Note 7, p. 41. How, indeed, is it possible.] This pas-
sage is very elliptical and obscure, but its purport seems
to be an objection to the doctrine of Xenocrates, a follower
of Plato, who maintained that the Vital Principle might
be separate from the body. The argument runs thus: if
the Vital Principle be a number, and if each unit be a
point, how, as the point is not separable from the line,
can the Vital Principle be separate from the body?
Although the point may be, abstractedly, apart from the
line, yet as the line is not divisible into points, (since
points are but the termination of the line) it follows that
the Vital Principle, when regarded as a point, cannot be,
actually, separate from the body. The Latin paraphrase is,
"Insuper qui fieri potest ut separentur et absolvantur a
corporibus, ipsa puncta? siquidem lineae non dividuntur in
puncta[1];" the French is, "Comment est-il possible que les
âmes se séparent et se délivrent des corps, puisque les
lignes ne se divisent pas en points?"
- ↑ Acad. Reg. Borussica.
