Ath。Come，then，andifeverwearetocallupontheGods，letuscalluponthemnowinallseriousnesstocometothedemonstrationoftheirownexistence。Andsoholdingfasttotheropewewillventureuponthedepthsoftheargument。Whenquestionsofthissortareaskedofme，mysafestanswerwouldappeartobeasfollows：-Someonesaystome，“OStranger，areallthingsatrestandnothinginmotion，oristheexactoppositeofthistrue，oraresomethingsinmotionandothersatrest？-TothisIshallreplythatsomethingsareinmotionandothersatrest。“Anddonotthingswhichmoveaplace，andarenotthethingswhichareatrestatrestinaplace？“Certainly。“Andsomemoveorrestinoneplaceandsomeinmoreplacesthanone？“Youmeantosay，weshallrejoin，thatthosethingswhichrestatthecentremoveinoneplace，justasthecircumferencegoesroundofglobeswhicharesaidtobeatrest？
　　“Yes。“Andweobservethat，intherevolution，themotionwhichcarriesroundthelargerandthelessercircleatthesametimeisproportionallydistributedtogreaterandsmaller，andisgreaterandsmallerinacertainproportion。Hereisawonderwhichmightbethoughtanimpossibility，thatthesamemotionshouldimpartswiftnessandslownessindueproportiontolargerandlessercircles。“Verytrue。“Andwhenyouspeakofbodiesmovinginmanyplaces，youseemtometomeanthosewhichmovefromoneplacetoanother，andsometimeshaveonecentreofmotionandsometimesmorethanonebecausetheyturnupontheiraxis；andwhenevertheymeetanything，ifitbestationary，theyaredividedbyit；butiftheygetinthemidstbetweenbodieswhichareapproachingandmovingtowardsthesamespotfromoppositedirections，theyunitewiththem。“Iadmitthetruthofwhatyouaresaying。“Alsowhentheyunitetheygrow，andwhentheyaredividedtheywasteaway-thatis，supposingtheconstitutionofeachtoremain，orifthatfails，thenthereisasecondreasonoftheirdissolution。“Andwhenareallthingscreatedandhow？“Clearly，theyarecreatedwhenthefirstprinciplereceivesincreaseandattainstotheseconddimension，andfromthisarrivesattheonewhichisneighbourtothis，andafterreachingthethirdbecomesperceptibletosense。Everythingwhichisthuschangingandmovingisinprocessofgeneration；onlywhenatresthasitrealexistence，butwhenpassingintoanotherstateitisdestroyedutterly。Havewenotmentionedallmotionsthatthereare，andcomprehendedthemundertheirkindsandnumberedthemwiththeexception，myfriends，oftwo？
　　Cle。Whicharethey？
　　Ath。Justthetwo，withwhichourpresentenquiryisconcerned。
　　Cle。Speakplainer。
　　Ath。Isupposethatourenquiryhasreferencetothesoul？
　　Cle。Verytrue。
　　Ath。Letusassumethatthereisamotionabletomoveotherthings，butnottomoveitself；-thatisonekind；andthereisanotherkindwhichcanmoveitselfaswellasotherthings，workingincompositionanddecomposition，byincreaseanddiminutionandgenerationanddestruction-thatisalsooneofthemanykindsofmotion。
　　Cle。Granted。
　　Ath。Andwewillassumethatwhichmovesother，andischangedbyother，tobetheninth，andthatwhichchangesitselfandothers，andisco-incidentwitheveryactionandeverypassion，andisthetrueprincipleofchangeandmotioninallthatis-thatweshallbeinclinedtocallthetenth。
　　Cle。Certainly。
　　Ath。Andwhichofthesetenmotionsoughtwetopreferasbeingthemightiestandmostefficient？
　　Cle。Imustsaythatthemotionwhichisabletomoveitselfistenthousandtimessuperiortoalltheothers。
