O mind, a sister mind from the high summit of the world calls you, to be the
boundary
between heaven and hell.
Bruno-Cause-Principle-and-Unity
?
?
?
) was very helpful, and was consulted throughout the preparation of these first English translations.
xxxvi
Cause, Principle and Unity
Prefatory Epistle
Addressed to the most illustrious
Monsieur Michel de Castelnau
Seigneur of Mauvissie`re, Concressault, and Joinville, Chevalier of the Order of the most Christian King, Counsellor of his Privy Council,
Captain of fifty men at arms
and Ambassador to the most serene Queen of England.
Most illustrious and honoured Chevalier, if I consider with an appreciative eye the forbearance, perseverance and solicitude with which, adding favour on favour, benefit on benefit, you have bound, obliged, and tied me to you, and with which you are wont to prevail over every hardship, elude all sort of peril, and successfully conclude all your most worthy designs, I cannot but note how very appropriate is that noble device which adorns your ter- rible crest. On it a liquid humour sweetly strikes, with its constant and con- tinual drip, and, by force of perseverance, softens, hollows, breaks, smooths and conquers a firm, solid, rugged and harsh rock. 1
If, moreover (passing over all your other noble accomplishments), I recall how much you are for me, by divine commandment, by high providence and predestination, a firm and able defender against the unjust injuries that I suffer (and that wanted from me a truly heroic spirit in order not to throw up my hands, surrender to despair and succumb before the swift flood of criminal falsehood with which I have been furiously attacked, by the envy of the ignorant, the presumption of sophists, the deprecation of the malicious, the badmouthing of varlets, the insinuations of mercenaries,
1 The device is the adage 'Gutta cavat lapidem'.
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Cause, principle and unity
? gainsaying of servants, suspicion of fools, slanderers' gossip, hypocrites' zeal, barbarians' hatred, the fury of the mob, frenzy of the populace, the complaints of those I have grazed and the cries of those I have scourged - in which there was not lacking the mean, frenzied and spiteful disdain of a woman, the false tears of whom are frequently more powerful than the stoutest waves and rudest tempests of presumption, envy, deprecation, slander, insinuation, betrayal, outrage, disdain, hate and fury), you appear to me then like a solid, secure and immovable reef which, rising up to show its crest above the swollen sea, is neither eroded, nor rent, nor moved by the seething heavens, nor by the dread of winter, nor by the violent crash of thick waves, nor by the harsh gusts of wind, nor by the wild blowing of the north wind, but rather is increasingly covered with greenery which clothes and adorns its flanks. You who are then endowed with that double virtue, which renders so mighty the mild and liquid drops, and so futile the blustery and rough waves, you through whom the lordly rock is so weak- ened beneath the rain and the tormented reef rises so powerfully against the flood, you are the one who offers both a secure and calm haven for the true Muses, and a deadly shoal on which the false ammunition and impetu- ous designs of the enemy sails are shattered. I, then, whom no one has ever succeeded in accusing of ingratitude or taxing with discourtesy, I, against whom no one may rightly complain, I, hated by fools, slighted by the con- temptible, profaned by knaves, vituperated by rogues, and persecuted by brutish spirits, I who am loved by the wise, admired by the learned, glori- fied by the great, cherished by the mighty and favoured by the gods, I who have already gained such indulgence from you as to be received, nourished, defended, freed, placed in surety, sheltered at port, as of one who, thanks to you, has fled a great and dangerous storm, it is to you that I consecrate this anchor, these shrouds, these battered sails, these goods, to me most dear, and to future generations most precious, so that, thanks to your beneficence, they may not be submerged by the iniquitous and tumultuous Ocean which is my foe. Hung in the sacred temple of glory, by their power against the effrontery of ignorance and the voracity of time, they shall render eternal testimony to your invincible magnanimity; so that the world may know that, thanks to you, this bountiful and divine progeny, inspired by lofty intelligence, conceived by a tempered spirit and born of the Nolan Muse, has not passed away in its infancy, and will live as long as the earth, whose surface is so full of life, turns beneath the eternal regard of the other shining stars.
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Prefatory epistle
? Here, then, is that sort of philosophy where one discovers, with truth and confidence, that for which we look in vain in diverse or opposing philosophies. First, then, I offer you a summary of five dialogues, which contains all that seems relevant to the effective contemplation of Cause, principle, and unity.
Argument of the first dialogue
In the first dialogue, you have something that you may call an apology, or what you will, concerning the five dialogues that make up The Ash Wednesday Supper, etc. 2
Argument of the second dialogue
In the second dialogue you have, first, the cause of the difficulty of such knowledge, in order to know how far removed the knowable object is from the cognitive power. Second, in what manner and to what extent the cause and the principle may be explained by the thing caused or principled. Third, what the knowledge of the substance of the universe contributes to the conception of that on which the substance depends. Fourth, by what specific means we try to know the first principle. Fifth, the difference and accord, the identity and diversity existing between the meanings of the terms 'cause' and 'principle'. Sixth, the nature of that cause which we divide into efficient, formal and final; the different ways of defining the efficient cause, and from how many points of view it may be conceived. How this efficient cause is, in a sense, intrinsic to natural things, since it is nature itself; and how, in a sense, it is extrinsic to them; how the formal cause is joined to the efficient cause, and is that through which the efficient cause operates, and how the formal cause, itself, is brought forth from the womb of matter by the efficient cause; how the efficient and formal causes coin- cide in an elementary substratum, and how the one cause is distinct from the other. Seventh, the difference between, on one hand, the universal formal cause, which is a soul through which the infinite universe (insofar as it is infinite) is animated, not positively but negatively, and, on the other hand, the particular formal cause, multipliable and multiplied to infinity, which is more perfect insofar as it is found in a more general and superior substratum,
? 2 Bruno's celebrated dialogue The Ash Wednesday Supper, written, like Cause, Principle and Unity, during his Oxford sojourn, ? ? ? ? -? .
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Cause, principle and unity
? so that the great animals such as the stars must be fully considered as being more divine, that is endowed with an infallible intelligence and an activity without defect. Eighth, that the first and principal natural form, the formal principle and efficient nature, is the soul of the universe, which is a vital, vegetative and sensitive principle in all things which live, vegetate and feel. And by way of conclusion, that it is, moreover, unworthy of a rational sub- ject to believe that the universe and its principal bodies are inanimate, see- ing that from the parturitions and excrements of those bodies derive the animals that we call most perfect. Ninth, that there is nothing so defective, unfinished, abortive and imperfect that, since it has a formal principle, it does not likewise have a soul, even if it does not possess the act of substance which we describe as animal. And we may demonstrate, with Pythagoras and others who have not opened their eyes in vain, how an immense spirit, under different relations and according to different degrees, fills and con- tains the whole. Tenth, it is shown that, since this spirit exists unalterably together with matter (called 'shadow' by the Babylonians and Persians), and since both are indissoluble, it is impossible that, in terms of substance, any- thing can know corruption, or finish by dying; although, in terms of par- ticular accidents, everything changes aspect and is transformed into now one composition, now another, abandoning and then taking up again now this being, now that. Eleventh, that the Aristotelians, the Platonists, and other sophists have not recognized the substance of things; and it is clearly shown that in natural things, all that they call substance, apart from mat- ter, is nothing but the purist accident. And that from the knowledge of true form derives the true comprehension of what life is and what death is; and that, once the vain and puerile fear of death is quelled, we may know a part of the felicity that our contemplation affords, in keeping with the funda- mentals of our philosophy, which withdraws the sombre veil of the insane belief in Orcus and in grasping Charon, a belief which poisons and detracts from all that is sweetest about our life. Twelfth, form is distinguished, not from the point of view of its substantiality, which forms its unity, but from that of the acts and the operations of its faculties, and from the point of view of the specific degrees of being that it produces. Thirteenth, we derive the genuine, definitive nature of the formal principle; how form is a perfect species, which is differentiated in matter according to the accidental dis- positions that depend on the material form, inasmuch as this consists of diverse degrees and diverse dispositions of the active and passive qualities. We see how form is variable, and how it is invariable; how it defines and
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Prefatory epistle
? determines matter, and how it is defined and determined by matter. Finally, we show, through a certain comparison adapted for vulgar com- prehension, how this form, this soul, can exist in its entirety in the whole and in any part whatsoever of the whole.
