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H I S T O li Y
OF THE
PHILOSOPHY OF MIND,
I-ONDON :
r. r. noDusoN, printkr, 1 gough squark, flret street.
'^HISTORY
or THE
PHILOSOPHY OF MIND :
KMBRACI.Vt; THK
OPINIONS OF ALL WRITERS ON ]\IENTAL SCIENCE
FROM THE
EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME.
)
By Robert! BLAKE y, a.m.
AUTHOR OF HISTORY OF MORAL SCIENCE,
ESSAY OX MORAL GOOD AND EVIL, ESSAY' ON LOGIC, &C.
A'OLUME 1
LONDON:
LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS,
PATEKNOSTER ROW.
1850.
TO y. I
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PE.INCE ALBEET,
CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITV OF CAMBRIDGE,
&C. &C. &.C.
THESE VOLUMES
A RE
(s'y permission)
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
BY
II IS ROYAL HIGH NESS'S
VERY OBEDIENT,
HUMBLE SERVANT,
THE AUTHOR.
>
^«:;m<>/l(>
PREFACE,
It is upAvards of twenty years since I first formed
the intention of writing' a work of this description.
Having been an ardent cultivator of metaphysical
literature from early youth, I often experienced the
want of some guide to a knowledge of authors, and
their several publications on this species of philo-
sophy ; and it occurred to me that a work, which
simply brought into one focus the multifarious and
scattered elements of speculation Avhich every civi-
lized country possessed, could not fail to prove
highly useful, not only to the mere scholar like
myself, but even to those more advanced in philo-
sophical knowledge and acquirements. To form
a plan, however, is one thing ; but to execute it,
another. I soon found the great difficulties which
lay in my path. In England it is more arduous to
write a history of philosophy, than in any other
country in Europe ; chiefly from the deficiency
of works on the literature of tlie Middle Ages.
Nearly all Continental lil;raries, even those of
Vi PREFACE.
small towns and villages, have more or less of
this species of literature; but in England the
best libraries in our provincial cities are almost
entirely without works of this description. The
time required for reading was another obstacle
in my way ; for more urgent and pressing pursuits
engrossed almost every hour I had to spare. In
consequence of these and other impediments which
it is not necessary to particularize, I have some-
times been compelled to suspend the work for three
or four years together ; and many a time and oft
have I altogether despaired of ever being able to
complete it. Circumstances however have at length
enabled me to do so ; and after a good deal of
anxiety, I now present it to the philosophical
world, with a firm persuasion that they will act justly
towards it, and award me that portion of com-
mendation to which I may be entitled, however
small it may be ; and to more I have no right to
aspire.
There are two modes of writing a history
of philosophy. The one is to classify authors
under general heads, in conformity with a prin-
ciple of resemblance or affinity subsisting among
their respective speculative opinions. This is
called philosophical history. The other is, to
follow the order of time, and give a distinct and
personal outline of every philosopher's views, in
PREPACE. Vll
the precise order in which chronoloi^y develops
them. Both plans have their respective advan-
tages and disadvantages ; and it is a nice point to
determine which to prefer. To me, in all tlie
purely historical works of a classified kind that
I have seen, there has appeared no small degree of
confusion ; and this I helieve is commonly felt as
a great inconvenience by young students, when
they enter upon tlie study of mental science.
Generalization on the philosophy of mind ought
not to precede observation and instruction, but to
follow them. For these and other reasons, I have
adopted the order of time, as nearly as the nature
of the subject would admit; leaving the reader,
except in some few special cases, to select and
classify wa-iters according to his own opinions and
judgment. The historical or classified arrange-
ment is certainly more dignified and imposing ; but
I conceive the chronological is better fitted to im-
part elementary and correct information, and to
preserve the mind from many false notions which
an arbitrary or imperfect classification is apt to
create, in reference to particular authors and their
respective systems.
This work is arranged upon a plan somewhat
particular. It is almost exclusively confined to
mental science. I am not acquainted with any
publication precisely of the same kind, with the
Vlll PREFACE,
exception of Stewart's Dissertation, prefixed to
the Encyclopedia Britannica. Every reader knows
that, on the Continent, religion, morals, and po-
litics, as well as metaphysics, are comprehended
under the general term Philosophy. In England,
however, we have commonly kept these topics
apart from each other ; allowing each to rest upon
its own basis ; and this I consider a better
plan upon the whole. It is obvious, notwith-
standing, that by adopting it, I have, in a
corresponding degree, contracted the sphere of
discussion and observation ; and, therefore, there
must necessarily be less variety in my statements
and reasonings than if I had launched freely, on
every occasion that presented itself, into mat-
ters intimately connected with the fundamental
principles of religion, morals, and politics. Not
that I have altogether refrained from touching
upon these respective branches of knowledge ; this
it would have been impossible for me to do, had I
wished ; but on those occasions where a direct
reference is made to any of them, it is only in
order to illustrate more clearly and pointedly the
precise nature and bearing of some particular me-
taphysical principle or system. My aim has con-
stantly been to furnish a history of Iletaphysical
Philosophy^ and nothing more.
I ha AC been desirous of combining some portion
PREFACE. IX
of elementary instruction on the science of mind,
in conjunction with the historical sketches and
details I have given. This will account for some
short chapters or dissertations in several parts of
the work, apparently unconnected with the course
of simple chronological narration. I trust that,
though this method may be considered in some
measure novel, it will not be without corresponding
benefit, particularly to young students and general
readers. I once purposed to make these elemen-
tary essays more numerous ; but the increasing
pressure of purely historical matter did not allow
me to follow this course to a greater extent than
I have done. A considerable portion of the benefit
and pleasure to be derived from a historical sketch
of any branch of knowledge, arises from our know-
ing something of its leading and fundamental
principles ; and this applies to the science of mind
more, perhaps, than to any other.
The same cause which limited those elementary
statements and reflexions, operated in curtailing
the development and discussion of several systems
of metaphysical speculation treated of in the work.
It has often been to me a matter of deep regret, that
my limits did not allow me to illustrate many inte-
resting and important principles to the extent I de-
sired, in order that they might be comprehensively
and accurately understood. This will account, in
X PREFACE.
many instances, for the imperfect and circum-
scribed notice of several theories, and their col-
lateral branches; and for the abrupt discontinu-
ance of my remarks, when perhaps a discussion
had just reached that precise point at which it be-
came most interesting to the inquirer. Consider-
ing the extent of the ground over which I had to
travel, and the numerous historical notices required,
these imperfections, however much to be lamented,
were unavoidable. I^ifty, instead of four volumes,
would scarcely have sufficed to give any thing
approaching to a full view of the different systems
enumerated, and to point out all their bearings on
each other, and on other departments of human
knowledge.
One of the chief designs of this work has been
to impart to it a universal character and interest;
to make it, in some measure, as interesting to the
philosopher of Paris as of London. With this vievf,
a copious account of English and Foreign philo-
sophical publications is given ; in order that those
who feel an interest in mental pursuits may have
as accurate and comprehensive a view of all that
has been written on the philosophy of mind, as it
was practicable in such a limited publication to
afford. To remedy in some degree the imperfection
of more extended elucidations and comments, on
many foreign authors in particular, lists of their
PREFACE. XI
names and respective various publications will be
found in the Notes appended to the work.
I feel myself under great obligations to many
philosophical historians, both in my own country
and abroad. I cannot, however, enumerate all
from w^hom I have received assistance. Among
English treatises, I have consulted Stanley, Cud-
worth, and Enfield, with some slight advantages.
To Dugald Stewart's Dissertation, prefixed to the
last edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, I lie
under considerable obligations. I am also much
indebted to Mr. Ilallam ; and in perusing his
" Literature of the Middle Ages," I have often
experienced regret that he has not treated some
mental speculations of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries at greater length. Every thing he says
is so excellent, both in matter and in stvle, that
on many occasions his brevity has been felt as a
painful infliction. I tender my acknowledgments to
Mr. Lewes for his recent able and useful "Biographi-
cal History of Philosophy," though I must add that
I cannot concur with the general aim and spirit of
his speculative opinions. In examining the systems
of philosophy of the present age, Mr. Morell's
historical work, which is well entitled to the
patronage and commendations it has received, has
often been of service to me; and I have felt a
peculiar pleasure in the perusal of his writings,
Xll PREFACE.
from the circumstance that his opinions and my
own have so many points of resemhlance. To
the Erench historians I owe much ; especially to
De Gerando, Cousin, and Damiron ; and likewise to
the lahours of Brucker, Emitter, Michelet, and other
distinguished German authors.
Erom the wide range of inquiry I have taken,
the varied topics on which I have commented,
their innate complexity and diversified aspects,
and, ahove all, from my own imperfections and
shortcomings for such an important task, it is
probable I may have fallen into errors, both as to
matters of fact and of opinion. To candid and
dispassionate criticism I cheerfully commit my
labours with all their faults ; having every reason to
believe, that, as the love of truth has ever been my
polar star in their prosecution, the same feeling
animates the spirit of criticism of modern times ;
and that if correction be needed, it will only pro-
ceed from generous and honourable motives ; and
prove as beneficial to the receiver, as commendable
to the giver.
London, Oc/. 1818.
CONTENTS.
P A O K .
Introduction xvii
CHAPTER T.
On the Histories of Philosophy, Ancient and Modern 1
CHAPTER II.
Mental Philosophy of Grefce. — The Ionic School:
Thales — Anaximandcr — Anaxinieues — Ilermotinius of Cla-
zoniene — Diogenes of Apollonia — Anaxagoras 5
CHAPTER III.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — The Italian School of
Metaphysics : Pythagoras 1 7
CHAPTER IV.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — The Eleatic School of
Metaphysics : Xenophanes — Parmenides — Melissus — Zeno
of Elea — Ileraclitus 21
CHAPTER V.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — Second Eleatic School
of Philosophy : Empedocles — Leucippus — Democritus .... 35
CHAPTER VI.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — The Greek Sophists:
Protagoras — Gorgias 42
CHAPTER VII.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — Socrates Jl
CHAPTER VIII.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — The Cyrenic and Cy-
nical Schools 5y
CHAPTER IX.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — The Schools of Megara,
Elis, and Eretria : Euchd -V
XIV CONTENTS.
PAOK.
CHAPTER X.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — Plato 59
CHAPTER XI.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — Aristotle 72
CHAPTER XII.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — Analysis, Synthesis,
and Analogy, considered in relation to Greek Philosophy . . 100
CHAPTER XIII.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — The Sceptical School
of Metaphysics : Pyrrho 121
CHAPTER XIV.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — Epicurus 126
CHAPTER XV.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — The Stoical School of
Metaphysics : Zeno — Chrysippus 130
CHAPTER XVI.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — On the Notions com-
monly adopted by the Ancients, up to the Period of the Stoics,
on the Origin of our Knowledge and the Nature of Truth 136
CHAPTER XVII.
Mental Philosophy of Greece. — The Second Academy :
Arcesilaus — Carneades — Philo — Antiochus — Clitomachus
— Posidonius — Panoetius 143
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Alexandrian School of Metaphysics ' 153
CHAPTER XIX.
On the Notions entertained by the different Schools of Philo-
sophy on the Nature of General Principles and Propositions,
up to the time of the Foundation of the Alexandrian School 158
CHAPTER XX.
The Roman School of Mental Philosophy. — Lucre-
tius— Cicero — Alcinous — Maximus of Tyre — Alexander of
A])hrodisias — Galen 166
CONTENTS. XV
CHAPTER XXI.
TriE Latkr School of Metaphysical Scepticism. —
.I'Enesiclemus — Agrippa — Phavorinus — Se.xtas Empiricus . . 182
CHAPTER XXII.
On the Opinions of Ancient Philosophers, up to this period of
History, on a Deity and the Human Soul 1 1) I
CHAPTER XXIII.
Mental Philosophy of India. — Sankhva and Yo2;a — .
Bhagavad-Gliita — Nyaya and Vaisechika — Vedanta 207
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Union of Eastern Doctrines with those or
Greece and Rome. — Aristobulus — Philo — ApoUonius of
Tyana — Plutarch — Lucius Apuleius — Xumenius 219
CHAPTER XXV,
The Gnostic Metaphysicians 228
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Metaphysical Principles of the New Plato-
NiSTS. — Ammonius Saccas — Longinns — Plotinus — Por-
phyry— Jamblicus — Proclus — Marinus — Isidore of Gaza . . 229
CHAPTER XXVII.
On the Metaphysical DisQi;isrrioNS of the Ancient
Fathers of the Church. — Justin Martyr — Tatian —
St. Athenagoras — St. Theophilus — St. Pantsenus — Origen
— St. Clement — Herm#s — TertuUian — Arnobius — Irenseus
— Lactantius — Anatolius — St. Augustine — Nemesius — St,
Gregory — Synesius — Claudianus ^lamertus — Boethius —
^lartin Capella — Cassiodorus — St. John Damascenus .... 244
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Observations and Reflections, from Ascetic Wri-
ters, on Matters connected with Reasoning and
General Knowledge, — St. Peter the Anchorite — St.
Alonzo de Vega — Pelagius 2/7
CHAPTER XXIX.
On the Principle of Authority, in Matters of Philosophy and
Theology, maintained by the Fathers of the Church 300
/
/
/
xvi CONTENTS.
PAOK.
CHAPTER XXX.
On Moral Evidence, after the Full Establishment of Christianity 3 1 1
CHAPTER XXXI.
On the Opinions of the Fathers of the Church, on
THE Liberty and Necessity of Human Actions. —
Isnatius — Justin Martyr — Tatian — Ireneeus — Clement of
Alexandria — Tertullian — Origen — Cyprian — Eusebius —
Athanasius — Cyril of Jerusalem — Hilary — Epiphanius —
Basil — Gregory Nazianzen — Gregory of Nyssa — -Ambrose
— Jerome — Augustine — Chrysostom — Theodoret 317
CHAPTER XXXII.
On the Metaphysical Notions of the Arabians. —
Alkendi — Alfarabi — Avicenna — Algazeli — Avicebron —
Averroes — Theophilus 340
CHAPTER XXXIII.
The Persian Sophists. — Avenpace 3(i4
CHAPTER XXXIV.
The Cabalistic Metaphysics 364
CHAPTER XXXV.
On the Philosophy of the Jews. — Eben Ezra — Moses
Maimonides 3G9
CHAPTER XXXVI.
On Distinct Faculties of the Mind, as recognised by Philo-
sophers up to the Ninth Century . . • 3/5
CHAPTER XXXVII.
