Geometri ve Ruh: Üç Dairenin Sırrı

...the circle in the understanding differs: it is one, simple, and non-extended. It possesses even magnitude itself in an indivisible way within its reason-principles, and it contains shape in a shapeless manner. On the other hand, the circle in the imagination is divisible, formed, extended, and not only one, but one and many; it is not form alone, but a form already set in order. But the circle among sensible things is composite, magnified, falling short of its precise essence, and is filled with distance, reflecting the thickness of material things. Therefore, when geometry speaks of the circle and the diameter, and of the properties associated with the circle—such as its points of contact, its divisions, and the like—we should not say that it teaches about sensible things. Indeed, geometry attempts to separate itself from these. Nor does it speak only of the form within the understanding. For that circle is one, but geometry makes its arguments about many circles, approaching each one individually and contemplating the same properties in all of them. Rather, geometry examines the universal while allowing for extension. This is that very circle which is arranged within the objects of the imagination. Geometry sees one thing, yet contemplates another—namely, the circle in the understanding—while performing its demonstrations upon yet another.