The Asclepius of Hermes Trismegistus: On the Immortality of the Soul

Book VI. Commentary I. Chapter 3. On the immortality of the soul.

...for in this way: He who feels that there is a will within himself perceives that the soul is moved by itself. For if we will something, no one else wills it for us; and this motion of the soul is spontaneous, for this quality has been granted to it by God. However, this motion is not from place to place like that of a body; for to be moved locallymoving through physical space from one point to another is a property of the body. And since the soul, through the will—that is, by that motion which is not local—nonetheless moves its body locally, it does not follow that the soul itself is moved locally. For that which is indivisibleoriginal: impartibile; having no physical parts that can be separated is not moved in space. Therefore, Plato did not use the name "motion" in its strict sense, but more generally, namely for any kind of operation an "operation" here refers to any internal activity or function of a being, just as Aristotle in the third book of On the Soul said that sensing and understanding are motions. In this way, motion is not the "act of a being in potentiality," but the "act of a perfected being" Aristotle traditionally defined motion as the process of something becoming what it is not yet; the author here argues the soul's "motion" is the active expression of its already perfect nature. Therefore, for the soul to move itself is, according to Plato, the same as the soul acting without the instrument of the body. Indeed, just as the substance of the soul is prior to the substance of the body, so certainly its inclinations, motions, and gifts are prior to the passionsoriginal: passionibus; here meaning things experienced or suffered by the body, rather than emotions of the body. For motion in the body is a passion being acted upon, but in the soul, it is an action, as Plato teaches in the tenth book of the Laws. Furthermore, in the Crito and in the Apology, he says that certain people, when established near death, have prophesied; as if they see those things in the celestial powers to which the soul is joined when it is no longer hindered by the body. In the Symposium he says, moreover, that if the soul were born with the body, its wisdom would increase and flourish along with the body. And yet, in the elderly, as the eye of the body withers, the eye of the mind flourishes; therefore, the soul does not perish with the body. These and similar things were said by Plato, which demonstrate the immortality of the human soul.

CHAPTER III.

1. The decorative initial letter 'P' contains an illustration of a seated figure in a landscape, representing a philosopher or scholar in contemplation of nature. Someone might argue against Plato’s opinions in this way: Everything that is moved by itself is divided into a "moved part" in act and a "mover" in act, as the Philosopher Aristotle says. But the soul is by no means divided in this way—namely, because it is unique and indivisible; therefore, the soul is not moved by itself. 2. Likewise, everything movable by its own nature is divisible by its own nature, according to the testimony of Averroes A 12th-century Andalusian philosopher known for his influential commentaries on Aristotle in the first chapter of On the Substance of the Orb; and everything movable by accident is divisible by accident. But the human soul is not divisible by itself, nor by accident, since it has no quantity; therefore, it is not moved by itself, as Plato says. 3. Certainly, change does not happen to a spiritual thing. But the rational soul is a spiritual substance; therefore, change does not fall upon it, and consequently, it is not moved. Furthermore, the soul is moved by God; therefore, it is not moved solely by itself. This premise is evident because, just as if the heavens ceased to be moved, all other bodies would likewise rest; so clearly, if God did not move spiritual things, not even one spirit would be moved. Whence Hermes original: Mercurius in the Pymander The first book of the Corpus Hermeticum, a foundational text of Hermetic philosophy says: "If God were to cease from motion, all things would clearly be idle" original: Si Deus vacaret à motu, omnia planè essent otiosa. The logical consequence is well known. 4. Again, everything that is moved by itself is moved by another. This is sufficiently clear regarding what is moved according to a part and by accident. And it can be drawn by induction from the elements, plants, and animals, which are moved by a form hidden within. In truth, if the soul is moved by itself, it is moved either by the motion of generation, or corruption, or local alteration. But the soul is moved by none of these motions, as is evident—otherwise it would undergo the fate of the body; therefore, the same conclusion as before follows. 5. Moreover, three things seem to be present in that which is moved by itself: that which moves, that which is moved, and that toward which it moves and is moved. However, that which moves is not itself moved; because just as there is that which is moved and does not move, so there is that which moves and is not moved. But the rational soul does not only move, nor is it only moved: therefore, man is only the "where" it moves and is moved. 6. Likewise, contraries cannot belong to the same thing in the same respect. But "to move" and "to be moved" are contraries; therefore, they do not belong to the same rational soul. 7. Again, that the human soul is not only not a "self-moving number," but not even im...