General Remarks on Faculties of the Mind, and of what may
be urged against their individual Existence, Nature, and
Operation 383
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
On Saxon Metaphysics. — Alfred the Great — Alcuinus, or
Albinus Flaccus — Bede ,411
Concluding Remarks 433
Notes and Illustrations 439
INTRODUCTION
Phi'losopiiy is a conipreliensivo term, and, in
its fullest extent, embraces evorv tliinj? which
a man can know and feel. Philosopliers are
however, like otlier humbler workmen, obliged
to divide their labours in order to ensure more
successful and efTicient execution ; and accord-
ingly we find that, from the first dawn ol' any
thing like science and literature, all knowledge
has been classified under three leading divisions ;
namely, a knowledge of external bodies, of mental
faculties or powers, and of moral duties or obliga-
tions. In no possible state of human existence can •
these three branches of thousrht be conceived in a
state of complete isolation or independent opera-
tion. There is a bond, an indissoluble union, con-
necting them ; and the precise limits where one ends
and another commences, it is impossible to point
out Avith any thing like fractional nicety. But
still this consideration does not prevent men
from making useful and practical divisions, or
from designating them by general terms. It has
accordingly been almost universally proclaimed
in all ages, that pliilosopliy may be substan-
* b
Xviii INTHODUCTION.
tially divided into three leading parts ;— what can
be known of nature, of God, and of man.
It has commonly been affirmed, that the consi-
deration of visible nature is prior to every other
inquiry. Whether this be correct or not, is of
little moment to our present purpose. Man is
evidently placed in an immense arena, and sees
himself surrounded by a universe of infinite extent
and variety. He feels the influence of external
objects, and in turn exercises his power over them.
What is the order and result of this reciprocity of
action, is a matter of vital moment to him ; and
he therefore institutes inquiries into the laws which
regulate the movements and properties of external
thm2:s. To these he ffives the name of Natural or
JPhysical FMlosojjhy. This science has matter,
and its various modifications, for its basis.
This inquiry into material bodies can scarcely be
conceived in operation apart from some considera-
tion of the thinking and active principle which
conducts and guides it. Here the origin of mental
science is placed. It has often been defined, but it
is one of those branches of knowledge not suscep -
tible of a formal and concise definition. Speaking
generally, it has mind, both human and Divine,
for its object. Aristotle terms it the first philo-
sophy, not only on account of its superiority to all
other branches of human w isdom, but also as being
prior, in the order of time, to the whole of the arts
and sciences. We cannot, however, lay much
stress on the theories which attempt to account
for the origin of speculative philosophy ; because
INTRODUCTION. XIX
it is quite obvious that speculations as to tlie
beginning of things, their nature, and the laws
which govern and regulate their existence, must
have been coeval with the very first rudiments of
human thought. Man is never able to refer to any-
period in the liistory of his species, in which there
was not some system of philosophy recognised.
Every child, and every savage, is a philosopher in
his way ; and the only difference between tlie
scholar and the boor is, as to the relative degree
in which each is able to investigate and arrang<^
the phenomena of existence. Both are, in their
respective spheres, placed under the same govern-
ment, and influenced by the same circumstances
and events. But whatever opinion may be adopted
on this point, certain it is, that mental science forms
one of the three great divisions of human inquiry.
Another division of human thought, containing
many important subdivisions, and which is clearly
defined, arises from the very first wants and duties
of human life. This department of knowledge
relates to morals, or the conduct of mankind. In
no situation of life can we conceive a total suspen-
sion of the principles of morality. The obligations
and bonds of connection which subsist between
man and those around him, must form the first
elements of his knowledge. These, like the physi-
cal laws of the universe, are of a fixed, determined,
and eternal character. They form the ground-
work of Moral Philosophij .
The philosophy which springs out of and com-
prehends a knowledge of mental systems, may be
62
XX INTRODUCTION.
viewed under several aspects. If we look at it
merely through its naked or abstract principles, it
is one thing ; if exclusively through its practical
influence on the condition of human thought in a
state of society, it is another thing ; and if both
these be amalgamated with other branches of
physical knowledge, it presents again altogether
different features. Yet all possess a solid sub-
stratum of truth ; and the propriety or obligation
of taking any particular view of the philosophy of
mind, can only be defended upon comprehensive
considerations of what is in accordance with the
general interest, judgment, and happiness of man-
kind.
That it is a condition of human existence that
some system of mental speculation should be cul-
tivated, and be made to serve as a ground-work
for other necessary and interesting studies, is a
position as irrefragably true as important. It is a
law of human thought that every thing shall centre
in mind ; in a knowledge of its faculties or powers ;
and in a thorough acquaintance with all those ge-
neral conceptions which are incorporated in every
intellectual manifestation or state of being. We
cannot exile ourselves beyond the sphere of this
influence ; for if we could, impenetrable darkness
and ignorance would be our portion. It is not a
matter of choice whether a man shall be ignorant
of mental philosophy or not ; it is imperative that
lie should cultivate it, if he is ever to attain a
complete knowledge of other sciences. It is tlie
portal through which he must pass to the inner
INTRODUCTION. XXI
temple of intellectual treasures. Mental pliilo-
sopliy is not itself the sum of all knowledge, but
the necessary instrument in the successful pro-
secution of all other branches of human wisdom.
Without it, every man is a child, an intellectual
imbecile, and can have nothing valuable or abiding
in him. To illustrate this point a little more fully,
we shall make a fe^ observations on the indis-
soluble and dependent connection between certain
kinds of knowledge and the philosophy of mind.
We shall not dwell upon the obligations which
even physical science lies under to metaphysical
pursuits. We may, however, barely remark, in
reply to the enthusiastic admirers of the positive
philosophy, that they are not in a position to
mould their own facts, nor to illustrate or me-
thodise their views, even in reference to the sim-
plest phenomena of the external world, nor can
tlieir opinions and conclusions be enforced upon
the attention of others, without the virtual recog-
nition of principles which have an exclusive re-
lationship with mental science. It is only by
stepping beyond the strict limits of their own
sphere, as mere .collectors of facts and observations,
that they can be understood, either by themselves
or by others. A system professing to be founded
ou facts, and facts alone, is an inconceivable thing
to the mind of man. The truth of this may be
readily tested by the most superficial consideration
of the subject.
Leaving, however, for the present, this part of the
subject, we shall direct especial attention to three
great divisions of human knowledge ; namely, mo-
XXll INTRODUCTION.
rality, religion, and politics. A profound acquaint-
ance with all or any of these, must be obtained
through the channels of mental science.
The science of morals is of a comprehensive
character, and of universal interest. It affects
all classes of mankind, from the king to the
beggar. All its principles and facts, however,
relate to mind ; they belong tb man's internal con-
stitution ; they proceed from certain a priori sug-
gestions or conditions of the human conscious-
ness, and are not matters which come under the
cognizance of the senses, or can be measured or
weighed. What is involved in the terms moral
freedom, morcd duty, moral ^responsibility , moral
obligation, moral feelings, moral princip)les, emo-
tions, passions, desires, reioards, and punishments ?
Something, undoubtedly, of a purely mental cha-
racter ; which, in order to be effectively analyzed,
and brought to open day for the satisfaction of
man's reason and interest, requires an intellectual
process of the most subtile and refined kind.
Here nature cannot be interrogated by material
instruments ; we must deal with her solely through
the means of our internal consciousness, and those
liabits of inward analysis and deduction which can
only be detected and efiiciently wielded by the
mental philosopher. Eor a man to write pro-
foundly and correctly on the principles of morals,
without a respectable portion of metaphysical
learning, would be as impossible as for a man born
blind to write intelligibly and philosophically on
light and colours.
Theology stands in nearlv the same relation as
INTRODUCTION. XXUl
morality to mental philosophy. The former has
to deal with those principles of the mind which
constitute the foundation of natural and revealed
religion. Here cause and effect, existence, intel-
ligence, wisdom, final causes, and an immense
variety of other abstract conceptions of the human
understanding, form the ground-work of theolo-
gical science, and create and support its entire
principle of vitality. We have the existence of
the Supreme Being, His moral government, the
naind's immateriality and immortality, the whole
science of morality as contrasted and compared
with the morality of the Scriptures, the doctrines
of revealed religion considered in relation to the
course of nature and the inward suggestions of the
human soul ; and a thousand other matters, any one
of which is sufficient to occupy the active mind of
man during a whole life time, in order to fully illus-
trate and enforce it in all its bearings and rami-
fications. But in this extensive field of speculation
and interest, nothing can be done without a know-
ledge of mental subjects. Divines may, and in fact
do, regulate their acquirements in metaphysical lore
according to their individual circumstances, tastes,
and mental capabilities ; but the theologian is not
to be envied who can enter a pulpit, or commit his
theological thoughts to the public through the
press, totally unacquainted with the general out-
lines of mental speculations. Indeed this fact
is so well understood, that among nearly every
class of Christian teachers, it is now an established
part of theological tuition, that the candidates for
XXiv INTRODUCTION.
the office of the ministry shall possess a competent
knowledge of metaphysical science, before they can
be qualified for holy orders.
Politics as a science, not viewed through the
medium of party, are essentially founded on men-
tal knowledge, and their general principles are of
a spmtual or abstract cast. They have also an in-
timate and necessary relationship with morality
and theology. All declarations of personal rights
and freedom, allegiance, civil and criminal codes of
laws and jurisprudence, or the law of nations, are
severally founded on abstract principles of thought,
and have their seat in the deep and inward recesses
of the soul. We have only to look at the constitu-
tional charters of any state or kingdom, to be con-
vinced of the refined and mental abstractions of
which they are composed. The science of juris-
prudence, for example, is chiefly constituted of a
multitude of recondite maxims, of which, unless a
man has some knowledge of metaphysical subjects,
and is well acquainted with the rules and principles
of abstract reasoning, he can never be able fully to
comprehend the justice and soundness, nor their
applicability to the state of human affairs.
If such, then, be the intimate connection between
these three most important departments of human
knowledge, and the philosophy of mind, how ne-
cessary and obligatory is it that we should assi-
duously cultivate it, and should form to ourselves
comprehensive views of its nature, limits, purposes,
and ends. It ought to constitute an important
branch of every young man's education, particularly
INTRODUCTION. XXV
if he be destined to pursue any professional occupa-
tion. Unless habits of inward reflection are formed
and cultivated in earlv life, and the rules of mental
analysis and deduction are familiarised to the mind,
it is impossible to rear any great or respectable
superstructure of philosophical expertness upon
the best and most enlightened systems of public
or private tuition. Such systems may make ^full,
but not a clever man.
Of late years a lively interest has been awakened
in regard to the history of speculative opinions.
The European mind has been aroused from a state
of comparative apathy, and is now bent on testing
every principle and every fact, both by historical
evidence and by logical deduction. We are called
upon to trace opinions from the most remote pe-
riods of time, and to view them in conjunction
with institutions and modes of thinking of the pre-
sent day. This extensive inquiry is considered by
various classes of men in different lights, and with
different feelings; some mth aversion, and some
with approval; some with an anxious desire to
effect social improvements, and promote know-
ledge ; and some, unhappily, to throw impediments
and doubts in the path of human progress. Still,
however, powerful sympathies have been awakened ;
and we may rationally hope that it only requires
time, and suitable seasons of calm and dispas-
sionate reflection, to realize important benefits
from their exercise.
In Germany the spirit of speculative inquiry
XXVI INTRODUCTION.
has, for nearly a century, displayed remarkable
activity. It lias formed one of the leading branches
of public education, and conducted its cultiva-
tors to distinction and renown. It has been made
subservient to the elucidation of every other de-
partment of the philosophy of human nature, and
thrown a steady light on many problems which
had previously been enshrouded in almost impene-
trable darkness. In Prance the same activity has
prevailed for nearly the same period. Here, too,
speculative philosophy has imparted a higher tone
to the general current of literature and scientific
investigations, and has been eminently successful
in adding to the general stock of rational and en-
lightened inquiry. Italy has likewise partaken in
some measure of the prevailing enthusiasm, and
has relaxed the hitherto inflexible severity of aus-
tere injunctions against novel doctrines and opi-
nions ; and has, consequently, extended the bless-
ings of intellectual liberty among her people. And
the same may be remarked of several other conti-
nental nations. In proportion as mental philo-
sophy has broken in upon the dull and stupifying
routine of antiquated and worn-out systems of edu-
cation and academical instruction, in the same pro-
portion do we trace a favourable change in the
general current of the public mind. The spirit of
man feels the salutary influences of unrestricted
freedom, and enters upon that state which is most
conducive to the full and cfi'ective exercise of all
its loftier and more ennobling powers and energies.
True it is, that these advantages from the
INTRODUCTION. XXVll
ardent cultivation of speculative topics, are not
invariably obtained without some serious draw-
backs and inconveniences. In Germany and
Erance, in particular, there has unquestionably
been manifested at intervals a philosophical spirit
but little in harmony with the progress of rational
knowledge, and the best and most sacred interests
of man. The unfettered liberty of thought has in
these countries occasionally run into licentiousness.
The philosophic mind has degraded itself, and out-
raged common sense and common feeling. But
still Ave must hold the balance with a steady and
even hand. It seems to be one of the necessary
conditions of human progress, that no great ad-
vances shall be made in the intellectual acquire-
ments of nations, nor in the firm and complete
consolidation of those important abstract principles
which lie at the root of their civilization, pros-
perity, and freedom, without some corresponding
disadvantages, though of an evanescent or tran-
sitory nature. The public mind, long pent up
within a narrow sphere, often rebounds beyond its
wholesome and natural limits, when its fetters are
taken off and all forcible restrictions removed.
It revels in the wild and frantic enjoyment of its
liberty, and feels but little inclination for the
moment to listen to the dictates of soberness and
truth. But this feverish state passes over, and
seasons of solid thought and reflection succeed,
bearing the fruits of real wisdom and matured
experience. And an appeal can safely be made to
all who have any thing like a competent know^ledge
XXVlll INTRODUCTION.
of the general literature of Germany and Prance,
that, amid much speculative inquiry of a question-
able kind, and not a little positively unsound and
injurious, there is still a very striking improvement
manifested in every branch of general informa-
sion in these countries within the last century,
in which abstract reasoning is especially required,
and where the human mind is called forth to ex-
ercise all its higher powers of rationalistic dex-
terity. And this advancement in the loftier walks
of literature and science, may be fairly attributed
to the impetus given to the general intellect, by
the ardent study of the principles of mental phi-
losophy.
Mental studies have not been much cultivated
in Great Britain for the last three quarters of a
century. In Scotland, however, they have main-
tained a respectable footing ; and almost all per-
sons intended for the church, the bar, or public
offices of any description, make it a point to go
through a regular course of study in metaphysical
science. In England it is otherwise. Here it can
be scarcely said to form any portion of acade-
mical instruction. This may be attributed to
many causes. The preponderance of mechanical
and commercial pursuits among ns, naturally in-
disposes the great masses of even intelligent and
reflecting people to view speculative or purely in-
tellectual investigations with a friendly and en-
couraging eye. What is material, palpable, and
immediately profitable, becomes the grand and
engrossing object of interest. The external sources
INTRODUCTION. XXIX
of enjoyment and happiness prevail over the men-
tal or spiritual ; and this sentiment pervades
the whole mass of the people, impartini^; to
the national mind a strong material tendency.
