21. Anaxagoras's Mind: Self-Rule, Separation, and the Ruling Principle

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Anaxagoras’s Six Attributes of Mind (Nous) #

1. Unlimited in Knowledge - Mind grasps universals and knows all things, unlike the ear which cannot know what it is
2. Self-Ruling (αὐτονόμος) - Mind directs itself through reason; the existence of logic proves this
3. Not Mixed with Matter - Mind must be separated from things to rule them effectively
4. Thinnest of All Things (λεπτότατον) - Mind penetrates and divides all things; it is sharp, penetrating, and can distinguish even inseparable realities
5. Purest of All Things (καθαριώτατον) - Mind is not itself a mixture of other things
6. Possesses All Knowledge - Particularly evident in ordering living things

The Critical Apparent Contradiction #

The Problem: Anaxagoras states that (1) mind is self-ruling, but also that (2) a ruler must be separated from the ruled to govern effectively. If mind rules itself, how can it be separated from itself?

Key Insight: The separation is not physical or between distinct parts, but epistemological—between what mind knows and what it does not know.

The Socratic Resolution: Mind rules itself by:

• Separating what it truly knows from what it merely thinks it knows (Socrates’s mission)
• Using known truths to discover unknown truths
• Being ruled in the unknown by the known
• Being ruled in the less certain by the more certain
• Being ruled most fundamentally by the most certain principles (e.g., law of non-contradiction)

Socrates’s life exemplifies this: his entire mission was to help people recognize they confused what they knew with what they didn’t know—the prerequisite for genuine self-rule.

Key Arguments #

Why Mind Must Be Separated from Matter to Rule #

• The Judge Analogy: A judge deciding between two businessmen must be impartial—“not a part of” (in + part) the case. A judge cannot rule fairly if he has interest in either party.
• Military Command: If officers and enlisted men are not separated (rank distinction, clubs, social separation), the chain of command breaks down. The Soviet Army discovered this when they tried calling everyone “comrade” without rank distinction—the army couldn’t function.
• Corporate Hierarchy: At Minnesota Mining, promotion required associating with one’s new level rather than remaining with former peers. Degree of separation correlates directly with degree of authority (no partition, partition around desk, separate room, outer office with secretary).
• Physical Control: One controls a chair better from outside it than sitting on it.

Why the Mind Must Be the Ruler #

Principle: One is not fit to rule others if one cannot rule oneself; therefore, only mind is fit to rule, since only mind is self-ruling.

• Anger cannot rule itself; it doesn’t know if anger is too much or too little without reason examining the circumstances
• Other emotions likewise cannot judge their own appropriateness
• This gives rise to ethics, domestic philosophy, and political philosophy

Why Mind Separates Things by Circular Motion #

When mind separates things (either in nature or through our mental operations), it does so through circular motion. Definition and division involve ordering things according to before and after, which presupposes distinction.

Important Definitions #

Nous (νοῦς) - Mind: Not merely intellect but the ordering principle that separates and arranges all things; unlimited in knowledge, self-governing, unmixed with matter.

Self-Ruling (αὐτονόμος): Not independence from all governance, but mind’s capacity to direct itself by distinguishing what it knows from what it doesn’t know. A nation’s self-rule means one part (government) rules other parts, not that ruler and ruled are identical.

Separation (χωρίζω): The necessary distinction that enables ruling. In mind’s case, the epistemological separation between known and unknown, between more certain and less certain.

Thinnest (λεπτότατον): Mind’s penetrating, dividing quality; its ability to distinguish even realities that cannot be physically separated (e.g., health from body).

Purest (καθαριώτατον): Unmixed nature; mind cannot be composed of material elements, for those would be thinner than mind itself.

τέχνη (Tecne) περὶ λόγους (peri logous): “An art about arguments” - what Socrates calls for and Aristotle provides through logic; the ability to distinguish good arguments from bad, necessary arguments from probable ones.

Examples & Illustrations #

The Table’s Area (Knowledge Moving from Known to Unknown) #

If you know the length and width of a table but have never multiplied them, you don’t yet know the area. The area is unknown, but length and width are known. When you calculate the area, you are ruled in what you discover about the unknown by what you already know (length, width, and the operation of multiplication). This exemplifies how mind rules itself: it uses what it knows to move toward what it doesn’t know.

