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Sextus Empiricus
Against the Physicists, Books IX-X of Against the Learned Section 87
Section 87 of 791
Canonical reference 9.87
Ancient Greek
Hermann Mutschmann and Jürgen Mau, editors · adversus-grc
πάντως εὔλογον καὶ ἐν τῷ αἰθέρι ζῴων εἶναι φύσιν, ὅθεν καὶ ἄνθρωποι νοερᾶς μετέχουσι δυνάμεως, ἐκεῖθεν αὐτὴν σπάσαντες. ὄντων δὲ αἰθερίων ζῴων, καὶ κατὰ πολὺ τῶν ἐπιγείων ὑπερφέρειν δοκούντων τῷ ἄφθαρτα εἶναι καὶ ἀγέννητα, δοθήσεται καὶ θεοὺς ὑπάρχειν, τούτων μὴ διαφέροντας.
English AI-generated translation, non-official
Codex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-11
it is certainly reasonable that a nature of living beings exists in the ether too, from which human beings also derive their share of intelligent power. If there are ethereal living beings, apparently far surpassing terrestrial ones by being indestructible and ungenerated, it will be granted that gods too exist, since they do not differ from these.
French AI-generated translation, non-official
Codex gpt-5.6-sol · Non-official working translation · 2026-09-11
il est assurément raisonnable qu’une nature animale existe aussi dans l’éther. C’est de là que les hommes participent à une puissance intellective, puisqu’ils l’y ont puisée. Or, s’il existe des animaux éthérés qui semblent surpasser de beaucoup les animaux terrestres en étant indestructibles et inengendrés, on accordera aussi qu’il existe des dieux, lesquels ne diffèrent pas de ces animaux.
Concepts in this passage
Equipollence
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Nature
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Reason
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Suspension of judgment
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