Again, those who, from inclination and their
position in society, were fitted to take a leading
part in the discussion and propagation of the prin-
ciples of mental philosophy, have for more than
half a century entertained doubts as to its benefits,
chiefly from the circumstance that the mystical
and idealistic notions so rankly prevalent in some
parts of the continent, might be possibly trans-
planted into England, and corrupt the mind of the
nation, and withdraw it from those important ob-
jects on which it ought invariably to rest. That
there is something plausible in these apprehensions,
must be conceded. But a little further inquiry into
the nature of all speculative doctrines, and into
the modes and degrees in which they influence
the current thought of a people, would cer-
tainly have the effect of greatly mitigating, if it
did not entirely remove, any such anticipated
sources of danger. For how stands the real
position of the question ? There is no stopping,
successfully, the progress of inquiry of a whole na-
tion ; if you close any particular avenue of thought,
another must be opened in its stead. It becomes,
therefore, purely a question as to the choice of
evils. If we have eschewed the dangers from
mystical and idealistic theories, we have un-
questionably encouraged the growth of a cold and
lifeless materialism, which operates, in a thousand
XXX INTRODUCTION.
unperceived modes, to banish all lofty moral and
religious feelings from the minds of men. By an
undue encouragement of physical science, with a
view to make it supply the whole of the mental
wants of the nation, we insensibly, though power-
fully, and from the very nature of things, throw
the mind of man entirely upon a species of know-
ledge calculated, when it fully and exclusively
engrosses his affections and energies, to limit the
powers of his intellect, and to strip them of their
most ennobling and glorious attril^utes. By con-
sequently dwelling on material phenomena, and
making mere secondary causes objects of the mind's
attention, we gradually descend from the lofty and
improving regions of thought, and consider the
Supreme Being, and all the wonders of intellec-
tual nature, as only results and modifications of
tlie visible things around us. This is neither a
natural nor advantageous mode of procedure. The
practical and the theoretical should invariably bo
conjoined in the intellectual culture of all men ;
inasmuch as this is the only mode which nature has
appointed for steadily preserving a hold on their
affections, and preventing them from lapsing into
any irremediable state of apathetic indifference, or
sordid, unqualified selfishness.
When we come to look narrowly at the influence
of physical science on tlie minds of the masses of
the people, we are struck with its limited range,
and its cold and evanescent impressions. The laws
of the material world seldom occupy more than a
INTRODUCTION. XXxi
passing moment's reflection; and the improve-
ments which mechanical science may bring to tl\e
workman's fire-side, he accepts and uses as a
mere matter of course, but never makes them
anxious objects of his thoughts or contemplations.
He is under an almost instinctive conviction, that
it is an affair which does not particularly concern
him. And the same thing is true of every other
class of society. The elements of thought and
reflection are of another cast. They relate to other
objects apart from the laws and qualities of mate-
rial bodies. Does the intelligent mechanic dwell
any length of time upon the principles of his art ;
upon the formulas of the screw, the lever, or the
inclined plane ? Docs he make them the con-
stant objects of his thought and solicitude ? By no
means. His mind is elsewhere. He lives with
his wife, his family, his relations, his countrymen ;
and, it is hoped, with his God. It is the l)onds,
the connections, the sympathies, the feelings, the
hopes, the fears, the cares, and anxieties, which
arise out of the relationship he stands in as a
son, a parent, a member of society, and an immor-
tal spirit, which fill the measure of his thoughts,
and give life and interest to his existence. What
a slender hold have all material agents upon him ?
What to him the number or nature of the laws
which regulate their movements ; the great law of
gravitation, or the atomic theory of chemical
affinities ? Scarcely any thing. They touch but
very lightly indeed the vital and stirring principles
XXXU INTRODUCTION.
of his being. They are not the staple articles of
his intellectual sustenance and strength. The
social, the moral, the political, the domestic ties
of life, are the objects of his constant interest and
unceasing solicitude. He rests upon intellectual
and moral manifestations ; and always allows the
phenomena of the material world, numerous and
wonderful though they be, to hang loosely about
him, and never for a moment suffers them to be
placed in competition with the claims, obligations,
and duties of humanity.
It is not the natural philosopher ; it is not the
Newtons, the Laplaces, the Davys, however vene-
rable their names may in the abstract be, who most
excite the sympathies of mankind, and engross
their undivided attention. These are not the house-
hold gods which universal humanity sympathe-
tically worships. It is men who develop the prin-
ciples of mind ; who make human nature their
study ; who unfold the latent thoughts, purposes,
and principles of human feeling and action ; who
distinguish themselves as lawgivers, statesmen,
historians, theologians, poets, painters, and writers
on the every-day movements and phases of human
life. These find kindred spirits in all ages and
countries ; and enjoy a reputation and fame,
founded on infinitely more noble and interesting
objects, than those on which rest the cold and
formal approbations conferred on the physical
philosopher, or the zealous disciple of positive
science.
INTRODUCTION. XXXlll
"VVe contend, therefore, that the decided pre-
dilection for physical science manifested in Eng-
land, and for the rules and principles of reasoning
necessarily involved in and derived from it, is not
grounded upon an enlarged conception of the na-
ture and purposes of human knowledge, nor of the
advantages to be realised by the national mind
from its extended cultivation. We readily admit,
as a true and general maxim, that all knowledge
is more or less improving ; but it by no means
follows that when we unduly confine the public
mind within certain prescribed limits, and only
call into exercise one set or class of its faculties or
powers, we are doing our best to advance the
cause of popular instruction, and to elevate the
sentiments of the nation to their loftiest point of
general improvement. On the contrary, we liumbly
conceive that we are, by sketching out and ado[)t-
ing such a narrow and contracted system, milita-
ting against one of the plainest and most impera-
tive dictates or laws of our nature ; and if we ol)-
stinately persist in pursuing such a course, we
must fully expect to reap those bitter fruits
which are the inevitable result of violating one of
the estabKshed canons of nature's decrees. To
effect the intellectual refinement of a people, there
must be a judicious combination of all the different
elements of knowledge and thought ; and among
the chief and most influential of these, is the sci-
ence of human nature.
It must not, however, be inferred from these
remarks, that, in order to comprehend other
c
XXxiv INTRODUCTION.
branches of knowledge and science, it is absolutely
requisite that we should be intimately acquainted
with mental philosophy, and be able to trace its his-
tory with accuracyand minuteness. In the pursuitof
information we are frequently obliged to take many
principles for granted, without being able to prove
their truth. All that we contend for is, that the
science of mind is more or less a necessary ingre-
dient in all human investigations, and that we
cannot hope to take a conspicuous part in any
department of general knowledge, without either
tacitly or experimentally adopting many of the
most essential axioms on which the fundamental
movements of the intellect depend. The active
principles of intelligence must be either theore-
tically or practically recognised and understood,
before we can successfully apply them to any
purpose whatever.
Nosystem of education can be considered more mea-
gre and imperfect, than that which entirely excludes
the philosophy of mind from its range of inquiry.
One of the chief benefits of instruction is entirely
lost ; that which enables us to cultivate both the
active and reasoning powers of the mind, and to
strengthen and mature them to that degree of
excellence which is indispensably requisite to
secure us against adopting the most erroneous
opinions, and the most glaring and palpal)le
absurdities.
One of the most powerful causes, perhaps, which
have operated to clieck the general cultivation of
speculative philosophy among a certain class of in-
INTRODUCTION. XXXV
telligent people, not only in England but in other
countries, is the conception that its history pre-
sents nothing but a wild chaos of abstruse systems,
of conflicting opinions, and unshapely chimeras ;
the natural tendency of which is to lead men into
error, to fill their minds with shadows and de-
lusions, and to excite false hopes and expectations,
l^his is the popular accusation brought against the
philosophy of mind, and on which rest the apathy
and scepticism commonly felt and expressed as to its
nature and benefits. But a moment's calm reflection
will immediately dissipate this rash conclusion and
vulgar prejudice. That there are various and con-
flicting opinions relative to some of the funda-
mental principles of the science, and to their in-
fluence upon, and applicability to, other branches
of human investigation, is an indisputable truth ;
but this admission does not compromise the va-
lidity and importance of mind, considered as an
independent and legitimate branch of philosophical
inquiry. We find the same spirit of disputation
and contention prevailing among those who culti-
vate every kind of knowledge. The abstract prin-
ciples on which they all rest, are more or less
matters of discussion, and are subjected to a va
riety of judgments and opinions. But this state
of things proves nothing. It is the very nature,
essence, and province of knowledge, to separate the
true from the false, the hypothetical and con-
jectural from the certain and conclusive, the good
from the bad, and the expedient from the inexpe-
c2
XXXvi TNTRODUCTIOX.
dient. How great is the importance of morality
both to individuals and to whole nations ; it is the
very life blood of their social and confederated
existence. But where shall we find a theory of
morality Avhich is not open to a difference of opi-
nion, or which is fully adequate to account for all
the moral manifestations, rules, principles, obliga-
tions, and ideas of merit and demerit, which dis-
play themselves in the wide arena of the moral
universe ? Again, the science of politics is of the
highest possible interest to man ; but to what con-
tentions, varieties of sentiment and opinion, and
bitter conflicts, does it not give rise ? Where is the
writer who has ever penned a political system or
theory which has been universally, or even ge-
nerally, received ? Why the very abstract maxims
or principles on which all societies of men rest, are
at the present moment, in spite of all the learning
and scientific investigations of three thousand
years, speculative objects of the most opposite and
conflicting nature, among the able and intelligent
legislative philosophers and politicians of all coun-
tries. If, again, we cast an eye to religion, we
find the primary principles of both natural and re-
vealed theology matters of every-day and eager
discussion, and susceptible of being viewed through
various mediums ; and the same is applicable to
legal science. Where shall we find a greater dis-
similarity of judgment than that to which the laws
and customs of various people give rise ? Nay,
we shall advance a step further, and maintain
that even physical science, which prides itself on
INTRODUCTION. XXXVll
its 2)osUive results, is not removed beyond the pale
of differences of opinion, and conflicting judgments,
relative to many of its theories, principles, and
conclusions. Now, taking all these matters into
consideration, would a man act wisely or con-
sistently, were he to conclude, that, because in
morals, politics, religion, law, and physical science,
we find opposite theories and conflicting judg-
ments supported by those who cultivate these
respective departments of knowledge, he is war-
ranted in afiirming that they are all delusions, and
that there is not the slightest substratum of truth
or logical validity for them to rest upon ? Certainly
not. A man who should entertain an opinion of
this sort, and endeavour to act upon it, would be
deemed unfit to be reasoned with on any subject
whatever.
What we claim therefore from ordinary candour
and consistency is, that mental science be placed
upon the same footing as other branches of know-
ledge. That there are differences of opinion about
its fundamental truths, we readily admit ; but they
are neither greater in number, nor more discordant
in their nature, than what appertain to almost
every other topic of philosophical investigation.
And it certainly appears the height of incon-
sistency for us to assume that there is no truth
whatever in that particular science the principles
of which are absolutely necessary to ascertain and
to adjudge the amount and nature of truth to be
found in every other subject. Of all perverse
modes of reasoning, this must appear to be the
XXXVlll INTllODUCTION.
most self-contradictory and unsatisfactory to every
well-regulated and candid mind.
As it is with mental science alone that we have
immediately to do, we shall just briefly notice some
of those general maxims or elementary principles,
which seem to have been either logically demon-
strated or tacitly assumed, in almost every system
of speculation alluded to in this history of philo-
sophy. A voluminous record of this kind, extend-
ing over more than two thousand years, offers, at
first sight, a somewhat perplexing aspect to even
scientific minds ; but a little examination into the
matter, and an ordinary degree of exercise of the
power of generalization, will soon enable the intel-
ligent and attentive reader to detect, amid the
crowd of objects which present themselves, some
distinctive land-marks which will serve to lead him
out of the apparent labyrinth of endless specula-
tion, and impart to his mind some steadiness of
jiurpose. The diversity of systems and theories is,
strictly speaking, more in appearance than in
reality ; for we often find, that though their ex-
ternal dress be very diversified, yet when we look
narrowly at them, we soon recognise an affinity or
sameness among the principles which form the
nucleus of a great variety of speculative fabrics.
The importance of these varied illustrations of the
same fundamental positions, cannot, on many
occasions, be too highly estimated ; but still it is
always valuable to observe the philosophic rule of
looking at the elementary propositions on which
different views of the human mind profess to rest.
INTRODUCTION. XXXIX
It is this susceptibility of the principles of mental
science to be viewed throug-h various mediums,
and to be Illustrated by materials drawn even
from opposite quarters, that imparts so much real
interest to tliis branch of knowledge, and makes
it such a necessary and useful instrument for the
testing of truths in other departments of human
inquiry.
And here it may be remarked, that the illustra-
tions of principles connected with the human
mind in all its grand aspects and divisions, stand
so prominently distinct, — possess such an indivi-
duality of character, in their susceptil)ility of being
varied, to an almost infinite extent, in every thing
belonging to the mere physical investigations of
the universe, — that we perceive at a glance the ra-
dical distinction between the truths of natural phi-
losophy and those of human nature. A treatise
on Astronomv, Ilvdrostatics, or Chemistrv, is
always the same, with the exception of recent dis-
coveries, which are simply stated as matters of
fact, and are linked to the general mass already
accumulated. Writers in any of these depart-
ments of knowledge, follow each other in a beaten
track, and have no latitude whatever for invention.
There is no want of inclination to impart novelty
and interest to physical science ; but its cultivators
have no room to effect any such thing. They travel
in a path bounded by a lofty wall on each side,
which shut out nine-tenths of nature from their
view ; and, consequently, they have liberty neither
to turn to the right hand nor to the left. But
xl INTRODUCTION.
wliat different circumstances accompany the illus-
trations of truths springing' out of the deep re-
cesses of the human lieart and understanding.
How susceptible are they of infinite variation, and
of becoming inexhaustible sources of interest.
Conviction and mental pleasure rush at once into
the soul from a thousand channels ; and yet the
perfect identity between the leading principles of
human thought and action is never weakened or
destroyed. The grand outlines of humanity are
always visible. The truths of mind, of religion,
of morals, of politics, of matters of intellectual
taste, of the every- day movements of life, passion,
and desire, are each of them the never-failing
fountains from which the streams of human wis-
dom and genius perennially flow, to gladden and
cheer the heart of man, and to impart to him that
necessary mental sustenance, the ceaseless cravings
for which constitute one of the striking character-
istics of his being. The scientific classifications of
the natural philosopher die almost the moment
they are born ; but not so the speculations of the
mental philosopher, the moralist, the divine, the
dramatic writer, or the poet ; these enjoy a per-
petual youth, and time itself stamps upon their
respective eflPusions the seal of immortality.