Argument of the third dialogue
In the third dialogue (after having, in the second, spoken of form, which has the nature of a cause more than that of a principle), we proceed to the examination of matter, which is thought to be more a principle or element than a cause. First, we show (not counting the prelude at the start of the dialogue) that David of Dinant was not led astray by taking matter to be an absolutely excellent and divine thing. Second, how, by different philosoph- ical methods, we can give different definitions of matter, although there is, in reality, only one primary and absolute matter. Since it is manifested in different degrees, and is differently hidden under various species, different philosophers can understand it differently according to the definitions that suit them. It is no different for number, which is understood purely and simply by the arithmetician, harmonically by the musician, symbolically by the cabalist, and in still other ways by various wise men and fools. Third, the meaning of the word 'matter' is explained by means of the difference and the likeness that exists between the natural substratum and the artificial substratum. Fourth, we point out how the stubborn can be dispatched and to what extent we are obliged to meet their questions and argue with them. Fifth, from the true definition of matter it is inferred that no substantial form loses its being; and we forcefully prove that the Peripatetics and other vulgar philosophers have known no other substance than matter, even if they speak of the substantial form. Sixth, as a constant material principle is recognized, we demonstrate a constant formal principle; and we demon- strate that, from the fact of the diversity of dispositions that are in matter, the formal principle proceeds to the multiform configuration of different species and different individuals; and we show why it has come about that some, brought up in the Peripatetic school, have not wanted to recognize any other substance than matter. Seventh, why reason must distinguish matter from form, and potency from act; and we repeat what was stated in the second part concerning how we can, without laying ourselves open to criticism, grasp the substratum and the principle of natural things in diverse ways, according to different philosophical systems; more usefully,
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Cause, principle and unity
? however, according to natural and magical methods, and more ineffectively according to rational and mathematical methods, especially if they submit so closely to the criterion and working of reason, that nothing worthwhile is produced in the end, nor any practical fruit gathered, without which all contemplation is to be reckoned futile.
Eighth, we present two points of view from which matter is generally considered: either as potency, or as substratum. And beginning with the first point of view, we differentiate matter in active potency and in passive potency, and in a certain way we guide it back to unity. Ninth, from the eighth proposition we deduce how what is supreme and divine is all that it can be, how the universe is all it can be, and how other things are not all that they can be. Tenth, as a result of what was said in section nine, we show in an estimable, clear and brief manner why there are vices, monsters, corruption and death in nature.
Eleventh, in what sense the universe is in none and in all of its parts - which occasions an excellent contemplation of divinity.
Twelfth, whence it happens that the intellect cannot grasp this absolute act and this absolute potency. Thirteenth, we conclude with the excellence of matter, which coincides with form as potency coincides with act. Last, from the fact that potency coincides with act, and that the universe is all that it can be, as well as for other reasons, we conclude that all is one.
Argument of the fourth dialogue
In the fourth dialogue (after having considered, in the third, matter insofar as it is a potency), matter is considered in so far as it is a substratum. We begin with Poliinnian distractions in order to present the definition of mat- ter according to the vulgar principles of certain Platonists as well as of all the Peripatetics. Second, reasoning iuxta [according to] our own principles, we show that the matter of corporeal and incorporeal things is one, for several reasons, the first of which is drawn from the potency of one and the same genus. The second is drawn from a certain proportional analogy between the corporeal and the incorporeal, between the absolute and the contracted. The third is drawn from the hierarchy or ladder of nature, which goes up to a first embracing or comprehending principle. The fourth is taken from the fact that there must be something indistinct before matter is distinguished into corporeal and incorporeal: it is that indistinct which is represented by the supreme genus of the category. The fifth is
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Prefatory epistle
? taken from the fact that, since there is a common nature shared by the intelligible and the sensible, it must be the same for the substratum of sen- sibility. The sixth is drawn from the fact that the being of matter is inde- pendent of corporeal being, so that it is no less appropriate to incorporeal than to corporeal things. The seventh is derived from the hierarchy of the superior and inferior that is established between the substances; for where this hierarchy exists, we presuppose and understand a certain commonness in terms of matter, which is always signified by the genus, as the form is signified by the specific difference. The eighth derives from a principle alien to our philosophy but held by many, the ninth from the plurality of species that we attribute to the intelligible world. The tenth comes from the relation of similarity and imitation between the three worlds: meta- physical, physical and logical. The eleventh is drawn from the fact that all number, diversity, order, beauty and ornament are related to matter.
Third, we present briefly four opposing arguments and respond to them. Fourth, we show how this matter and that matter differ, how differently we convey this and that, and how matter coincides with act in incorporeal things, and how all the species of dimensions are in matter, all the qualities being comprised in form. Fifth, that no wise man has ever said that forms are received by matter as from outside, but that it is matter which, expelling them, so to speak, from its womb, produces them from within. It is there- fore not a prope nihil, an almost nothing, a pure and naked potency, since all forms are contained in it, produced by it, and brought forth by virtue of the efficient cause (which, from the point of view of being, can even be indistinguishable from matter); they have no mode of actual existence in sensible and intelligible being other than through accidental existence, granted that all that which appears and is made manifest through the acci- dents founded on dimensions is pure accident, even if substance is always indivisible and always coincides with undivided matter. Hence, we see clearly that from explication we cannot get anything but accidents, and so the substantial differences are hidden, as Aristotle, checked by the truth, said. So that, pondering the subject well, we may conclude that the uni- form substance is one, and that truth and being are one, which manifests itself through innumerable particularities and individuals, showing itself in countless, concrete, individual substances.
Sixth, how very far from all reason is what Aristotle and his like mean when they consider matter as being in potency, given that such a being is assuredly a nullity, since, according to them, matter is so absolutely
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Cause, principle and unity
? permanent that it never varies or changes its being, all variation and mod- ification being related to it, and since, still according to them, that which is, after having been able to be, is always composite. Seventh, we show how meaningless the characterization of matter as appetite is, using the self same logic derived from the principles and hypotheses of those very people who so strongly proclaim matter to be the daughter of privation and its appetite to be similar to the insatiable craving of an impassioned female.
