Liber de causis, proposition 2

prop 88 · creuzer page 134

PropositionΠᾶν τὸ ὄντως ὂν ἢ πρὸ αἰῶνός ἐστιν, ἢ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι, ἢ μετέχον αἰῶνος.

PropositionEverything that is truly being is either before eternity, or in eternity, or participating in eternity.

Ὅτι μὲν γάρ ἐστι πρὸ αἰῶνος, δέδεικται. ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι. ὁ γὰρ αἰὼν τὸ ἀεὶ μετὰ τοῦ ὄντος ἔχει καὶ τὸ μετέχον αἰῶνος. τὸ γὰρ αἰώνιον πᾶν μεθέξει καὶ τοῦ ἀεὶ καὶ τοῦ ὄντος. τοῦτο μὲν κατὰ μέθεξιν ἄμφω ἔχει, καὶ τὸ ἀεὶ καὶ τὸ ὄν. ὁ δὲ αἰὼν τὸ μὲν ἀεὶ πρώτως, τὸ δὲ ὂν κατὰ μέθεξιν· τὸ δὲ ὂν αὐτὸ πρώτως ὄν ἐστιν.

That there is what is before eternity has been shown. But there is also what is in eternity, for eternity holds the always together with being; and there is what participates in eternity. For everything eternal will participate both in the always and in being. This last has both by participation, both the always and being; eternity has the always primarily and being by participation; and being itself is being primarily.

Thomas's cited source for LdC 2 (the threefold placing of true being relative to eternity). Creuzer's note (3) records that the printed edition had a lacuna sign *** here which he filled from codex A — so this sentence is Creuzer's supplement, and any English must not present it as uncontested. Editorial supplement, do not read as uncontested text. Creuzer's note (3) states that the printed edition carried a lacuna sign (***) between αἰῶνος and τοῦτο μὲν and that he filled it from codex A. On the text as printed, that locates the supplement exactly at the sentence 'τὸ γὰρ αἰώνιον πᾶν μεθέξει καὶ τοῦ ἀεὶ καὶ τοῦ ὄντος' — rendered here as 'For everything eternal will participate both in the always and in being.' The English translates it because Creuzer's text carries it, but it is Creuzer's supplement from a single manuscript, not transmitted text. Creuzer's note (1) further records that the edition read πάντως τὸ ὄντως ὄν in the lemma, where A gives πᾶν τὸ ὄντως, which is what he prints and what is translated. αἰών is 'eternity' and αἰώνιος 'eternal' here, as at El. 87.

Numbered πη΄ in Creuzer's edition.

prop 87 · creuzer page 132

PropositionΠᾶν μὲν τὸ αἰώνιον ὄν ἐστιν, οὐ πᾶν δὲ τὸ ὂν αἰώνιον.

PropositionEverything eternal is being, but not every being is eternal.

καὶ γὰρ τοῖς γεννητοῖς ὑπάρχει πως τοῦ ὄντος μέθεξις, καθ᾽ ὅσον οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα τὸ μηδαμῶς ὄν. εἰ δὲ μή ἐστι τὸ γινόμενον οὐδαμῶς ὄν, ἔστι πως ὄν. Τὸ δὲ αἰώνιον οὐδαμῇ τοῖς γεννητοῖς ὑπάρχει, καὶ μάλισθ᾽ ὅσα μηδὲ τῆς κατὰ χρόνον τὸν ὅλον ἀϊδιότητος μετείληφεν. ἀλλὰ μὴν πᾶν τὸ αἰώνιον ἀεί ἐστι. Μετέχει γὰρ αἰῶνος, ὃς τὸ ἀεί τι εἶναι δίδωσιν, ὑφ᾽ ὧν ἂν μετέχηται. Τὸ ἄρα ὂν ὑπὸ πλειόνων μετέχεται, ἢ ὁ αἰών. ἐπέκεινα ἄρα τοῦ αἰῶνος τὸ ὄν. οἷς μὲν γὰρ τοῦ αἰῶνος μέτεστι, καὶ τοῦ ὄντος· οἷς δὲ τοῦ ὄντος, οὐ πᾶσι καὶ αἰῶνος.

