From the book
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Joseph Joubert · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Simplicity
simplicité
Simplicité can describe plain terminology, economy of thought or a work stripped of superfluity.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordSimplicité can describe plain terminology, economy of thought or a work stripped of superfluity.
- In JoubertThe criticism of analysis says that pompous terminology renames what plain speakers called division.
- In this editionThe English translation renders emphase as grandiloquence in the terminology passage and repeats painted and gilded in the psalm passage.
- A place to beginPlain division contrasts with grandly named analysis.
- English renderings
- simplicity; simply
Meaning
Simplicité can describe plain terminology, economy of thought or a work stripped of superfluity. It need not mean ease of production or absence of richness.
Use in the book
The criticism of analysis says that pompous terminology renames what plain speakers called division. Simplicity there concerns how one speaks. In the psalms, painting and gilding a work whose character is absolute necessity produces the paradox of a decorated simplicity. The criticism is directed at superfluous additions, not at a lack of skill in applying them. Sophocles supplies a different problem: Joubert admires perfect simplicity of thoughts but leaves the explanation as topics still to investigate. The lexicon must preserve that unanswered inquiry rather than deriving a formula from the praise.
Places to read
- I, p. 282, entry 6, ¶1Plain division contrasts with grandly named analysis.
- II, p. 620, entry 10, ¶1Gilding the psalms covers necessary simplicity with superfluity.
- II, p. 879, entry 6, ¶1Sophoclean simplicity is praised and left as a subject of inquiry.
Translation in this edition
The English translation renders emphase as grandiloquence in the terminology passage and repeats painted and gilded in the psalm passage. R-ss- remains unexpanded. No specific Sophoclean scene is invented.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, I, pp. 282; II, pp. 620, 879.
From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Simplicity
simplicity; simple — freedom from mixture, artifice, or corrupt complication
Simplicity can mean uncontrived plainness or the absence of division.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordSimplicity can mean uncontrived plainness or the absence of division.
- In TraherneChildlike simplicity is one part of the return to innocence, but Traherne explicitly refuses to stop at mild passions or easy dependence.
- In this editionThe derogatory ethnic language of III.12 belongs to Traherne’s polemic and historical setting.
- A place to beginChildlike simplicity must deepen into purity of perception and freedom from corrupt habits.
Meaning
Simplicity can mean uncontrived plainness or the absence of division. Traherne applies it both to human life and to the unity of divine love.
Use in the book
Childlike simplicity is one part of the return to innocence, but Traherne explicitly refuses to stop at mild passions or easy dependence. The soul must be cleared of false customs and habits that distort perception. Simplicity is therefore a demanding intellectual and moral purification, not mere lack of learning.
In the critique of European luxury, simple wealth belongs to lives closer to natural provision than to manufactured prestige. The theological use is different and stronger: divine love of self and of others are one, making God’s simplicity visible through the coincidence of his glory and the beloved’s welfare. The human analogy lies in becoming less divided between rival ends, not in pretending that a creature possesses divine simplicity outright.
Places to read
In this edition
The derogatory ethnic language of III.12 belongs to Traherne’s polemic and historical setting. His reversal of European claims to civility does not make that vocabulary neutral.
Source note
Primary text: III.5, III.12, IV.65. No 2026 editorial notes used.
From the book
Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume I
Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Simplicity and composition
simplicitas (simplicity); simplex (simple); compositus (composite); compositio (composition); pars, plural partes (part, parts)
Simplex and simplicitas concern absence of composition; compositus and compositio the dependence of a whole on joined constituents.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordSimplex and simplicitas concern absence of composition; compositus and compositio the dependence of a whole on joined constituents.
- In the Platonic TheologySimplicity means absence of the internal dependence entailed by composition, not lack of intelligence or explanatory richness.
- In this editionThe plural names of divine attributes do not automatically designate separate parts.
- A place to readUnity, truth, and goodness are presented as one source rather than three assembled constituents.
Meaning
Simplex and simplicitas concern absence of composition; compositus and compositio the dependence of a whole on joined constituents. Parts need not be spatial pieces: a common nature and a distinguishing property can make a proposed being composite.
Use in the book
Simplicity means absence of the internal dependence entailed by composition, not lack of intelligence or explanatory richness. A composite needs its parts, the mutual relation of those parts, and the source that joins them. It can therefore be neither first nor self-sufficient in the unrestricted sense. The argument against two equal gods turns on this point: a common nature plus distinguishing properties would make each composite. God is supreme unity and therefore wholly simple, while whatever is besides God is described as manifold and composite. Divine simplicity also governs predication. God's being, understanding, and operation cannot be independent components combined in a subject. Yet simplicity does not prevent knowledge of diverse things; one divine form can contain their differences in power and in a certain rational respect. The doctrine thus requires a careful distinction between multiple explanatory names or known effects and an actual assembly of divine parts. Lack of bodily dimensions alone therefore does not make all incorporeal things equally simple.
