Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover

Use in the book

At 983a the Athenian introduces size as support for calling the heavenly beings ensouled. They are not really as small as they appear. Each has immense bulk; this deserves belief, he says, because sufficient proofs establish it. The specific comparison is that the whole sun can rightly be thought larger than the whole earth. The dialogue does not reproduce the geometrical demonstrations by which that conclusion is supposed to be secured. “Proofs good enough” reports an available warrant asserted by the speaker, not a calculation performed on this page.

The next question asks what sort of nature can carry such a bulk round in the same time always. The answer is a god, with the assertion that no other explanation is possible. Size alone does not carry the whole inference. Size is combined with recurrent timing, and the explanation presupposes the earlier distinction between intelligent soul and passive body. The argument also appeals to what the speakers have already declared: a thing becomes ensouled through a god.

Once divine ability is granted, no further difficulty arises for the god in making a body and its entire bulk a living being or moving it as he thinks best. What looks overwhelmingly difficult to the human observer is not difficult relative to divine agency. This supplies a reply to a possible mismatch between an immaterial soul and a massive body, a concern made explicit again at 988d when soul is not to be thought incapable of carrying weight.

At 983c the argument broadens to earth, heaven, stars, and all their bulks. Without a soul with each, or even in each, their exact movement by years, months, and days and their beneficial results could not occur. The prepositional alternative preserves uncertainty about how soul is associated with a body. The speaker does not here reduce all motion to a mechanically specified location of a tiny internal driver.

The relation between appearance and inference must remain clear. Celestial visibility supplies observations but can mislead about scale. The demand for mathematical study later in the dialogue is consistent with this limitation: merely seeing a bright point is not yet knowing its nature. Conversely, the passage is not a modern astronomical measurement. Its place in the argument is the ancient speaker's defense of adequate psychic and divine causation, and its asserted demonstrations should be assessed at that level.

Places to read

1. 983aπρῶτον τὸ μέγεθος αὐτῶν διανοηθῶμεν — Size is introduced as evidence relevant to animation
2. 983aοὐ γάρ, ὡς σμικρὰ φαντάζεται — Small appearance is distinguished from actual size
3. 983aἀποδείξεσιν γὰρ ἱκαναῖς λαμβάνεται — The speaker appeals to adequate proofs without displaying them
4. 983aτὸν γὰρ ἥλιον ὅλον τῆς γῆς ὅλης μείζω — The entire sun is said to exceed the entire earth
5. 983aτοσοῦτον περιφέρειν ὄγκον — Great bulk needs an adequate cause of revolution
6. 983bθεὸν δή φημι τὸν αἴτιον ἔσεσθαι — The Athenian identifies that cause as a god
7. 983cεἰς ἀκρίβειαν κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν — Exact annual movement joins magnitude in the explanation

Translation in this edition

“Size” and “bulk” distinguish the two nouns; “appear” does not mean that the stars themselves are unreal. “Proofs good enough” is the translation of the speaker's appeal, and should not be amplified into a claim that the supplied edition independently verifies a particular ancient proof.

Misleading apparent scale — φαντάζεσθαι (phantazesthai)

φαντάζεσθαι (phantazesthai)

Misleading apparent scale. The heavenly bodies appear small but are not that small in reality. The limitation belongs to perception of scale, not to their existence. Attested: φαντάζεται (983a). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Magnitude requiring a mover — ὄγκος (onkos)

ὄγκος (onkos)

Magnitude requiring a mover. Immense bulk, combined with unvarying timing, is used to motivate the need for a divine cause of movement. Attested: ὄγκον (983a). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Bulk animated as a whole — ὄγκος (onkos)

ὄγκος (onkos)

Bulk animated as a whole. A god can make every body and its entire bulk a living being before carrying it as he judges best. Physical magnitude is not an obstacle to divine animation. Attested: ὄγκον (983b). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Moving immense stars — περιφέρειν (peripherein)

