From the book
Lysis
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Sufficiency
ἱκανότης
hikanotēsHikanotēs means sufficiency; adequacy.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordHikanotēs means sufficiency; adequacy.
- In LysisThe noun occurs when Socrates draws out what it would mean for a good person to be sufficient for himself: he would need nothing κατὰ τὴν ἱκανότητα, by reason of that sufficiency.
- Reading contextThe noun does not independently prove that real good people lack every sort of need, nor does it resolve whether friendship can have grounds other than utility.
- A place to readThe Greek example means “Needing nothing by reason of sufficiency.”
- English renderings
- Sufficiency; adequacy
Meaning
Sufficiency; adequacy.
Grammatical category: feminine noun.
Use in the book
The noun occurs when Socrates draws out what it would mean for a good person to be sufficient for himself: he would need nothing κατὰ τὴν ἱκανότητα, by reason of that sufficiency.
This formulation supplies the hinge from goodness to absence of need. The next steps infer absence of cherishing and loving. The noun does not independently prove that real good people lack every sort of need, nor does it resolve whether friendship can have grounds other than utility.
Places to read
- 215aοὐδενὸς δεόμενος κατὰ τὴν ἱκανότητα — Needing nothing by reason of sufficiency.
From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Sufficiency
sufficiency; self sufficiency; self-sufficiency; all sufficiency
Sufficiency is adequacy of provision or power: having enough, or being able, for a particular end.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordSufficiency is adequacy of provision or power: having enough, or being able, for a particular end.
- In TraherneHe rejects a supposed happiness confined to the self and deprived of objects.
- In this editionThe 2026 note to IV.97 links the word with Pauline dependence upon God.
- A place to beginMistaken self-sufficiency wrongly deprives happiness of its objects.
Meaning
Sufficiency is adequacy of provision or power: having enough, or being able, for a particular end. Self-sufficiency can instead imply an inward independence whose value Traherne subjects to scrutiny.
Use in the book
He rejects a supposed happiness confined to the self and deprived of objects. Contentment must arise from real treasures perceived and enjoyed. Yet the soul possesses a secret sufficiency for apprehending great and even infinite objects, discovered only in exercise. There is no contradiction if the reader asks what the power is sufficient for: its adequacy consists in receiving and managing goods, not in making them unnecessary. Likewise, the sufficiency of common treasures supports peace and mutual service rather than competitive scarcity.
Places to read
In this edition
The 2026 note to IV.97 links the word with Pauline dependence upon God. Do not turn the soul’s sufficiency into independence from its giver.
Source note
Primary text: II.100, IV.97, I.35; biblical association: 2026 edition note to IV.97.