The Impartial Judge #

A judge deciding between two businessmen must not have business interest in either party. “Impartial” means “not a part of.” If the judge has interest in one party’s company, he should be disqualified because he cannot be separated from the case.

Military Command and Separation #

After the Bolshevik Revolution, when the Soviet Army tried to eliminate rank distinction (calling everyone “comrade”), the army could not function. Separation between those who command and those who obey is necessary for command to work.

Corporate Hierarchy at Minnesota Mining #

When a man was promoted to a higher echelon, he was expected to associate with that level rather than remain “buddy-buddy” with former peers. The degree of separation indicates the degree of authority: no partition (secretary level), partition around desk (step up), separate room (next step), separate room with outer office and secretary screening visitors (further step up).

Episcopal Promotion #

When a diocesan priest is elevated to bishop, he must become impartial and not remain particularly friendly with priests he was close to before promotion. The greater authority requires greater separation.

The Longbow in Medieval Warfare #

English archers defeated greatly outnumbered French forces at Crécy and other battles during the Hundred Years’ War through superior knowledge of the longbow. Proper use required training from youth and knew how to put full weight into the shot in a particular way. This superior knowledge gave power over a numerically superior force.

Knowledge and Power #

Following Bacon’s principle that knowledge and power are inseparable, man dominates other animals not through superior physical strength (a naked man against a tiger or gorilla would lose) but through knowledge. The Nazis’ pursuit of the atomic bomb during WWII shows how knowledge concentrates power: if they had obtained it first, all would be Nazis today.

Naming Things by What They Have Most #

The economy is called “market” not because there is no government regulation but because markets predominate. In a planned economy, there is still some black market, but we don’t call it market economy because government planning is dominant. Similarly, the book of Psalms is called a “book of prayers” though some prophecy appears in it, while prophetic books contain some prayers—we name by what predominates. Exception: “fat-free salad dressing” and “non-alcoholic wine” are named by what they lack in comparison to the standard form.

Questions Addressed #

How can mind rule itself if separation is necessary for ruling? #

The separation is not physical or between distinct parts of mind, but epistemological. Mind rules itself by separating what it knows from what it doesn’t know, and using known truths to discover unknown truths. This is exemplified in every act of reasoning and calculation: we move from what we know to what we don’t yet know.

What is required for genuine self-rule? #

Generous self-rule requires separating what one truly knows from what one merely thinks one knows. Most people, Socrates discovered, have not done this and therefore are not truly self-ruling—they are ruled by passion, custom, and false opinion instead. This is why Socrates says students who boast they “think for themselves” have not actually achieved self-rule; they haven’t done the prerequisite work of knowing what they know and don’t know.

Why does Anaxagoras single out living things as ruled by mind? #

Living things display (1) diversity of parts well-ordered and (2) evident purpose. Non-living things (stones, water, air) lack this organized diversity and purposiveness. The word “organic” comes from Greek “organon” (tool), so living bodies are bodies composed of tools—parts made for something. Since the cause of order in artificial things is human mind, there must be a greater mind responsible for the order in natural living things.

Notable Quotes #

“For if it were not by itself, the mind, but were mixed with something other, it would have a share of all things if it were mixed with any… And the things mixed with it would hinder it, so that it would rule over nothing like it does being alone by itself.” — Anaxagoras (quoted by Berquist)

“Socrates’ whole life is a witness to the fact that that confusion is very, very common. So what is Socrates trying to get them to do? To separate what they really know from what they don’t know.” — Berquist

“Don’t blame arguments. Blame yourself who can’t tell the difference between a good argument and a bad argument.” — Socrates, as quoted by Berquist from the Phaedo

“The greatest compliment Monsignor Dion could pay me is saying, I’m able to rule myself. Well, I thought everyone could do that.” — Berquist (illustrating that genuine self-rule is rare)

“You realize how much power the atomic bomb had now to get you people… If the Nazis had gotten the atomic bomb before us, and they’d drop, you know, a bomb in New York City, and New York City was gone, and the bomb in Chicago, okay, we surrender. We’d all be Nazis today.” — Berquist (on the connection between knowledge and power)