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A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian

Chapter 14

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter XIV.—The Soul Variously Divided by the Philosophers; This Division is Not a Material Dissection.

Being thus single, simple, and entire in itself,

‹ Chapter 13 Chapter 15 ›

it

is

as

incapable

of

being

composed

and

put

together

from

external

constituents

,

as

it

is

of

being

divided

in

and

of

itself

,

inasmuch

as

it

is

indissoluble

.

For

if

it

had

been

possible

to

construct

it

and

to

destroy

it

,

it

would

no

longer

be

immortal

.

Since

,

however

,

it

is

not

mortal

,

it

is

also

incapable

of

dissolution

and

division

.

Now

,

to

be

divided

means

to

be

dissolved

,

and

to

be

dissolved

means

to

die

.

Yet

(

philosophers

)

have

divided

the

soul

into

parts

:

Plato

,

for

instance

,

into

two

;

Zeno

into

three

;

Panætius

,

into

five

or

six

;

Soranus

,

into

seven

;

Chrysippus

,

into

as

many

as

eight

;

and

Apollophanes

,

into

as

many

as

nine

;

whilst

certain

of

the

Stoics

have

found

as

many

as

twelve

parts

in

the

soul

.

Posidonius

makes

even

two

more

than

these

:

he

starts

with

two

leading

faculties

of

the

soul

,

—

the

directing

faculty

,

which

they

designate

ἡγεμονικόν

;

and

the

rational

faculty

,

which

they

call

λογικόν

,

—

and

ultimately

subdivided

these

into

seventeen

parts

.

Thus

variously

is

the

soul

dissected

by

the

different

schools

.

Such

divisions

,

however

,

ought

not

to

be

regarded

so

much

as

parts

of

the

soul

,

as

powers

,

or

faculties

,

or

operations

thereof

,

even

as

Aristotle

himself

has

regarded

some

of

them

as

being

.

For

they

are

not

portions

or

organic

parts

of

the

soul’s

substance

,

but

functions

of

the

soul

—

such

as

those

of

motion

,

of

action

,

of

thought

,

and

whatsoever

others

they

divide

in

this

manner

;

such

,

likewise

,

as

the

five

senses

themselves

,

so

well

known

to

all

—

seeing

,

hearing

,

tasting

,

touching

,

smelling

.

Now

,

although

they

have

allotted

to

the

whole

of

these

respectively

certain

parts

of

the

body

as

their

special

domiciles

,

it

does

not

from

that

circumstance

follow

that

a

like

distribution

will

be

suitable

to

the

sections

of

the

soul

;

for

even

the

body

itself

would

not

admit

of

such

a

partition

as

they

would

have

the

soul

undergo

.

But

of

the

whole

number

of

the

limbs

one

body

is

made

up

,

so

that

the

arrangement

is

rather

a

concretion

than

a

division

.

Look

at

that

very

wonderful

piece

of

organic

mechanism

by

Archimedes

,

—

I

mean

his

hydraulic

organ

,

with

its

many

limbs

,

parts

,

bands

,

passages

for

the

notes

,

outlets

for

their

sounds

,

combinations

for

their

harmony

,

and

the

array

of

its

pipes

;

but

yet

the

whole

of

these

details

constitute

only

one

instrument

.

In

like

manner

the

wind

,

which

breathes

throughout

this

organ

at

the

impulse

of

the

hydraulic

engine

,

is

not

divided

into

separate

portions

from

the

fact

of

its

dispersion

through

the

instrument

to

make

it

play

:

it

is

whole

and

entire

in

its

substance

,

although

divided

in

its

operation

.

This

example

is

not

remote

from

(

the

illustration

)

of

Strato

,

and

Ænesidemus

,

and

Heraclitus

:

for

these

philosophers

maintain

the

unity

of

the

soul

,

as

diffused

over

the

entire

body

,

and

yet

in

every

part

the

same

.

Precisely

like

the

wind

blown

in

the

pipes

throughout

the

organ

,

the

soul

displays

its

energies

in

various

ways

by

means

of

the

senses

,

being

not

indeed

divided

,

but

rather

distributed

in

natural

order

.

Now

,

under

what

designations

these

energies

are

to

be

known

,

and

by

what

divisions

of

themselves

they

are

to

be

classified

,

and

to

what

special

offices

and

functions

in

the

body

they

are

to

be

severally

confined

,

the

physicians

and

the

philosophers

must

consider

and

decide

:

for

ourselves

,

a

few

remarks

only

will

be

proper

.

Notes

1
This is Oehler’s text; another reading has twelve, which one would suppose to be the right one.
2
Ubique ipsa.