Full Idea
Perception, mind, intelligence and thought cannot so much as be conceived, even with the best will, as arising among void and atoms, things which taken separately have no quality.
Gist of Idea
If atoms have no qualities, they cannot possibly produce a mind
Source
Plutarch (74: Reply to Colotes [c.85], §1112)
Book Reference
Plutarch: 'Moralia - vol 14', ed/tr. Einarson,B. /De Lacy P.H. [Harvard Loeb 1967], p.219
A Reaction
A nice articulation of the intuition of all anti-physicalists. Plutarch would have to rethink his position carefully if he learned of the sheer number of connections in the brain, and of the theory of natural selection. His challenge remains, though.