For as we cannot discern the articulation of the limbs in that which is implanted for the conception of the body before it begins to take form, so neither is it possible to perceive in the same the properties of the soul before they advance to operation; and just as no one would doubt that the thing so implanted is fashioned into the different varieties of limbs and interior organs, not by the importation of any other power from without, but by the power which resides in it transforming it to this manifestation of energy,-so also we may by like reasoning equally suppose in the case of the soul that even if it is not visibly recognized by any manifestations of activity it none the less is there; for even the form of the future man is there potentially, but is concealed because it is not possible that it should be made visible before the necessary sequence of events allows it; so also the soul is there, even though it is not visible, and will be manifested by means of its own proper and natural operation, as it advances concurrently with the bodily growth.

For since it is not from a dead body that the potentiality for conception is secreted, but from one which is animate and alive, we hence affirm that it is reasonable that we should not suppose that what is sent forth from a living body to be the occasion of life is itself dead and inanimate; for in the flesh that which is inanimate is surely dead; and the condition of death arises by the withdrawal of the soul. Would not one therefore in this case be asserting that withdrawal is antecedent to possession-if, that is, he should maintain that the inanimate state which is the condition of death is antecedent to the soul ? And if any one should seek for a still clearer evidence of the life of that particle which becomes the beginning of the living creature in its formation, it is possible to obtain an idea on this point from other signs also, by which what is animate is distinguished from what is dead. For in the case of men we consider it an evidence of life that one is warm and operative and in motion, but the chill and motionless state in the case of bodies is nothing else than deadness.

Ὡς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστι τὴν κατὰ μέλη διάρθρωσιν ἐνιδεῖν τῷ πρὸς τὴν σύλληψιν τοῦ σώματος ἐντιθεμένῳ πρὸ τῆς διαπλάσεως, οὕτως οὐδὲ τὰς τῆς ψυχῆς ἰδιότητας ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ δυνατόν ἐστι κατανοῆσαι͵ πρὶν προελθεῖν εἰς ἐνέργειαν. Καὶ ὥσπερ οὐκ ἄν τις ἀμφιβάλοι πρὸς τὰς τῶν ἄρθρων τε καὶ σπλάγχνων διαφορὰς ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἐντεθὲν σχηματίζεσθαι͵ οὐκ ἄλλης τινὸς δυνάμεως ἐπεισερχομένης͵ ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐγκειμένης φυσικῶς πρὸς τὴν ἐνέργειαν αὐτῆς μεθισταμένης, οὕτω καὶ περὶ ψυχῆς ἀναλόγως ἔστι τὸ ἶσον ὑπονοῆσαι͵ ὅτι κἂν μὴ διά τινων ἐνεργειῶν ἐν τῷ φαινομένῳ γνωρίζηται͵ οὐδὲν ἧττόν ἐστιν ἐν ἐκείνῳ. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ εἶδος τοῦ μέλλοντος συνίστασθαι ἀνθρώπου ἐν ἐκείνῳ ἐστὶ τῇ δυνάμει͵ λανθάνει δὲ διὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι δυνατὸν πρὸ τῆς ἀναγκαίας ἀκολουθίας ἀναφανῆναι. Οὕτω καὶ ἡ ψυχή ἐστι μὲν ἐν ἐκείνῳ καὶ μὴ φαινομένη͵ φανήσεται δὲ διὰ τῆς οἰκείας ἑαυτῆς καὶ κατὰ φύσιν ἐνεργείας͵ τῇ σωματικῇ αὐξήσει συμπροϊοῦσα.

Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἀπὸ νεκροῦ σώματος ἡ πρὸς τὴν σύλληψιν δύναμις ἀποκρίνεται͵ ἀλλ' ἐξ ἐμψύχου καὶ ζῶντος, διὰ τοῦτό φαμεν εὔλογον εἶναι μὴ νεκρὸν καὶ ἄψυχον οἴεσθαι τὸ ἀπὸ ζῶντος εἰς ζωῆς ἀφορμὴν προϊέμενον. Τὸ γὰρ ἐν σαρκὶ ἄψυχον, καὶ νεκρόν ἐστι πάντως. Ἡ δὲ νεκρότης κατὰ στέρησιν ψυχῆς γίνεται. Οὐκ ἂν δέ τις ἐπὶ τούτου πρεσβυτέραν τῆς ἕξεως εἴποι τὴν στέρησιν͵ εἴπερ τὸ ἄψυχον͵ ὅπερ νεκρότης ἐστί͵ τῆς ψυχῆς εἶναί τις κατασκευάζει πρεσβύτερον. [237] Εἰ δέ τις καὶ ἐναργέστερον ζητοίη τεκμήριον τοῦ ζῇν ἐκεῖνο τὸ μέρος͵ ὅπερ ἀρχὴ τοῦ κατασκευαζομένου γίνεται ζώου͵ δυνατόν ἐστι καὶ δι' ἄλλων σημείων͵ δι' ὧν τὸ ἔμψυχον ἐκ τοῦ νεκροῦ διακρίνεται͵ καὶ περὶ τούτου κατανοῆσαι. Τεκμήριον γὰρ τοῦ ζῇν ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ποιούμεθα͵ τὸ θερμὸν εἶναί τινα καὶ ἐνεργὸν καὶ κινούμενον. Τὸ δὲ κατεψυγμένον τε καὶ ἀκίνητον ἐπὶ τῶν σωμάτων͵ οὐδὲν ἕτερον εἰ μὴ νεκρότης ἐστίν.