Minime, minime quidem [Not at all, indeed not at all]: I
speak truly and mean nothing but what I say; for I do not (sophistarum more) [following the Sophists' custom], make a profession of demonstrating that white is black.
speak truly and mean nothing but what I say; for I do not (sophistarum more) [following the Sophists' custom], make a profession of demonstrating that white is black.
Bruno-Cause-Principle-and-Unity
?
Cause, principle and unity
? does not go beyond our subject matter, and from which I did not promise you I would abstain.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Butenoughhasbeensaidaboutthematerialprinciple,from the point of view of possibility or potency. For tomorrow, please prepare to go on to the consideration of the same principle from the point of view of being a substratum.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Iwill.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Goodbye.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Bonisavibus[Maytheomensbefavourableforyou].
End of third dialogue Fourth dialogue
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Et os vulvae nunquam dicit: sufficit: id est, scilicet, videlicet, utpote, quod est dictu, materia [And the womb never says, 'enough'. That is, namely, to wit, so to speak, that is to say, matter], which is designated by these terms, recipiendis formis numquam expletur [is never sated with receiv- ing forms]. 1 But since there is no one else in this Lyceum, vel potius [or rather] in this Anti-Lyceum, solus (ita, inquam, solus, ut minime omnium solus) deambulabo, et ipse mecum confabulator [I will stroll alone (in a soli- tude, I mean, in which I am anything but alone) conversing with myself]. Matter, then, is called by the prince of Peripatetics, of the great Macedonian,2 the professor of transcendent genius, non minus [no less] than by the divine Plato and by others, chaos, or hyle, or sylva [chaos, mate- rial, abundant material], or mass, or potency, or aptitude, or privationi admixtum [mixed with privation], or peccati causa [cause of sin], or ad mal- eficium ordinata [disposed to evil], or per se non ens [not existing in itself], or per se non scibile [unknowable in itself], or per analogiam ad formam cognoscibile [knowable by analogy with form], or tabula rasa [a blank tablet], or indepictum [unmarked], or subiectum [subject], or substratum, or subster- niculum [litter], or campus [field], or infinitum, or indeterminatum, or prope nihil [almost nothing], or neque quid, neque quale, neque quantum; tandem [neither what, nor which, nor how many; finally] after having taken aim with several comparisons between various disparate terms (in order to define its nature), it is called 'woman' ab ipsis scopum ipsum attingentibus [by those who hit right on target]; tandem, inquam (ut una complectantur omnia 1 Et . . . sufficit: from Proverbs ? ? , ? ? . 2 Aristotle, teacher of Alexander the Great.
? ? ?
? Fourth dialogue
? vocula), a melius rem ipsam perpendentibus faemina dicitur [it has finished, I repeat, by being called woman (to gather everything into a single term) by those who have most effectively evaluated its very reality]. Et mehercle [And by Hercules], it is not without good reason that the senators of Pallas' realm3 have judged it well to set matter and woman side by side, for they have been pushed to extremes of rage and frenzy by their dealings with the rigours of women - but just now an apt rhetorical flourish comes to mind. Women are a chaos of irrationality, a hyle [wood] of wickedness, a forest of ribaldry, a mass of uncleanliness, an inclination to every perdition (another rhetorical flourish here, called by some complessio [complexion])! 4 Whence existed, in potency, non solum remota [not only remote], but etiam propinqua [also proximate], the destruction of Troy? In a woman. Who was the instrument of the destruction of Samson's strength? Of that hero, I mean, who became unvanquished conqueror of the Philistines with the famous ass's jawbone that he had found? A woman. 5 Who tamed, at Capua, the might and violence of that great captain and perpetual enemy of the Roman republic, Hannibal? A woman! (Exclamatio! ) Tell me, O cytharist prophet, the reason for your weakness. 'Quia in peccatis concepit me mater mea' ['in sin did my mother conceive me']. 6 O ancient forefather, first-made man, gardener of Paradise and cultivator of the Tree of Life, of what malice were you victim, to have been propelled with the entire human race into the bot- tomless gulf of perdition? 'Mulier quam dedisti mihi: ipsa, ipsa me decepit' ['The woman that you gave me, it is she, she who deceived me']. 7 Procul dubio [Without doubt], form does not sin, and no form is a source of error unless it is joined to matter. That is why form, symbolized by the man, entering into intimate contact with matter, being composed or coupling with it, responds to the natura naturans8 with these words, or rather this sentence: 'Mulier, quam dedisti mihi', idest, matter, which was given me as consort, ipse me decepit; hoc est, she is the cause of all my sins. Behold, behold, divine spirit, how the great practitioners of philosophy and the acute anatomists of nature's entrails, in order to show us nature plainly, have found no more appropriate way than to confront us with this analogy, which shows that matter is to the order of natural things what the female sex is to economical, political and civil order. Open, open your eyes and . . .