Argument of the fifth dialogue
In the fifth dialogue, which deals chiefly with unity, the foundation of the edifice of all natural and divine cognition is laid. Here, first, we present the theme of the coincidence of matter and form, potency and act, so that being, logically divided into what it is and what it can be, is physically undivided, indistinct and one, and at the same time infinite, immobile and indivisible, with no difference between part and whole or principle and principled. Second, that in this one, there is no difference between a century and a year, a year and an instant, a palm and a stadium3, a stadium and a parasang4, and that in its essence this and that other specific being are not distinguished one from the other, because there is no number in the universe, and hence the universe is one. Third, that in the infinite, the point does not differ from the body, because there is no difference between potency and act; hence, if the point can extend in length, the line in breadth and the surface in depth, the point is long, the line broad and the surface deep; and all things are long, broad and deep, and therefore one and the same; and the universe is all centre and all circumference. Fourth, how Jove (as he is called), being found even more intimately in everything that the form of everything can be imagined to be (because he is the essence through which all that exists possesses being, and since he is in everything, each thing possesses the whole even more intimately than it does its own form), we may infer that all things are in each thing, and that, consequently, all is one. Fifth, we answer the sceptic who wishes to know why all particular things change, and why the particular matters, in order to receive this or that being, strive towards this or that form. We show how there is unity in the multiplicity, and multiplicity in the unity, how being is multimodal and multi-unitary, and how it is, finally, one in substance and in truth. Sixth, we deduce
3 A unit of length, usually equal to ? ? ? Greek or Roman feet, or one-eighth of a Roman mile.
4 An Iranian unit of length, usually reckoned as equal to between ? and ? g miles (? to ? g km).
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Prefatory epistle
? whence proceed that number and difference, as well as the fact that they are not being but of being and relative to being. Seventh, we show that who- ever has discovered this one - I mean the essence of this unity - has uncov- ered the key without which one cannot enter into the true contemplation of nature. Eighth, by means of a new analysis, we reaffirm that the one, the infinite - that being, that which is in all - is everywhere, or better still, is itself the ubique [everywhere], and that, therefore, the infinite dimension, since it is not magnitude, coincides with the undivided individual, as the infinite multitude, since it is not number, coincides with unity. Ninth, how in the infinite there are no parts, however particularized the things of the universe are; where, consequently, all that we see of diversity and difference is nothing but diverse aspects of one and the same substance. Tenth, how in the two extremes that are assigned to the extremities of nature's ladder, we must see not two principles, but one only, not two beings, but one, not two contraries and opposites, but one and the same congruence. There height is depth, the abyss is inaccessible light, gloom is clarity, great is small, the confused is distinct, discord is amity, the divisible is indivisible, the atom is immensity - and all inversely. Eleventh, in what way certain geo- metrical terms such as point and unity may serve to lead us towards the contemplation of being and unity, although they are insufficient to express them. Whence Pythagoras, Parmenides and Plato should not be so foolishly interpreted according to Aristotle's pedantic criticism. Twelfth, from the fact that the substance or being is distinct from quantity, measure and num- ber, we infer that it is one and undivided in all and in any thing whatsoever.
Thirteenth, we introduce the marks and the proofs that contraries indeed coincide, derive from the same principle, and form, in reality, but one sub- stance: this is seen first mathematically, and then demonstrated physically.
Here, then, most illustrious Sir, you see where we must begin in order to venture towards a more specific and rightful cognition of things. It is there that (as within its exclusive seed) the host of natural science's con- clusions is contained. Thence derive the structure, disposition and order of the speculative sciences. Without this introduction5, all attempt, all exploration and all initiative are in vain. Pray accept, with a benevolent spirit, this principle, this one, this fountain, this wellhead, so that its descendants, its progeny, may be sparked to emerge, and so that its rivers and floods may flow forth more abundantly, and its numbers may continu- ally multiply and members flourish; so that the night with its drowsy veil 5 Cause, Principle and Unity was intended as an introduction to Bruno's De l'infinito universo e mondi.
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Cause, principle and unity
? and gloomy mantle may come to an end, allowing brilliant Titan, parent of the divine Muses, adorned with his family and surrounded by his ever- lasting court, to banish the nocturnal torches and brighten the world with a new day, surging forth again with his triumphant chariot from the vermilion bosom of this graceful Aurora.
Farewell G? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
A? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? '? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Lethaea undantem retinens ab origine campum emigret, o Titan, et petat astra, precor.
Errantes stellae, spectate procedere in orbem me geminum, si vos hoc reserastis iter.
Dent geminas somni portas laxarier usque, vestrae per vacuum me properante vices:
obductum tenuitque diu quod tempus avarum, mi liceat densis promere de tenebris.
Ad partum properare tuum, mens aegra, quid obstat, seclo haec indigno sint tribuenda licet?
Umbrarum fluctu terras mergente, cacumen adtolle in clarum, noster Olimpe, Iovem.
[from Giordano the Nolan to the Principles of the Universe
That the tenebrous Earth which, from the beginning, has cleaved to the wavy expanse of the waters, may leave its seat and fly towards the heavenly orbs, I beg you, O Sun. And you, wandering stars, behold me as I proceed towards the twofold heaven, since it is you who have opened this path to me. May your movements open before me, as I rush through the spaces, the doors of sleep: that which miserly time has kept long hidden, may it be allowed me to draw into the light out of the dense gloom. What prevents you, O suffering spirit, from hastening to give birth to your truth, though you bequeath it to an unworthy age? Though the flow of shadows submerges the Earth, you, my Olympus, make shine your peak in the clear heavens. ]
A? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Mons, licet innixum tellus radicibus altis
te capiat, tendi vertice in astra vales.
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Prefatory epistle
? Mens, cognata vocat summo de culmine rerum, discrimen quo sis manibus atque Iovi.
Ne perdas hic iura tui fundoque recumbens implicitus tingas nigri Acherontis aquas.
At mage sublimeis tentet natura recessus, nam, tangente Deo, fervidus ignis eris.
[To his own spirit
O mount, though the Earth bounds you, holding you by the deep roots on which you repose, at the summit you can stretch to heaven.
O mind, a sister mind from the high summit of the world calls you, to be the boundary between heaven and hell. Do not lose your rights here below, and do not touch the black waters of Acheron, falling to the bottom and becoming caught in it. Rather, investigate the sublime recesses of nature, since, if God moves you, you will become ardent fire. ]
A? ? ? ? ? ?
Lente senex, idemque celer, claudensque relaxans, anne bonum quis te dixerit, anne malum?
Largus es, esque tenax: quae munera porrigis, aufers; quique parens aderas, ipse peremptor ades;
visceribus educta tuis in viscera condis, tu cui prompta sinu carpere fauce licet.
Omnia cumque facis cumque omnia destruis, hinc te nonne bonum possem dicere, nonne malum?
Porro ubi tu diro rabidus frustraberis ictu,
falce minax illo tendere parce manus,
nulla ubi pressa Chaos atri vestigia parent
ne videare bonus, ne videare malus.
[To time
O old man, slow and swift, who opens and closes, must we speak well or ill of you? You are generous and stingy; the gifts you offer, you take back; you kill what you cause to be born, and what you generate from your bowels, in your bowels you devour, you to whom it is allowed to consume with your jaws the fruit of your bosom. You create all and destroy all: could I not, then, call you good, and call you evil? But
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Cause, principle and unity
? when you will surprise me with your swift mortal blow, with your menacing scythe, let me stretch my hands forth to where there is no trace seen of black Chaos: thus, you will not appear good, nor appear bad. ]
D? ? '? ? ? ? ?
Amor, per cui tant'alto il ver discerno, ch'apre le porte di diamante e nere,
per gli occhi entra il mio nume, e per vedere nasce, vive, si nutre, ha regno eterno.
Fa scorger quant'ha il ciel terr' ed inferno, fa presente d'absenti effigie vere,
repiglia forze, e, trando dritto, fere,
e impiaga sempre il cor, scuopre ogn'interno.
O dunque, volgo vile, al vero attendi, porgi l'orecchio al mio dir non fallace, apri, apri, se puoi, gli occhi, insano e bieco.
