Miscellanies 8.9.25
Summary: Causes are initiating, sustaining, cooperating, or necessary conditions, illustrated by learning: the father starts it, the teacher sustains it, the learner's nature cooperates, and time is its condition.
Greek text · Stählin 2
Τῶν αἰτίων τὰ μὲν προκαταρκτικά, τὰ δὲ συνεκτικά, τὰ δὲ συνεργά, τὰ δὲ ὧν οὐκ ἄνευ. προκαταρκτικὰ μὲν τὰ πρώτως ἀφορμὴν παρεχόμενα εἰς τὸ γίγνεσθαί τι, καθάπερ τὸ κάλλος τοῖς ἀκολάστοις τοῦ ἔρωτος· ὀφθὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς τὴν ἐρωτικὴν διάθεσιν ἐμποιεῖ μόνον, οὐ μὴν κατηναγκασμένως. συνεκτικὰ δὲ ἅπερ συνωνύμως καὶ αὐτοτελῆ καλεῖται, ἐπειδήπερ αὐτάρκως διʼ αὑτῶν ποιητικά ἐστι τοῦ ἀποτελέσματος. ἑξῆς δὲ πάντα τὰ αἴτια ἐπὶ τοῦ μανθάνοντος δεικτέον. ὁ μὲν πατὴρ αἴτιόν ἐστι προκαταρκτικὸν τῆς μαθήσεως, ὁ διδάσκαλος δὲ συνεκτικόν. ἡ δὲ τοῦ μανθάνοντος φύσις συνεργὸν αἴτιον, ὁ δὲ χρόνος τῶν ὧν οὐκ ἄνευ λόγον ἐπέχει. Αἴτιον δὲ κυρίως λέγεται τὸ παρεκτικόν τινος ἐνεργητικῶς, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν σίδηρον τμητικόν φαμεν εἶναι οὐ μόνον ἐν τῷ τέμνειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ μὴ τέμνειν· οὕτως οὖν καὶ τὸ παρεκτικὸν ἄμφω σημαίνει καὶ τὸ ἤδη ἐνεργοῦν καὶ τὸ μηδέπω μέν, δυνάμει δὲ κεχρημένον τοῦ ἐνεργῆσαι.
English · Claude translation
Of causes, some are initiating, some sustaining, some cooperating, and some are those without which a thing does not happen. Initiating causes are those that first give the occasion for something to come about, as beauty is of love for the licentious; for when seen, it merely produces the amorous disposition in them, but not of necessity. Sustaining causes are those also called, synonymously, self-sufficient, since they are sufficiently productive of the effect by themselves. All the causes should be shown in order in the case of a learner. The father is the initiating cause of learning, the teacher the sustaining cause, the learner's nature the cooperating cause, and time holds the place of the cause without which it does not happen. Cause, in the proper sense, is said of what is productive of something actively; for we say that iron is capable of cutting not only while it cuts but also when it does not cut. So then “productive” signifies both: what is already active, and what is not yet active but possesses the power to act.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- This chapter draws on the Stoic and medical theory of causes. The terms are rendered consistently: προκαταρκτικόν “initiating cause”, συνεκτικόν “sustaining cause”, συνεργόν “cooperating cause”, συναίτιον “joint cause”, τὰ ὧν οὐκ ἄνευ “causes without which a thing does not happen” (necessary conditions), αὐτοτελές “self-sufficient”, ἀποτέλεσμα “effect”.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 8.9.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/8/9/25/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 8.9.25 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/8/9/25/).
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