the six enneads-第75章

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ts　that　deal　the　severest　blows；　they　hit　hardest　and　hurt　most；　where　there　is　life…　that　is　to　say　participation　in　Being…　there　is　beneficence　towards　the　environment；　all　the　greater　as　the　measure　of　Being　is　fuller。　　　　　Again；　Movement；　which　is　a　sort　of　life　within　bodies；　an　imitation　of　true　Life；　is　the　more　decided　where　there　is　the　least　of　body　a　sign　that　the　waning　of　Being　makes　the　object　affected　more　distinctly　corporeal。　　　　　The　changes　known　as　affections　show　even　more　clearly　that　where　the　bodily　quality　is　most　pronounced　susceptibility　is　at　its　intensest…　earth　more　susceptible　than　other　elements；　and　these　others　again　more　or　less　so　in　the　degree　of　their　corporeality：　sever　the　other　elements　and；　failing　some　preventive　force；　they　join　again；　but　earthy　matter　divided　remains　apart　indefinitely。　Things　whose　nature　represents　a　diminishment　have　no　power　of　recuperation　after　even　a　slight　disturbance　and　they　perish；　thus　what　has　most　definitely　become　body；　having　most　closely　approximated　to　non…being　lacks　the　strength　to　reknit　its　unity：　the　heavy　and　violent　crash　of　body　against　body　works　destruction；　and　weak　is　powerful　against　weak；　non…being　against　its　like。　　　　　Thus　far　we　have　been　meeting　those　who；　on　the　evidence　of　thrust　and　resistance；　identify　body　with　real　being　and　find　assurance　of　truth　in　the　phantasms　that　reach　us　through　the　senses；　those；　in　a　word；　who；　like　dreamers；　take　for　actualities　the　figments　of　their　sleeping　vision。　The　sphere　of　sense；　the　Soul　in　its　slumber；　for　all　of　the　Soul　that　is　in　body　is　asleep　and　the　true　getting…up　is　not　bodily　but　from　the　body：　in　any　movement　that　takes　the　body　with　it　there　is　no　more　than　a　passage　from　sleep　to　sleep；　from　bed　to　bed；　the　veritable　waking　or　rising　is　from　corporeal　things；　for　these；　belonging　to　the　Kind　directly　opposed　to　Soul；　present　to　it　what　is　directly　opposed　to　its　essential　existence：　their　origin；　their　flux；　and　their　perishing　are　the　warning　of　their　exclusion　from　the　Kind　whose　Being　is　Authentic。　　　　　7。　We　are　thus　brought　back　to　the　nature　of　that　underlying　matter　and　the　things　believed　to　be　based　upon　it；　investigation　will　show　us　that　Matter　has　no　reality　and　is　not　capable　of　being　affected。　　　　　Matter　must　be　bodiless…　for　body　is　a　later　production；　a　compound　made　by　Matter　in　conjunction　with　some　other　entity。　Thus　it　is　included　among　incorporeal　things　in　the　sense　that　body　is　something　that　is　neither　Real…Being　nor　Matter。　　　　　Matter　is　no　Soul；　it　is　not　Intellect；　is　not　Life；　is　no　Ideal…Principle；　no　Reason…Principle；　it　is　no　limit　or　bound；　for　it　is　mere　indetermination；　it　is　not　a　power；　for　what　does　it　produce？　　　　　It　lives　on　the　farther　side　of　all　these　categories　and　so　has　no　tide　to　the　name　of　Being。　It　will　be　more　plausibly　called　a　non…being；　and　this　in　the　sense　not　of　movement　＇away　from　Being＇　or　station　（in　Not…Being）　but　of　veritable　Not…Being；　so　that　it　is　no　more　than　the　image　and　phantasm　of　Mass；　a　bare　aspiration　towards　substantial　existence；　it　is　stationary　but　not　in　the　sense　of　having　position；　it　is　in　itself　invisible；　eluding　all　effort　to　observe　it；　present　where　no　one　can　look；　unseen　for　all　our　gazing；　ceaselessly　presenting　contraries　in　the　things　based　upon　it；　it　is　large　and　small；　more　and　less；　deficient　and　excessive；　a　phantasm　unabiding　and　yet　unable　to　withdraw…　not　even　strong　enough　to　withdraw；　so　utterly　has　it　failed　to　accept　strength　from　the　Intellectual　Principle；　so　absolute　its　lack　of　all　Being。　　　　　