Fanciullo il credi, perche? poco intendi; Perche? ratto ti cangi, ei par fugace;
Per esser orbo tu, lo chiami cieco.
[On love
Love grants me such a lofty vision of the truth that he makes the black doors of diamond open: through the eyes the god enters, and it is to see that he is born, lives, is fed, and reigns forever. He reveals all of heaven, hell and earth; makes appear true images of the absent; regathers strength to hit with a direct blow, always wounds the heart and reveals all that is hidden. Therefore, base mob, attend to the truth: lend your ears to my words, which do not deceive. Open, open if you can, your mad and squinting eyes. You call him a child, because you understand so little; because you are so inconstant, he seems fickle to you; your own sightlessness makes you call him blind. ]
U? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Causa, principio, et uno sempiterno, onde l'esser, la vita, il moto pende,
e a lungo, a largo e profondo si stende quanto si dic'in ciel, terr'ed inferno;
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First dialogue
? con senso, con raggion, con mente scerno ch'atto, misura e conto non comprende quel vigor, mole e numero, che tende oltr'ogn'inferior, mezzo e superno.
Cieco error, tempo avaro, ria fortuna, sord'invidia, vil rabbia, iniquo zelo, crudo cor, empio ingegno, strano ardire
non bastaranno a farmi l'aria bruna, non mi porrann'avanti gli occhi il velo, non faran mai ch'il mio bel sol non mire.
[O, you sempiternal cause, principle and one, whence depend being, life and movement, and whence in length, breadth and depth extends all that which is in heaven, on earth and in hell: with sense, reason and spirit I discern that act, measure and reckoning do not comprehend that force, mass and number which transcends all that is lowest, mid- dle or highest. Blind error, greedy time, adverse fortune, deaf envy, vile rage, hostile zeal, cruel hearts, perverse spirits, bizarre passions will not suffice to obscure the air before me, nor place the veil before my eyes, nor ever stop me from beholding my beautiful sun. ]
Giordano Bruno, Nolan Cause, principle and unity
First dialogue
Speakers: Elitropio, Filoteo, Armesso
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Like felons used to the darkness, who come up to the light when freed from the depths of some gloomy tower, many trained in common philosophy, and others, will be clutched by fear, seized with astonishment and (unable to stand the new sun of your shining concepts) thoroughly unsettled.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . It is not the fault of the light, but of their sight: the more excellent and beautiful the sun, the more hateful and harshly unwelcome it will be to night-witches' eyes.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . In your hope of raising us out of the blind abyss, into the sight of the open, peaceful and tranquil stars that shine with such beauti- ful variety against the cerulean mantle of heaven, Filoteo, you have picked an uncommon, unusual and difficult venture. And though the helping hand of your compassion is held out to us men, the ungrateful will still attack
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Cause, principle and unity
? you in ways that are as varied as the many animals generated and nourished within the gentle earth's ample and maternal bosom; for it is clear that the human species displays, in the particularities of its individuals, the variety of all other species together. In each of our individuals, the whole is present more explicitly than in the individuals of other species. Thus, some, as soon as they feel the fresh air, like the bleary-eyed mole, will tunnel straight back down into the earth to seek their natural, inky depths. Others, like night birds, on seeing the vermilion ambassadress of the sun come up in the east, will be forced by the weakness of their eyes to repair to their dingy retreats. All creatures banished from the presence of the celestial lights and doomed to the eternal chasms, cages and caverns of Pluto - all animals, called by the horn of the fearsome Erynnis, Alecto, will spread their wings and flee head- long to their dwellings. But the animals born to behold the sun, having waited out the hated night, will give thanks to the merciful heavens and, prepared to gain within the globose crystals of their eyes the rays for which they have so long waited and pined, will adore the east, not only with unwonted adoration in their hearts, but with voices and hands. Men will begin to speak when from the east's gilded balcony, handsome Titan has let loose the fiery steeds who cleave the sleepy silence of the moist night. The docile, defenceless and simple sheep flocks will bleat; the horned oxen will bellow, heeded by their rustic ox-herders; and Silenus' quadrupeds will start to bray, frightening the stupid Giants again for the gods' benefit. Tossing in their muddy beds, the boars will deafen us with their obstinate grunting. Tigers, bears, lions, wolves and the cunning fox poking his head from the cave will behold from their high deserts their flat hunting grounds, and will let forth from ferocious breasts their roars, growls, snarls, howls and cries. In the air and on the fronds of branchy trees, the roosters, eagles, peacocks, cranes, doves, blackbirds, crows, sparrows, nightingales, magpies, ravens, cuckoos and cicadas will lose no time responding, re-echoing with their earsplitting chatter. Still further, from their mobile, liquid dominions, the white swans, the many-hued water fowl, the swift razor-bills, the marsh ducks, the honking geese and the carping frogs will disturb our ears with their din, such that the warm sunlight diffused in the air of our privileged hemisphere will find itself attended, greeted and perhaps plagued by cries as numerous and as varied as are the breaths that drive them out from the hollows of their respective breasts.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Itisnotonlycommon,butnecessaryandnaturalthatevery animal utters its own cry. Beasts cannot form regulated accents and artic-
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First dialogue
? ulated sounds like men, since their physical makeup, nourishment and tastes are dissimilar.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Pleasegivemeachancetospeakalso:notaboutlight,butof some circumstances that, far from comforting the senses, injure the feel- ings of whoever observes and reflects. For your own peace and quiet (that I wish for you with fraternal affection), I would not want these speeches of yours to be made into comedies, tragedies, laments, dialogues, or what have you, like the ones that circulated openly a while ago, and forced you to stay shut up in your homes.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Speakfrankly.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . I have no intention of speaking like a holy prophet, as an abstruse oracle, like an apocalyptic visionary or the she-ass of Balaam1 beholding the angel. Nor will I discourse as if I were exhilarated by Bacchus or swollen with wind by the sluttish Parnassian muses, nor like a Sibyl impregnated by Phoebus, nor like a prognostic Cassandra,2 nor as if Apollonian rapture had seized me from my toenails to the hair on my head, nor like the seer illuminated in the oracle or Delphic tripod, nor like wise Oedipus,3 probed in the riddles of the Sphinx, nor as a Solomon before the enigmas of the queen of Sheba,4 nor like Calchas,5 interpreter for the Olympian council, nor as a Merlin possessed, nor as one emerged from the cave of Trophonius. 6 Instead, I will speak in common, vulgar language, like a man who has had other things on his mind than to go about distilling the juice of his brain and cerebellum to the point of withering his pia mater and dura mater. What I mean is that I will talk as one who has no wits but his own, and to whom not even the garden- or kitchen-variety gods among the celestial court condescend to cast a straw, though they heap their favours ad infinitum even on their horses - those gods, I say, that ordinarily show themselves more intimate, more familiar and congenial with us. I mean Bacchus, or the drunk mounted on the ass, or Pan, or Vertumnus, or Faunus, or Priapus: the ones who neither drink ambrosia nor taste nectar (unappre- ciative of nymphs and pure water), but quench their thirst at the bottom of the barrel with sour wines.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Toolongapreface.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Patience:theconclusion'sswift. Toputanendtothis,Iwould like to say that I will offer you words that need no deciphering, as if they had been distilled, passed through an alembic, condensed in a double-boiler
1 Numbers ? ? . 2 Virgil, Aeneid, ? ? , ? ? ? -? . 3 Seneca, Oedipus, vv. ? ? -? and ? ? ? -? . 4 ? Kings, ? ? , ? -? . 5 Virgil, Aeneid, ? ? , ? ? ? -? . 6 See Erasmus, In Praise of Folly, ? .
