31. A. Go on to what remains; for of this I am well convinced. R. Then I ask this, whether, besides the sciences in which we are instructed, and in which it is fitting that the study of wisdom itself should be included, we can find anything so true, that it is not, like that Achilles of the stage, false on one side, that it may be true on another? A. To me, indeed, many such things appear capable of being found. For no sciences contain this stone, nor yet, that it may be a true stone, does it imitate anything according to which it would be called false. Which one thing being mentioned, thou seest there is opportunity to dwell upon things innumerable, which of themselves occur to the thought. R. I see, I see. But do they not seem to thee to be included in the one name of Body? A. They might so seem, if either I had ascertained the inane to be nothing, or thought that the mind itself ought to be numbered among bodies, or believed that God also is a body. If all these things are, I see them not to be false and true in imitation of anything. R. You send us a long journey, but I will use all compendious speed. For certainly what you call the Inane is one thing, what you call Truth another. A. Widely diverse, indeed. For what more inane than I, if I think Truth anything inane, or so greatly seek after aught inane? For what else than Truth do I desire to find? R. Therefore perchance you grant this too, that nothing is true which does not by Truth come to be true. A. This became manifest at an early stage. R. Do you doubt that nothing is inane except the Inane itself, or certainly that a body is not inane? A. I do not doubt it at all. R. I suppose therefore, you believe that Truth is some sort of body. A. In no wise. R. What is a body? A. I know not; no matter: for I think thou knowest that even that inane, if it is inane, is more completely so where there is no body. R. This assuredly is plain. A. Why then do we delay? R. Does it then seem to thee either that Truth made the inane, or that there is anything true where Truth is not? A. Neither seems true. R. The inane therefore is not true, because neither could it become inane by that which is not inane: and it is manifest that what is void of truth is not true; and, in fine, that very thing which is called inane, is so called because it is nothing. How therefore can that be true which is not or how can that be which is absolutely nothing? A. Well then, let us desert the inane as being inane.

CAPUT XVII. Num aliquid ex omni parte falsum sit aut verum.

31. A. Proficiscere ad reliqua; nam hoc mihi bene persuasum est. R. Ergo illud quaero, utrum praeter disciplinas quibus erudimur, et quibus etiam ipsum studium sapientiae annumerari decet, possimus quidquam ita verum invenire, quod non sicut theatricus Achilles ex aliqua parte falsum sit, ut ex alia verum esse possit? A. Mihi videntur multa inveniri. Non enim disciplinae istum habent lapidem, nec tamen, ut verus sit lapis, imitatur aliquid secundum quod falsus dicatur. Quo uno commemorato, vides jam innumerabilibus supersedendum esse, quae sponte occurrant cogitantibus. R. Video prorsus. Sed nonne tibi videntur uno corporis nomine includi? A. Viderentur, si aut inane nihil esse certum haberem, aut ipsum animum inter corpora numerandum arbitrarer, aut etiam Deum corpus aliquod esse crederem. Quae omnia si sunt, ad nullius imitationem falsa et vera esse video. R. In longum nos mittis, sed utar quantum possum compendio. Certe enim aliud est quod inane appellas, aliud quod veritatem. A. Longe aliud. Quid enim me inanius, si veritatem inane aliquid puto, aut tantopere aliquid inane appeto? Quid enim aliud quam veritatem invenire desidero? R. Ergo et illud fortasse concedis, nihil verum esse quod non veritate fiat ut verum sit. A. Jam hoc olim manifestum est. R. Num dubitas nihil esse inane praeter ipsum inane, aut certe corpus? A. Prorsus non dubito. R. Opinor ergo, veritatem corpus esse aliquod credis. A. Nullo modo. R. Quid in corpore? A. Nescio; nihil ad rem: arbitror enim vel illud te scire, si est inane, magis illud esse ubi nullum sit corpus. R. Hoc sane planum est. A. Quid igitur immoramur? R. An tibi aut veritas videtur fecisse inane, aut aliquid verum esse ubi veritas non sit? A. Non videtur. R. Non est ergo inane verum, quia neque ab eo quod inane non est, inane fieri potest: et quod veritate caret, verum non esse manifestum est; et omnino ipsum quod inane dicitur, ex eo quod nihil sit dicitur. Quomodo igitur potest verum esse quod non est? aut quomodo potest esse quod penitus nihil est? A. Age nunc, inane tanquam inane deseramus.