? 3 Philosophers.
4 A complexion is a rhetorical figure in which the members of a period begin and end with the same
term.
5 Delilah, as told in Judges ? ? . 6 Psalms ? ? , ? . 7 See Genesis ? , ? ? -? ? .
8 Scholastic formula designating nature as active power and producer.
? ?
Cause, principle and unity
? Oh! I see that colossal idler, Gervasio, coming to snap the thread of my sinewy oration. I am afraid he has heard me, but what matter?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Salve, magister doctorum optime [Good day, O great master of wise men]!
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Ifyoudonotintend,(tuomore)[asisyourcustom],tojeer at me, tu quoque, salve [good day to you as well]!
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Iwouldliketoknowwhatyouwereinthemiddleofmulling over alone.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . AsIwasinmylittleinteriortempleoftheMuses,ineum, qui apud Aristotelem est, locum incidi [I fell upon this passage in Aristotle], in the first book of the Physics, at the end, where the philosopher, wishing to elucidate what primary matter is, compares it to the female sex - that sex, I mean, which is intractable, frail, capricious, cowardly, feeble, vile, ignoble, base, despicable, slovenly, unworthy, deceitful, harmful, abusive, cold, misshapen, barren, vain, confused, senseless, treacherous, lazy, fetid, foul, ungrateful, truncated, mutilated, imperfect, unfinished, deficient, inso- lent, amputated, diminished, stale, vermin, tares, plague, sickness, death:
Messo tra noi da la natura e Dio per una soma e per un grave fio. 9
[By nature and by God among us sent As a burden and heavy punishment. ]
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . I know you say this more to exercise yourself in the art of elocution and to show how ample and eloquent you are, than because you actually feel what you put into words. You humanists, who dub yourselves professors of the liberal arts, when you have gorged to the breaking point on notions, are in the habit of discharging them on poor women; just as when some other bile weighs on you, you pour it out onto the first student of yours who makes a mistake. But beware, you Orpheuses, of the furious wrath of the Thracian women.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . IamPoliinnio,notOrpheus.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Then,youdonotreallycondemnwomen?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .
Minime, minime quidem [Not at all, indeed not at all]: I
speak truly and mean nothing but what I say; for I do not (sophistarum more) [following the Sophists' custom], make a profession of demonstrating that white is black.
9 Ariosto, Orlando furioso, ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? , quoted from memory. The actual lines run: 'Credo che t'abbia la Natura e Dio / prodotto, o scelerato sesso, al mondo / per una soma, per un grave fio'.
? ? ?
Fourth dialogue
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Whydoyoudyeyourbeardthen?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Ingenue loquor [I speak sincerely], however, and I say that a man without a woman is like one of the intelligences; qui non duxit uxorum [he who has not taken a wife] is a hero, a demigod.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Heisalsolikeanoyster,amushroom,atruffle. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Whencethelyricpoethasdivinelydeclared:
Credite, Pisones, melius nil caelibe vita. 10
[Believe me, O Pisones, there is no happier life than that of a celibate. ]
And if you want to know the reason, listen to Secundus11 the philosopher: 'Woman', he says, 'is an obstacle to calm, a continual havoc, daily warfare, a life-prison, a domestic storm, the shipwreck of man. ' The man from Biscay12 confirmed this when, angered by a terrible and furious storm at sea, at his wit's end he turned on the waves with a fierce and menacing look, saying, 'Ah, sea, sea, if only I could saddle you with a wife! ' - to imply that woman is the tempest of tempests. That is why Protagoras, when asked why he had given his daughter to one of his enemies, replied that he could do him no greater harm than to furnish him with a wife. What is more, that good Frenchman won't call me to task when I say that when he received the order from Cicala,13 the ship's master (with all those on board during a dangerous storm at sea), to throw their heaviest things overboard, he heaved his wife over at once.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . But you do not report the opposing cases of those who are very satisfied with their wives, among whom, under this very roof (to avoid going further), Monsieur Mauvissie`re. He has met with one who is not only endowed with uncommon physical beauty, which is veil and mantle of her soul, but who, furthermore, thanks to the triumvirate of penetrating judgement, heedful modesty, and very noble courtesy, holds her spouse's spirit bound with an indissoluble knot and has the ability to captivate all who meet her. And what will you say of her noble daughter, who has seen the light for scarcely a lustre and a year? You cannot tell whether his wife is from Italy, France or England, such is her linguistic talent; as for her touch with musical instruments, you cannot tell if she is a corporeal or incorporeal being; as regards her gifted manners, you wonder if she has really come of earth or dropped from the heavens. Everyone sees that