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Cause, principle and unity
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xxxvi
Cause, Principle and Unity
Prefatory Epistle
Addressed to the most illustrious
Monsieur Michel de Castelnau
Seigneur of Mauvissie`re, Concressault, and Joinville, Chevalier of the Order of the most Christian King, Counsellor of his Privy Council,
Captain of fifty men at arms
and Ambassador to the most serene Queen of England.
Most illustrious and honoured Chevalier, if I consider with an appreciative eye the forbearance, perseverance and solicitude with which, adding favour on favour, benefit on benefit, you have bound, obliged, and tied me to you, and with which you are wont to prevail over every hardship, elude all sort of peril, and successfully conclude all your most worthy designs, I cannot but note how very appropriate is that noble device which adorns your ter- rible crest. On it a liquid humour sweetly strikes, with its constant and con- tinual drip, and, by force of perseverance, softens, hollows, breaks, smooths and conquers a firm, solid, rugged and harsh rock. 1
If, moreover (passing over all your other noble accomplishments), I recall how much you are for me, by divine commandment, by high providence and predestination, a firm and able defender against the unjust injuries that I suffer (and that wanted from me a truly heroic spirit in order not to throw up my hands, surrender to despair and succumb before the swift flood of criminal falsehood with which I have been furiously attacked, by the envy of the ignorant, the presumption of sophists, the deprecation of the malicious, the badmouthing of varlets, the insinuations of mercenaries,
1 The device is the adage 'Gutta cavat lapidem'.
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Cause, principle and unity
? gainsaying of servants, suspicion of fools, slanderers' gossip, hypocrites' zeal, barbarians' hatred, the fury of the mob, frenzy of the populace, the complaints of those I have grazed and the cries of those I have scourged - in which there was not lacking the mean, frenzied and spiteful disdain of a woman, the false tears of whom are frequently more powerful than the stoutest waves and rudest tempests of presumption, envy, deprecation, slander, insinuation, betrayal, outrage, disdain, hate and fury), you appear to me then like a solid, secure and immovable reef which, rising up to show its crest above the swollen sea, is neither eroded, nor rent, nor moved by the seething heavens, nor by the dread of winter, nor by the violent crash of thick waves, nor by the harsh gusts of wind, nor by the wild blowing of the north wind, but rather is increasingly covered with greenery which clothes and adorns its flanks. You who are then endowed with that double virtue, which renders so mighty the mild and liquid drops, and so futile the blustery and rough waves, you through whom the lordly rock is so weak- ened beneath the rain and the tormented reef rises so powerfully against the flood, you are the one who offers both a secure and calm haven for the true Muses, and a deadly shoal on which the false ammunition and impetu- ous designs of the enemy sails are shattered. I, then, whom no one has ever succeeded in accusing of ingratitude or taxing with discourtesy, I, against whom no one may rightly complain, I, hated by fools, slighted by the con- temptible, profaned by knaves, vituperated by rogues, and persecuted by brutish spirits, I who am loved by the wise, admired by the learned, glori- fied by the great, cherished by the mighty and favoured by the gods, I who have already gained such indulgence from you as to be received, nourished, defended, freed, placed in surety, sheltered at port, as of one who, thanks to you, has fled a great and dangerous storm, it is to you that I consecrate this anchor, these shrouds, these battered sails, these goods, to me most dear, and to future generations most precious, so that, thanks to your beneficence, they may not be submerged by the iniquitous and tumultuous Ocean which is my foe. Hung in the sacred temple of glory, by their power against the effrontery of ignorance and the voracity of time, they shall render eternal testimony to your invincible magnanimity; so that the world may know that, thanks to you, this bountiful and divine progeny, inspired by lofty intelligence, conceived by a tempered spirit and born of the Nolan Muse, has not passed away in its infancy, and will live as long as the earth, whose surface is so full of life, turns beneath the eternal regard of the other shining stars.
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Prefatory epistle
? Here, then, is that sort of philosophy where one discovers, with truth and confidence, that for which we look in vain in diverse or opposing philosophies. First, then, I offer you a summary of five dialogues, which contains all that seems relevant to the effective contemplation of Cause, principle, and unity.
Argument of the first dialogue
In the first dialogue, you have something that you may call an apology, or what you will, concerning the five dialogues that make up The Ash Wednesday Supper, etc. 2
Argument of the second dialogue
In the second dialogue you have, first, the cause of the difficulty of such knowledge, in order to know how far removed the knowable object is from the cognitive power. Second, in what manner and to what extent the cause and the principle may be explained by the thing caused or principled. Third, what the knowledge of the substance of the universe contributes to the conception of that on which the substance depends. Fourth, by what specific means we try to know the first principle. Fifth, the difference and accord, the identity and diversity existing between the meanings of the terms 'cause' and 'principle'. Sixth, the nature of that cause which we divide into efficient, formal and final; the different ways of defining the efficient cause, and from how many points of view it may be conceived. How this efficient cause is, in a sense, intrinsic to natural things, since it is nature itself; and how, in a sense, it is extrinsic to them; how the formal cause is joined to the efficient cause, and is that through which the efficient cause operates, and how the formal cause, itself, is brought forth from the womb of matter by the efficient cause; how the efficient and formal causes coin- cide in an elementary substratum, and how the one cause is distinct from the other. Seventh, the difference between, on one hand, the universal formal cause, which is a soul through which the infinite universe (insofar as it is infinite) is animated, not positively but negatively, and, on the other hand, the particular formal cause, multipliable and multiplied to infinity, which is more perfect insofar as it is found in a more general and superior substratum,
? 2 Bruno's celebrated dialogue The Ash Wednesday Supper, written, like Cause, Principle and Unity, during his Oxford sojourn, ? ? ? ? -? .
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Cause, principle and unity
? so that the great animals such as the stars must be fully considered as being more divine, that is endowed with an infallible intelligence and an activity without defect. Eighth, that the first and principal natural form, the formal principle and efficient nature, is the soul of the universe, which is a vital, vegetative and sensitive principle in all things which live, vegetate and feel. And by way of conclusion, that it is, moreover, unworthy of a rational sub- ject to believe that the universe and its principal bodies are inanimate, see- ing that from the parturitions and excrements of those bodies derive the animals that we call most perfect. Ninth, that there is nothing so defective, unfinished, abortive and imperfect that, since it has a formal principle, it does not likewise have a soul, even if it does not possess the act of substance which we describe as animal. And we may demonstrate, with Pythagoras and others who have not opened their eyes in vain, how an immense spirit, under different relations and according to different degrees, fills and con- tains the whole. Tenth, it is shown that, since this spirit exists unalterably together with matter (called 'shadow' by the Babylonians and Persians), and since both are indissoluble, it is impossible that, in terms of substance, any- thing can know corruption, or finish by dying; although, in terms of par- ticular accidents, everything changes aspect and is transformed into now one composition, now another, abandoning and then taking up again now this being, now that. Eleventh, that the Aristotelians, the Platonists, and other sophists have not recognized the substance of things; and it is clearly shown that in natural things, all that they call substance, apart from mat- ter, is nothing but the purist accident. And that from the knowledge of true form derives the true comprehension of what life is and what death is; and that, once the vain and puerile fear of death is quelled, we may know a part of the felicity that our contemplation affords, in keeping with the funda- mentals of our philosophy, which withdraws the sombre veil of the insane belief in Orcus and in grasping Charon, a belief which poisons and detracts from all that is sweetest about our life. Twelfth, form is distinguished, not from the point of view of its substantiality, which forms its unity, but from that of the acts and the operations of its faculties, and from the point of view of the specific degrees of being that it produces. Thirteenth, we derive the genuine, definitive nature of the formal principle; how form is a perfect species, which is differentiated in matter according to the accidental dis- positions that depend on the material form, inasmuch as this consists of diverse degrees and diverse dispositions of the active and passive qualities. We see how form is variable, and how it is invariable; how it defines and
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Prefatory epistle
? determines matter, and how it is defined and determined by matter. Finally, we show, through a certain comparison adapted for vulgar com- prehension, how this form, this soul, can exist in its entirety in the whole and in any part whatsoever of the whole.
