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Marcus Aurelius · Meditations §5.19.1

Inviolability by External Things and the Soul's Judgment

Passage 120 of 486 · Greek

Summary

Marcus Aurelius explains that external things cannot affect the soul, and that the soul moves only by its own judgments, shaping present things in accordance with those judgments.

§5.19.1Τὰ πράγματα αὐτὰ οὐδ’ ὁπωστιοῦν ψυχῆς ἅπτεται οὐδὲ ἔχει εἴσοδον πρὸς ψυχὴν οὐδὲ τρέψαι οὐδὲ κινῆσαι ψυχὴν δύναται, τρέπει δὲ καὶ κινεῖ αὐτὴ ἑαυτὴν μόνη καὶ οἵων ἂν κριμάτων καταξιώσῃ ἑαυτήν, τοιαῦτα ἑαυτῇ ποιεῖ τὰ προσυφεστῶτα.
Things themselves do not touch the soul in the least, nor have they any access to the soul, nor can they turn or move the soul; but the soul alone turns and moves itself, and according as it deems itself worthy of what judgments, so it makes the things which present themselves conform to those judgments.

Notes

  1. §5.19.1αὐτὴ ἑαυτὴν μόνη — The nominative αὐτή (feminine singular, referring to the implicit ψυχή "soul") and μόνη ("alone") serve as the subject of the active verbs τρέπει δὲ καὶ κινεῖ, with the accusative reflexive pronoun ἑαυτήν ("itself") as the object. This structure emphasizes the absolute autonomy of the soul.
  2. §5.19.1οἵων ἂν κριμάτων καταξιώσῃ ἑαυτήν, τοιαῦτα ἑαυτῇ ποιεῖ τὰ προσυφεστῶτα — A correlative construction between the relative οἵων and the demonstrative τοιαῦτα. The verb καταξιόω ("deem worthy of") governs the genitive κριμάτων ("judgments") and takes ἑαυτήν as its direct object. In the second half, τὰ προσυφεστῶτα ("things presented/lying before") is the object of ποιεῖ, with τοιαῦτα as its predicate accusative and ἑαυτῇ ("for itself") as a dative of advantage. This expresses the epistemological claim that the soul shapes objective reality according to its own internal judgments.

Cite this passage

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations §5.19.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0562.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.19.1

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