On the Origin of Causes and the Taiyi

Author: [Italy] Bruno T'ang Xiaosheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1984-10-01
Features: "On the Causes, Principles, and the One" is one of Bruno's major philosophical works. From the early 19th century to the mid-20th century, it was translated into German, English, French, Russian, Spanish, Hungarian, and other languages. The book affirms that the universe is the One, which is infinite, eternal, and unified. Countless habitable worlds move within the universe, with the solar system being just one of them. This powerfully refutes the geocentric theory and develops Copernicus's heliocentric theory. It posits that the world soul is the formative principle and the true efficient cause of all things. However, the form "exists within matter" and is "determined and limited by matter." Without matter, the form has no existence. Bruno also argues for the principle of the unity of opposites. He says, "Everything we see, its beginning, middle, and end, its birth, growth, and completion, is not only from opposites, through opposites, in opposites, but also toward opposites." Examples include love and hate, life and death, string and arc, greatness and smallness, heat and cold, one and many, etc. He points out that this unity of opposites arises from the existence of the same matter. In summary, the publication of this Chinese translation provides favorable conditions for us to conduct in-depth research on Bruno.