# Ἐκ τῶν μετὰ τὰ φυσικά 8

Theophrastus, Ἐκ τῶν μετὰ τὰ φυσικά, Section 8. Ancient Greek.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/greek/theophrastus/text-4/8

τὸ δὲ κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν σφαιρῶν τῆς αἰτίας μείζονα ζητεῖ λόγον· οὐ γὰρ ὅ γε τῶν ἀστρολόγων. ἄπορον δὲ καὶ πῶς ποτὲ φυσικὴν ὄρεξιν ἐχόντων οὐ τὴν ἠρεμίαν διώκουσιν ἀλλὰ τὴν κίνησιν. τί οὖν ἅμα τῇ μιμήσει φασὶν ἐκεῖνο ὅσοι τε τὸ ἓν καὶ ὅσοι τοὺς ἀριθμοὺς λέγουσιν; καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ τούς ἀριθμούς φασι τὸ ἕν. εἰ δὴ ἔφεσις, ἄλλως τε καὶ τοῦ ἀρίστου, μετὰ ψυχῆς. εἰ μή τις λέγοι καθ᾽ ὁμοιότητα καὶ διαφορὰν ἔμψυχα εἶναι τὰ κινούμενα. ψυχὴ δ᾽ ἅμα δοκεῖ καὶ κίνησις ὑπάρχειν ζωὴ γὰρ τοῖς ἔχουσιν, ἀφ᾽ ἧς καὶ αἱ ὁρέξεις πρὸς ἕκαστον, ὥσπερ καὶ τοῖς ζώοις, ἐπεὶ καὶ αἱ αἰσθήσεις καίπερ ἐν τῷ πάσχειν οὖσαι δι᾽ ἑτέρων ὅμως ἔμψυχοι γίγνονται.

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Theophrastus, Ἐκ τῶν μετὰ τὰ φυσικά, ed. Friedrich Wimmer. Text: The Greek Library, from the Perseus Digital Library and other open sources, CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: apostrophes normalised and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://thegreeklibrary.pages.lisn.upsaclay.fr/works/tlg0093.tlg006.local001/.