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。