Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §11.1.1-11.1.2

Properties of the Rational Soul and the Reason of Justice

Passage 413 of 486 · Greek

Summary

The author describes the unique properties of the rational soul—such as self-formation, self-sufficiency, contemplation of the universe, and love of neighbor—concluding that right reason and the reason of justice are identical.

§11.1.1Τὰ ἴδια τῆς λογικῆς ψυχῆς· ἑαυτὴν ὁρᾷ, ἑαυτὴν διαρθροῖ, ἑαυτὴν ὁποίαν ἂν βούληται ποιεῖ, τὸν καρπὸν ὃν φέρει αὐτὴ καρποῦται (τοὺς γὰρ τῶν φυτῶν καρποὺς καὶ τὸ ἀνάλογον ἐπὶ τῶν ζῴων ἄλλοι καρποῦνται), τοῦ ἰδίου τέλους τυγχάνει, ὅπου ἂν τὸ τοῦ βίου πέρας ἐπιστῇ, οὐχ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ ὀρχήσεως καὶ ὑποκρίσεως καὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἀτελὴς γίνεται ἡ ὅλη πρᾶξις, ἐάν τι ἐγκόψῃ, ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ παντὸς μέρους καὶ ὅπου ἂν καταληφθῇ, πλῆρες καὶ ἀπροσδεὲς ἑαυτῇ τὸ προτεθὲν ποιεῖ, ὥστε εἰπεῖν· ἐγὼ ἀπέχω τὰ ἐμά. §11.1.2ἔτι δὲ περιέρχεται τὸν ὅλον κόσμον καὶ τὸ περὶ αὐτὸν κενὸν καὶ τὸ σχῆμα αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀπειρίαν τοῦ αἰῶνος ἐκτείνεται καὶ τὴν περιοδικὴν παλιγγενεσίαν τῶν ὅλων ἐμπεριλαμβάνει καὶ περινοεῖ καὶ θεωρεῖ ὅτι οὐδὲν νεώτερον ὄψονται οἱ μεθ’ ἡμᾶς οὐδὲ περιττότερον εἶδον οἱ πρὸ ἡμῶν, ἀλλὰ τρόπον τινὰ ὁ τεσσαρακοντούτης, ἐὰν νοῦν ὁποσονοῦν ἔχῃ, πάντα τὰ γεγονότα καὶ τὰ ἐσόμενα ἑώρακε κατὰ τὸ ὁμοειδές.

The properties of the rational soul: it sees itself, shapes itself, makes itself such as it wills, and itself reaps the fruit which it bears (for others reap the fruits of plants and the analogous products of animals). It reaches its own end, wherever the limit of life may be fixed. Unlike dancing or acting and the like, where the whole action becomes incomplete if anything interrupts it, in every part and wherever it may be overtaken, it makes what was proposed complete and self-sufficient for itself, so that it can say: "I have what is mine." Furthermore, it traverses the whole universe and the void around it, and its shape, and extends into the infinity of age, and comprehends and contemplates the periodic rebirth of the whole, and perceives and considers that those who come after us will see nothing new, nor did those who went before us see anything more; but, in a way, a man of forty years, if he has any understanding at all, has seen all that has been and all that will be, by virtue of its uniformity.

ἴδιον δὲ λογικῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τὸ φιλεῖν τοὺς πλησίον καὶ ἀλήθεια καὶ αἰδὼς καὶ τὸ μηδὲν ἑαυτῆς προτιμᾶν, ὅπερ ἴδιον καὶ νόμου·

Moreover, it is a property of the rational soul to love one's neighbor, and truth, and self-respect, and to honor nothing more than itself, which is also a property of law.

οὕτως ἄρ’ οὐδὲν διήνεγκε λόγος ὀρθὸς καὶ λόγος δικαιοσύνης.

So indeed there is no difference between right reason and the reason of justice.

Notes

11.1.1ὅπου ἂν τὸ τοῦ βίου πέρας ἐπιστῇ — A concessive or generalizing conditional clause consisting of the relative adverb ὅπου, the modal particle ἂν, and ἐπιστῇ (aorist active subjunctive, 3rd person singular of ἐφίστημι). Meaning "wherever the limit of life may be fixed," it expresses the Stoic doctrine of immediate self-sufficiency, wherein the soul's activity is complete at any moment regardless of lifespan.
11.1.1ἀπέχω — The verb ἀπέχω is used here in its commercial and idiomatic sense of "to receive in full" or "to have received payment." It metaphorically denotes the self-sufficient state of having obtained everything one needs from life.
11.1.2ἑώρακε — The perfect active indicative 3rd person singular of ὁράω. Rather than merely stating a past experience, it emphasizes the completed state in the present: since the universe is cyclical and uniform (κατὰ τὸ ὁμοειδές), a rational forty-year-old man "has already seen" and fully comprehended all that can ever exist.
11.1.2ὅπερ ἴδιον καὶ νόμου — The neuter relative pronoun ὅπερ has as its antecedent either the preceding infinitive phrase "to honor nothing more than itself" (τὸ μηδὲν ἑαυτῆς προτιμᾶν) or the entire list of the properties of the rational soul. It reflects the Stoic natural law doctrine, which identifies the cosmic Logos (reason) with Nomos (law/norm), thus linking the autonomy of the soul to the essence of law.
11.1.2οὐδὲν διήνεγκε — The aorist active indicative 3rd person singular of διαφέρω, meaning "differs in nothing." This aorist functions either as a gnomic aorist stating a universal truth ("there is no difference") or as an instantaneous aorist of judgment, declaring a conclusion immediately drawn from the preceding reflections.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §11.1.1-11.1.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:11.1.1-11.1.2

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