Plotino – Tratado 47,2 (III, 2, 2) — O universo é uma imagem inferior do Intelecto

2-De ese mundo verdadero y uno obtiene su existencia este mundo nuestro que no es verdaderamente uno; que es múltiple, añadiremos, y se halla repartido en muchas partes, distantes y extrañas entre sí, en las cuales ya no reina la amistad, sino también el odio, por la misma separación e insuficiencia de cada parte que, necesariamente, se hace enemiga de la otra. Cada parte no se basta a sí misma, sino que necesita de otra parte para conservarse, siendo no obstante enemiga de aquella por la que se conserva. (Este mundo) no nació por una reflexión de la inteligencia, sino que se explica por una necesidad de la segunda naturaleza; porque aquélla no podría ofrecérsenos cual es el último de los seres. Es en verdad el primero de ellos y dispone de mucho poder, incluso de todo el poder; y, ciertamente, no necesita de esfuerzo alguno para llegar a producir otro ser. Porque es claro que si tuviese que esforzarse, no obtendría ese poder de sí misma, ni de su propia esencia, sino que semejaría un artesano que no dispone del poder de producir, introducido en él en virtud de algún aprendizaje. Cuando la inteligencia da algo de sí misma a la materia, realiza todo esto con serenidad y tranquilamente; eso que da es la razón proveniente de la inteligencia. Porque la razón fluye de la inteligencia, y fluye siempre de continuo en tanto la inteligencia se encuentre presente en los seres. En una razón seminal todas las partes del ser vienen a reunirse en un mismo punto, sin que por esto se produzca lucha o diferencia alguna, o siquiera impedimento que la obstaculice; pero al originarse el ser con su masa corpórea, cada parte se sitúa en un lugar diferente de las demás, obstaculizándose, e incluso destruyéndose una parte a la otra. Así, y no de otro modo, de la inteligencia única y de la razón proveniente de ella se origina este mundo en el que, necesariamente, hay partes que se manifiestan de manera amistosa y conveniente, en tanto se dan otras que realmente se odian y se hacen la guerra; estas últimas, de grado o por fuerza, se maltratan unas a otras, pero de la destrucción de unas partes toma su origen el nacimiento de las otras. Una unidad armónica se produce, no obstante, entre las partes que realizan y sufren tales cosas; de la misma razón que hay en ellas surge la armonía y el orden a través de todo lo que existe. Porque, aunque este universo no es, como el universo inteligible, inteligencia y razón, tiene, sin embargo, participación de una y de otra. Necesita, por tanto, de la armonía, “al reunirse en él la inteligencia y la necesidad”; de ésta, por su carácter irracional, le viene el impulso hacia el mal y el movimiento hacia la sinrazón, si bien “la inteligencia domina” a la necesidad ¹.

El mundo inteligible es tan sólo razón, y no podría originarse otro mundo racional. Si otra cosa naciese, tendría que ser algo inferior a él y no una razón, ni una cierta materia, porque la materia es todo lo contrario de un mundo; llamémosla una cierta mezcla de las dos cosas. Y es algo que se compone de materia y de razón, cuyo origen hay que buscarlo en el alma, que se halla al frente de la mezcla. No hemos de pensar, pues, que la inteligencia sufre con esto, pues gobierna fácilmente el universo, como si estuviese presente en él.