We may now observe, in the first place, that one
of the leading positions which seem to be esta-
blished by the historical statements and details of
philosophy in all countries and ages, is, that mind
and matter are two separate and distinct things.
The whole current of speculation scarcely fur-
INTRODUCTION. xli
nishes us Avitli any thiug approaching to a single
comjilete theory, which in all its aspects, and in
all its logical deductions, points to an opposite
principle. The mind of man, in every state of ex-
istence of which we have any authentic record, has
always been struggling to give utterance to this
fundamental truth, or manifestation of its inward
consciousness. It assumes, it is true, a variety of
appearances, but it constantly retains the unity of
its character intact. Erom the banks of the
Thames to the banks of the Ganges ; from the
first mutterino's of science in the East, to the
finished philosophical productions of the present
hour ; this truth has never ceased its influence over
the minds of countless millions of our race, who
have passed through life under external circum-
stances and with speculative theories infinitely
varied. Here there is a solemn unity of universal
assent, which no hardihood of assertion can deny,
nor captious sophistry gainsay.
In the second place, it may be observed, that we
clearly perceive, from the whole range of ancient
philosophy, that the religious spirit was more or less
incorporated Avith it ; that man was considered as
of a heavenly origin, and as possessing a more refined
and elevated nature than the mere animals around
him. It was also clearly taught, from the same
authority, that all investigations into the structure
of his intellect, could only be successfidly pro-
secuted by constantly keeping in view this double
relationship or dependence. Whenever, therefore,
we set out in our philosophical inquiries into the
Xlii INTRODUCTION.
nature of mental phenomena upon an opposite
tack, and contemplate man with the sole view of
referring them to the same laws, and subjecting
them to the same logical ordeal, which govern and
influence other creatures around us, we do, in fact,
not only run counter to the universal experience
and testimony of mankind, most indisputably and
unequivocally expressed ; but we also find that all
doctrines, founded on such a mode of investigation,
are not only lamentably defective in point of
logical merit, but, when reduced to practice, bear
fruits inimical to the moral and intellectual im-
provement and well-being of man.
And do we not witness the verification of this
truth in every stage of the history of speculative
principles ? The whole course of human progress,
since the first dawn of letters, bears testimony to
the fact, that mankind have received incalcuable be-
nefits from the belief in the existence of the theolo-
gical principle. Man is thus viewed as fitted for a
higher destiny than other terrestrial and animated
beings ; and we feel assured also, that in proportion
as he keeps this opinion steadily before him in all his
philosophical researches, the universe around him
and the general course of events inspire him with
a firm persuasion that he is endowed with faculties
and powers expressly fitted for exercise, and to be
eminently productive of benefit to mankind, and
glory to the Creator of his existence. This con-
clusion does not rest upon a mere theoretical con-
jecture ; it is susceptible of incontrovertible de-
monstration, from the records of history, as well as
iNTiiODUCTioN. xliii
from the overpowering feelings and convictions of
the human heart.
Every form which the great theological principle
assumes in the history of philosophy, rests upon
the position of mind, connected with a creative and
y over ning power. The notions of mental operations,
and those of a Deity, are purely elemental, and
seem to be co-existent in the inward consciousness
of man. Whether this primary truth can be fully
demonstrated, either psychologically or ontologi-
cally, we need not stop here to determine ; but
certain it is, that the history of men's opinions
strikingly proves that it lies at the root of every
form of speculation, and seems to be one of those
necessary and fundamental axioms, without which
all reasoning is nugatory, all mental conviction
impossible, and human life a dream.
And we further feel confident, that a candid and
accurate consideration of theories of philosophy
will lead the mind to perceive, that there is nothing
in the general constitution of them hostile to the
leading features and doctrines of the Christian sys-
tem. In fact, there exists a surprising harmony
between all speculative theories which have any
degree of truth or solidity in them, and the ele-
mentary principles of revealed theology ; and phi-
losophic truth and theological truth will be found,
in almost all cases, to act and re-act on each other,
to the mutual elucidation and advantage of both.
What may be termed the metaphysics of the Bible,
if such an expression may be allowed, are in strict
keeping with every thing which has been ob-
Xliv INTRODUCTION.
served and recorded, by the universal assent of
mankind, relative to intellectual plienomena.
There is no radical or constitutional discrepancy
between them. The authoritative declarations of
Scripture are intelligible only because they rest
on the general perceptions and judgments of men;
and the high purposes and hopes with which Reve-
lation is conversant, are, in every case, powerfully
and universally responded to by the most charac-
teristic feelings and impulses of human nature.
The religious principle is, therefore, a necessary
and wholesome ingredient in every system of
speculative thought or inquiry. Nothing is in-
telligible without it. It speaks with a thousand
tongues ; and like the universal ether, to which it
has often been made to claim affinity, pervades all
nature, and is ever present to the mind of man.
Its manifestations are sometimes faintly traceable
in his mental physiology, and even oftimes they
become the sport of the wildest vagaries and most
fantastical caprice ; but we think not, we act not,
without their co-operation, or beyond the pale of
their influence.
In the third place, the existence and certainty of a
number of a priori mental principles or conceptions,
are decidedly recognised in every system of philoso-
phy of which there are any full or regularly classified
details. These original ideas become the life-spring
of thought, and the steady guides of the under-
standmg. They depend upon nothing capricious,
variable, evanescent, or transitory ; they form the
primitive foundations of all human observation,
INTRODUCTION. xlv
experience, and reasoning. From whence they are
derived, and how regulated and guided, it is not
our province here to inquire ; it is sufficient to state
that there will not be found, in all the historical
sketches of systems of which we have any account,
a single instance where their existence is not tacitly
or expressly acknowledged.
In the fourth place, we shall find, from an
accurate study of history, that philosopliy is of a
progressive character. Though its principles are
abstract, and of ana piHori description, yet their full
and complete development rests with time. We
find this depicted on the lineaments of philosophi-
cal speculation, from the remotest ages to the present
hour. Unquestionably there have been very great
vicissitudes in the progress of mental knowledge.
Sometimes it would seem to have been almost sta-
tionary ; then to have made a sudden bound in a
forward direction ; and again to lia^e relapsed into
a state of quietude and apatliy. But still, on the
whole, a decided and permanent progress was in-
variably secured. This onward course was not,
however, characterised by the discovery and de-
velopment of neto truths or principles of human
nature, but in illustrating the individual
operations of those already known, and in more
accurately tracing out their respective bearings on
other important and collateral branches of human
investigation. There is not, in fact, a principle of
the human mind in our most approved modern
treatises on its nature and faculties, which may not
be found among the speculations of the Grecian
philosophers : but still we have greatly the ad-
Xlvi INTRODUCTION.
vantage over the ancients, in the copiousness of
illustrations ; the nicer processes of analytical and
deductive reasoning ; in displaying the power and
influence ofmental science over other subjects; and,
above all, in those refined yet solid distinctions,
which we can now make on almost every topic
connected with man, as a thinking, moral, religious,
and social being. It is this expansiveness or am-
plification of the primary elements of mind, which
constitutes the progressive character of philoso-
phical speculations on its powers or faculties ;
inasmuch as it more completely opens out to our
view the whole arcana of thought, in many of those
sudden and rapid operations which were inade-
quately comprehended by antiquity, and ap-
peared in the eyes of some of the ancient sages
as partaking of the character of individual and
instinctive imj)ulses.
Besides this, there is a progressive character
stamped upon every thing we behold. The Avhole
economy of human nature proclaims it. We
instinctively follow it from the cradle to the grave.
There is no human being without a regularly
formed system of speculative or theoretical know-
ledge, relative to his own nature and to that of the
beings around him, however crude or limited it
may be ; and when we come to analyse this theory,
we find it made up of varied materials, some
illustrative of this principle, and some of that.
Order, method, selection, revisal, are conspicuous
everywhere; and the sum total of an ordinary
man's views of himself, and of human life generally,
is a perfect epitome of the more elaborate and sja-
INTRODUCTION. xlvii
tematic treatises of the philosopher. We recognise
in both the progressive character of the mind ; one
truth is made predominant here, and another
there ; one subject is considered in this light, and
another in that ; weeding out the errors of yester-
day by the fuller experience of to-day ; and, in fact,
invariably labouring towards a state of ideal har-
mony and perfection, and always making a decided
step towards its attainment. This is the condition
of humanity, and the whole body of human know-
ledge, and particularly mental philosophy, is
marvellously confirmatory of the fact.
Indeed, to plead for the eclectic, or progressive,
philosophy, is but a very trite and common-place
affair; since it is nothing more nor less than to
argue for that wholesome equilibrium among
the leading branches of man's knowledge and
springs of action, which all ages of the world, and
all sects of philosophers, have more or less recog-
nised as one of the indispensable conditions of
human thought, power, and happiness. To be
convinced of the utility of this, we have only to
conceive for a moment, man, as now constituted,
under the exclusive control of any one of the three
grand divisions of human investigation, nature,
mind, and God. Were he merely incessantly look-
ing at the material changes and operations of things
around him, he would be nothing more than a mere
statue or vegetable excrescence ; he might be said
to exist, but not to live. Again, were men entirely
engrossed by the feelings and movements of their
minds, and to take no heed of external things,
Xlviii INTRODUCTION.
they could liot exist a single day. And, finally,
were we continually making the nature, attril)utes,
and mode of government of the Deity, exclusive
objects of our perpetual contemplation, we should
only he attempting to do what is impossible. So
that every thing depends upon a due and propor-
tional sul3ordination of one thing to another ; and
this is the reason why the progressive character is
imposed upon human knowledge, in order that it
might be reared up into an immense and splendid
temple, by the aggregate and universal thought of
mankind.
Let us just cast a glance over the speculative
opinions of mankind, and we shall instantly
perceive the progressive character of mental
philosophy. In Greece there was a system of
great intellectual excellence, embracing within
its range nearly all the primary principles of a
comprehensive and matured body of thought.
These were discussed by the Greeks in a manner
and with a tact peculiarly their own ; but towards
the latter years of their political glory and inde-
pendence, their speculations seemed to have been
nearly worn out, and to have become decidedly
tame and insipid. The Christian dispensation
gave new life to human speculation. The Greek
philosophybecame amalgamated with it ; and novel
and highly interesting philosophical combinations
were the result. New light was thrown on a thou-
sand important questions connected with the na-
ture of man, with which the Greek mind was unable
to grapple alone. The philosophy of the Chris-
INTRODUCTION. xllX
tian Fatliers was followed by that of the School-
men ; and, as far as the science of human nature
was concerned, there was another step gained in a
forward direction, Por though we are apt to talk
glibly, and with no small degree of self-compla-
cency, of the dark ages ; yet no one who is even
tolerably acquainted with the nature and history
of the philosophy of this period, can be ignorant
that, independently of mere abstract investigations
on mind, and of the principles of doctrinal theo-
logy, all the most important laws and institutions
of European society were dug out of the mines of
this ponderous and inexhaustible mass of human
speculation. And we need scarcely add, that since
the days of the Scholastic inquiries, we have made
considerable progress, particularly in all our phi-
losophical methods of investigation and reasoning,
in shewing the mental dependencies, bearings, and
relationships which subsist among all branches of
knowledge ; and in what way, and to what degree,
they can be advantageously cultivated and applied.
It must be interesting to all cultivators of the
science of intellect to have some general idea of
the present state of speculation, both at home and
abroad ; and to observe those philosophical ten-
dencies which the mental investigations of parti-
cular countries decidedly manifest. There never
was, however, a period in the history of mankind,
when it was more difficult to predict, with any
thing approaching to certainty or probability, the
turn which the speculative ideas of nations may
d
1 INTRODUCTION.
take, than at the present moment.* We see men's
minds in every direction moved and agitated in a
remarkable manner. The first principles of all
human knowledge are called in question, and sub-
jected to the most rigid logical ordeal. What was
mere theory, thrown with off-hand indifference
upon the surface of intellectual society but a few
years ago, is now brought upon the arena of prac-
tical life, and is attempted to be made the ground-
work of sweeping legislative enactments and social
innovations. The horizon of thought seems dark,
overcharged, and threatening; and the prophetic
power of the most comprehensive and penetrating
sagacity is almost entirely paralyzed. At such
a moment we instinctively fall back upon the
eternal law of progressive improvement, and dwell
upon the anticipations derived from a species of opti-
mism, more or less vigorous in every human breast,
that '* all things are for the best." Hopeless despair
is never a justifiable sentiment either in nations or
individuals. On the contrary, we are called upon
to look at the cheering side of things, from many
weighty considerations. We therefore place un-
limited confidence in the imperishable nature of
mind. All its movements have for their grand
aim, the ultimate increase of man's real know-
ledge, and the promotion of his happiness. There
may be seasons of mental aberration ; of reckless
and discontented movements of the inner man ;
but these are but transitory, and last only for
* September, 1848.
INTRODUCTION. U
a season. The intellectual apparatus of a nation
soon rights itself. The influence of error is
commonly prompt in its manifestations, and the
progress of truth slow. Pifty or a hundred years
are but as a hand's-breadth in the life of a whole
people ; and on this account we are called upon to
check impatience and cherish hope. In the men-
tal commotion of kingdoms, " the darkest hour is
nearest to the dawn;" and after a few convulsive
throes and struggles, a brighter era arises ; and
more refined, spiritual, and rational views occupy
the mind of the nation.
As we have already noticed, the philosophy of
mind has been assiduously cultivated in many
continental countries, within the last century. In
Germany this has been particularly the case. But
Germany is just one of those places where it is
extremely difficult to draw general conclusions
from the intellectual movements of its philo-
sophers. Though speculation has there a decidedly
national character, yet its details are so multifa- ftr
rious and incongruous, that anything like accurate
generalization becomes almost impossible; and
anticipations of its future progress and prospects
are difficult to realize. Philosophical inquirers have
there taken unusual directions; have penetrated
into every arcanum of the material and spiritual
world ; have by turns doubted all things and de-
fended all things; have moulded and theorised
every aspect or phase of human thought and life
into a thousand forms ; so that we have but a very
feeble guarantee indeed for the fulfilment of any
d2
Hi INTRODUCTION.
prediction wliich may be hazarded ou the move-
ments of spirits so bold, ambitious, and versatile.
