Book 1, Chapter 20

“For if people now think they have achieved something by seeing the entrance to the Black Sea and those narrows through which passed the ship named

“‘Argo, because chosen men of Argos“‘Sailed in her in quest of the ram’s gilded fleece,’

“or by seeing those straits of Ocean ‘where the rushing wave divides Europe and Libya,’ what a spectacle do we think there will be when we may look upon the whole earth—its position, shape, and outline, its habitable regions, and, in contrast, those empty of all cultivation because of the force of cold or heat?

46 “For even now it is not with our eyes that we discern what we see. There is no sensation in the body: rather, as not only natural philosophers teach but also physicians, who have seen these parts laid open and exposed, there are something like channels running from the soul’s seat to the eyes, ears, and nostrils. Thus, when absorbed in thought or hindered by some force of illness, we often neither see nor hear, though our eyes and ears are open and sound. It is easy to understand from this that the soul sees and hears, not those parts which are, as it were, its windows—windows through which the mind can nevertheless perceive nothing unless it is present and attentive. And what of our grasping such different things with the same mind: color, taste, heat, smell, sound? The soul could never know these through five messengers unless everything were brought to it and it alone were judge of them all. Certainly these things will be discerned far more purely and clearly when the soul, free, has reached the place to which nature bears it.

47 “For now, although nature has fashioned with consummate skill those openings which lead from the body to the soul, they are still in some way obstructed by bodies of dense, earthly matter. But when there is nothing except the soul, no barrier will prevent it from perceiving what each thing is like.”

“Even now, people think they’ve achieved something if they’ve seen the mouth of the Black Sea and the straits through which the ship passed that was called“‘Argo, because chosen Argive men“‘Sailed in it to seek the ram’s gold-covered fleece,’“or if they’ve seen those straits of the Ocean ‘where the rushing water divides Europe and Libya.’ So what a sight do we think it will be when we can look over the whole earth—its position, shape, and outline, its inhabited regions, and also the ones where the force of cold or heat keeps out all human cultivation?

46 “Even now, our eyes don’t actually do the seeing. Sensation isn’t located in the body at all. Both natural scientists and doctors—the latter having cut these parts open and examined them—teach that something like channels run from where the soul sits through to the eyes, ears, and nose. Think how often illness or being lost in thought leaves us blind and deaf, although our eyes and ears are open and undamaged. Clearly it’s the soul that hears and sees. Those organs are only its windows, and the mind can’t sense anything through them without being there and attending to it. Consider, too, how one mind takes in such different things: colors, flavors, heat, smells, sounds. Five separate messengers could never make these known to the soul unless their reports all reached it and it alone passed judgment on everything. Once the soul has gone free to the place it naturally seeks, our perception of these things will surely be far clearer and purer.

47 “Nature has made those openings from the body to the soul with the most ingenious skill. But as things stand, they’re blocked in a way by bodies made of dense, earthy matter. When there’s nothing but the soul, nothing in its path will keep it from perceiving what each thing is like.”