10 Horace, Epistles, ? , ? , ? ? and ? ? , ? , ? . 11 Secundus of Athens, philosopher of the second century.
12 Biscay merchants frequented England's ports at the time.
13 Identified as a friend of Giovan Bruno, the author's father.
? ? ?
Cause, principle and unity
? in her, just as the blood of her parents has mingled to produce her beautiful body, the virtues of their heroic spirits have fused to forge her extraordinary spirit.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Rara avis [Rare bird], that Marie de Bochetel. Rara avis, that Marie de Castelnau. 14
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . That rare you use for women can just as well be applied to men.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Togetbacktothepoint,awomanisbutmatter. Ifyoudo not know what a woman is because you do not know what matter is, study the Peripatetics a little; they will teach you what a woman is by teaching you about matter.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . I see that, with that Peripatetic brain of yours, you have learnt little or nothing from what Teofilo said yesterday about the essence and potency of matter.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Be that as it may. I hold to the point that one must con- demn the appetite of both woman and matter, which is the cause of all evil, all affliction, defect, ruin and corruption. Do you not think that, if matter were satisfied with its present form, no alteration or affliction would hold sway over us, we would not die, we would be incorruptible and eternal?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Andwhatwouldyousayifitweresatisfiedwiththeformit had fifty years ago? Would you be Poliinnio? If it had remained what it was forty years ago, would you be so adulterous (I mean, adult), so perfect and so learned? Thus, just as you are pleased that your other forms have given way to the current one, so it is nature's will, which orders the universe, that all forms yield to all others. Not to mention that it is much more dignified for that substance, which is our substance, to become everything by receiv- ing all forms, than to remain fragmentary by holding onto only one. In that way, it shares a likeness with that which is all, in all.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . It seems to be you are shedding your natural habits and beginning to be learned. Apply yourself, if you can, a simili [by similitude], to showing the dignity to be found in woman.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . ThatIwilldoeasily. ButhereisTeofilo.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . And Dicsono. Another time, then. De iis hactenus [Let us stop there].
Cause, principle and unity
? does not go beyond our subject matter, and from which I did not promise you I would abstain.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Butenoughhasbeensaidaboutthematerialprinciple,from the point of view of possibility or potency. For tomorrow, please prepare to go on to the consideration of the same principle from the point of view of being a substratum.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Iwill.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Goodbye.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Bonisavibus[Maytheomensbefavourableforyou].
End of third dialogue Fourth dialogue
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Et os vulvae nunquam dicit: sufficit: id est, scilicet, videlicet, utpote, quod est dictu, materia [And the womb never says, 'enough'. That is, namely, to wit, so to speak, that is to say, matter], which is designated by these terms, recipiendis formis numquam expletur [is never sated with receiv- ing forms]. 1 But since there is no one else in this Lyceum, vel potius [or rather] in this Anti-Lyceum, solus (ita, inquam, solus, ut minime omnium solus) deambulabo, et ipse mecum confabulator [I will stroll alone (in a soli- tude, I mean, in which I am anything but alone) conversing with myself]. Matter, then, is called by the prince of Peripatetics, of the great Macedonian,2 the professor of transcendent genius, non minus [no less] than by the divine Plato and by others, chaos, or hyle, or sylva [chaos, mate- rial, abundant material], or mass, or potency, or aptitude, or privationi admixtum [mixed with privation], or peccati causa [cause of sin], or ad mal- eficium ordinata [disposed to evil], or per se non ens [not existing in itself], or per se non scibile [unknowable in itself], or per analogiam ad formam cognoscibile [knowable by analogy with form], or tabula rasa [a blank tablet], or indepictum [unmarked], or subiectum [subject], or substratum, or subster- niculum [litter], or campus [field], or infinitum, or indeterminatum, or prope nihil [almost nothing], or neque quid, neque quale, neque quantum; tandem [neither what, nor which, nor how many; finally] after having taken aim with several comparisons between various disparate terms (in order to define its nature), it is called 'woman' ab ipsis scopum ipsum attingentibus [by those who hit right on target]; tandem, inquam (ut una complectantur omnia 1 Et . . . sufficit: from Proverbs ? ? , ? ? . 2 Aristotle, teacher of Alexander the Great.
