his Daughter Ptolomy the Aethiopian Antipater the Cyrenean Arete's Disciple was her Son Apristippus Sur-named Metrodidactus whose Scholar was Theodorus first Surnamed the Atheist then the Deist Antipater's Disciple was Epitimedes the Cyrenean whose Hearer was Paraebates and his Disciple Hegesias Surnam'd Pisithanatus and Aniceris by whom Plato was redeem'd Now they who embrace the Doctrine of Aristippus and are from him call'd Cyrenaics hold these following Opinions In the first place they assert two perturbations of the Mind Pain and Pleasure the one a smooth the other a rough Motion That there is no difference between Pleasure and Pleasure and that no Pleasure has any thing more peculiar to it than another as being that which all living Creatures desire The other which is Pain they all endeavour to avoid As for the pleasure of the Body which they assert to be a sort of End as Panaetius relates in his Treatise of the Sects they do not allow it to be that sedate Pleasure occasion'd by the privation of Pain and cessation of Trouble which Epicurus defends and maintains to be the End. For they hold that there is a difference between the End and Felicity For the End is only pleasure in part but Felicity is a compos'd Body consisting of all the parts of Pleasure into which number are to be reckon'd both past and present Moreover that Pleasure in part is to be desir'd for it self happiness not for it self but for the sake of all the pleasures divided Now for proof that the End is Pleasure we find our selves all accustomed to it from Children not of our own choice but by the Impulse of Nature and that when we enjoy it we seek nothing farther On the other side that there is nothing which we seek more to avoid than its contrary Pain Moreover that Pleasure is a Good though proceeding from the vilest Actions as Hippâ—baâ—us relates in his Treatise of Sects For though the act be Evil yet the Pleasure that proceeds from it is desirable and good But the removal of Pain is not by them as by Epicurus taken for Pleasure nor is the cessation of Pleasure by them accounted Pain for that both consist in Motion but neither cessation of Pain nor privation of Pleasure are Motions seeing that cessation of Pain is no more than as it were the condition of him that sleeps Moreover they affirm that perverseness of Mind can make no choice of Pleasure nor do they believe that all the Pleasures and Pains of the Mind proceed from the Pains and Pleasures of the Body For that in the Soul there is a joy for the Prosperity of our Country besides the pleasure we take in our own private happiness Nor do they believe the remembrance of past or the expectance of future enjoyments to be Pleasure which was the Opinion of Epicurus for time puts a stop to the motion of the Soul. Nor will they allow Pleasure to consist in seeing or hearing only For we hear with delight those that feign a Lamentation but a real Mourning is displeasing to our Ears Moreover they call the privation of Pain or Pleasure the Middle Condition between Both. However they hold the Pleasures of the Body far to excell those of the Mind and that therefore the pains of the Body are more grievous and whence it happens that offenders are more tormented with corporeal Punishment For pain is more grievous to endure pleasure more familiar and grateful which was the reason that some took greater care of their Bodies than of their Souls And therefore seeing pleasure is to be desir'd for the sake of this Pleasure the efficient causes of some pleasures many times are troublesome and a croud of pleasures becomes most irksome as not creating any true Felicity They would not have a Wise Man to live always in pleasure nor a Fool alwayâ— in pain but for the most part And they think it sufficient for a Man to enjoy the satisfaction of one Pleasure at a time As for Wisdom they hold it to be a Blessing but not to be desir'd of it self but for the sake of those things that proceed from it That a Friend is to be loved for the use we make of him for that he is a part of the Body so long as he continues a Friend That some Vertues are common to Fools as well as Wise Men. That Bodily exercise conduces to the attaining of Vertue That a Wise Man will never give way to Envy Incontinency nor Superstition for they proceed from want of Judgment But they allow him to grieve and fear as being natural to Mankind That Wealth is an efficient cause of Pleasure but not to be desir'd for it self That the affections were also to be included but they did not pretend to tell us from whence they proceeded They made little inquiry into Natural Philosophy by reason of its difficulty and obscurity But for Logick they had a kindness as being so singularly useful Yet Meleager in his Second Book of Opinions and Clitomachus in his First Book of Sects both deny that they minded at all either Natural Philosophy or Logic. For they thought that he who rightly understood the nature of Good and Evil might be able both to argue and speak well that he was out of the danger