Note 180 — Chapter XII · DE ANIMÂ, ETC.
Reading edition
Ibid. a. 14: καὶ ἔστιν ὁ μὲν τοιοῦτος νοῦς τῷ πάντα γίνεσθαι, ὁ δὲ τῷ πάντα ποιεῖν, ὡς ἕξις τις, οἷον τὸ φῶς· τρόπον γάρ τινα καὶ τὸ φῶς ποιεῖ τὰ δυνάμει ὄντα χρώματα ἐνεργείᾳ χρώματα. Aristotle here illustrates νοῦς ποιητικός by φῶς and ἕξις; and we know what view he takes of φῶς (De Animâ, II. vii. p. 418, b. 9) as the ἐνέργεια or ἕξις τοῦ διαφανοῦς — which diaphanous he explains to be a φύσις τις ἐνυπάρχουσα ἐν ἀέρι καὶ ὕδατι καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀϊδίῳ τῷ ἄνω σώματι. Judging by this illustration, it seems proper to couple the νοῦς ποιητικός here with his declaration in De Generat. Animal. II. p. 736, b. 28: τὸν νοῦν μόνον θύραθεν ἐπεισέναι καὶ θεῖον εἶναι μόνον: he cannot consider the νοῦς ποιητικός, which is of the nature of Form, as belonging to each individual man like the νοῦς παθητικός.