Physics 147
there is no part of our body which is not of less value than we ourselves
are, so the cosmos as a whole must be of more value than any part of it;
but if this is so, the cosmos must necessarily be wise, for if it were not,
then man, who is a part of the cosmos, would have to be of more value
than the entire cosmos in virtue of his participation in reason.- And if we want to proceed from primary and rudimentary natures
to those which are highest and perfect, it is necessary that we arrive at
the nature of the gods. We notice first that nature sustains things produced
from the earth, to whom she gave nothing more than the ability to nourish
themselves and to grow. 34. But she gave to beasts the powers of sense-
perception and motion and the ability to use a kind of impulse to acquire
beneficial things and avoid dangerous things. Her gifts to man were
greater in that she added reason, by which the soul's impulses could be
governed by being alternately set loose and restrained. The fourth and
highest level belongs to those who are by nature born good and wise,
those in whom right and consistent reason is inborn from the very
beginning. This kind of reason must be thought of as beyond human
capacity and should be assigned to a god, i.e., the cosmos, which must
necessarily contain that perfected and completed form of reason. - Nor can one say that in any complex system ultimate perfection
does not occur. In the case of vines or cattle we see that, unless some
[external] force interferes, nature follows its own path to its final goal;
in painting, building and the other crafts we can point to the completion
of a perfect piece of workmanship; similarly, (but much more so) it is
necessary that something be completed and perfected in nature as a
whole. Indeed, other natures can be prevented by many external factors
from achieving perfection, but nature as a whole cannot be hindered by
anything, for the very reason that it itself embraces and contains all
[other] natures. That is why it is necessary that there be this fourth and
highest level which is immune to all outside force. 36. It is on this level
that we find the nature of the universe; and since this nature is superior
to all things and is immune to hindrance by anything, it is necessary that
the cosmos be intelligent and even wise.
And what is more foolish than to deny that the nature which contains
all things is best, or to say that, although it is best, it is not, in the first
place, alive, secondly, equipped with reason and deliberative ability, and
finally, wise? How else could it be best? For if it resembles plants or
even the lower animals, it must be thought of not as the best but as the
worst. And if it is rational but not wise from the very beginning, the
condition of the cosmos is worse than that of human beings; for a man
can become wise, but if the cosmos has been foolish throughout the
eternity of preceding time, surely it will never achieve wisdom-and so