第 75 节
作者:卖吻      更新:2021-08-28 17:09      字数:9322
  o make them of one common species; and puts an end to all mention of part; the reasonable conclusion would be; on the contrary; that there is one identical soul; every separate manifestation being that soul complete。     Our opponents after first admitting the unity go on to make our soul dependent on something else; something in which we have no longer the soul of this or that; even of the universe; but a soul of nowhere; a soul belonging neither to the kosmos; nor to anything else; and yet vested with all the function inherent to the kosmic soul and to that of every ensouled thing。     The soul considered as an entirety cannot be a soul of any one given thing… since it is an Essence 'a divine Real…Being'… or; at least; there must be a soul which is not exclusively the soul of any particular thing; and those attached to particulars must so belong merely in some mode of accident。     In such questions as this it is important to clarify the significance of 〃part。〃     Part; as understood of body… uniform or varied… need not detain us; it is enough to indicate that; when part is mentioned in respect of things whose members are alike; it refers to mass and not to ideal…form 'specific idea': take for example; whiteness: the whiteness in a portion of milk is not a part of the whiteness of milk in general: we have the whiteness of a portion not a portion of whiteness; for whiteness is utterly without magnitude; has nothing whatever to do with quantity。     That is all we need say with regard to part in material things; but part in the unembodied may be taken in various ways。 We may think of it in the sense familiar in numbers; 〃two〃 a part of the standard 〃ten〃… in abstract numbers of course… or as we think of a segment of a circle; or line 'abstractly considered'; or; again; of a section or branch of knowledge。     In the case of the units of reckoning and of geometrical figure; exactly as in that of corporeal masses; partition must diminish the total; the part must be less than the whole; for these are things of quantity; and have their being as things of quantity; and… since they are not the ideal…form Quantity… they are subject to increase and decrease。     Now in such a sense as this; part cannot be affirmed of the soul。     The soul is not a thing of quantity; we are not to conceive of the All…Soul as some standard ten with particular souls as its constituent units。     Such a conception would entail many absurdities:     The Ten could not be 'essentially' a unity 'the Soul would be an aggregation; not a self…standing Real…Being' and; further… unless every one of the single constituents were itself an All…Soul… the All…Soul would be formed of non…souls。     Again; it is admitted that the particular soul… this 〃part of the All…Soul… is of one ideal…form with it; but this does not entail the relation of part to whole; since in objects formed of continuous parts there is nothing inevitably making any portion uniform with the total: take; for example; the parts of a circle or square; we may divide it in different ways so as to get our part; a triangle need not be divided into triangles; all sorts of different figures are possible: yet an absolute uniformity is admitted to reign throughout soul。     In a line; no doubt; the part is inevitably a line; but even here there is a necessary difference in size; and if; in the case of the soul we similarly called upon magnitude as the distinction between constituents and collective soul; then soul; thus classed by magnitude becomes quantitative; and is simply body。     But it is admitted that all souls are alike and are entireties; clearly; soul is not subject to part in the sense in which magnitudes are: our opponents themselves would not consent to the notion of the All…Soul being whittled down into fragments; yet this is what they would be doing; annulling the All…Soul… if any collective soul existed at all… making it a mere piece of terminology; thinking of it like wine separated into many portions; each portion; in its jar; being described as a portion of the total thing; wine。     Next there is the conception of the individual soul as a part in the sense in which we speak of some single proposition as a part of the science entire。     The theorem is separate; but the science stands as one undivided thing; the expression and summed efficiency 'energy' of each constituent notion: this is partition without severance; each item potentially includes the whole science; which itself remains an unbroken total。     Is this the appropriate parallel?     No; in such a relationship the All…Soul; of which the particular souls are to be a part; would not be the soul of any definite thing; but an entity standing aloof; that means that it would not even be the soul of the Kosmos; it would; in fact; be; itself; one of those partial souls; thus all alike would be partial and of one nature; and; at that; there would be no reason for making any such distinction。     3。 Is it a question of part in the sense that; taking one living being; the soul in a finger might be called a part of the soul entire?     This would carry the alternative that either there is no soul outside of body; or that… no soul being within body… the thing described as the soul of the universe is; none the less; outside the body of the universe。 That is a point to be investigated; but for the present we must consider what kind of soul this parallel would give us。     If the particular soul is a part of the All…Soul only in the sense that this bestows itself upon all living things of the partial sphere; such a self…bestowal does not imply division; on the contrary; it is the identical soul that is present everywhere; the one complete thing; multi…present at the one moment: there is no longer question of a soul that is a part against a soul that is an all… especially where an identical power is present。 Even difference of function; as in eyes and ears; cannot warrant the assertion of distinct parts concerned in each separate act… with other parts again making allotment of faculty… all is met by the notion of one identical thing; but a thing in which a distinct power operates in each separate function。 All the powers are present either in seeing or in hearing; the difference in impression received is due to the difference in the organs concerned; all the varying impressions are our various responses to Ideal…forms that can be taken in a variety of modes。     A further proof 'of the unity of Soul' is that perception demands a common gathering place; every organ has its distinct function; and is competent only upon its own material; and must interpret each several experience in its own fashion; the judgement upon these impressions must; then; be vested in some one principle; a judge informed upon all that is said and done。     But again: 〃Everywhere; Unity〃: in the variety of functions if each 〃part of the soul〃 were as distinct as are the entrant sensations; none of those parts could have knowledge; awareness would belong only to that judging faculty… or; if local; every such act of awareness would stand quite unrelated to any other。 But since the soul is a rational soul; by the very same title by which it is an All…Soul; and is called the rational soul; in the sense of being a whole 'and so not merely 〃reasoning locally〃'; then what is thought of as a part must in reality be no part but the identity of an unparted thing。     4。 But if this is the true account of the unity of soul; we must be able to meet the problems that ensue: firstly; the difficulty of one thing being present at the same moment in all things; and; secondly; the difficulty of soul in body as against soul not embodied。     We might be led to think that all soul must always inhabit body; this would seem especially plausible in the case of the soul of the universe; not thought of as ever leaving its body as the human soul does: there exists; no doubt; an opinion that even the human soul; while it must leave the body; cannot become an utterly disembodied thing; but assuming its complete disembodiment; how comes it that the human soul can go free of the body but the All…Soul not; though they are one and the same?     There is no such difficulty in the case of the Intellectual…Principle; by the primal differentiation; this separates; no doubt; into partial things of widely varying nature; but eternal unity is secured by virtue of the eternal identity of that Essence: it is not so easy to explain how; in the case of the soul described as separate among bodies; such differentiated souls can remain one thing。     A possible solution may be offered:     The unit soul holds aloof; not actually falling into body; the differentiated souls… the All…Soul; with the others… issue from the unity while still constituting; within certain limits; an association。 They are one soul by the fact that they do not belong unreservedly to any particular being; they meet; so to speak; fringe to fringe; they strike out here and there; but are held together at the source much as light is a divided thing upon earth; shining in this house; and that; and yet remains uninterruptedly one identical substance。     The All…Soul would always remain above; since essentially it has nothing to do with descent or with the l