II. C’est de ce monde véritable et un que tire son existence le monde sensible qui n’est point véritablement un : il est en effet multiple et divisé en une pluralité de parties qui sont séparées les unes des autres et étrangères entre elles. Ce n’est plus l’amitié qui y règne, c’est plutôt la haine, produite par la séparation de choses que leur état d’imperfection rend ennemies les unes des autres. La partie ne se suffit pas à elle-même ; conservée par une autre chose, elle n’en est pas moins l’ennemie de la chose qui la conserve. Le monde sensible a été créé, non parce que Dieu a réfléchi qu’il fallait le créer, mais parce qu’il était nécessaire qu’il y eût une nature inférieure au monde intelligible, qui, étant parfait, ne pouvait être le dernier degré de l’existence : il occupait le premier rang, il avait une puissance grande, universelle, capable de créer sans délibération (car il n’eût pas possédé par lui-même la puissance de créer s’il lui eût fallu délibérer ; il ne l’eût pas possédée par son essence ; il eût ressemblé à un artisan qui n’a pas par lui-même le pouvoir de créer, mais qui l’acquiert en apprenant à travailler). En donnant quelque chose d’elle-même à la matière, l’Intelligence a tout produit sans sortir de son repos ni de sa quiétude. Or, ce qu’elle donne, c’est la Raison, parce que la Raison est l’émanation de l’Intelligence, émanation aussi durable que l’existence même de l’Intelligence. Dans une raison séminale (λόγος ἐν τῷ σπέρματι), toutes les parties existent unies ensemble, sans qu’aucune en combatte une autre, ni soit en désaccord avec elle ou lui fasse obstacle, et cette raison fait passer quelque chose d’elle-même dans la masse corporelle où les parties sont séparées les unes des autres, se font obstacle et se détruisent mutuellement ; de même, de l’Intelligence qui est une et de la Raison qui en procède est sorti cet univers dont les parties sont séparées et éloignées les unes des autres, par conséquent, les unes amies et alliées entre elles, les autres contraires et ennemies; aussi se détruisent-elles les unes les autres, soit volontairement, soit involontairement, et, par cette destruction, elles opèrent. mutuellement leur génération. Dieu a disposé, leurs actions et leurs passions de telle sorte que toutes concourent à former une harmonie unique en rendant chacune le son qui lui est propre, parce que la Raison qui les domine produit dans l’ensemble l’ordre et l’harmonie. Le monde sensible n’a pas la perfection de l’Intelligence et de la Raison ; il participe seulement ². Aussi a-t-il eu besoin d’harmonie, parce qu’il a été formé par le concours de l’Intelligence et de la nécessité ³. La nécessité pousse le monde sensible au mal et à ce qui est irrationnel, parce qu’elle est elle-même irrationnelle; mais l’Intelligence domine la nécessité. Le monde intelligible est uniquement Raison ; nul autre ne saurait être tel. Le monde qui est né de lui devait lui être inférieur, et n’être ni uniquement Raison, ni uniquement matière : car, avec la matière seule, il n’y avait pas d’ordre possible. Le monde sensible est donc un mélange de la matière et de la Raison ⁴ : ce sont là les éléments dont il se compose. Quant au principe dont il procède, c’est l’Âme qui préside au composé; il ne faut pas d’ailleurs croire que ce soit un travail pour l’Âme : car elle administre facilement l’univers par sa. seule présence.

THE SENSE-WORLD CREATED NOT BY REFLECTION, BUT BY SELF-NECESSITY.