The proof also has a modal consequence. What depends on parts joined together would be exposed to their separation, so composition is incompatible with the supreme necessity of being. This inference is stronger than saying that a particular composite happens to be durable. Conversely, God's complex-looking list of attributes does not amount to a parts list. Unity, truth, and goodness can be named according to different explanatory roles while remaining one substance. Knowledge of many individuals likewise need not insert their created differences into God as separate pieces. Ficino's one form contains all forms in power, explaining omniscience without internal aggregation. Such qualification is required wherever English plurals such as “attributes,” “powers,” or “ideas” might otherwise suggest constituent elements.
Further passage references. II.1.1–323; II.2.2–723456; II.3.10; II.7.1–22; II.7.9–102; II.9.7–13234567; II.10.10–1223
Places to read
- II.1.1–323Unity, truth, and goodness are presented as one source rather than three assembled constituents.
- II.2.2–723456Two supposed gods sharing a nature but distinguished by properties would each be composite and dependent.
- II.7.9–102Dependence on parts is connected with separation and the necessity of first being.
- II.9.7–13234567 and II.10.10–1223Knowledge of multiple things is explained without inserting their differences as assembled divine pieces.
Translation in this edition
The plural names of divine attributes do not automatically designate separate parts. The supplied English’s “common nature” and “property” at II.2.3 make a nonbodily kind of composition explicit, while “pure wine” illustrates unified genuineness at II.1.1.
alius / idem / uterque — explanatory distinction
alius / idem / uterque — explanatory distinction. Printed forms: alio; aliud; Idem; utrumque.
Other / the same / both. Distinguishing giver and recipient or nature and intelligence can introduce explanatory roles without asserting separate substances in God. References: II.11.11, II.11.14, III.1.21. See Simplicity and composition.
componere / compositio
componere / compositio. Printed forms: componeretur; compositio; compositum.
To compose or compound; composition that requires a unifier. A common nature plus distinctive property makes a supposed first principle dependent and non-simple. References: II.1.3, II.2.3, II.7.1, II.7.2, II.7.9. See Simplicity and composition.
connexio
connexio. Printed forms: connexioni.
Connection or union of parts. What is subject to the joining of parts is likewise exposed to their dissolution and lacks unconditional necessary being. References: II.7.10. See Simplicity and composition.
membrum / vicem gerere
membrum / vicem gerere. Printed forms: membro; vicem formae gerebat.
A member, and playing the role of form. The body-like language belongs to the rejected composite hypothesis; it does not assert that God actually has organs. References: I.6.6. See Simplicity and composition.
multiplex / compositus
multiplex / compositus. Printed forms: compositusque; multiplex.
Manifold / composed. Distinct essential or accidental forms would make God more composite, contrary to the simplicity the argument requires. References: II.11.2. See Simplicity and composition.
natura communis / propria
natura communis / propria. Printed forms: natura communi; propria.
A shared nature and a differentiating nature. Placing God within a common class of movers would make him composite from what he shares and what distinguishes him. References: IV.1.60. See Simplicity and composition.
novus / vetus
novus / vetus. Printed forms: nova; novum; veteribus.
New / old or previously possessed. Adding a new form to persisting substance would compromise the divine simplicity asserted in the argument. References: III.1.6. See Simplicity and composition.
resolvi / dissolutio
resolvi / dissolutio. Printed forms: dissolutionem; dissolutioni; resolvitur.
To dissolve or resolve into what is prior; dissolution of parts. A composed thing is exposed to dissolution, so it cannot be necessary being through itself. References: II.5.1, II.7.10. See Simplicity and composition.
simplex / simplicitas
simplex / simplicitas. Printed forms: simplex; simplicem; simplici; simplicissimam; simplicissimo; simplicissimus; simplicitas; simplicitate; simplicitatem; simpliciter.
Simple, and simplicity. God’s power is connected with complete simplicity; angel’s internal number keeps it below this unity. References: I.6.5. See Simplicity and composition.
Simple or uncompounded; simplicity can exclude distinguishable constituents rather than only spatial parts. God’s identity of being and understanding is argued from supreme simplicity. References: II.1.1, II.7.9, II.9.13. See Simplicity and composition.
Simple / simplicity. One divine form knows many exemplary relations without being divided into a composite of separate forms. References: II.11.18. See Simplicity and composition.