Argument of the third dialogue
In the third dialogue (after having, in the second, spoken of form, which has the nature of a cause more than that of a principle), we proceed to the examination of matter, which is thought to be more a principle or element than a cause. First, we show (not counting the prelude at the start of the dialogue) that David of Dinant was not led astray by taking matter to be an absolutely excellent and divine thing. Second, how, by different philosoph- ical methods, we can give different definitions of matter, although there is, in reality, only one primary and absolute matter. Since it is manifested in different degrees, and is differently hidden under various species, different philosophers can understand it differently according to the definitions that suit them. It is no different for number, which is understood purely and simply by the arithmetician, harmonically by the musician, symbolically by the cabalist, and in still other ways by various wise men and fools. Third, the meaning of the word 'matter' is explained by means of the difference and the likeness that exists between the natural substratum and the artificial substratum. Fourth, we point out how the stubborn can be dispatched and to what extent we are obliged to meet their questions and argue with them. Fifth, from the true definition of matter it is inferred that no substantial form loses its being; and we forcefully prove that the Peripatetics and other vulgar philosophers have known no other substance than matter, even if they speak of the substantial form. Sixth, as a constant material principle is recognized, we demonstrate a constant formal principle; and we demon- strate that, from the fact of the diversity of dispositions that are in matter, the formal principle proceeds to the multiform configuration of different species and different individuals; and we show why it has come about that some, brought up in the Peripatetic school, have not wanted to recognize any other substance than matter. Seventh, why reason must distinguish matter from form, and potency from act; and we repeat what was stated in the second part concerning how we can, without laying ourselves open to criticism, grasp the substratum and the principle of natural things in diverse ways, according to different philosophical systems; more usefully,
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Cause, principle and unity
? however, according to natural and magical methods, and more ineffectively according to rational and mathematical methods, especially if they submit so closely to the criterion and working of reason, that nothing worthwhile is produced in the end, nor any practical fruit gathered, without which all contemplation is to be reckoned futile.
Eighth, we present two points of view from which matter is generally considered: either as potency, or as substratum. And beginning with the first point of view, we differentiate matter in active potency and in passive potency, and in a certain way we guide it back to unity. Ninth, from the eighth proposition we deduce how what is supreme and divine is all that it can be, how the universe is all it can be, and how other things are not all that they can be. Tenth, as a result of what was said in section nine, we show in an estimable, clear and brief manner why there are vices, monsters, corruption and death in nature.
Eleventh, in what sense the universe is in none and in all of its parts - which occasions an excellent contemplation of divinity.
Twelfth, whence it happens that the intellect cannot grasp this absolute act and this absolute potency. Thirteenth, we conclude with the excellence of matter, which coincides with form as potency coincides with act. Last, from the fact that potency coincides with act, and that the universe is all that it can be, as well as for other reasons, we conclude that all is one.
Argument of the fourth dialogue
In the fourth dialogue (after having considered, in the third, matter insofar as it is a potency), matter is considered in so far as it is a substratum. We begin with Poliinnian distractions in order to present the definition of mat- ter according to the vulgar principles of certain Platonists as well as of all the Peripatetics. Second, reasoning iuxta [according to] our own principles, we show that the matter of corporeal and incorporeal things is one, for several reasons, the first of which is drawn from the potency of one and the same genus. The second is drawn from a certain proportional analogy between the corporeal and the incorporeal, between the absolute and the contracted. The third is drawn from the hierarchy or ladder of nature, which goes up to a first embracing or comprehending principle. The fourth is taken from the fact that there must be something indistinct before matter is distinguished into corporeal and incorporeal: it is that indistinct which is represented by the supreme genus of the category. The fifth is
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Prefatory epistle
? taken from the fact that, since there is a common nature shared by the intelligible and the sensible, it must be the same for the substratum of sen- sibility. The sixth is drawn from the fact that the being of matter is inde- pendent of corporeal being, so that it is no less appropriate to incorporeal than to corporeal things. The seventh is derived from the hierarchy of the superior and inferior that is established between the substances; for where this hierarchy exists, we presuppose and understand a certain commonness in terms of matter, which is always signified by the genus, as the form is signified by the specific difference. The eighth derives from a principle alien to our philosophy but held by many, the ninth from the plurality of species that we attribute to the intelligible world. The tenth comes from the relation of similarity and imitation between the three worlds: meta- physical, physical and logical. The eleventh is drawn from the fact that all number, diversity, order, beauty and ornament are related to matter.
Third, we present briefly four opposing arguments and respond to them. Fourth, we show how this matter and that matter differ, how differently we convey this and that, and how matter coincides with act in incorporeal things, and how all the species of dimensions are in matter, all the qualities being comprised in form. Fifth, that no wise man has ever said that forms are received by matter as from outside, but that it is matter which, expelling them, so to speak, from its womb, produces them from within. It is there- fore not a prope nihil, an almost nothing, a pure and naked potency, since all forms are contained in it, produced by it, and brought forth by virtue of the efficient cause (which, from the point of view of being, can even be indistinguishable from matter); they have no mode of actual existence in sensible and intelligible being other than through accidental existence, granted that all that which appears and is made manifest through the acci- dents founded on dimensions is pure accident, even if substance is always indivisible and always coincides with undivided matter. Hence, we see clearly that from explication we cannot get anything but accidents, and so the substantial differences are hidden, as Aristotle, checked by the truth, said. So that, pondering the subject well, we may conclude that the uni- form substance is one, and that truth and being are one, which manifests itself through innumerable particularities and individuals, showing itself in countless, concrete, individual substances.
Sixth, how very far from all reason is what Aristotle and his like mean when they consider matter as being in potency, given that such a being is assuredly a nullity, since, according to them, matter is so absolutely
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Cause, principle and unity
? permanent that it never varies or changes its being, all variation and mod- ification being related to it, and since, still according to them, that which is, after having been able to be, is always composite. Seventh, we show how meaningless the characterization of matter as appetite is, using the self same logic derived from the principles and hypotheses of those very people who so strongly proclaim matter to be the daughter of privation and its appetite to be similar to the insatiable craving of an impassioned female.