Looking, however, at the general features of
German speculation within the last thirty years,
we perceive a manifest change for the better. We
see common sense and reason more generally re-
cognised ; and a growing desire among all the
leading minds of the country to weed out of the
national philosophy whatever is wild, incompre-
hensible, unsound, and irrational. The nation has
become sick of speculation for the mere sake of
speculating, and of doubt for the mere sake of
doubting. Sober and thinking men sigh for
something solid and satisfying; something more
valuable than the fantastical absurdities of by-gone
times. Every year we witness a decided move-
ment towards a healthier state of things. The
waters are subsiding to their natural level, leaving
in every direction large portions of speculative
debris behind them. Spiritualism is gradually
becoming more material, and materialism more
spiritual ; so that the absurdities from the ex-
tremes of both sources of inquiry mil soon lie
obliterated l3y doctrines of a more intermediate and
reconcileable complexion. Idealism will be made
subservient to lofty and interesting purposes, and
will ultimately coerce empirical facts and principles
into wholesome and fruitful channels of thought
and action. On the other hand, the natural
tendency of pure spiritualism to degenerate into
rhapsodical and incomprehensible vagaries, will
receive a wholesome check by the power of deduc-
INTRODUCTION. liii
tive reasoning and accurate observation. And
thus do we hope, that ere many years pass away,
sound and enlightened systems of mental philo-
sophy will be everywhere prevalent in the high
seats of intelligence throughout the whole of the
Germanic empire.
Perhaps we may take upon us to add, before
closing our observations on Germany, that the con-
flict in this country, at the present moment, lies
between a rational spiritualism and an absolute
and uncompromising materialism. The latter is
the last enemy which the spirit of reform has to
vanquish. The venerable and learned Baron Hum-
boldt leads the way in the empirical philosophy of
his country ; and we cannot but feel deep regret in
witnessing a long and arduous life spent in the
promotion of physical science, having nothing
better to cheer it, or to leave as a legacy to man-
kind, even at the grave's mouth, than a material
and primordial necessity, and a deep *' sense of
insecurity" in every philosophical system which
professes to maintain that there is any thing in
the universe save mere objective existences.*
Splendid and influential, however, as the Baron's
acquirements and reputation unquestionably are,
we have no apprehension of anything like a
general adoption of his opinions. They may cap-
tivate or dazzle the unreflecting and superficial for
a season, but they carry within themselves the
seeds of a mortal dissolution. No man, be his
spirit ever so " deeply mersed in matter," can
* !?ee lluniboklt's Cosmos, Londou, 1845.
liv INTRODUCTION.
impress upon the minds of men, for any length of
time, the idea that the universe is a Godless uni-
verse. The bare attempt is a violent outrage on
one of the most powerful and overwhelming con-
victions of the human soul.
Looking now at Erance, we clearly perceive that
since the commencement of the present century, a
great change for the better has been effected in
the speculative philosophy of the country. Por
some years in the latter part of the last, and the
beginning of the present century, we find ultra-
materialism everywhere prevalent, and the philo-
sophical intellect of the nation sunk to a low ebb.
But in due course of time, the principles and
spirit of the Scotch philosophy began to gain
ground, and to shake and supplant tlie low and
grovelling views of the mechanical philosophers.
This was one important step gained in a right
direction. By slow degrees the idealism of Ger-
many came to the rescue, and greatly aided, under
the peculiar circumstances in which Prance was
placed, the good work of mental spirituality and
regeneration. Nor ought we to pass over, without
special notice, the great benefits derived from the
Paris translations of the Greek metaphysicians,
which have had a direct and powerful tendency to
induce the young and rising thinkers of Prance
to consult authorities on matters of abstract specu-
lation admirably calculated to elevate and imjirove
the general tone of academical studies, and guide
them into more refined, rational, and wholesome
channels.
INTRODUCTION. Iv
In casting a retrospective eye on France for the
last forty years, to the time when the speculations
of Destutt-Tracy, Cahanis, and Volney constituted
the staple elements of the national thought, what
surprising strides she has made in mental inquiries.
How varied and discursive, intelligent and able, have
been the numerous publications which have issued
from her press. The philosophical disquisitions of
her able thinkers undoubtedly possess, like those of
Germanv, a distinctive and national character, and
have frequently been directed into questionable
channels ; yet the Ereuchman has never wandered
so far from real life, nor thrown around his lucu-
brations such a halo of mysticism, as his German
brethren. The Gaulic i)hilosopher has always been
the more rational and unpretending of the two.
And there is scarcely a modern French publication,
of any note whatever, on the human mind, and on
its various faculties and powers, which does not dis-
play great ability, and a sincere and anxious desire
to arrive at truth. The whole tenor of philosophical
investigation and criticism has been changed for
the better within these few years. Great truths
on religion, morals, mind, politics, and human
knowledge generally, have been discussed in a truly
enlightened spirit ; and many valuable additions
made to the common stock of sober and rational
discussion. Numerous verifications of this truth
might be adduced from her literature, and from
her social and religious institutions. And though
she be now under a cloud, there is no ground
for dejection or despair as to the future advance-
ment of the nation in mental philosophy, or the
Ivi INTKODUCTION.
soundness of many of its leading j)i'i^^ipl^^*
Every thing betokens that she will steadily and
firmly retain the great truths she has so ably and
enthusiastically laboured to illustrate and pro-
mulgate; and gradually leave behind that old
leaven of materialism and folly, which the last
century bequeathed, and which has been prolific of
so many evils, both speculative and practical, to
her character and institutions as a great nation.
In Italy there is a bright and cheering prospect
that this first regenerator of speculative philosophy
in Europe will speedily occupy a conspicuous and
honorable position in mental science among other
continental countries. Within the last quarter of
a century the numerous publications which have
appeared in different states of the kingdom, are
characterised by an enlightened spirit, and by
great good sense and pliilosophical acumen. The
predominance of a state and influential theology
has, doubtless, given a formal and limited range
to her philosophy ; but still there is so much real
heart and pith in it, that it would betray a narrow
spirit indeed to refuse our hearty commendations
of its general merits. Speaking with some reser-
vations, the ordinary bent of ItaKan metaphysics
at the present moment is decidedly of an eclectic
and common- sense complexion. Ontology and
psychology go hand in hand ; and though a priori
truths of the mind are highly valued and uni-
versally recognised as necessary and important
elements of all reasoning, yet they are not placed
in opposition, to the actual exclusion of external
and sensational sources of knowledge. The leading
INTllODUCTION. Ivii
Italian philosophers of the present day, among
whom we place Gioberti, Mamiani, and Tomaseo,
— now severally and actively engaged in achieving
the social reformation and political independence
of their country — are all influenced by lofty views
of the nature of philosophic truth, and deeply
convinced of its immense importance in regene-
rating the institutions and improving the intel-
lectual faculties of a nation, and in preserving it
from error and mischievous delusions. In no part
of the Euroj)ean continent do we find mental
speculations impressed with a more subdued,
sober, candid, and discriminating tone, and more
in accordance with the highest purposes and best
interests of man, than in the writings of the modern
cultivators of philosophy in this interesting and
intelligent country.
The progress of mental philosophy in Belgium
and Holland is at the present moment highly
satisfactory and encouraging. The deep thinkers
of these countries, especially the Belgian writers,
have more or less looked up to France as a monitor
and guide, without, however, making the least
compromise of their own intellectual independence.
Thesre has always been less philosophy of a mate-
rialistic tendency in the Netherlands than in
Prance ; and the present treatises on the human
mind are seldom tinged, in any deep degree, with
unsound or irreligious opinions in this part of the
continent. Although great liberty of discussion
is allowed and enjoyed, yet everything from the
philosophic press of the two kingdoms is charac-
terised by a sober and rational spii-it, becoming
Iviii INTHODUCTION.
reflective and intelligent communities. At no
former period in the history of these European
states, was mental philosophy more assiduously
and profoundly cultivated than it is at the present
time ; and by philosophers too, such as Van
Meenen, Van Heusde, Van De Weyer, Gruyer,
Ubaghs, E/ciffenberg, Tiberghien, Quetelet, and
others, of vast literary attainments, and possessing
a most accurate and comprehensive acquaintance
with the whole speculative thinldng of Europe.
Everything from their pens bespeaks the innate
power to grapple with questions of the greatest
magnitude and complexity ; and they have all
besides manifested a strong desire to support and
defend the cause of truth generally, by a course of
discussion at once candid, enlightened, and for-
bearing.
In other northern nations, and in some of the
southern, with whose respective literature we are in
Great Britain but partially and imperfectly ac-
quainted, we see much to encourage hope as to the
future progress of the philosophy of mind. Every
year affords some additional proof of its more
general improvement and diffusion. In Sweden
and Denmark, works are regularly issuing fiM)m
the press which display an intimate knowledge of
speculative systems, and great powers of abstract
reasoning on topics connected with human nature.
Even Russia is gradually extending encourage-
ment and protection to subjects of speculation,
which a very few years since were not admitted
within the pale of her Universities. And the
same may be remarked of Spain and Portugal ;
INTRODUCTION. lix
in both of which we perceive one bulwark after
another against enlightened philosophical discus-
sion slowly giving way, and the avenues to scien-
tific and reflective investigations becoming daily
less obstructed by narrow prejudices, intolerance,
and bigotry.
In the Western hemisphere, we find the active
spirits of the United States cultivating a know-
ledge of mental science in every direction. Their
continent has become a vast emporium for the
speculations of all the European kingdoms ; and
there is scarcely a work of any note published in
the Old World, on the science of human nature,
which does not speedily find its way here, and
which does not go tlirough a regular critical ordeal
in the chief periodicals of the country. AVhere
there is such a regular influx of novel opinions, it
becomes hazardous to venture on general con-
clusions as to the preponderance of particular me-
taphysical views and systems ; but we may afiirm,
without speaking dogmatically on the subject, that
within the last twenty years, there has been more
or less a visible increase in the spiritual notions of
mind throughout all the more enlightened and in-
tellectual portions of the States. In the Reviews
and Magazines of the country we see this change
daily verified ; and still more striking manifesta-
tions of it may be found in the general tone of the
lectures delivered on mental studies, in the several
chief places of academical instruction throughout
the whole Union. The theological spirit of the
nation is actively roused to a deep sense of the
utility and importance of metaphysical studies ;
Ix INTllODUCTION, ,
and seems resolutely bent on clearing them from
all the dross and mischievous elements which may
be more or less incorporated with them when newly
imported from every quarter of the world.
It has become almost a common remark, that
in Great Britain mental philosophy has been en-
tirely stationary for nearly the last half century.
There is unquestionably much truth in this ; but
there have been latent signs of life in the study,
of late years, which promise better things at no
very distant day. Several publications have made
their appearance which bespeak great ability and
knowledge ; and though they do not treat us Avith
elaborated systems, yet their general tendency is
on the side of improvement ; and in many instances
they are calculated to throw new and interesting-
light on several individual sections of the science
of universal mmd. The recent movements in
theological literature and speculation have had no
small degree of influence in imparting more
spiritual views to some English treatises on meta-
physical subjects.
It is therefore cheering to those who feel a
lively interest in such studies, and are deeply im-
pressed Avith their absolute utility and importance,
to witness so many indications of their progress
and extension, in every direction to which Ave can
direct the intellectual eye. We know that great
ideas are never lost ; and Ave consequently feel an
inward and firm conviction, that the advances
Avhich Ave are, in this age, effecting in the first of
aU branches of human knowledge, Avill never be
efi'aced by any future retrograde movements Avhat-
INTRODUCTION. Ixi
ever, in the minds of individuals or of nations.
The whole progress of human society speaks loudly
against any such catastrophe.
But whatever the unreflecting and superficial
may think of mental philosophy, or of its future
destination, we are firmly impressed with the belief
that to those who are acquainted with its prin-
ciples, and imbued with its spirit, it cannot fail
to recommend itself, from the comprehensiveness
of its range, the lofty aim of its disquisitions,
and the firm and decided tone which it imparts to
tlie intellect. It greatly quickens the reflective
powers of man, and enables him to wield them
with ease and energy. It gives an ever-living
freshness to old truths, and reduces, by subtile and
mysterious agencies, the most discordant thoughts
and materials into a state of logical harmony,
beauty, and order. It has the universe for its
object — aU matter and all mind ; and its spirit is
a universal presence. It is as sublime, boundless,
and inexhaustible as the ocean. We can traverse by
its means the whole region of human knowledge ;
and no soil and no age is exempt from its pene-
trating glance. The science of mind is, from its
very nature and essence, universal and difi'usive.
Its ramifications and connections are infinite;
and these reveal to us the hidden and interesting
analogies subsisting among all topics of investiga-
tion, and shed a lustre over our path as we travel
from one great truth of human nature to another.
It exacts an intellectual tribute from every pro-
vince of inquiry ; and expends its treasures in
Iviii INTRODUCTION.
rearing a splendid temple, more colossal and du-
rable than tlie material universe itself.
The philosophy of man is the sublimest of stu-
dies, and its spirit is the most elevating and
transcendental of all the gifts of God. The over-
whelming grandeur of its themes — themes which
have "thoughts that wander through eternity"
for their object — fills the mind with holy and im-
proving contemplations, and removes it from all
that is tame, earthly, formal, and material. Its
speculations are the sacred vehicles of the most
important and vital truths ; and its reasonings
relate to "things which speak not of earth."
It deals with mighty passions, affections, and
thoughts which stretch into futurity ; which have
all mind and creative energy for their object ; and
which give expression and thrilling interest to
those lofty and refined aspirations which seek after
something more pure and consoling than the ordi-
nary movements and concerns of life aflTord. These
aspirations are the germs of the inward man, which
are bound up in the soul just as the living and
fructifying principle is incrusted in the seed. They
constitute the vivifying energy which makes all
things new; which moulds the combinations of
matter and mind into an endless variety of forms ;
and develops them, by virtue of new afiinities and
the immutable laws of intellect, into those splendid
and beautiful creations of philosophical thought,
which the mere matter-of-fact man can neither
grasp nor comprehend, and without which the
universe itself would be a chaos, and human life
an incomprehensible enigma.
PllOM THE EARLIEST PEKIOD OP
MENTAL SPECULATION
TO THE COMMENCEMENT OP THE
SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY.
HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY,
ETC. ETC.
CHAPTER I.
ON THE HISTORIES OF PHILOSOPHY, ANCIENT AND
MODERN.
It is not intended to give in this chapter any
thing lilve a lengtliened account of the numerous
Histories of Philosophy, hut only to bring before the
reader's attention a few of the principal of them,
with a view of fixing in his mind some of the lead-
ing periods of history when certain works were
published. It must also be premised, that what is
generally meant by Histories of Philosophy, is not
limited to liistories of mental philosophy alone, but
embraces morals, poUtics, rehgion, and even phy-
sical science. Metaphysics are, m all histories of
philosophy wliich have yet appeared, mixed up and
blended with other subjects. On this account, if a
person wishes to trace out for himself the history
of opinions relative to the human mind, he will have
to select them from amonj^st a vast varietv of other
topics, with which they are historically classed.
