Now we must consider whether our souls themselves are (emanations) from
the universal Soul. It may be insisted that, to demonstrate that our
souls are not particles of the universal Soul, it does not suffice to
show that our souls go as far (in their procession) as the universal
Soul, nor that they resemble (the universal Soul) in their intellectual
faculties, granting indeed that such a resemblance be admitted; for
we might say that parts conform to the whole they compose. We might
invoke Plato's authority, and insist that he teaches this opinion in
that (part of the Philebus[102]) where he affirms that the universe is
animate: "As our body is a part of the universe, our soul is a part of
the Soul of the universe." We might add that (Plato) states and clearly
demonstrates that we follow the circular movement of heaven, that
from it we receive, our moral habits and condition; that as we were
begotten in the universe, our soul must be derived from the surrounding
universe[103]; and as each part of us participates in our soul, we
ourselves should participate in the Soul of the universe, of which we
are parts in the same way as our members are parts of ourselves. Last,
we might quote the following words: "The universal Soul takes care of
all that is inanimate." This sentence seems to mean that there is no
soul outside of the universal Soul; for it is the latter that cares for
all that is inanimate.