Argument of the fifth dialogue
In the fifth dialogue, which deals chiefly with unity, the foundation of the edifice of all natural and divine cognition is laid. Here, first, we present the theme of the coincidence of matter and form, potency and act, so that being, logically divided into what it is and what it can be, is physically undivided, indistinct and one, and at the same time infinite, immobile and indivisible, with no difference between part and whole or principle and principled. Second, that in this one, there is no difference between a century and a year, a year and an instant, a palm and a stadium3, a stadium and a parasang4, and that in its essence this and that other specific being are not distinguished one from the other, because there is no number in the universe, and hence the universe is one. Third, that in the infinite, the point does not differ from the body, because there is no difference between potency and act; hence, if the point can extend in length, the line in breadth and the surface in depth, the point is long, the line broad and the surface deep; and all things are long, broad and deep, and therefore one and the same; and the universe is all centre and all circumference. Fourth, how Jove (as he is called), being found even more intimately in everything that the form of everything can be imagined to be (because he is the essence through which all that exists possesses being, and since he is in everything, each thing possesses the whole even more intimately than it does its own form), we may infer that all things are in each thing, and that, consequently, all is one. Fifth, we answer the sceptic who wishes to know why all particular things change, and why the particular matters, in order to receive this or that being, strive towards this or that form. We show how there is unity in the multiplicity, and multiplicity in the unity, how being is multimodal and multi-unitary, and how it is, finally, one in substance and in truth. Sixth, we deduce
3 A unit of length, usually equal to ? ? ? Greek or Roman feet, or one-eighth of a Roman mile.
4 An Iranian unit of length, usually reckoned as equal to between ? and ? g miles (? to ? g km).
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Prefatory epistle
? whence proceed that number and difference, as well as the fact that they are not being but of being and relative to being. Seventh, we show that who- ever has discovered this one - I mean the essence of this unity - has uncov- ered the key without which one cannot enter into the true contemplation of nature. Eighth, by means of a new analysis, we reaffirm that the one, the infinite - that being, that which is in all - is everywhere, or better still, is itself the ubique [everywhere], and that, therefore, the infinite dimension, since it is not magnitude, coincides with the undivided individual, as the infinite multitude, since it is not number, coincides with unity. Ninth, how in the infinite there are no parts, however particularized the things of the universe are; where, consequently, all that we see of diversity and difference is nothing but diverse aspects of one and the same substance. Tenth, how in the two extremes that are assigned to the extremities of nature's ladder, we must see not two principles, but one only, not two beings, but one, not two contraries and opposites, but one and the same congruence. There height is depth, the abyss is inaccessible light, gloom is clarity, great is small, the confused is distinct, discord is amity, the divisible is indivisible, the atom is immensity - and all inversely. Eleventh, in what way certain geo- metrical terms such as point and unity may serve to lead us towards the contemplation of being and unity, although they are insufficient to express them. Whence Pythagoras, Parmenides and Plato should not be so foolishly interpreted according to Aristotle's pedantic criticism. Twelfth, from the fact that the substance or being is distinct from quantity, measure and num- ber, we infer that it is one and undivided in all and in any thing whatsoever.
Thirteenth, we introduce the marks and the proofs that contraries indeed coincide, derive from the same principle, and form, in reality, but one sub- stance: this is seen first mathematically, and then demonstrated physically.
Here, then, most illustrious Sir, you see where we must begin in order to venture towards a more specific and rightful cognition of things. It is there that (as within its exclusive seed) the host of natural science's con- clusions is contained. Thence derive the structure, disposition and order of the speculative sciences. Without this introduction5, all attempt, all exploration and all initiative are in vain. Pray accept, with a benevolent spirit, this principle, this one, this fountain, this wellhead, so that its descendants, its progeny, may be sparked to emerge, and so that its rivers and floods may flow forth more abundantly, and its numbers may continu- ally multiply and members flourish; so that the night with its drowsy veil 5 Cause, Principle and Unity was intended as an introduction to Bruno's De l'infinito universo e mondi.
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Cause, principle and unity
? and gloomy mantle may come to an end, allowing brilliant Titan, parent of the divine Muses, adorned with his family and surrounded by his ever- lasting court, to banish the nocturnal torches and brighten the world with a new day, surging forth again with his triumphant chariot from the vermilion bosom of this graceful Aurora.
Farewell G? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
A? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? '? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Lethaea undantem retinens ab origine campum emigret, o Titan, et petat astra, precor.
Errantes stellae, spectate procedere in orbem me geminum, si vos hoc reserastis iter.
Dent geminas somni portas laxarier usque, vestrae per vacuum me properante vices:
obductum tenuitque diu quod tempus avarum, mi liceat densis promere de tenebris.
Ad partum properare tuum, mens aegra, quid obstat, seclo haec indigno sint tribuenda licet?
Umbrarum fluctu terras mergente, cacumen adtolle in clarum, noster Olimpe, Iovem.
[from Giordano the Nolan to the Principles of the Universe
That the tenebrous Earth which, from the beginning, has cleaved to the wavy expanse of the waters, may leave its seat and fly towards the heavenly orbs, I beg you, O Sun. And you, wandering stars, behold me as I proceed towards the twofold heaven, since it is you who have opened this path to me. May your movements open before me, as I rush through the spaces, the doors of sleep: that which miserly time has kept long hidden, may it be allowed me to draw into the light out of the dense gloom. What prevents you, O suffering spirit, from hastening to give birth to your truth, though you bequeath it to an unworthy age? Though the flow of shadows submerges the Earth, you, my Olympus, make shine your peak in the clear heavens. ]
A? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Mons, licet innixum tellus radicibus altis
te capiat, tendi vertice in astra vales.
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Prefatory epistle
? Mens, cognata vocat summo de culmine rerum, discrimen quo sis manibus atque Iovi.
Ne perdas hic iura tui fundoque recumbens implicitus tingas nigri Acherontis aquas.
At mage sublimeis tentet natura recessus, nam, tangente Deo, fervidus ignis eris.
[To his own spirit
O mount, though the Earth bounds you, holding you by the deep roots on which you repose, at the summit you can stretch to heaven.
O mind, a sister mind from the high summit of the world calls you, to be the boundary between heaven and hell. Do not lose your rights here below, and do not touch the black waters of Acheron, falling to the bottom and becoming caught in it. Rather, investigate the sublime recesses of nature, since, if God moves you, you will become ardent fire. ]
A? ? ? ? ? ?
Lente senex, idemque celer, claudensque relaxans, anne bonum quis te dixerit, anne malum?
Largus es, esque tenax: quae munera porrigis, aufers; quique parens aderas, ipse peremptor ades;
visceribus educta tuis in viscera condis, tu cui prompta sinu carpere fauce licet.
Omnia cumque facis cumque omnia destruis, hinc te nonne bonum possem dicere, nonne malum?
Porro ubi tu diro rabidus frustraberis ictu,
falce minax illo tendere parce manus,
nulla ubi pressa Chaos atri vestigia parent
ne videare bonus, ne videare malus.
[To time
O old man, slow and swift, who opens and closes, must we speak well or ill of you? You are generous and stingy; the gifts you offer, you take back; you kill what you cause to be born, and what you generate from your bowels, in your bowels you devour, you to whom it is allowed to consume with your jaws the fruit of your bosom. You create all and destroy all: could I not, then, call you good, and call you evil? But
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Cause, principle and unity
? when you will surprise me with your swift mortal blow, with your menacing scythe, let me stretch my hands forth to where there is no trace seen of black Chaos: thus, you will not appear good, nor appear bad. ]
D? ? '? ? ? ? ?
Amor, per cui tant'alto il ver discerno, ch'apre le porte di diamante e nere,
per gli occhi entra il mio nume, e per vedere nasce, vive, si nutre, ha regno eterno.
Fa scorger quant'ha il ciel terr' ed inferno, fa presente d'absenti effigie vere,
repiglia forze, e, trando dritto, fere,
e impiaga sempre il cor, scuopre ogn'interno.
O dunque, volgo vile, al vero attendi, porgi l'orecchio al mio dir non fallace, apri, apri, se puoi, gli occhi, insano e bieco.
Fanciullo il credi, perche? poco intendi; Perche? ratto ti cangi, ei par fugace;
Per esser orbo tu, lo chiami cieco.