　　Ath。Verygood；butmayImakeoneortwocorrectionsinwhatIhavebeensaying？
　　Cle。Whatarethey？
　　Ath。WhenIspokeofthetenthsortofmotion，thatwasnotquitecorrect。
　　Cle。Whatwastheerror？
　　Ath。Accordingtothetrueorder，thetenthwasreallythefirstingenerationandpower；thenfollowsthesecond，whichwasstrangelyenoughtermedtheninthbyus。
　　Cle。Whatdoyoumean？
　　Ath。Imeanthis：whenonethingchangesanother，andthatanother，ofsuchwilltherebeanyprimarychangingelement？Howcanathingwhichismovedbyanothereverbethebeginningofchange？
　　Impossible。Butwhentheself-movedchangesother，andthatagainother，andthusthousandsupontensofthousandsofbodiesaresetinmotion，mustnotthebeginningofallthismotionbethechangeoftheself-movingprinciple？
　　Cle。Verytrue，andIquiteagree。
　　Ath。Or，toputthequestioninanotherway，makinganswertoourselves：-If，asmostofthesephilosophershavetheaudacitytoaffirm，allthingswereatrestinonemass，whichoftheabove-mentionedprinciplesofmotionwouldfirstspringupamongthem？
　　Cle。Clearlytheself-moving；fortherecouldbenochangeinthemarisingoutofanyexternalcause；thechangemustfirsttakeplaceinthemselves。
　　Ath。Thenwemustsaythatself-motionbeingtheoriginofallmotions，andthefirstwhicharisesamongthingsatrestaswellasamongthingsinmotion，istheeldestandmightiestprincipleofchange，andthatwhichischangedbyanotherandyetmovesotherissecond。
　　Cle。Quitetrue。
　　Ath。Atthisstageoftheargumentletusputaquestion。
　　Cle。Whatquestion？
　　Ath。Ifweweretoseethispowerexistinginanyearthy，watery，orfierysubstance，simpleorcompound-howshouldwedescribeit？
　　Cle。Youmeantoaskwhetherweshouldcallsuchaself-movingpowerlife？
　　Ath。Ido。
　　Cle。Certainlyweshould。
　　Ath。Andwhenweseesoulinanything，mustwenotdothesame-mustwenotadmitthatthisislife？
　　Cle。Wemust。
　　Ath。Andnow，Ibeseechyou，reflect；-youwouldadmitthatwehaveathreefoldknowledgeofthings？
　　Cle。Whatdoyoumean？
　　Ath。Imeanthatweknowtheessence，andthatweknowthedefinitionoftheessence，andthename，-thesearethethree；andtherearetwoquestionswhichmayberaisedaboutanything。
　　Cle。Howtwo？
　　Ath。Sometimesapersonmaygivethenameandaskthedefinition；orhemaygivethedefinitionandaskthename。ImayillustratewhatI
　　meaninthisway。
　　Cle。How？
　　Ath。Numberlikesomeotherthingsiscapableofbeingdividedintoequalparts；whenthusdivided，numberisnamed“even，“andthedefinitionofthename“even“is“numberdivisibleintotwoequalparts“？
　　Cle。True。
　　Ath。Imean，thatwhenweareaskedaboutthedefinitionandgivethename，orwhenweareaskedaboutthenameandgivethedefinition-ineithercase，whetherwegivenameordefinition，wespeakofthesamething，calling“even“thenumberwhichisdividedintotwoequalparts。
　　Cle。Quitetrue。
　　Ath。Andwhatisthedefinitionofthatwhichisnamed“soul“？Canweconceiveofanyotherthanthatwhichhasbeenalreadygiven-themotionwhichcanmoveitself？
　　Cle。Youmeantosaythattheessencewhichisdefinedastheself-movedisthesamewiththatwhichhasthenamesoul？
　　Ath。Yes；andifthisistrue，dowestillmaintainthatthereisanythingwantingintheproofthatthesoulisthefirstoriginandmovingpowerofallthatis，orhasbecome，orwillbe，andtheircontraries，whenshehasbeenclearlyshowntobethesourceofchangeandmotioninallthings？