Its　every　utterance；　therefore；　is　a　lie；　it　pretends　to　be　great　and　it　is　little；　to　be　more　and　it　is　less；　and　the　Existence　with　which　it　masks　itself　is　no　Existence；　but　a　passing　trick　making　trickery　of　all　that　seems　to　be　present　in　it；　phantasms　within　a　phantasm；　it　is　like　a　mirror　showing　things　as　in　itself　when　they　are　really　elsewhere；　filled　in　appearance　but　actually　empty；　containing　nothing；　pretending　everything。　Into　it　and　out　of　it　move　mimicries　of　the　Authentic　Existents；　images　playing　upon　an　image　devoid　of　Form；　visible　against　it　by　its　very　formlessness；　they　seem　to　modify　it　but　in　reality　effect　nothing；　for　they　are　ghostly　and　feeble；　have　no　thrust　and　meet　none　in　Matter　either；　they　pass　through　it　leaving　no　cleavage；　as　through　water；　or　they　might　be　compared　to　shapes　projected　so　as　to　make　some　appearance　upon　what　we　can　know　only　as　the　Void。　　　　　Further：　if　visible　objects　were　of　the　rank　of　the　originals　from　which　they　have　entered　into　Matter　we　might　believe　Matter　to　be　really　affected　by　them；　for　we　might　credit　them　with　some　share　of　the　power　inherent　in　their　Senders：　but　the　objects　of　our　experiences　are　of　very　different　virtue　than　the　realities　they　represent；　and　we　deduce　that　the　seeming　modification　of　matter　by　visible　things　is　unreal　since　the　visible　thing　itself　is　unreal；　having　at　no　point　any　similarity　with　its　source　and　cause。　Feeble；　in　itself；　a　false　thing　and　projected　upon　a　falsity；　like　an　image　in　dream　or　against　water　or　on　a　mirror；　it　can　but　leave　Matter　unaffected；　and　even　this　is　saying　too　little；　for　water　and　mirror　do　give　back　a　faithful　image　of　what　presents　itself　before　them。　　　　　8。　It　is　a　general　principle　that；　to　be　modified；　an　object　must　be　opposed　in　faculty；　and　in　quality　to　the　forces　that　enter　and　act　upon　it。　　　　　Thus　where　heat　is　present；　the　change　comes　by　something　that　chills；　where　damp　by　some　drying　agency：　we　say　a　subject　is　modified　when　from　warm　it　becomes　cold；　from　dry　wet。　　　　　A　further　evidence　is　in　our　speaking　of　a　fire　being　burned　out；　when　it　has　passed　over　into　another　element；　we　do　not　say　that　the　Matter　has　been　burned　out：　in　other　words；　modification　affects　what　is　subject　to　dissolution；　the　acceptance　of　modification　is　the　path　towards　dissolution；　susceptibility　to　modification　and　susceptibility　to　dissolution　go　necessarily　together。　But　Matter　can　never　be　dissolved。　What　into？　By　what　process？　　　　　Still：　Matter　harbours　heat；　cold；　qualities　beyond　all　count；　by　these　it　is　differentiated；　it　holds　them　as　if　they　were　of　its　very　substance　and　they　blend　within　it…　since　no　quality　is　found　isolated　to　itself…　Matter　lies　there　as　the　meeting　ground　of　all　these　qualities　with　their　changes　as　they　act　and　react　in　the　blend：　how；　then；　can　it　fail　to　be　modified　in　keeping？　The　only　escape　would　be　to　declare　Matter　utterly　and　for　ever　apart　from　the　qualities　it　exhibits；　but　the　very　notion　of　Substance　implies　that　any　and　every　thing　present　in　it　has　some　action　upon　it。　　　　　9。　In　answer：　It　must；　first；　be　noted　that　there　are　a　variety　of　modes　in　which　an　object　may　be　said　to　be　present　to　another　or　to　exist　in　another。　There　is　a　〃presence〃　which　acts　by　changing　the　object…　for　good　or　for　ill…　as　we　see　in　the　case　of　bodies；　especially　where　there　is　life。　But　there　is　also　a　〃presence〃　which　acts；　towards　good　or　ill；　with　no　modification　of　the　object；　as　we　have　indicated　in　the　case　of　the　Soul。　Then　there　is　the　case　represented　by　the　stamping　of　a　design　upon　wax；　where　the　〃presence〃　of　the　added　patter