"' Dante finds in this view the explanation of the want of
anything like distributive justice in the assignment of wealth, power,
and worldly glory.
anything like distributive justice in the assignment of wealth, power,
and worldly glory.
John Donne
: '"Master," I said to him, "now tell me also:
this Fortune of which thou hintest to me; what is she, that has the
good things of the world thus within her clutches? " And he to me, "O
foolish creatures, how great is this ignorance that falls upon ye!
Now I wish thee to receive my judgement of her. He whose wisdom
is transcendent over all, made the heavens" (i. e. the nine moving
spheres) "and gave them guides" (Angels, Intelligences); "so that
every part may shine to every part equally distributing the light. In
like manner, for worldly splendours, he ordained a general minister
and guide (ministro e duce); to change betimes the vain possessions,
from people to people, and from one kindred to another, beyond
the hindrance of human wisdom. Hence one people commands, another
languishes; obeying her sentence, which is hidden like the serpent in
the grass. Your knowledge cannot withstand her. She provides,
judges, and maintains her kingdom, as the other gods do theirs. Her
permutations have no truce. Necessity makes her be swift; so oft come
things requiring change. This is she, who is so much reviled, even by
those who ought to praise her, when blaming her wrongfully, and with
evil words. But she is in bliss, and hears it not. With the other
Primal Creatures joyful, she wheels her sphere, and tastes her
blessedness.
"' Dante finds in this view the explanation of the want of
anything like distributive justice in the assignment of wealth, power,
and worldly glory. Dante speaks here of Fortune, but though in
its original conception at the opposite pole from Fate, Fortune is
ultimately included in the idea of Fate. 'Necessity makes her be
swift. ' 'Sed talia maxime videntur esse contingentia quae Fato
attribuuntur. ' Aquinas. The relation of Fate or Destiny to God or
Divine Providence is discussed by Boethius, _De Cons. Phil. _ IV.
_Prose_ III, whom Aquinas follows, _Summa_, I. cxvi. Ultimately the
immovable Providence of God is the cause of all things; but viewed in
the world of change and becoming, accidents or events are ascribed to
Destiny. 'Uti est ad intellectum ratiocinatio; ad id quod est, id quod
gignitur; ad aeternitatem, tempus; ad punctum medium, circulus; ita
est fati series mobilis ad Providentiae stabilem simplicitatem. '
Boethius. This is clearly what Donne has in view when he calls Destiny
the Commissary of God or declares that God made but doth not control
her. The idea of Fate in Greek thought which Christian Philosophy
had some difficulty in adjusting to its doctrines of freedom
and providence came from the astronomico-religious ideas of the
Chaldaeans. The idea of Fate 'arose from the observation of the
regularity of the sidereal movements'.
this Fortune of which thou hintest to me; what is she, that has the
good things of the world thus within her clutches? " And he to me, "O
foolish creatures, how great is this ignorance that falls upon ye!
Now I wish thee to receive my judgement of her. He whose wisdom
is transcendent over all, made the heavens" (i. e. the nine moving
spheres) "and gave them guides" (Angels, Intelligences); "so that
every part may shine to every part equally distributing the light. In
like manner, for worldly splendours, he ordained a general minister
and guide (ministro e duce); to change betimes the vain possessions,
from people to people, and from one kindred to another, beyond
the hindrance of human wisdom. Hence one people commands, another
languishes; obeying her sentence, which is hidden like the serpent in
the grass. Your knowledge cannot withstand her. She provides,
judges, and maintains her kingdom, as the other gods do theirs. Her
permutations have no truce. Necessity makes her be swift; so oft come
things requiring change. This is she, who is so much reviled, even by
those who ought to praise her, when blaming her wrongfully, and with
evil words. But she is in bliss, and hears it not. With the other
Primal Creatures joyful, she wheels her sphere, and tastes her
blessedness.
"' Dante finds in this view the explanation of the want of
anything like distributive justice in the assignment of wealth, power,
and worldly glory. Dante speaks here of Fortune, but though in
its original conception at the opposite pole from Fate, Fortune is
ultimately included in the idea of Fate. 'Necessity makes her be
swift. ' 'Sed talia maxime videntur esse contingentia quae Fato
attribuuntur. ' Aquinas. The relation of Fate or Destiny to God or
Divine Providence is discussed by Boethius, _De Cons. Phil. _ IV.
_Prose_ III, whom Aquinas follows, _Summa_, I. cxvi. Ultimately the
immovable Providence of God is the cause of all things; but viewed in
the world of change and becoming, accidents or events are ascribed to
Destiny. 'Uti est ad intellectum ratiocinatio; ad id quod est, id quod
gignitur; ad aeternitatem, tempus; ad punctum medium, circulus; ita
est fati series mobilis ad Providentiae stabilem simplicitatem. '
Boethius. This is clearly what Donne has in view when he calls Destiny
the Commissary of God or declares that God made but doth not control
her. The idea of Fate in Greek thought which Christian Philosophy
had some difficulty in adjusting to its doctrines of freedom
and providence came from the astronomico-religious ideas of the
Chaldaeans. The idea of Fate 'arose from the observation of the
regularity of the sidereal movements'.