? ? ?
? Fourth dialogue
? vocula), a melius rem ipsam perpendentibus faemina dicitur [it has finished, I repeat, by being called woman (to gather everything into a single term) by those who have most effectively evaluated its very reality]. Et mehercle [And by Hercules], it is not without good reason that the senators of Pallas' realm3 have judged it well to set matter and woman side by side, for they have been pushed to extremes of rage and frenzy by their dealings with the rigours of women - but just now an apt rhetorical flourish comes to mind. Women are a chaos of irrationality, a hyle [wood] of wickedness, a forest of ribaldry, a mass of uncleanliness, an inclination to every perdition (another rhetorical flourish here, called by some complessio [complexion])! 4 Whence existed, in potency, non solum remota [not only remote], but etiam propinqua [also proximate], the destruction of Troy? In a woman. Who was the instrument of the destruction of Samson's strength? Of that hero, I mean, who became unvanquished conqueror of the Philistines with the famous ass's jawbone that he had found? A woman. 5 Who tamed, at Capua, the might and violence of that great captain and perpetual enemy of the Roman republic, Hannibal? A woman! (Exclamatio! ) Tell me, O cytharist prophet, the reason for your weakness. 'Quia in peccatis concepit me mater mea' ['in sin did my mother conceive me']. 6 O ancient forefather, first-made man, gardener of Paradise and cultivator of the Tree of Life, of what malice were you victim, to have been propelled with the entire human race into the bot- tomless gulf of perdition? 'Mulier quam dedisti mihi: ipsa, ipsa me decepit' ['The woman that you gave me, it is she, she who deceived me']. 7 Procul dubio [Without doubt], form does not sin, and no form is a source of error unless it is joined to matter. That is why form, symbolized by the man, entering into intimate contact with matter, being composed or coupling with it, responds to the natura naturans8 with these words, or rather this sentence: 'Mulier, quam dedisti mihi', idest, matter, which was given me as consort, ipse me decepit; hoc est, she is the cause of all my sins. Behold, behold, divine spirit, how the great practitioners of philosophy and the acute anatomists of nature's entrails, in order to show us nature plainly, have found no more appropriate way than to confront us with this analogy, which shows that matter is to the order of natural things what the female sex is to economical, political and civil order. Open, open your eyes and . . .
? 3 Philosophers.
4 A complexion is a rhetorical figure in which the members of a period begin and end with the same
term.
5 Delilah, as told in Judges ? ? . 6 Psalms ? ? , ? . 7 See Genesis ? , ? ? -? ? .
8 Scholastic formula designating nature as active power and producer.
? ?
Cause, principle and unity
? Oh! I see that colossal idler, Gervasio, coming to snap the thread of my sinewy oration. I am afraid he has heard me, but what matter?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Salve, magister doctorum optime [Good day, O great master of wise men]!
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Ifyoudonotintend,(tuomore)[asisyourcustom],tojeer at me, tu quoque, salve [good day to you as well]!
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Iwouldliketoknowwhatyouwereinthemiddleofmulling over alone.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . AsIwasinmylittleinteriortempleoftheMuses,ineum, qui apud Aristotelem est, locum incidi [I fell upon this passage in Aristotle], in the first book of the Physics, at the end, where the philosopher, wishing to elucidate what primary matter is, compares it to the female sex - that sex, I mean, which is intractable, frail, capricious, cowardly, feeble, vile, ignoble, base, despicable, slovenly, unworthy, deceitful, harmful, abusive, cold, misshapen, barren, vain, confused, senseless, treacherous, lazy, fetid, foul, ungrateful, truncated, mutilated, imperfect, unfinished, deficient, inso- lent, amputated, diminished, stale, vermin, tares, plague, sickness, death:
Messo tra noi da la natura e Dio per una soma e per un grave fio. 9
[By nature and by God among us sent As a burden and heavy punishment. ]
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . I know you say this more to exercise yourself in the art of elocution and to show how ample and eloquent you are, than because you actually feel what you put into words. You humanists, who dub yourselves professors of the liberal arts, when you have gorged to the breaking point on notions, are in the habit of discharging them on poor women; just as when some other bile weighs on you, you pour it out onto the first student of yours who makes a mistake. But beware, you Orpheuses, of the furious wrath of the Thracian women.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . IamPoliinnio,notOrpheus.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Then,youdonotreallycondemnwomen?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? .