of superstition and had no reason to be afraid of Death That there was nothing just honest or dishonest by Nature but only by Law and Custom However a good Man forbears to act any thing absur'd or wicked by reason of the Censures of the World and Punishments to which Offenders are liable That to be wise was to make a progress in Philosophy and other things wherein a Man was deficient before They held that one Man was more affected with grief than another and that the Senses did not always give true Information They also that call'd themselves Hegesiacs had the same prospects of Pleasure and Pain Besides they held that there was nothing of Kindness nothing of Friendship or Beneficence because they do not desire these things for their own but for the sake of benefit and necessity and for the sake of those occasions which give them Life and Being That for a Man to enjoy a Life of perfect Felicity was absolutely impossible for that the Body was subject to a thousand Distempers and the Soul sympathiz'd with the Body besides that fortune frustrated our expectations in many things That Life and Death were both to be desired and that nothing was either pleasant or unpleasant by Nature but that through Scarcity Novelty and Satiety some things were delightful others distastful That Wealth and Poverty had no relation to Pleasure for that the Peasures of the Rich and the Pleasures of the Poor were still the same That there was no difference between Servitude and Freedom Nobility and meanness of Extraction Honour and Dishonour according to the Standard of Pleasure That it was expedient for a Fool to live but indifferent to a Wise Man. That a
cannot be lost contrary to Cleanthes They also affirm That Justice is Justice by Nature and not by Constitution of Law as Love it self and right Reason are according to the Opinion of Chrysippus in his Treatise De Honesto They also hold that Discord it self is not contrary to Phylosophy For if this were not true there would be a Deficiency in Life it self as Possidonius affirms Chrysippus also asserts the Liberal Sciences to be of great Use in his Treatise of Justice And Possidonius maintains the same Opinion in his Book De Officiis The same Authors aver That we are not just to other Creatures because of the Dissimilitude that is between us and them They allow a Wise man to be in Love with young Lads that carry in their more beautiful Aspects the Marks of Ingenuity and a Propensity to Virtue as Zeno in his Common-Wealth and Chrysippus in his Lives and Apollodorus in his Ethics declare For Love say they is an Endeavour to gain Friendship for the sake of appearing Beauty nor is it for the sake of Coition but of Friendship Therefore Thraso having his Mistress wholly at his Command abstain'd from her for fear of being hated So then Love is a Tie of Friendship not to be blam'd as Chrysippus acknowledges in his Treatise of Love. Beauty they define to be the Flower of Love. Now there being Three Sorts of Lives the Speculative the Practical and the Rational Life they say The Third is to be preferr'd For that a Rational Creature was created by Nature sufficient for Contemplation and Practice Farther they say That a Wise man will readily surrender his Life for his Country and his Friend though he suffer Torment Mutilation of Members or the most incurable Diseases 'T is their Opinion also That Wives should be in common so that a man might make Use of the first he met by accident for thus Zeno and Chrysippus both ordain'd in their Common-Wealths for that they will all have the same Charity and Affection for their Offspring and by that means Adultery and Jealousie will be remov'd out of the World. They affirm that Common wealth to be the best which is a mixture of Regal and Popular Power And this is a Brief Accompt of their Morality though they have asserted many other Opinions not without probable Grounds As for their Natural Philosophy it is comprehended under the Places of Bodies Principles Elements Deities the End Place and Vacuum Thus specifically But generally they divide it into Three Places Of the World of the Elements and of Causes The Place of the World they divide into two Parts For by the means of one Consideration they associate to themselves the Mathematics which teach 'em to enquire into the Nature of the wandring and fix'd Stars and the like As Whether the Sun be as big as he seems to be And the same concerning the Moon the Rising and Setting of the Stars and the like By means of the other Speculation which is only proper for Naturalists they enquire What is the Substance of Natural Philosophy what the Sun is and what the Stars are as to Matter and Form whether Created or not whether Living Bodies or no whether corruptible or not whether govern'd by Providence and so of the rest The Place of Causes also they distinguish into two Parts Under one Consideration falls the Question common to Physicians concerning the Dominion of the Soul what things are existent in the Soul of the Seed c. What remains is common also