[On love
Love grants me such a lofty vision of the truth that he makes the black doors of diamond open: through the eyes the god enters, and it is to see that he is born, lives, is fed, and reigns forever. He reveals all of heaven, hell and earth; makes appear true images of the absent; regathers strength to hit with a direct blow, always wounds the heart and reveals all that is hidden. Therefore, base mob, attend to the truth: lend your ears to my words, which do not deceive. Open, open if you can, your mad and squinting eyes. You call him a child, because you understand so little; because you are so inconstant, he seems fickle to you; your own sightlessness makes you call him blind. ]
U? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Causa, principio, et uno sempiterno, onde l'esser, la vita, il moto pende,
e a lungo, a largo e profondo si stende quanto si dic'in ciel, terr'ed inferno;
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First dialogue
? con senso, con raggion, con mente scerno ch'atto, misura e conto non comprende quel vigor, mole e numero, che tende oltr'ogn'inferior, mezzo e superno.
Cieco error, tempo avaro, ria fortuna, sord'invidia, vil rabbia, iniquo zelo, crudo cor, empio ingegno, strano ardire
non bastaranno a farmi l'aria bruna, non mi porrann'avanti gli occhi il velo, non faran mai ch'il mio bel sol non mire.
[O, you sempiternal cause, principle and one, whence depend being, life and movement, and whence in length, breadth and depth extends all that which is in heaven, on earth and in hell: with sense, reason and spirit I discern that act, measure and reckoning do not comprehend that force, mass and number which transcends all that is lowest, mid- dle or highest. Blind error, greedy time, adverse fortune, deaf envy, vile rage, hostile zeal, cruel hearts, perverse spirits, bizarre passions will not suffice to obscure the air before me, nor place the veil before my eyes, nor ever stop me from beholding my beautiful sun. ]
Giordano Bruno, Nolan Cause, principle and unity
First dialogue
Speakers: Elitropio, Filoteo, Armesso
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Like felons used to the darkness, who come up to the light when freed from the depths of some gloomy tower, many trained in common philosophy, and others, will be clutched by fear, seized with astonishment and (unable to stand the new sun of your shining concepts) thoroughly unsettled.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . It is not the fault of the light, but of their sight: the more excellent and beautiful the sun, the more hateful and harshly unwelcome it will be to night-witches' eyes.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . In your hope of raising us out of the blind abyss, into the sight of the open, peaceful and tranquil stars that shine with such beauti- ful variety against the cerulean mantle of heaven, Filoteo, you have picked an uncommon, unusual and difficult venture. And though the helping hand of your compassion is held out to us men, the ungrateful will still attack
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Cause, principle and unity
? you in ways that are as varied as the many animals generated and nourished within the gentle earth's ample and maternal bosom; for it is clear that the human species displays, in the particularities of its individuals, the variety of all other species together. In each of our individuals, the whole is present more explicitly than in the individuals of other species. Thus, some, as soon as they feel the fresh air, like the bleary-eyed mole, will tunnel straight back down into the earth to seek their natural, inky depths. Others, like night birds, on seeing the vermilion ambassadress of the sun come up in the east, will be forced by the weakness of their eyes to repair to their dingy retreats. All creatures banished from the presence of the celestial lights and doomed to the eternal chasms, cages and caverns of Pluto - all animals, called by the horn of the fearsome Erynnis, Alecto, will spread their wings and flee head- long to their dwellings. But the animals born to behold the sun, having waited out the hated night, will give thanks to the merciful heavens and, prepared to gain within the globose crystals of their eyes the rays for which they have so long waited and pined, will adore the east, not only with unwonted adoration in their hearts, but with voices and hands. Men will begin to speak when from the east's gilded balcony, handsome Titan has let loose the fiery steeds who cleave the sleepy silence of the moist night. The docile, defenceless and simple sheep flocks will bleat; the horned oxen will bellow, heeded by their rustic ox-herders; and Silenus' quadrupeds will start to bray, frightening the stupid Giants again for the gods' benefit. Tossing in their muddy beds, the boars will deafen us with their obstinate grunting. Tigers, bears, lions, wolves and the cunning fox poking his head from the cave will behold from their high deserts their flat hunting grounds, and will let forth from ferocious breasts their roars, growls, snarls, howls and cries. In the air and on the fronds of branchy trees, the roosters, eagles, peacocks, cranes, doves, blackbirds, crows, sparrows, nightingales, magpies, ravens, cuckoos and cicadas will lose no time responding, re-echoing with their earsplitting chatter. Still further, from their mobile, liquid dominions, the white swans, the many-hued water fowl, the swift razor-bills, the marsh ducks, the honking geese and the carping frogs will disturb our ears with their din, such that the warm sunlight diffused in the air of our privileged hemisphere will find itself attended, greeted and perhaps plagued by cries as numerous and as varied as are the breaths that drive them out from the hollows of their respective breasts.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Itisnotonlycommon,butnecessaryandnaturalthatevery animal utters its own cry. Beasts cannot form regulated accents and artic-
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First dialogue
? ulated sounds like men, since their physical makeup, nourishment and tastes are dissimilar.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Pleasegivemeachancetospeakalso:notaboutlight,butof some circumstances that, far from comforting the senses, injure the feel- ings of whoever observes and reflects. For your own peace and quiet (that I wish for you with fraternal affection), I would not want these speeches of yours to be made into comedies, tragedies, laments, dialogues, or what have you, like the ones that circulated openly a while ago, and forced you to stay shut up in your homes.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Speakfrankly.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . I have no intention of speaking like a holy prophet, as an abstruse oracle, like an apocalyptic visionary or the she-ass of Balaam1 beholding the angel. Nor will I discourse as if I were exhilarated by Bacchus or swollen with wind by the sluttish Parnassian muses, nor like a Sibyl impregnated by Phoebus, nor like a prognostic Cassandra,2 nor as if Apollonian rapture had seized me from my toenails to the hair on my head, nor like the seer illuminated in the oracle or Delphic tripod, nor like wise Oedipus,3 probed in the riddles of the Sphinx, nor as a Solomon before the enigmas of the queen of Sheba,4 nor like Calchas,5 interpreter for the Olympian council, nor as a Merlin possessed, nor as one emerged from the cave of Trophonius. 6 Instead, I will speak in common, vulgar language, like a man who has had other things on his mind than to go about distilling the juice of his brain and cerebellum to the point of withering his pia mater and dura mater. What I mean is that I will talk as one who has no wits but his own, and to whom not even the garden- or kitchen-variety gods among the celestial court condescend to cast a straw, though they heap their favours ad infinitum even on their horses - those gods, I say, that ordinarily show themselves more intimate, more familiar and congenial with us. I mean Bacchus, or the drunk mounted on the ass, or Pan, or Vertumnus, or Faunus, or Priapus: the ones who neither drink ambrosia nor taste nectar (unappre- ciative of nymphs and pure water), but quench their thirst at the bottom of the barrel with sour wines.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Toolongapreface.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Patience:theconclusion'sswift. Toputanendtothis,Iwould like to say that I will offer you words that need no deciphering, as if they had been distilled, passed through an alembic, condensed in a double-boiler
1 Numbers ? ? . 2 Virgil, Aeneid, ? ? , ? ? ? -? . 3 Seneca, Oedipus, vv. ? ? -? and ? ? ? -? . 4 ? Kings, ? ? , ? -? . 5 Virgil, Aeneid, ? ? , ? ? ? -? . 6 See Erasmus, In Praise of Folly, ? .
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Cause, principle and unity
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