Minime, minime quidem [Not at all, indeed not at all]: I
speak truly and mean nothing but what I say; for I do not (sophistarum more) [following the Sophists' custom], make a profession of demonstrating that white is black.
9 Ariosto, Orlando furioso, ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? , quoted from memory. The actual lines run: 'Credo che t'abbia la Natura e Dio / prodotto, o scelerato sesso, al mondo / per una soma, per un grave fio'.
? ? ?
Fourth dialogue
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Whydoyoudyeyourbeardthen?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Ingenue loquor [I speak sincerely], however, and I say that a man without a woman is like one of the intelligences; qui non duxit uxorum [he who has not taken a wife] is a hero, a demigod.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Heisalsolikeanoyster,amushroom,atruffle. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Whencethelyricpoethasdivinelydeclared:
Credite, Pisones, melius nil caelibe vita. 10
[Believe me, O Pisones, there is no happier life than that of a celibate. ]
And if you want to know the reason, listen to Secundus11 the philosopher: 'Woman', he says, 'is an obstacle to calm, a continual havoc, daily warfare, a life-prison, a domestic storm, the shipwreck of man. ' The man from Biscay12 confirmed this when, angered by a terrible and furious storm at sea, at his wit's end he turned on the waves with a fierce and menacing look, saying, 'Ah, sea, sea, if only I could saddle you with a wife! ' - to imply that woman is the tempest of tempests. That is why Protagoras, when asked why he had given his daughter to one of his enemies, replied that he could do him no greater harm than to furnish him with a wife. What is more, that good Frenchman won't call me to task when I say that when he received the order from Cicala,13 the ship's master (with all those on board during a dangerous storm at sea), to throw their heaviest things overboard, he heaved his wife over at once.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . But you do not report the opposing cases of those who are very satisfied with their wives, among whom, under this very roof (to avoid going further), Monsieur Mauvissie`re. He has met with one who is not only endowed with uncommon physical beauty, which is veil and mantle of her soul, but who, furthermore, thanks to the triumvirate of penetrating judgement, heedful modesty, and very noble courtesy, holds her spouse's spirit bound with an indissoluble knot and has the ability to captivate all who meet her. And what will you say of her noble daughter, who has seen the light for scarcely a lustre and a year? You cannot tell whether his wife is from Italy, France or England, such is her linguistic talent; as for her touch with musical instruments, you cannot tell if she is a corporeal or incorporeal being; as regards her gifted manners, you wonder if she has really come of earth or dropped from the heavens. Everyone sees that
10 Horace, Epistles, ? , ? , ? ? and ? ? , ? , ? . 11 Secundus of Athens, philosopher of the second century.
12 Biscay merchants frequented England's ports at the time.
13 Identified as a friend of Giovan Bruno, the author's father.
? ? ?
Cause, principle and unity
? in her, just as the blood of her parents has mingled to produce her beautiful body, the virtues of their heroic spirits have fused to forge her extraordinary spirit.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Rara avis [Rare bird], that Marie de Bochetel. Rara avis, that Marie de Castelnau. 14
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . That rare you use for women can just as well be applied to men.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Togetbacktothepoint,awomanisbutmatter. Ifyoudo not know what a woman is because you do not know what matter is, study the Peripatetics a little; they will teach you what a woman is by teaching you about matter.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . I see that, with that Peripatetic brain of yours, you have learnt little or nothing from what Teofilo said yesterday about the essence and potency of matter.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Be that as it may. I hold to the point that one must con- demn the appetite of both woman and matter, which is the cause of all evil, all affliction, defect, ruin and corruption. Do you not think that, if matter were satisfied with its present form, no alteration or affliction would hold sway over us, we would not die, we would be incorruptible and eternal?
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . Andwhatwouldyousayifitweresatisfiedwiththeformit had fifty years ago? Would you be Poliinnio? If it had remained what it was forty years ago, would you be so adulterous (I mean, adult), so perfect and so learned? Thus, just as you are pleased that your other forms have given way to the current one, so it is nature's will, which orders the universe, that all forms yield to all others. Not to mention that it is much more dignified for that substance, which is our substance, to become everything by receiv- ing all forms, than to remain fragmentary by holding onto only one. In that way, it shares a likeness with that which is all, in all.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . It seems to be you are shedding your natural habits and beginning to be learned. Apply yourself, if you can, a simili [by similitude], to showing the dignity to be found in woman.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . ThatIwilldoeasily. ButhereisTeofilo.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? . And Dicsono. Another time, then. De iis hactenus [Let us stop there].
