Note 30 — Chapter I · INTRODUCTORY

This is Gassendi’s interpretation of Plato’s phrase, νοῦς μὲν ἐν ψυχῇ, ψυχήν δὲ ἐν σώματι (Timaeus, 30 B). ‘Stallbaum,’ says Archer-Hind (Timaeus, p. 93), ‘following the misty light of neo-platonic inspiration, says of ψυχή, media est inter corpora atque mentem.’ In Timaeus, 36 E, we are told God constructed body within soul: hence νοῦς, ψυχή, and σῶμα were conceived as each including the other, like three concentric circles, with νοῦς comprehending ψυχή, ψυχή comprehending σῶμα. The relation of this to the view that ‘νοῦς is simply the activity of ψυχή according to her own proper nature’ (Archer-Hind), is obvious if not orthodox: for νοῦς can think ψυχή but not vice versa, includes but is not included by ψυχή.