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| Chapter V.—Opinions of Plato and Aristotle.
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Chapter V.—Opinions of Plato and
Aristotle.
But
possibly those who are unwilling to give up the ancient and inveterate
error, maintain that they have received the doctrine of their religion
not from those who have now been mentioned, but from those who are
esteemed among them as the most renowned and finished philosophers, Plato
and Aristotle. For these, they say, have learned the perfect and true
religion. But I would be glad to ask, first of all, from those who say
so, from whom they say that these men have learned this knowledge; for it
is impossible that men who have not learned these so great and divine
matters from some who knew them, should either themselves know them, or
be able correctly to teach others; and, in the second place, I think we
ought to examine the opinions even of these sages. For we shall see
whether each of these does not manifestly contradict the other. But if we
find that even they do not agree with each other, I think it is easy to
see clearly that they too are ignorant. For Plato, with the air of one
that has descended from above, and has accurately ascertained and seen
all that is in heaven, says that the most high God exists in a fiery
substance.2522
But Aristotle, in a book addressed
to Alexander of Macedon, giving a compendious explanation of his own
philosophy, clearly and manifestly overthrows the opinion of Plato,
saying that God does not exist in a fiery substance: but inventing, as a
fifth substance, some kind of ætherial and unchangeable body, says that
God exists in it. Thus, at least, he wrote: “Not, as some of those
who have erred regarding the Deity say, that God exists in a fiery
substance.” Then, as if he were not satisfied with this blasphemy
against Plato, he further, for the sake of proving what he says about the
ætherial body, cites as a witness him whom Plato had banished from his
republic as a liar, and as being an imitator of the images of truth at
three removes,2523
| 2523 See the
Republic, x. 2. By the Platonic doctrine, the ideas of things in
the mind of God were the realities; the things themselves, as seen by us,
were the images of these realities; and poetry, therefore, describing the
images of realities, was only at the third remove from nature. As Plato
puts it briefly in this same passage, “the painter, the bed-maker,
God—these three are the masters of three species of
beds.” | for so Plato calls Homer; for he wrote:
“Thus at least did Homer speak,2524
‘And Zeus
obtained the wide heaven in the air and the clouds,’ ”
wishing to make his own opinion appear more worthy of credit by the
testimony of Homer; not being aware that if he used Homer as a witness to
prove that he spoke truth, many of his tenets would be proved untrue. For
Thales of Miletus, who was the founder of philosophy among them, taking
occasion from him,2525
| 2525 i.e.,
from Homer; using Homer’s words as suggestive and confirmatory of
his doctrine. | will contradict his first opinions about first
principles. For Aristotle himself, having said that God and matter are
the first principles of all things, Thales, the eldest of all their
sages, says that water is the first principle of the things that exist;
for he says that all things are from water, and that all things are
resolved into water. And he conjectures this, first, from the fact that
the seed of all living creatures, which is their first principle, is
moist; and secondly, because all plants grow and bear fruit in moisture,
but when deprived of moisture, wither. Then, as if not satisfied with his
conjectures, he cites Homer as a most trustworthy testimony, who speaks
thus:—
“Ocean, who is the origin of all.”2526
May not Thales, then, very fairly say to him,
“What is the reason, Aristotle, why you give heed to Homer, as if
he spoke truth, when you wish to demolish the opinions of Plato; but when
you promulgate an opinion contrary to ours, you think Homer
untruthful?”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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