2. The sense-world draws its existence from that intelligible World. The sense-world, however, is not really unitary; it is indeed multiple, and divided into a plurality of parts which are separated from each other, and are mutually foreign. Not love reigns there, but hate, produced by the separation of things which their state of imperfection renders mutually inimical. None of its parts suffices to itself. Preserved by something else, it is none the less an enemy of the preserving Power. The sense-world has been created, not because the divinity reflected on the necessity of creating, but because (in the nature of things) it was unavoidable that there be a nature inferior to the intelligible World, which, being perfect, could not have been the last degree of existence. It occupied the first rank, it had great power, that was universal and capable of creating without deliberation. If it had had to deliberate, it would not, by itself, have expressed the power of creation. It would not have possessed it essentially. It would have resembled an artisan, who, himself, does not have the power of creating, but who acquires it by learning how to work. By giving something of itself to matter, Intelligence produced everything without issuing from its rest or quietness. That which it gives is Reason, because reason is the emanation of Intelligence, an emanation that is as durable as the very existence of Intelligence. In a seminal reason all the parts exist in an united condition, without any of them struggling with another, without disagreement or hindrance. This Reason then causes something of itself to pass into the corporeal mass, where the parts are separated from each other, and hinder each other, and destroy each other. Likewise, from this unitary Intelligence, and from the Reason that proceeds thence, issues this universe whose parts are separate and distinct from each other, some of the parts being friendly and allied, while some are separate and inimical. They, therefore, destroy each other, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and through this destruction their generation is mutually operated. In such a way did the divinity arrange their actions and experiences that all concur in the formation of a single harmony, in which each utters its individual note because, in the whole, the Reason that dominates them produces order and harmony. The sense-world does not enjoy the perfection of Intelligence and Reason: it only participates therein. Consequently, the sense-world needed harmony, because it was formed by the concurrence of Intelligence and necessity. Necessity drives the sense-world to evil, and to what is irrational, because necessity itself is irrational; but Intelligence dominates necessity. The intelligible World is pure reason; none other could be such. The world, which is born of it, had to be inferior to it, and be neither pure reason, nor mere matter; for order would have been impossible in unmingled matter. The sense-world, therefore, is a mixture of matter and Reason; those are the elements of which it is composed. The principle from which this mixture proceeds, and which presides over the mixture, is the Soul. Neither must we imagine that this presiding over the mixture constitutes an effort for the Soul; for she easily administers the universe, by her presence.

2. By derivation from that Authentic Kosmos, one within itself, there subsists this lower kosmos, no longer a true unity.

It is multiple, divided into various elements, thing standing apart from thing in a new estrangement. No longer is there concord unbroken; hostility, too, has entered as the result of difference and distance; imperfection has inevitably introduced discord; for a part is not self-sufficient, it must pursue something outside itself for its fulfillment, and so it becomes the enemy to what it needs.

This Kosmos of parts has come into being not as the result of a judgement establishing its desirability, but by the sheer necessity of a secondary Kind.

The Intellectual Realm was not of a nature to be the ultimate of existents. It was the First and it held great power, all there is of power; this means that it is productive without seeking to produce; for if effort and search were incumbent upon it, the Act would not be its own, would not spring from its essential nature; it would be, like a craftsman, producing by a power not inherent but acquired, mastered by dint of study.

The Intellectual Principle, then, in its unperturbed serenity has brought the universe into being, by communicating from its own store to Matter: and this gift is the Reason-Form flowing from it. For the Emanation of the Intellectual Principle is Reason, an emanation unfailing as long as the Intellectual Principle continues to have place among beings.

The Reason-Principle within a seed contains all the parts and qualities concentrated in identity; there is no distinction, no jarring, no internal hindering; then there comes a pushing out into bulk, part rises in distinction with part, and at once the members of the organism stand in each other’s way and begin to wear each other down.

So from this, the One Intellectual Principle, and the Reason-Form emanating from it, our Universe rises and develops part, and inevitably are formed groups concordant and helpful in contrast with groups discordant and combative; sometimes of choice and sometimes incidentally, the parts maltreat each other; engendering proceeds by destruction.

Yet: Amid all that they effect and accept, the divine Realm imposes the one harmonious act; each utters its own voice, but all is brought into accord, into an ordered system, for the universal purpose, by the ruling Reason-Principle. This Universe is not Intelligence and Reason, like the Supernal, but participant in Intelligence and Reason: it stands in need of the harmonizing because it is the meeting ground of Necessity and divine Reason-Necessity pulling towards the lower, towards the unreason which is its own characteristic, while yet the Intellectual Principle remains sovereign over it.

The Intellectual Sphere [the Divine] alone is Reason, and there can never be another Sphere that is Reason and nothing else; so that, given some other system, it cannot be as noble as that first; it cannot be Reason: yet since such a system cannot be merely Matter, which is the utterly unordered, it must be a mixed thing. Its two extremes are Matter and the Divine Reason; its governing principle is Soul, presiding over the conjunction of the two, and to be thought of not as labouring in the task but as administering serenely by little more than an act of presence.