* B
2 HISTOKIES OF PHILOSOPHY,
Three of the most distingiiished ancient histo-
rians of philosophy are Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero.
Though not professed chroniclers of previons opi-
nions, yet their treasures are uncommonly valuable,
as frequent allusion is made, in unfolding their in-
di^ddual opinions, to the \dews and systems of other
speculative men who had preceded them, but of
whose labours we have little or no account direct
from themselves. Plato, in his dialogues, brings
contemporary writers on the stage, and paints their
characters and systems in his otmi way. Aristotle,
again, in lajdng down his own systems, furnishes
us with the individual systems of other metaphysi-
cians and philosophers. And Cicero, in his specu-
lative traditions, has handed down many opinions
exceedingly interesting to all speculative minds.*
Hippocrates was an eminent Greek physician.
He alludes to the great advantage of an accurate
knowledge of the human faculties, relative to the
history of opinions. Xenophon is well known as a
A'aluable historian of philosophic opinions ; and
Lucretius gives us an account of the metaphysical
ideas of Democritus and Epiciuais. "We have
the system of the Stoics expoimded by Seneca, and
the Sceptical Philosophy by Sextus Empiricus.
If Plutarch be the author of the book entitled De
Tlacitis Fhilosopliorimi, he has added to the useful
documents of ancient philosophy ; and to the book
of Galen, TJie Philosophical History^ we are equally
indebted.
* Gedike has collected together all the passages of Cicero relative to
Philosophy. Berhn, 17B2.
ANCIENT AND MODERN. 3
Diofjenes Laertius is an historian of ffreat merit.
In his work, "^ Lives of the Philosophers," we have
many valuable extracts from the writings of the
ancients, and many interesting facts respecting
their lives and opinions. We find in several of
the early Pathers of the Church, some valua1)le
sketches of philosophical opinions and systems, par-
ticularly in Eusehius, St. Clement of Alexandria,
and Ejiiphanius.
In the fourth century, we have the " Lives of the
Philosophers and Sophists," by Eunapius, a general
writer and a physician. He is zealously attached to
the Eclectic philosophy, and displays great virulence
against the Christians of his day. A little after
liim we find John Stoba^us, who made large extracts
from the philosophy of the ancients. Both these
works are of great value to the historian.*
In the middle of the sixth century, Hesychius, a
grammarian of Alexandiia, composed an " Abridg-
ment of the lAves of Fhllosophers,'" arranged in
alphabetical order, f The work is cliiefly taken
from Diogenes Laertius. A long intellectual niglit,
of several centuries' duration, here intervenes, in
which nothing was accomplished in philosophical
history worthy of any especial notice.
An Englishman, of the name of Burley, in the
fifteenth century, published ^'Lices of the Philo-
sophers,'" and the book is amongst the early speci-
mens of printing in this country. In Italy, Pici-
nus, under the patronage of Cosmo de Medicis, and
* See an edition of Stobseus, by Ileeren. Gottingen, 1792.
t Ilesych. Milet. interpvete Iladriano Juno. Anvers, 1572. 8vo.
B 2
4 HISTORIES OF PHILOSOPHY.
Pouiponius, otherwise styled Peter Calabria, re-
vived a knowledge of the works of Plato and Aris-
totle with great eclat. After the partial revival of
learning in Europe, we have John Louis Yives, a
Spaniard by birth, but educated at Paris and Lou-
vain, who wrote a work " On the Origin of Sects,
and the Merits of Philosophers. ^^ Daniel Chry-
trius published his treatise, " A List of Philoso-
phers, and their princijml Sects, from Thales to
Cicero:'' nearly at the same time we have William
Morel's " Table of the order of Succession, Doc-
trines, and date of the Ancient Philosophers ;'' and
also, the " Chronological Library of Classical Phi-
losophers,'' by J. J. Pries.
It would prove tedious, as well as unprofitable,
to give an individual and detailed account, from
this period, of all the writings which contain an
account of philosophical opinions, down to our own
day. It will sutficiently answer all the ends we
have in view to furnish the reader with a bare
enumeration of works, of such a character and ex-
tent, as will prove amply useful for all ordinary
purposes of reference or consultation, both as to
the history of philosophy in general, and metaphy-
sics in particular. This we shall do in a note at
the end of this volume.*
* See Note A. at the end of this Volume.
THE IONIC SCHOOL.
CHAPTER II.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
THE TOXIC SCHOOL.
The philosophy of Greece is full of interest to
every iiiquiring mind. It has peculiar claims upon
our attention ; for it exhibits the innate power of
the mind of man to grapple with those interesting
and abstruse questions which spring out of his
existence, and which force themselves upon his
notice by the powerful and irresistible law of his
nature. Among the Grecian sages we perceive
what has been accomplished by the speculative
faculties, unaided and undirected by the genius of
revelation ; and how far, and in what degree, the
errors and shortcomings of these philosophers
may be profitable to our 'instruction in more in-
telligent and enlightened times. Mutilated and
circumscribed as the Grecian philosophy has come
down to us, still we perceive that, take it as a
whole, it is a noble monument of thought ; and
that its powerful influence has been felt and
acknowledged in every stage of literature and
civilization. Amidst a vast deal that is crude and
6 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
fantastical, we can still recognise truths of great
moment, and universal application ; and the man-
ner in which they are often developed and illus-
trated, affords the most indisputable evidence of
the superior powers of the Grecian understanding.
Many speculations might be hazarded on what
some modern writers have considered the origin of
the Greek philosophic spirit. But these would
inevitably lead us into too wide a field of discussion
and controversy for our present purpose. Suffice
it to remark, that there seem to have been three
leading influences operating on the general mass
of their speculative notions of mind, and which
communicated to them that peculiar feature by
which they are distinguished ; namely, a religious
feeKng or sentiment, a love of poetry, and those
habits and customs which arose out of their
popular civil and political institutions.
The religious feeKng or sentiment has an in-
separable affinity to the true philosophic spmt.
Wliatever attempts are made to form conceptions
of creative power, wisdom, and intelligence, dii'ectly
lead to the formation and exercise of all those
habits of mental culture and accurate analysis, on
wliich true philosophy rests. In every department
of Grecian speculation we find that mental in-
quiries were viewed through the medium of theolo-
gical principles ; and we also find that, in projoor-
tiou as rational notions of natural religion were
recognised, a corresponding degree of clearness and
rationality pervaded the popular stream of philoso-
phical discussion. This fact is illustrated in everv
THE IONIC SCHOOL. 7
age of Grecian literature. "Wlienever low and
grovelling ideas prevailed on the nature of deity
and a presiding mind over the affairs of the Avorld,
in an exact proportion do we find the system of
mental speculation, fantastical, irrational, and
untenahle. And this arises from the established
laws of human thought. It is impossible to con-
ceive an opposite state of things. The same
powers which enable us to investigate the laws of
human intelligence, and develop their mutual rela-
tions and dependencies, are precisely those which,
when judiciously used, direct to all those primary
truths on which the religious feeHngs and senti-
ments of mankind rest.
The same thing may be remarked of the ima-
ginative or poetic feeling. Tliis is closely allied
to relii]^ion. There can be no true or sublime
poetry apart from theological sentiment, though
that sentiment may, occasionally, be grossly per-
verted. Poetry has also the human mind for
its domain and object. It treats of the ideal ; it
lives in the reahns of thought. AYhatever, there-
fore, is favourable to its successful cultivation,
must necessarily prove conducive to the exercise of
all those refined powers of analysis and inward
reflection, which have the mind for their common
centre of operation. The creative energies of the
poet directly lead to those abstract and sublime
topics, which belong exclusively to the province of
the metaphysician.
Social and political institutions have human
nature for their basis, and they likewise greatly
8 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
influence mental disquisitions. Where freedom is
the ground-work of a commonwealth, and the
people have elevated conceptions of their rights
and duties, a sound mental philosophy will in-
variably be found to flourish. The whole history
of Greece is a striking confirmation of this position.
Thales. 64i0 b. c.
Thales was one of the most early sages of
Greece who turned their attention to mental pur-
suits. None of his discourses or writings have
been transmitted du-ectly from himself, but only
through the medium of Aristotle, Plutarch, and
Strabo. Thales, even in his early day, soon seized
upon a mental proposition which has subsequently,
in divers shapes and forms, filled the world of phi-
losophy with discussion; namely, the spontaneity
of the mind of man. Aristotle tells us that Thales
maintained that "the essence of the soul, or thinl^-
ing principle of man, was motion ; a spontaneous
motion, a self -moving power." Plutarch says that
Thales' definition of mind was "that it was a thing
possessing self-contained or perpetual motion."
Strabo mentions the same thing ; " that mind, ac-
cording to Thales, was that which contained self-
will or motion."*
This early fragment of metapyhsical philosophy
is extremely valual)le, inasmuch as it indicates,
that this distinguished man had deeply studied the
* Arist. De Anima. 1. Plut. De PI. Ph. 4. 2.
THALES. 9
nature of liis own inincl ; and that the same dif-
ficulties presented themselves to him wliich have
in all subsequent ages been so perplexing to spe-
culators on the abstract natui'e of mind, and of its
various powers and faculties. .
Thales is considered one of what are called the
Seven Sages of Greece; philosophers who wandered
about from place to place, promulgating their doc-
trines and opinions. All accounts of him agree
that he was passionately fond of speculating into
the origin of all things, and that he founded the
theory, that loater was the primary principle of the
world. Plutarch states the philosopher's reasons
for tliis belief. Pirst, because natural seed, the
principle of all Kving things, is humid ; whence it
is highly probable that humidity or moistiu*e is
also the principle of all other things. Secondly,
because all kinds of plants are nourished by mois-
ture, T\^thout which they wither and decay. And,
thii'dlv, because fii'e, even the sun itself and the
stars, are nourished and supported by vapours pro-
ceeding from water, and consequently the Avhole
world consists of the same.*
There has been considerable dispute among the
learned, whether this principle of water was a
purely passive principle or agent, or an active and
creative one. It must ever be a doubtful point to
determine what Thales' real opinion was ; but it
does seem probable that the philosopher only con-
sidered his machinery of watery vapours to be the
* Arist. Met. 1. 1 . Diog. Laert. 1. 1. Plut. PI. Ph. 1. 1. c. 7.
10 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
instrmnents in the liand of a living and active
power. Erom liis definition of what he considers
the nature or essence of the mind of man, akeady
staf ed, tliis probability is considerably strengthened.
The same reasons, and the same trains of thoua^it,
which brought him to the general conclusion, that
mind, and creative or active power, were identical,
would naturally force the conclusion on liis under-
standing that the world and every thing he beheld
in it were the result of an active and efficient
agent. This process of reasoning seems natural
and consistent.
Anaximander. 610 b. c.
This philosopher was a disciple and friend of
Thales, and embraced and extended the general
principles of his system. Anaximander cultivated
physical inqumes to a considerable extent, as well
as topics connected with human nature. It is said,
that he was the first philosopher of antiquity who
announced the famous axiom that " Out of notliing,
nothing can be made." It is impossible, however,
to ascertain in what sense he understood this gene-
ral proposition ; whether as a sunple physical fact,
or as a principle on which a comprehensive theory
of philosophical speculation could be established.
There can be no doubt but such an acute reasoner
as x^naximander would readily perceive that this
famous axiom of his cut, like a two-edged sword,
both wavs ; that it had necessarilv two distinct
meanings attached to it ; and that it might serve
ANAXIMANDER. 11
both for rational and irrational speculations on the
nature and constitution of all mental and physical
phenomena.
Anaximander considered the infinite as the first
principle of things. All things are produced by,
and immerge into it. Of course there have been
many different notions of what is here meant by
infinite. Aristotle and Plutarch materiahze the
term, and make it stand for mcdter in general;
and the learned Cudworth coincides with this in-
terpretation. Others again think it highly pro-
bable that a guiding and intelligent principle was
still recognised by Anaximander, and that by infi-
nite was merely meant that seemingly endless and
concatenated series of phenomena, which a contem-
plation of the world every way naturally suggests
to most inquiring minds.*
The historian Hitter observes, that Anaximander
" is represented as arguing, that the primary sub-
stance must have been infinite to be all-sufficient
for the limitless variety of produced things with
which we are encompassed. Now, although Aris-
totle expressly characterises this infinite as a mix-
ture, we must not think of it as a mere multiplicity
of primary material elements ; for to the mind of
Anaximander it was Unity immortal and imperish-
able ; an ever-producing energy. This production
of individual thins^s he derived from an eternal
motion of the infinite y \
* Pint. 1. 1. Arist. Plivs 1 1. Cudworth, c. ."5.
t Ritter, Hist. Phil. Oxford, 183!).
12 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
This interpretation is very fanciful, but it is
natural in E/itter. Such a term as infinite^ is too
good a tiling for a German to let pass, without at-
tempting to make something grand and mysterious
out of it. The word enables him to revel in luxu-
rious profundity.*
Anaximenes. 556 b.c.
Anaximenes was a companion and disciple of
Anaximander, and a promulgator of his system of
philosophy. The former indulged in speculations
as to the origin of the world, and maintained the
doctrine, that air is the vivifying principle of the
universe, of which all things are engendered, and
into which all things are resolved. Our soul or
spirit is air ; for spirit and air are two names signi-
fying the same tiling.
Air he considers as the living Deity, because it is
ever in motion. Some authors consider that air
should not be taken in its common signification, but
as a subtile ether, penetrating all material bodies,
and communicating to them that motion and life
necessary for their production and reproduction.!
Hermotimus, op Clazomene. 520 b.c.
Hermotimus of Clazomene was a distinguished
early metaphysician. He entered deeply into all
* See Note B. at the end of this Volume.
t Simplicius ad Phy. lib. 1. Lactantius, lib. 1.
HEKMOTIMUS — DIOGENES. 13
the mental speculations known in his day. He dis-
played great original powers of thinking ; and if we
are to believe Aristotle, Plutarch, Sextus Empiricus,
ApoUonius, and several others, he was the original
propounder of the system of Anaxagoras. Her-
motimus clearly perceived the important distinction
between mental subjects and physical inquiries ; and
he seems to have kept this essential distinction per-
petually before his eyes, in all liis abstract specu-
lations.
Pliny, in his Natural History, mentions, that
Hermotimus entertained the idea that the soul often
quits the l)ody, and wanders to a great distance from
it, in order to obtain that knowledge which is denied
to it whilst residing in its earthly tenement. It
was from this singular notion that his enemies as-
sassinated him, that his own soul might wing its
way to that situation destined for its reception in a
future state of existence.