περιφέρειν (peripherein)

Moving immense stars. The question asks what nature can carry such bulk round in the same time always. Size and timing together prompt the divine explanation. Attested: περιφέρειν (983a). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Adequate divine mover — αἴτιος (aitios)

αἴτιος (aitios)

Adequate divine mover. The Athenian identifies a god as the cause that can animate and move immense celestial bodies with exact regularity. Attested: αἴτιον (983b). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

A cosmic bulk — γῆ (gē)

γῆ (gē)

A cosmic bulk. Earth enters the broad list of cosmic bodies whose exact ordered behavior is said to require soul. This occurrence is not interchangeable with the motions of terrestrial organisms. Attested: γῆν (983b–c). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Animation through a god — ἔμψυχος (empsychos)

ἔμψυχος (empsychos)

Animation through a god. The Athenian says that ensoulment cannot arise otherwise than through a god, invoking what has already been declared. This premise contributes to the inference from enormous ordered bodies. Attested: ἔμψυχον (983b). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Exact cosmic timing — ἀκρίβεια (akribeia)

ἀκρίβεια (akribeia)

Exact cosmic timing. Yearly, monthly, and daily precision is said to require soul associated with the cosmic bodies. It supplements the appeal to size with the pattern of movement. Attested: ἀκρίβειαν (983c). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

An asserted warrant for size — ἀπόδειξις (apodeixis)

ἀπόδειξις (apodeixis)

An asserted warrant for size. The speaker invokes adequate proofs for celestial size. The proofs themselves are not displayed, so the lexicon must not describe this page as performing a measurement. Attested: ἀποδείξεσιν (983a). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Actual celestial magnitude — μέγεθος (megethos)

μέγεθος (megethos)

Actual celestial magnitude. The stars’ actual size exceeds their tiny visual appearance. The speaker appeals to sufficient proofs without reproducing their calculations. Attested: μέγεθος (983a). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Sufficient demonstrations — ἱκανός (hikanos)

ἱκανός (hikanos)

Sufficient demonstrations. The proofs of stellar magnitude are said to be adequate, but the dialogue does not supply their calculations. The adjective characterizes an asserted warrant. Attested: ἱκαναῖς (983a). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Magnitude beyond apparent size — ἥλιος (hēlios)

ἥλιος (hēlios)

Magnitude beyond apparent size. The whole sun is said to be larger than the whole earth. The comparison illustrates asserted real scale without an accompanying numerical estimate. Attested: ἥλιον (983a). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Precise cosmic travel — πορεύεσθαι (poreuesthai)

πορεύεσθαι (poreuesthai)

Precise cosmic travel. Earth, heaven, and stars are said to require soul in order to travel with yearly, monthly, and daily precision. Attested: πορεύεσθαι (983c). Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Small appearance and immense reality (contextual phrase)

οὐ γάρ, ὡς σμικρὰ φαντάζεται, τηλικαῦτα ὄντως ἐστίν (983a)

The stars are not in reality of the small size they appear to possess. The contrast is about scale, not the unreality of the objects. The next appeal to proofs asserts a basis beyond unaided visual impression without reproducing the relevant measurement. Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

The sun as a whole and the earth as a whole (contextual phrase)

τὸν γὰρ ἥλιον ὅλον τῆς γῆς ὅλης μείζω (983a)

Whole qualifies both sides of the size comparison, ensuring that the claim concerns entire bodies. The sun is said to be larger than the earth; the text gives no numerical ratio and does not display the geometry that supposedly supports the comparison. Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.

Immense bulk in the same time (contextual phrase)

τοσοῦτον περιφέρειν ὄγκον τινὰ φύσιν τὸν αὐτὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον (983a)

The question joins the magnitude of what moves to the constancy of its period. A proposed nature must explain both. The inference to a god therefore depends on bulk plus ordered timing and the prior account of soul, not on size alone. Stellar size appearance and the inference to a divine mover.