to the Mathematics as How we see what 's the Cause of the Optic Fancy what the Cause of Clouds Thunder Rainbows Halo's Comets and the like They assert two Principles of all Things the Active and Passive The Passive that same lazy and feneant Substance call'd Matter The Active God which is the Reason contain'd in it Who being Sempiternal was the Architect of the whole Structure and of all things contain'd in it This is the Opinion of Zeno the Cittian in his Treatise of Substance With whom agree Cleanthes in his Book of Atoms and Chrysiyppus in his First Book of Physics toward the End Archedemus in his Treatise of the Elements and Possidonius in his Second Book of Natural Philosophy However they make a Distinction between Principles and Elements for the one they hold to be without beginning the other Corruption that the Elements shall perish by Fire for that the Elements are corporeal but the Principles incorporeal and incorruptible A Body as Apollodorus defines it is that which consists of Longitude Latitude and Depth and this he calls a Solid Body The Supersicies is the Termination of a Body or that which has only Length and Latitude but no Depth And this falls as well under Thoughts as Substance A Line is the End of a Supersicies or Length without Breadth or having only Length A Point is the Termination of a Line and is the smallest Mark that can be They hold but one God to whom they give the Names of Intelligence Fate Jove and sundry other Appellations This God at the Beginning when he was alone by himself turn'd all Substance into Water having rarify'd it first into Ayr. And as the Sperm is contain'd in the Birth thus this Spermatic Reason of the World remain'd in the Water preparing the Matter for the Generation of external Beings and then the four Principles were created Fire Water Ayr and Earth This is the Discourse of Zeno in his Book of the World of Chrysippus in his first Book of Physics and of Archedemus in a certain Book of Elements An Element is that out of which all things were at first produc'd and into which they are to be dissolv'd again That all the Elements together at first compos'd that motionless Substance Matter That Fire is hot Ayr cold Water liquid and Earth dry and that the same Part still remains in the Ayr That the Fire is uppermost which they call the Sky where the Sphere of the Planets was first created next to that the Ayr below that the Water and the Earth the Foundation of all as being in the middle They affirm the World to be God three manner of ways First The peculiar Quality of the whole Substance incorruptible and without Beginning the Architect of the whole adorn'd Structure after some Periods of Time consuming and swallowing up the whole Substance into Himself and then restoring it out of Himself again In the next Place they affirm the Ornamental Order of the Stars to be the World. And Thirdly A Being consisting of both Possidonius defines the World to be the peculiar Quality of the whole Substance compos'd of Heaven and Earth and the Nature of the things therein contain'd Or a Systeme of Gods and Men and of those things created for their sakes That the Heaven is the outermost Periphery or Superficies upon which all that which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Divine Nature was fix'd Moreover That the World was
of various Names to preserve his Writings from being thumbed by rude and illiterate Readers For he said that Wisdom was properly the knowledg of those things which were apprehended by the Understanding and were truly existent which was separated from the Body in the Contemplation of God and the Soul. Moreover he defin'd Wisdom and Philosphy to be an inbred desire of Divine or Heavenly Wisdom But generally he took it for all sort of Skill and Knowledg as when we call an Artificer a Knowing Man. He also makes use of the same words to signifie several things Thus he makes use of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signify Plain or Simple as in Euripides thus speaking of Hercules in his Lysimnius Careless and Plain but for the most part honest Who measured Wisdom still by Deeds not words What e're he said he meant The same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato frequently uses sometimes for Honest sometimes for Small tho' at other times he makes use of different words to signify one and the same thing Thus he calls Idea sometimes Genus sometimes Species as also the Beginning the Exemplar and the Cause Sometimes he expresses the same thing by contrary words Thus he give◠the Names of Entity and Non Entity to Sensible Entity because it is generated Non Entity because of its being subject to continual Change. Moreover he calls Idea that which never is moved nor is permanent the same one and many And this he uses to do in several other things As for his works they require a threefold Exposition First what every one of the Subjects are that are discoursed of Then the end of the Discourse whether according to the first Intention or in lieu of an Example whether