　　Cle。Certainlynot；thesoulasbeingthesourceofmotion，hasbeenmostsatisfactorilyshowntobetheoldestofallthings。
　　Ath。Andisnotthatmotionwhichisproducedinanother，byreasonofanother，butneverhasanyself-movingpoweratall，beingintruththechangeofaninanimatebody，tobereckonedsecond，orbyanylowernumberwhichyoumayprefer？
　　Cle。Exactly。
　　Ath。Thenweareright，andspeakthemostperfectandabsolutetruth，whenwesaythatthesoulispriortothebody，andthatthebodyissecondandcomesafterwards，andisborntoobeythesoul，whichistheruler？
　　Cle。Nothingcanbemoretrue。
　　Ath。Doyourememberouroldadmission，thatifthesoulwaspriortothebodythethingsofthesoulwerealsopriortothoseofthebody？
　　Cle。Certainly。
　　Ath。Thencharactersandmanners，andwishesandreasonings，andtrueopinions，andreflections，andrecollectionsarepriortolengthandbreadthanddepthandstrengthofbodies，ifthesoulispriortothebody。
　　Cle。Tobesure。
　　Ath。Inthenextplace，mustwenotofnecessityadmitthatthesoulisthecauseofgoodandevil，baseandhonourable，justandunjust，andofallotheropposites，ifwesupposehertobethecauseofallthings？
　　Cle。Wemust。
　　Ath。Andasthesoulordersandinhabitsallthingsthatmove，howevermoving，mustwenotsaythatsheordersalsotheheavens？
　　Cle。Ofcourse。
　　Ath。Onesoulormore？Morethanone-Iwillanswerforyou；atanyrate，wemustnotsupposethattherearelessthantwo-onetheauthorofgood，andtheotherofevil。
　　Cle。Verytrue。
　　Ath。Yes，verytrue；thesoulthendirectsallthingsinheaven，andearth，andseabyhermovements，andthesearedescribedbytheterms-will，consideration，attention，deliberation，opiniontrueandfalse，joyandsorrow，confidence，fear，hatred，love，andotherprimarymotionsakintothese；whichagainreceivethesecondarymotionsofcorporealsubstances，andguideallthingstogrowthanddecay，tocompositionanddecomposition，andtothequalitieswhichaccompanythem，suchasheatandcold，heavinessandlightness，hardnessandsoftness，blacknessandwhiteness，bitternessandsweetness，andallthoseotherqualitieswhichthesouluses，herselfagoddess，whentrulyreceivingthedivinemindshedisciplinesallthingsrightlytotheirhappiness；butwhensheisthecompanionoffolly，shedoestheverycontraryofallthis。Shallweassumesomuch，ordowestillentertaindoubts？
　　Cle。Thereisnoroomatallfordoubt。
　　Ath。Shallwesaythenthatitisthesoulwhichcontrolsheavenandearth，andthewholeworld？-thatitisaprincipleofwisdomandvirtue，oraprinciplewhichhasneitherwisdomnorvirtue？Supposethatwemakeanswerasfollows：-
　　Cle。Howwouldyouanswer？
　　Ath。If，myfriend，wesaythatthewholepathandmovementofheaven，andofallthatistherein，isbynatureakintothemovementandrevolutionandcalculationofmind，andproceedsbykindredlaws，then，asisplain，wemustsaythatthebestsoultakescareoftheworldandguidesitalongthegoodpath。
　　Cle。True。
　　Ath。Butiftheworldmoveswildlyandirregularly，thentheevilsoulguidesit。
　　Cle。Trueagain。
　　Ath。Ofwhatnatureisthemovementofmind？-Tothisquestionitisnoteasytogiveanintelligentanswer；andthereforeIoughttoassistyouinframingone。
　　Cle。Verygood。
　　Ath。Thenletusnotanswerasifwewouldlookstraightatthesun，makingourselvesdarknessatmidday-Imeanasifwewereundertheimpressionthatwecouldseewithmortaleyes，orknowadequatelythenatureofmind；-itwillbesafertolookattheimageonly。