Diogenes, of Apollonia. 500 e.g.
Diogenes was a follower and disciple of Anaxi-
menes ; but gave a more spiritual interpretation to
his master's doctrines on the origin of the universe.
The subtile ether which Anaximenes employed to
create and sustain the world, became, in the hands
of his pupil, endowed with a species of wisdom and
intelligence. It was not blindness and fatality;
it operated by a settled plan or method. The
wisdom and order displayed in every part of nature,
seem to have made a deep impression upon the
14 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
mind of Diogenes ; for he affirms tliey give evident
testimonies for the existence of a ruling principle
of REASON.
Anaxagoras. 500 b. c.
Anaxagoras was one of the most renowned phi-
losophers of his day, and succeeded in unfolding
more just and comprehensive principles of theism,
and of the general government of the world, than
any preceding speculator. His opinions on mental
suhjects are hut few, and limited in their range, and
are handed do^^Ti to us hy Aristotle and Sextus
Empiricus. Anaxagoras clearly pointed out how
the judgment may occasionally he led astray from
the truth, hy the delusive appearances furnished hy
the external senses. The judgment, or reasoning
power, is the governing principle in man, and is in-
tended to correct the errors which first impressions
may create in his mind. In pointing out the im-
perfections of our sensations as infallihle guides to
truth, he has heen accused hy some ancient philo-
sophers with manifesting a decided leaning to scep-
ticism; hut this accusation is without any solid
foundation. What he says may he conceded hy
every right-thinking man. He only shows that,
on many occasions, such sensations or notions as
relate to colours, the appearances of ohjects seen
through various mecUa hy the eye, may undergo a
multitude of changes ; and yet the mind may de-
duce the truth respecting them from a variety of
different considerations suhmitted to the reasoning
ANAXAGOllAS. 15
faculty. On this principle there cannot be two
opinions.
Anaxagoras, like his predecessors, had his theory
as to the origin of the world. He held that the
material principle of all things is one and many, of
infinite parts, similar and contrary, continuous to the
touch, sustaining themselves, not contained by any
other. Every indi^ddual thing in nature is consti-
tuted of particles peculiar to itself; and it is just this
atomic construction which makes it what it really
is. Bone, for example, is made from a certain spe-
cific form of its particles ; gold and silver, and, in
fact, everything else, from the same principle of
individual adaptation. Lucretius describes this
process in the following lines :
" With Anaxagoras, great Nature's law
Is similarity ; and every compound form
Consists of parts minute, each like a whole ;
And bone is made of bone, and flesh of flesh ;
And blood, and fire, and earth, and massy gold.
Are, in their smallest portions, still the same."*
Anaxagoras is more decidedly theistical than any
of his predecessors. His distinction between mind
and matter, between the Creator and the thing
created, is clearly annunciated. Plato affirms that
he taught the existence of a regulating mind over
all things ; and Aristotle declares that mind is the
supreme and ruling element, and possesses within
itseK all creative power and thought. Plutarch
gives his testimony to the same effect. He says,
* Plut. PL Ph. 1. Arist. Phys. 3, 4.
16 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
" the Ionic philosophers who flourished before the
days of Anaxagoras, made a blind fatality or destiny
the first elemental principle in nature ; but Anax-
agoras maintained that a pure mind, free from all
material influences, governs the universe." Cicero
says that the Grecian sage afiirmed the existence of
an "infinite mind, not inclosed in any body ; " and
Lactantius and Saint Augustine declare the same
thing.*
There were several distinguished disciples of
Anaxagoras ; among the number may be mentioned,
l?eriGles, son of Xantippus ; Archelcms, son of Apol-
lodorus; Euripides , his biographer; Socrates, son
of Sophroniscus ; and Metrodorus, of Lampsacum.
Some few metaphysical opinions are ascribed to
these persons, but they are not entitled to any par-
ticular enumeration.
*** Vide Heuman. Act. Phil. i. 16; iii. 165, 173. Burnet, Arch.
1- 10. Cudworth, Int. Sjst. c. 1. Cyril cont. Julian. 1. 1. Velesii Phil.
Sac. c. 31. August. De Civit. Dei, 1. 8. Scaliger, Ep. 306. Themistii
Orat.26. MorhofF. Polyh. t. 2. Lipsii Phys. 1. 2. Thomasii Obser. Hal.
t. 2. MuUerus, De aqua principio rerum ex mente Thaletis. 1718. Bud-
dseus de Phil. Mor. Thalet. § 10. Brucker Hist, de Ideis, sect. 1. Gro-
tius de Verit. 1. 1. Dickenson Phy. c. 4. Thomas. Hist. Ath. c. 4. Le
Clerc, Bibl. Choisie, t. 2. Schmidius de Vit. Anaximenis, p. 1. Plouc-
quet. Diss. De Thalet. et Anaxag. 1.2. Bayle. Thalet. Ritter, Hist. Phil.
Oxford, 1839. Tennemann. Hist. Phil. Renouvier, Mon. de la Phil, an-
cienne. Cousin, Cours de Phil. Degerando, Hist. Comparee des Sys-
t^mes. Enfield's Hist. Philosophy.
* Arist. De Anima. 1. 1. Plut. 1. 1. Cicero de Nat. Deor. 1. 1. Au-
gust, de Civ. Dei, 1. 8. Lact. 1. .'5.
rrALIAN SCHOOL OF HklETAPHYSICS. 17
CHAPTER III.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
THE ITALIAN SCHOOL OF METAPHYSICS.
Among the leading philosophers on the science
of the human mind in the Italian school, stands
Pythagoras, a man of vast capacity, extensive infor-
mation, indefatigable industry, and great original
powers of thought. lie was born in the Isle of
Samos, and received his early education there.
P}i;hagoras was the founder of a school of specu-
lative philosophy, and his principal followers and
admirers were Ocellus, Timaeus, Archytas, Philo-
laus, Ilipparchus, and Ptolemy.
The Pythagoreans speculated deeply on the
origin of the world, and on the principles of natural
theism. On the human mind their inquiries seem
not to have been directed with much judgment,
nor sio^nalised bv much success. This sect of me-
taphysicians maintained that man had some affi-
nity not only witli the gods, but Tvdth the animal
creation; and that the same principle of intelli-
gence runs through the whole of living existence,
*
c
18 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GTIEECE.
and unites the different parts into one uniform
compound. We are distinguished from the hrute
creation by the possession of language. The hu-
man soul is di\dded, by these Pythagoreans, into
two parts, or rather two leading faculties"; i the
one embraces all the physical wants of the body,
and all the blind and impetuous passions or im-
pulses ; and the other those controlling and modi-
fying powers, which guide and propel mankind to
wtuous and noble deeds, and which are commonly
denominated wisdom, judgment, or reason.
The soul is in an imperfect state. It has three
elemental divisions : Heason, Intelligence, and
Desire. The inferior creation possess the two last
attributes, but are denied the first ; reason. The
soul is a monad — one. It may have many aspects,
but its essence or unity remains the same. In
proportion as the rational, intelligent, or sensual
principles predominate, so is the character of man
proportionally affected. He may be a profound
philosopher, a man of the world, or a low and
i3eastly creature. " This soul, which can look be-
fore and after, can shrink and shrivel itself into an
incapacity of contemplating aught but the present
moment. Of what depths of degeneracy it is capable !
What a beast it may become ! And, if something
lower than itself, why not something higher ? And
if something higher and lower, may there not be a
law accurately determining its elevation and de-
scent ? Each soul has its peculiar evil tastes,
brinffinsT it to the likeness of different creatures be-
neath itself; may it not be under the necessity of
PYTHAGORAS. 19
abiding in the condition of that thing to which it
has adapted and reduced itself?"*
There has always existed considerable doubt as
to what the real opinions of Pythagoras were. He
was a public teacher of philosophy, but left no
written records of his \dews. Conjecture has,
therefore, to supply the place of positive informa-
tion. His school was a school of mathematics also;
and to his blending the two sciences together no
small portion of his obscurity may be attributed.
The essence of the universe was Nmnher ; but
whether numbers were real things, or merely sym-
bolieal representations, has been the great source
of contention among the commentators and critics
on the Pythagorean system. Some maintain that
the philosopher considered numbers as the real
2wlnciples of things, or the cause of all material
existences, or the final nature of things. Others
again contend that these references to numbers
were only a sort of mathematical formula, to be
symbolieallij applied. It would be useless to enter
into this controversy ; for the reasons and autho-
rities on each side seem to be nearly balanced.
For myself, I confess I am inclined to join with
Emitter, and to think that the numbers of Pvtha-
goras were purely s\axLbolical representations. The
other hj^othesis appears to me so utterly incom-
prehensible and absurd, that for the credit of the
human intellect we should throw it aside.
The doctrine of the Transmigration of Souls is
invariably connected with the philosophy of the
* Encv. Metrop. Art. Moral and Metaphy. Philos.
c 2
20 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
Pythagoreans. It was tliis notion wMcli induced
them to abstain from animal food, and to exckide
animal sacrifices from all their religious ceremo-
nies. Ovid represents Pythagoras as speaking in
the following strain, rendered into our vernacular
tongue by the immortal Dryden.
" What then is death^ but ancient matter drest
In some new figure, and a varied vest ?
Thus all things are but altered, nothing dies ;
And here and there th' unbodied spirit flies.
By time, or force, or sickness dispossessed.
And lodges where it lights, in man or beast ;
Or hunts without, till ready limbs it find,
And actuates those according to theii- kind ;
From tenement to tenement is tost.
The soul is still the same, the figure only lost ;
And as the softened wax new seals receives.
Their face assumes, and that impression leaves ;
Now called by one, now by another name.
The form is only changed, the wax is still the same :
So death, thus call'd, can but the form deface,
Th^ immortal soul flies out in empty space.
To seek her fortune in some other place."
*** Vide Arist. Met. 1. 1. 6. Sextus Empiricus, folio, Paris, 1621.
Meiners, Histoire des Sciences dans la Grece, t. 2. (French Translation).
Justin. Hist. 20. 4. Dioge. Laert. 8. Leipsic. 1833. Kitter, Hist. Anc
Phil. Oxford. Tenneraann, Manuel de I'Hist. de la Philosophic, by Cousin,
Paris, 18.30. Schwartz, Manuel de 1' Histoire de la Philosophic Ancienne.
Liege. 1842. Renouvicr, Manuel de Philosophic Ancienne. Paris, 1844.
Tissot. Hist. Abregee de la Philosophie. Dijon. 1840. Hist. Abre'gce de
la Philosophie, par Bouvier, Eveque de Mans; Paris, 1844.
ELEATIC SCHOOL OF METAPHYSICS. 21
CHAPTEH IV.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
THE ELEATIC SCHOOL OF METAPHYSICS.
The Eleatic Scliool of metaphysicians took its
rise from the Italian and Ionian speculations.
It differed, however, essentially from both. It
had more boldness, more originality, and more
system. The Eleatics affected a more complete
severance between mental objects and the rules of
reasoning applicable to them, and to the ordinary
principles of natural theology and morality, with
which they had previously been associated.
The philosophical predecessors of the Eleatics were
not so ambitious as the latter. The former con-
tented themselves with taking the constitution of
things just as they found it, and modestly at-
tempted only to ascertain the laws which regulated
their action on one another, in all their mutual
relationships. The Eleatics, however, took higher
ground. They attempted to explain the origin of
all things ; and, by arguments a priori, to deduce
the whole complicated and multifarious phenomena
of matter and mind, from certain abstract principles.
22 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
Xenophanes. 456 b.c.
Xenoplianes was tlie most distingidslied pliilo-
sopher of this scliool. Considerable difference of
opinion has existed, both in ancient and modern
times, as to the precise notions he entertained on
the mental laws of our constitution. By one
class of historians he has been accused of complete
scepticism; and by others, as a defender of the
infallible certainty of human knowledge. The
mass of evidence, and the general current of pro-
bability, are in favour of the latter hypothesis.
There is, unquestionably, a great deal of material
necessity intermixed with all the mental specula-
tions of Xenophanes. He affirms that nothing
which exists can possibly change. Every thing is
one being, and is not susceptible of diversities of
form or essence. Thought, according to him, is
the only real substance; permanent and immu-
table in its nature and properties.
The spirit of Xenophanes' mental jihilosophy
bears a very close affinity to some modern systems,
founded upon a particular apj)lication of the prin-
ciple of necessary connexion. Those who will cast
their eye over both, will instantly recognise the
almost complete identity. The principle is the
same in both the ancient and modern theories ;
only the proofs and illustrations are somewhat
chfferent. The reasoning of Xenojihanes was of an
a priori description ; whereas the modern adopters
of his peculiar views employ both a priori argu-
XENOPHANES. 23
ments, and proof di'awn from every-day expe-
rience.
The Patliers of the Church, St. Clement oi
Alexandria, and Eusebius, have preserved some
verses of Xenophanes, in which he expresses him-
self with great freedom on the superstitious notions
which the generality of mankind entertain as to
the natui'e of the gods. He seems, however, to
have had just and elevated conceptions of the
Pirst Great Cause, from other verses mentioned
by Sextus Empiricus, where he says, " God sees
all, hears all, knows all ; and His wisdom governs
all things without effort."
The Unity of the Divine nature is, then, de-
cidedly affirmed by Xenophanes. Deity is self-
existent, and consequently eternal; immoveable,
unmoved, and without change.
The peculiar expression that " God is a sphere,"
used by Xenophanes, is thus explamed by M.
Cousin. " The word sphericcd is simply a Greek
locution to pomt out the absolute equality and
unity of the Deity, and of which the conception of
a sphere may be an image. The at^ai^iKoq of the
Greeks is the rotundus of the Latins. It is a
metaphorical expression similar to that of square,
meaning perfect and coniplete ; a mode of speak-
ing which though now considered in some measure
obsolete, had at the early age of mathematical
science, something dignified and noble in it, and
is found in most elevated poetical compositions.
Simonides speaks of a 'man square to his feet,
his hands, and his mind,' meaning a complete.
24 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
perfect, or accomplished man; and the same me-
taphorical expression is used by Aristotle. We
cannot, therefore, be surprised that Xenophanes,
who was a poet as well as a philosopher, writing
in verse, and not being successful in fixing upon
the metapliysical term which fully expressed liis
ideas, should have borrowed from the language of
imagination that word which would most fully
denote his meanino'."
Professor Pulleborn di-aws the following parallel
between Xenophanes and Spinoza. " Though the
system of Xenophanes does not display the same
ability and profundity as that of Spinoza, yet we
cannot fail to perceive that they both moved in the
same direction, and adopted the same principles.
