16. It may however be objected that if the (universal Soul) contain
things in the order in which they were successively produced, she
thereby contains them as earlier and later. Then, if she produce them
within time, she inclines towards the future, and consequently, also
conversely to the past.
EARLIER AND LATER EXIST ONLY IN WHAT IS BEGOTTEN; NOT IN THEIR SEMINAL
REASON.
It may be answered that the conceptions of earlier and later apply only
to things which are becoming; in the Soul, on the contrary, there is no
past; all the ("seminal) reasons" are simultaneously present to her, as
has already been said. On the contrary, in begotten things, the parts
do not exist simultaneously, because they do not all exist together,
although they all exist together within the ("seminal) reasons." For
instance, the feet or the hands exist together in the ("seminal)
reasons," but in the body they are separate. Nevertheless, these parts
are equally separated, but in a different manner, in the ("seminal)
reason," as they are equally anterior to each other in a different
manner. If however they be thus separate in the ("seminal) reason,"
they then differ in nature.