the god who stands outside pain and pleasure. This is a rank or condition, not simply a quantity of years. Attested: μοίρας (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

A property of both finer intermediaries — εὐμαθής (eumathēs)

εὐμαθής (eumathēs)

A property of both finer intermediaries. The ethereal and aerial beings belong to a kind quick to learn. The adjective helps explain their intelligence without making quick learning alone sufficient human wisdom. Attested: εὐμαθοῦς (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Knowledge of human thought — γιγνώσκειν (gignōskein)

γιγνώσκειν (gignōskein)

Knowledge of human thought. Both ethereal and aerial beings are said to know all human thought. The verb specifies cognitive access without stating that silent thoughts are literally heard. Attested: γιγνώσκειν (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Complete divine knowledge — γιγνώσκειν (gignōskein)

γιγνώσκειν (gignōskein)

Complete divine knowledge. The completed god shares in knowing in every respect despite standing outside pain and pleasure. Lack of affect is expressly distinguished from ignorance. Attested: γιγνώσκειν (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Good memory in middle life — μνήμων (mnēmōn)

μνήμων (mnēmōn)

Good memory in middle life. The same two middle kinds possess good memory. Their retentiveness contributes to cognitive excellence and contrasts with the fear that divine superiors might forget human beings. Attested: μνήμονος (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Human interior understanding — διάνοια (dianoia)

διάνοια (dianoia)

Human interior understanding. All human thought is said to be known by ethereal and aerial beings. The noun does not itself assert an audible internal voice or describe a physiological mechanism. Attested: διάνοιαν (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

A qualified theological assertion — σχεδόν (schedon)

σχεδόν (schedon)

A qualified theological assertion. The adverb qualifies the gods’ resistance to being soothed concerning justice. Its presence restrains the exact assertion and should survive summary. Attested: σχεδὸν (980d). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Positive response to good humans — ἀσπάζεσθαι (aspazesthai)

ἀσπάζεσθαι (aspazesthai)

Positive response to good humans. The finer middle beings warmly welcome the fine and good among us. Their response belongs to the affective condition that the passage contrasts with completed divinity. Attested: ἀσπάζεσθαι (985a). Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Care for small and greater things (contextual phrase)

θεοὶ ἐπιμελούμενοι πάντων, σμικρῶν καὶ μειζόνων (980d)

The participle describes the gods as caring, and the genitives specify the full range of objects, including small as well as greater things. This universal attention is one recalled premise of the earlier argument; the later absence of pain and pleasure must not be read as automatic indifference. Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Justice that cannot readily be soothed (contextual phrase)

σχεδὸν ἀπαραμύθητοι τῶν περὶ τὰ δίκαιά εἰσιν πράγματα (980d)

The adjective not to be soothed is qualified by σχεδόν, very nearly, and restricted to the matters concerning justice. The source links it to the Laws’ rejection of buying divine favor. It does not abolish prayer or assert an undifferentiated incapacity for divine response. Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Both kinds know all our thought (contextual phrase)

γιγνώσκειν μὲν σύμπασαν τὴν ἡμετέραν αὐτὰ διάνοιαν (985a)

The plural αὐτά refers to the two finer living kinds just described, ether and air. Their knowledge covers all human thought. The sentence gives no acoustic mechanism; hearing in the next catalogue belongs to human recipients of voices and oracles. Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.

Beyond pain and pleasure with complete knowing (contextual phrase)

ἔξω τούτων εἶναι, λύπης τε καὶ ἡδονῆς (985a)

The paired genitives explain the things outside which the completed god stands: pain and pleasure alike. The following clause immediately attributes comprehensive intelligence and knowing. Excluding either half of the pair or inferring ignorance from affective freedom would distort the contrast. Divine care memory emotion and complete knowledge.