Punning has of course a hoary antiquity, and even the revered Plato
was an adept at it--as we see in his Cratylos. Moreover, not till a
man's work is translated can we uncover all the unconscious cases
of "undistributed middle." Nevertheless, in an inquiry as to the
permanent objective validity of a train of reasoning, we are compelled
to note extent and scope of his tendency. So he puns on aeons;[753]
on science and knowledge;[754] on "agalmata";[755] on Aphrodite,
as "delicate";[756] on Being;[757] on "koros," as creation or
adornment";[758] on difference in others;[759] on idea;[760] on heaven,
world, universe, animal and all;[761] on Vesta, and standing;[762] on
Hexis;[763] on inclination;[764] on doxa;[765] on love and vision;[766]
on "einai" and "henos;"[767] on "mous," "noêsis," and to "noêfon";[768]
on paschein;[769] on Poros;[770] on Prometheus and Providence;[771]
on reason and characteristic;[772] on "schesis" and "schema";[773]
and "soma" and "sozesthai";"[774] on suffering;[775] on thinking,
thinkable, and intellection;[776] on "timely" and "sovereign."[777]
It will be noted that these puns refer to some of the most important
conceptions, and are found in all periods of his life. We must
therefore conclude that his was not a clear thinking ability; that he
depended on accidental circumstances, and may not always have been
fully conscious how far he was following others. This popular judgment
that he was revamping Numenius's work may then not have been entirely
unfounded, as we indeed have shown.
Nevertheless, he achieved some permanent work, that will never be
forgotten; for instance: