310 GIORDANO BRUNO PART 



with all other finite things. 1 It has been shown also 

 that death from this standpoint is merely the dissolu- 

 tion of a composite thing into its immortal elements, 

 spirit and matter ; 2 death is a change of " accidents " to 

 the substance (i.e. of qualities, conditions), never a 

 change of substance itself. 3 Not only we, but all other 

 substances, spiritual and corporeal alike, are beyond 

 reach of death ; but as all substances are ultimately 

 one, this does not mean a peculiar, personal immortality 

 for each of us as separate beings. 



Optimism. It follows also from this aspect of Bruno's philo- 

 sophy, that as all things are divine, so all are good. 

 The forms of all living things men, animals, metals, 

 even those of deformed creatures are beautiful and 

 perfect in heaven (i.e. sub specie aeternifatis)* All 

 things being subordinated to the will of the best, 

 everything is good, and tends towards good ; the con- 

 trary is only apparent when we refuse to look beyond 

 the present, as the beauty of a building is not manifest 

 to one who sees only a part of it, a stone, a piece of 

 cement, a partition wall, but is clearest to one who can 

 see the whole, and is able to compare part with part. 5 

 The worth But there is another aspect of Bruno's theory of 

 individual. 6 the relation of the finite individual soul to the uni- 

 versal spirit, according to which every finite thing has 

 an infinite worth from the very fact of its existence as 

 a member, or part of the universe. It is in this phase, 

 later in time than the other, but never completely 

 dissociated from it, that the real contribution of Bruno 

 to the history of philosophy appears. 



It is foreshadowed in the Heroici Furorif where 



1 Cena, Lag. 128. 5 ; cf. Spaccio, 533. 16, 539. 2, and Op. Laf. i. 3. 146. 



2 Lag. 164. 1 8 ff. 



3 Lag. 202. 39 ff., 238. 27 ff., 303. 17, 317. 7, 409. 13, 547. 16 j Of. Laf. i. 3. 142. 



4 De Umbris fii. i. 46). 5 Inf. 303. 21. 6 Lag. 66. 7. 