to assert or 〈◊〉 fute and thirdly whether rightly and truly said In the next place in regard there are several marks and Characters affixed tohis Books let us take some account of Them also The Letter X. is affixed to Sentences and Figures altogether according to the Platonic Custom Double XX. to his peculiar Opinions and Tenents X′ accented to his more polite and elegant Flourishes Double accented X″ to the Emendations of others A little Dagger †accented for the rejecting ridiculous Confutations An Antisigma to shew the double use and transpositions of Writing A small Half-Moon to shew the Context of the Philosophy An Astcrisk * to shew the Concurrently of Opinions A Dagger to denote a Confutation And thus much for the Notes and particular Marks which he that desired to understand gave s much Money to his instructor as Antigonus the Carystian relates in his Treatise concerning Zeno late put forth As for his Opinions which he most fancied they were these That the Soul was Immortal and transmigrated into several Bodies having its beginning from Number but that the Beginning of the Body was Geometrical He defined it to be the Idea of a Spirit altogether separate moveing it self and consisting of three parts That the Rational part was seated in the Head. That part which was subject to Passion and Anger in the Heart and the Part which brought forth Desire and Concupiscence in the Navel and Liver That it encompassed the one half of the Body all over in a circular Form consisting of the Elements and that being divided according to Harmonical Intervals made two Semi-circles joined together◠the innermost of which being divided into six Parts made all the other seven Circles and lay Diametrically to the Left side within the other close to the side upon the Right and therefore it was most predominant as being but one For the other was divided within of which the one was of the same and the rest of the Other alledging this to be motion of the Soul that of the Universe and of the Planets and that by means of the middle Segments holding Proportion with the Extreams she comprehends all Beings and adapt◠'em together as having the Principles of all things in her self according to Harmony That Opinion arises from the Elevation of the Circle of the Other Knowledg from the Elevation of the Circle of the same That there were two Beginnings of all Things God and Matter which he calls Intelligence and nominates to be the Cause That Matter is without form and immense from the coalition and conjunction of Forms That this Matter at first being hurried up and down without order was at length rammassed together into one Place by the wise God who deem'd Ordel more seemly than Disorder That this existent Matter is divided into four Elements Fire Water Air and Earth Out of which the World and all things therein were Created only that the Earth is immutable believing it to be the cause of that Diversity of Forms whereof it consists for that the Forms of all other things are of the same kind being all composed of one Oblong Triangle tho' the Figure of the Earth be peculiar to it self seeing the Figure of Fire is Pyramidical the Air resembles an Octaedron the Water an Icosaedron but the Form of the Earth is Cubical Which is the reason that the Earth never changes into Them nor they into the Earth However he denies every Element to be confin'd to its proper place for that the Circular Motion by constraining and depressing to the Center congregates the smaller but separates the more bulky things which is the reason that when they change their forms they also change their Places That the World was Created single and one and was made a sensible Being by the Creator as being for its greater Excellency endued with Life and as the most glorious of Fabricks proceeding from the best of Causes and therefore but one though not Infinite because the Exemplar by which it was Created is but one That it is of a Sphaerical Figure as being the Form of the Creator For he encompasses the whole Creation and the World contains all other Forms of all things Moreover that it is smooth without any other Circular Organ as having no need of any such thing farther that the World is Immortal because it cannot be dissolv'd again into God. But that Cod was the cause of the whole Creation since only that which was good could do good That the best of causes was also the cause of the Creation of Heaven For that there could be no other cause of the most lovely part of the Creation than the best and most excellent of intelligible Beings which it being certain that God himself is and that the Heaven is also likest to him as being the next that transcends in Beauty there can be no Creature that it can resemble but only God. That the World consists of Fire Water Air and Earth Of Fire to the end it might be visible Of Earth that it might be solid of Air and Water that it might not want Proportion For solid things derive their Solidity from two Mediums to the end the whole may be made One. But then it takes its