For even things that come to be have in some way a participation in being, in so far as they are not what is in no way being; and if what comes to be is not in no way being, then it is in some way being. But the eternal belongs in no way to things that come to be, and least of all to those that have not even shared in everlastingness through the whole of time. And indeed everything eternal always is. For it participates in eternity, which gives always to be to whatever participates in it. Being, then, is participated in by more things than eternity is. Being, therefore, is beyond eternity. For the things that have a share in eternity have a share in being as well; but not all the things that have a share in being have a share in eternity too.

Source of LdC 2's proof that the first cause stands above eternity. Bardenhewer: 'Der Beweis für die Stellung der ersten Ursache vor und über der Ewigkeit ... findet sich in dem Lehrbuche § 87.' The operative clause is ἐπέκεινα ἄρα τοῦ αἰῶνος τὸ ὄν. Creuzer's note (4) on the facing proposition gathers the whole doxography for this argument (Plato Phileb.; Arist. Metaph. X.10; Plotinus; Porphyry Sent. 33 and 36; Proclus Theol. Plat. II.1). Deliberate glossary departure. The glossary fixes ἀΐδιος as 'eternal', but this proposition turns on Proclus's distinction between αἰών / αἰώνιος (timeless eternity) and ἀϊδιότης (perpetuity through the whole of time). 'Eternal' and 'eternity' are therefore reserved here for the αἰών family, and ἀϊδιότης is rendered 'everlastingness' — the glossary's own reading for Latin sempiternus. Collapsing the two would destroy the argument that being is beyond eternity, which is the sentence LdC 2 is built on.

Numbered πζ΄ in Creuzer's edition.

prop bardenhewer 2 · pattin prop 2 · bardenhewer page 61-63

كلّ انّيّة بحقّ امّا تكون اعلا من الدهر وقبله وامّا مع الدهر وامّا بعد الدهر وفوق الزمان وامّا الانّيّة التى قبل الدهر فهى العلّة الاولى لانّها علّة له وامّا الانّيّة التى مع الدهر فهى العقل لانّه الانّيّة الثانية وامّا الانّيّة التى بعد الدهر وفوق الزمان فهى النفس لانّها فى افق الدهر سفلا وفوق الزمان والدليل على انّ العلّة الاولى قبل الدهر بعينه فذلك انّ الانّيّة فيه مستفادة ونقول انّ كلّ دهر انّيّة وليس كلّ انّيّة دهرا فالانّيّة اكثر سَعَةً من الدهر والعلّة الاولى فوق الدهر لانّ الدهر معلول منها والعقل يجارى الدهر لانّه ممتدّ معه ولا يتغيّر ولا يستحيل والنفس لاصقة مع الدهر سفلا لانّها اسفل تأثيرا من العقل ومن فوق الزمان لانّها علّة الزمان

Every true being is either above eternity and before it, or with eternity, or after eternity and above time. As for the being which is before eternity, it is the first cause, because it is the cause of it. As for the being which is with eternity, it is intellect, because it is the second being. And as for the being which is after eternity and above time, it is soul, because it is in the horizon of eternity, below, and above time. The proof that the first cause is before eternity itself is that being in eternity is acquired. And we say that every eternity is being, but not every being is eternity; so being is wider in extent than eternity. And the first cause is above eternity, because eternity is caused by it. And intellect runs level with eternity, because it is extended along with it and does not change and does not alter. And soul is attached to eternity, below, because it is lower in effect than intellect, and it is above time, because it is the cause of time.

Plate-verified: transcribed line by line from the page images of Bardenhewer 1882 (leaves n83-n104 of archive.org diepseudoaristo00bardgoog).