Body, soul, matter — one soul, one life, one matter, and one God
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Nous — εἰ δέ τι καὶ παρὰ ἀμφοτέροις, παρὰ τίνι τὸ πλεῖον μέρος; οὕτω δὲ νόει, ὡς παντὸς σώματος ζῶντος ἐξ ὕλης καὶ ψυχῆς τὴν σύστασιν ἔχοντος, καὶ τοῦ ἀθανάτου καὶ τοῦ θνητοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀλόγου. πάντα γὰρ σώματα ζῶντα ἔμψυχα, τὰ δὲ μὴ ζῶντα ὕλη πάλιν καθ' ἑαυτήν ἐστι. καὶ ψυχὴ ὁμοίως καθ' ἑαυτὴν τῷ ποιητῇ παρακειμένη, τῆς ζωῆς αἰτία· τῆς δὲ ζωῆς πάσης αἴτιος ὁ τῶν ἀθανάτων.
Hermes — Ἑρμῆς. Πῶς οὖν καὶ τὰ θνητὰ ζῶα ἄλλα τῶν θνητῶν; πῶς δὲ τὸ ἀθάνατον καὶ ἀθανασίαν ποιοῦν τὰ ζῶα μὴ ποιεῖ;
Nous — Νοῦς. Καὶ ὅτι μέν ἐστί τις ὁ ποιῶν ταῦτα δῆλον· ὅτι δὲ καὶ εἷς φανερώτατον. καὶ γὰρ μία ψυχὴ καὶ μία ζωὴ καὶ μία ὕλη.
Hermes — Ἑρμῆς. Τίς δὲ οὗτος;
Nous — Νοῦς. Τίς δὲ ἂν ἄλλος, εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεός;
And if something belongs to both, with which is the greater part? Thus understand, that every living body has its composition from matter and soul, both the immortal and the mortal and the irrational. For all living bodies are ensouled, but the things not living are matter by itself; and soul likewise, by itself, lying beside the maker, is the cause of life, but the cause of all life is the maker of the immortals. — How then are the mortal living beings other than the mortal? And how does the immortal, and that which makes immortality, not make the mortal beings? — That there is indeed someone who makes these is clear; that he is also one, most manifest. For there is one soul and one life and one matter. — And who then is this? — Who else could it be, if not the one God?
Nous: and if something belongs to both, with which is the greater part? Understand thus: every living body has its composition from matter and soul — the immortal, the mortal, and the irrational alike. For all living bodies are ensouled, but the non-living are matter by itself; and soul likewise, by itself, lying beside the maker, is the cause of life, while the cause of all life is the maker of the immortals. Hermes: how then are the mortal animals other than the immortals, and how does the immortal, and that which makes immortality, not make the mortal animals? Nous: that there is someone who makes these is clear; that he is also one, most manifest — for there is one soul and one life and one matter. Hermes: who is this? Nous: who else could it be, if not the one God?
The section completes the argument for one Maker by analysing what a living thing is. 'Every living body has its composition from matter and soul (ἐξ ὕλης καὶ ψυχῆς τὴν σύστασιν)' — the same two components across every rank, 'the immortal, the mortal, and the irrational.' The dividing line is not matter but soul: 'all living bodies are ensouled (ἔμψυχα), but the things not living are matter by itself (ὕλη… καθ' ἑαυτήν).' Matter alone is inert; what makes a body alive is the ψυχή present in it. And soul in turn is not self-standing but instrumental — 'lying beside the maker (τῷ ποιητῇ παρακειμένη), it is the cause of life,' while 'the cause of all life is the maker of the immortals.' Soul animates, but God is the cause behind the cause.
Hermes raises the natural objection — a genuine dialogue-move, not a formality. If there is one maker of all, 'how are the mortal animals other than the immortals,' and why does the immortal maker 'not make the mortal beings' too? The puzzle is the diversity of ranks under a single cause. Nous does not answer it head-on here; he answers by insisting on what is certain against what is obscure. 'That there is someone who makes these is clear (δῆλον); that he is also one, most manifest (φανερώτατον).' The proof is the unity running through everything: 'one soul and one life and one matter (μία ψυχὴ καὶ μία ζωὴ καὶ μία ὕλη).' Where the stuff, the life, and the animating principle are each single, the maker is single.
Then the dialogue arrives, by the shortest path, at the name it has been circling. Hermes asks the child's question — 'who is this?' — and Nous gives the answer the whole argument was built to earn: 'who else could it be, if not the one God (εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ θεός)?' It is a small, quiet climax, and characteristically Hermetic: the elaborate reasoning against dualism ends not in a formula but in a recognition, as if the reader is meant to arrive at 'the one God' the way one arrives at something one already knew. The oneness of God is not a premise imposed but a conclusion the world's own unity forces.
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