Pneuma (Stoic) - Levels of Pneuma

Levels of Pneuma

In the Stoic universe, everything is constituted of matter and pneuma. There are three grades or kinds of pneuma, depending on their proportion of fire and air.

• The pneuma of state or tension (tonos). This unifying and shaping pneuma provides stability or cohesion (hexis) to things; it is a force that exists even in objects such as a stone, log, or cup. The 4th-century Christian philosopher Nemesius attributes the power of pneuma in Stoic thought to its "tensile motion" (tonicê kinêsis); that is, the pneuma moves both outwards, producing quantity and quality, and at the same time inwards, providing unity and substance. An individual is defined by the equilibrium of its inner pneuma, which holds it together and also separates it from the world around it.
• The pneuma as life force. The vegetative pneuma enables growth (physis) and distinguishes a thing as alive.
• The pneuma as soul. The pneuma in its most rarefied and fiery form serves as the animal soul (psychê); it pervades the organism, governs its movements, and endows it with powers of perception and reproduction. This concept of pneuma is related to Aristotle's theory that the pneuma in sperm conveys the capacity for locomotion and for certain sensory perceptions to the offspring.

A fourth grade of pneuma may also be distinguished. This is the rational soul (logica psychê) of the mature human being, which grants the power of judgment.