From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordSymphytos describes what belongs naturally together or is native to a being.
- In StobaeusIamblichus’s report presents Plato’s powers of soul as innate and subsisting together under one form because soul is uncompounded.
- In this edition“Innate” is concise, but “native to its nature” avoids suggesting a modern theory about acquired versus inherited psychology.
- A place to beginSoul’s powers are treated as native to its simple substance.
- English renderings
- innate; connatural; native to
Meaning
Symphytos describes what belongs naturally together or is native to a being. In the discussion of powers, it denies their being merely external additions.
Use in the book
Iamblichus’s report presents Plato’s powers of soul as innate and subsisting together under one form because soul is uncompounded. The powers are distinguishable in explanation without becoming separate ingredients out of which soul is assembled. The related account of Aristotle also resists treating powers as additions to a composite subject.
Places to read
- I.49.33.1Soul’s powers are treated as native to its simple substance.
Translation in this edition
“Innate” is concise, but “native to its nature” avoids suggesting a modern theory about acquired versus inherited psychology.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 367. “Uncompounded” follows the printed editorial correction; the passage is Iamblichus’s account of Plato and Aristotle.