The only difference which distinguishes them lies
in the proofs they respectively employ. Xeno-
phanes belonged to a period when philosophical
studies were but as it were in their infancy, and
the forms of language, as a medium of abstract
reasoning, but imperfectly understood. After
developing a general principle essential to his
system, he clothed it with other attributes,
and took a circuitous route. Spinoza, on the con-
trary, always went direct to his object. The
former dealt exclusively in reasonings a priori, and
rejected exj)erience ; whilst the latter used the
a priori instrument in conjunction with that of
observation and experiment."
" In Sj^inoza's day the ideas of unity, substance,
and the like, were determined with some precision,
particularly by the writings of Descartes ; and the
XENOPHANES. 25
Jewish philosopher had a more definite idea of
necessary connection^ than the ancients possessed.
When they embraced a general principle or propo-
sition, they pushed it to its utmost limits, without
reservation or qualification ; and hence a host of
absurd and iiTational deductions was the conse-
quence. That mathematical form which Spinoza
employed with so much effect in the exposition of
his views, was not used by Xenophanes."*
The scepticism wliich has been attributed to
Xenophanes, and which certain expressions as-
cribed to him apparently countenance, was certainly
of a loose and indefinite character. It was not
dogmatical. It evidently arose in the philo-
sopher's mind from a deep conviction of the
circumscribed and imperfect faculties of man to
embrace the wide expanse of Creation. He was,
as every man ever must be, no matter how sound
and orthodox his theological opinions, overawed
and confounded by the mere attempt to inquire
into the great problem of existence. He essayed
it again and again ; but at every fresh eff'ort a new
host of insurmountable difficulties and perplexities
presented themselves ;
"Alps on Alps arose ;"
which compelled him to fall back on his own puny
littleness and insufficiency, and exclaim, when
smarting under the bitter feelings of defeat, that
^^ error is spread over all things. ^^"X
* Fulleborn, Dissertat. De Xenoplia. Halle, 1/89.
t Vide Arist. De Xenopha. chap. I. Metapliy. Diogenes Laert. 9.
Sextus Enipiricus, Pynhon. 1.22. Cicero. Academ. Qiisest. 2. 37-
26 mental philosophy of greece.
Parmenedes. 430 b.c.
Parmenides Avas a disciple and follower of Xe-
noplianes, and considerably extended the range of
his philosophical system. The former consolidated
and arranged the thoughts of the latter, and, with
great judgment, spii'it, and boldness, gave them
a more complete and systematic form. Some
recent historians have affirmed that Parmenides
was the first pliilosopher who attempted to found a
regular theory of human knowledge.
This philosopher composed a Poem " On Nature^''
in the prologue to which he represents the goddess
of wisdom directing the philosophical inquirer to
truth and happiness. The goddess speaks nearly
in these words : "I hail thee, O thou, whom the
heralds of the goddess have conducted to my habi-
tation. Rejoice, and count it not a misfortune
that thou hast been conducted by a path un-
known to mortals. Thou slialt discern the immu-
table and eternal things which truth teaches ; and
thou shall form just conclusions, both as to the
phenomena of nature around thee, and the varied
and conflicting elements of human opinions. Keep
steadily in this path ; and never allow thyseK to
become the slave of tliv outward senses ; of thine
eye and thine ear. It is by shunning such guides,
by the force of reason, that thou shalt be able to
comprehend what I shall announce to thee. If
we suifer ourselves to be directed bv mere senti-
ment or feeling, we shall infallibly be misled from
the true path."
PAHMENIDES. 27
In the book " On Nature ,' we find mental
speculations treated under tlie head of " The
Intelligible,'' or " The Truth;' or the " JJnitij of
Existence y The allegorical form is kept up, and
the goddess " reveals what reason will discover in
its researches. E-eason teaches that ichich exists.
The existence of a nonentity. Speech, thought, and
existence, are all positive realities. Men, blinded
by their senses, confound them by turns ; and
separate existence from creation. Eollow then the
path, which points out the reality of things.
Many reasons prove that that which has never
begun, cannot cease to exist. Existence is a whole ;
it is one ; it is immutable ; it is infinite. Eor does
any one ask me from whence is this existence de-
rived? Erom what source does its perpetual stream
of creation flow ? Erom whence doth it proceed ?
These are questions we cannot answer. Eor no
person can conceive or tell why a thing exists,
or what power is able to call it into being, or why
it has appeared at a particular time, neither sooner
nor later. It is necessary, then, that existence
should always be, or never be ; for tliis maxim is
eternally true, that a thing cannot by itself be
created out of nothing. Existence is founded upon
itself; it universally reposes on itself, and is in-
vested with unmutability ; the chains of necessary
power envelop it. Thought, and the object of
thought, are one and the same. We cannot have
the thought, with the object which is cognizant to
the mind."
This Poem ends with the following remark;
28 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
"The unclerstanding is to man, wliat the bodily
members are to his frame ; for the thinking prin-
ciple possesses the same unity of nature and
design, as the organs of the outward man ; all is
filled by thought."
The general features of the speculative system
of Parmenides, have no small resemblance to those
which have been designated, by some modern
thinkers, by the term common sense. He was less
addicted to paradox than his predecessors ; and
seemed to seize those general principles of mind
which display themselves in the every-day move-
ments of the mass of mankind, and which form
the ground-work of that universal sjrmpathy and
harmony Avhich subsist throughout the whole
region of thought.*
Melissus. 424 B.C.
Melissus of Samos expoimded the doctrines of
Parmenides. On the real existence of thinjjs, he
remarks, "We cannot determine the quantity of
any thing without taking for granted its existence.
But that which is real cannot be finite ; it must
be infinite ; not in sjmce, but in time. It fills all
time, and must always be the same in itself."
Aristotle calls the unity of Parmenides a rational
unity, but that of MeKssus a material one.f
* Arist. Met. 1. 1. Sextus Empiricus 1. 9. Diogenes Laert. 1. !). Plato
in Parmen. 1. 11. Plat. adv. Colut. 1. 6. Eusebius 1. 1.
t Tissot, Ilist. Abre'gee de la Phil. p. 106. Dijon, 1840.
ZENO. 29
The German historian Emitter makes the following
remarks on Melissus. " As, however, the develop-
ment given hy Melissns to his theory of being
strongly resembles the method in which it was
carried out by Parmenides, we may here pass over
much, and only bring forward what is peculiarly
his own, and what is requisite to indicate its re-
lation to other philosophical doctrines. This con-
sists chiefly in the manner in which, as an Ionian
and living among lonians, he necessarily put most
prominently forward those points which it was
indispensable to establish against the Ionic phi-
losophy. Melissus, in common with Parmenides,
does not found his argument on the notion of the
Deity, but on that of being. On the former point he
recedes so far from Xenophanes, that he expressly
declares, ' men must not speak of the gods, for of
them we have absolutely no knoAvledge.'* Accord-
ingly, the central point of the whole system — the
notion of the perfect one — was even still more lost
sight of by him than by Parmenides ; and the
whole argumentation bears the appearance of an
empty sophism. On this account he was much
less esteemed by the ancients than Parmenides ;
and Aristotle is of opinion that his principles
present little or no difiiculty."t
Zeno, of Elea. 450 b. c.
Zeno was the able, bold, and successful defender
* Diog. Laert. 1. 1. 9. 24. t Ritter, Hist. Phil. p. 481.
30 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
of the Eleatic pliilosopliy. He possessed in a high
degree all the mental requisites for an expert and
formidable controversialist. He was remarkably
acute, knew well how to handle general principles,
so as to confound and annoy an adversary, and
had, besides, a copious fund of information on all
the current topics of the day. He may be con-
sidered as the founder of that general system of
philosophical discussion, so prevalent for many
subsequent ages, in all the countries of the East.
Among his controversial discussions we find the
following, tending to invalidate the systems of
those who founded all science on pure experience.
" Every body constantly occupies a portion of space
equal to itself; it is then constantly in repose.
Now if it move itself, it should move in every
instant ; it would then be both in motion and at
rest at the same time."
Zeno attempted to establish the doctrine of
perfect and ahsolute unity. On the divisibility of
matter, he observes, "When we arrive at the
utmost boundaries of divisibility, we shall then
only have a mathematical point; which is really
nothing."
On the successful cultivation of the art of
reasoning, and investigating truth, and communi-
cating it to others, he laid down many excellent
principles and rules. He divided this art into
three distinct branches ; the first, the art of draw-
ing consequences or inferences from principles ;
secondly, the art of dialectics ; and thirdly, tlie art
of speaking.
HERACLITLS. 31
Of the importance of the dialectics of Zeno, we
have the testimony of M. Cousin, who says, " The
polemical method entirely disconcerted the dis-
ciples of the Ionic philosophy, and excited a
lively curiosity and interest for the stability of the
doctrines of the Italian school ; and thus was sowti
in the capital of Greek civilization and refinement,
the prolific germ of a more lofty development of
philosophy." Hitter also observes, " On account
of the readiness and scientific skill with which
Zeno indicated the contraries of all things, he has
been called bv Plato the Eleatic Palamedes. The
dialogistic form of his composition was calculated
to give rise to a sophistical tendency, as was shewn
in latter times ; but even in his reasonings there is
often so close a trenching upon subtile and falla-
cious distinctions, that he has frequently been
classed among the Sophists ; nevertheless, when
we consider the serious end which he pursued, we
cannot but suppose that he merely employed those
fallacious artifices as a by-play and relief to his
dialogue, or in mocking defiance of the want of
skill and the helplessness of his opponents."*
Heraclitus. 460 b. c.
Heraclitus belonged to the school of the Eleatics,
and signalised himself by his profound study of
the general laws of the universe. On mental sub-
jects he observes, "The human soul, such as is
* Arist. Met. 1. 1. Pioge. Laert. 1. 3. Sext. Emp. Math. /. Plato,
Parm p 127. Strabo 6. I.
32 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
endowed with reason, is an emanation from the
universal mind; but it is united to an animal
nature, in common with the inferior orders of
creation. Man breathes the universal soul or
mind, and readily unites with creative intelligence,
in a state of watching ; sleep l^eing an immediate
and temporary suspension of this communication."
This metaphysician established the maxim which
exercised, in subsequent ages, a great influence
over speculative minds, "that a thing can only be
known by the same thing." " Conception is
founded only upon the similitude between the
agent and the object." This principle was con-
sidered, when viewed in all its bearings and rami-
fications, as destructive of the evidence of the
senses ; and places the discovery of truth solely in
the faculty of reason. But in opposition to this
conclusion from his premises, Heraclitus maintained
that the senses were the apertures through which
we inhaled the divine reason.
" Our sensations," says he, " do not appertain
to external objects ; they reside only in ourselves ;
for they vary amongst individuals, and even in the
same individual, from the varied condition of the
organs themselves. These senses cannot, then,
communicate any certain knowledge of external
things, since their operation is so unsteady and
fluctuating. The understanding alone possesses
the power of teaching us the absolute nature of
objects; it alone can impart truth to us."
, He argues however in another place for the
testimony of the senses ; for he remarks, " The
HERACLITUS. . 33
judgments wliich mankind in general form, possess
the certain testimony of truth ; this common light
wliich diffuses itself over all at once, is nothing
else but the Divine E-eason, shed over all our under-
standings by a direct and immediate effusion."
On the nature of memory he observes, "the
mind represents to itself the universe such as it
has been preserved by the memory ; we arrive then
at truth when we borrow from memory that true
and veritable sketch which has been deposited and
confided with it. Wisdom is then accessible to all
men."
His notions on the origin of the world did not ma-
terially differ from those which had been promulgat-
ed by many of his predecessors. Fire, or an ethereal
exhalation, is the principle of existence and life. This
agent consists of two indivisible portions or atoms,
which are simple in their natures, and eternal, and
indestructible. The particles of which this ethe-
real exhalation consists, are in perpetual motion.
From the various modes in which these two con-
stituent elements are combined, we have the result
of all the numerous and diversified forms of ma-
terial existences. There is a rational or thinking
principle incorporated with this primary fire, and
this principle animates the whole, and preserves
and changes the face of nature at its will. * This
principle, in fact, is God, the maker of all things.
There is a story told about the writings of He-
racUtus, that they were deposited in the temple of
* Clem. Alex. Prot. p. 42. Tertull. Contr. Marcion.
* D
34 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
Diana, at Ephesus, and remained tliere unknown
for a considerable period. At length they were
discovered and published ; and the poet Euripides
made known their contents to a public audience
in the same celebrated temple. This circumstance
excited a lively feeling amongst the philosophers
of the day, some of whom immediately declared
themselves Heraclitus's disciples. Among the
number was Hippocrates, the famous physician.
We shall close tliis notice of Heraclitus with a
few observations of Emitter's upon the system of the
Grecian philosopher. " The notion of life implies
that of alteration, which by the ancients was gene-
rally conceived as motion. The Universal Life is
therefore an eternal motion, and consequently tends,
as every motion must, towards some end; even
though this end, in the course of the evolution of
life, presents itself to us a mere transition to some
ulterior end. Heraclitus on this ground supposed
a certain longing to be inherent in fire, to gratify
which it constantly transformed itself into some
determinate form of being, without, however, any
wish to maintain it, but in the mere desire of trans-
muting itself from one form, into another. There-
fore to make worlds is Jove's pastime."
EMPEDOCLES. 85
CHAPTEU V.
MENTx\L PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
THE SECOND ELEATIC SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY.
This second scliool of Eleatics was distinguished
by many important and subtile speculations on
mental subjects ; but its general scope and tenor
had a decided leaning to the most objectionable
forms of materialism. They were devoted and
zealous students of philosophy, but they adopted
general principles ^\dtliout sufficient discrimination,
and supported them by fictions and fallacies dis-
creditable to discerning minds.
EMPEDOCLES. 444 B. C.
This philosopher was born at Agrigentmn, in
Sicily, about the year 400. Erom his youth he
devoted himself to medical pursuits with great zeal
and success. He travelled also a great deal, and
became, by his skill in medicine, and the boldness
and singularity of his character, a well known per-
sonage, even beyond the limits of his oami country.
He prosecuted the science of mind with some
D 2
36 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
success. His theory of sensation is worthy of
notice, principally from its singularity. He fol-
lowed the general maxim of his predecessors, that
the same thing could only he perceived by the same
thing. He attached to each of the senses a
particular element ; thus, the fire could only be
perceived by the fire, that is, sight ; the air by the
air, which is the ear. To the w^hole of the senses
he joined other two — ^namely, discord, wliich is per-
ceived by discord, and love, which is perceived by
love. He explained the general phenomena of
sensation by affirming that there was a complete
identity between the object perceived and the
sensation itself. The colours of objects, for
example, were certain forms, proceeding from
things external, and transmitted to us through the
medium of the organ of sight.*
Empedocles makes a distinction between divine
and human knowledge, and yet he rather inconsis-
tently attempts to resolve all kinds of knowledge
into the Divine Mind. However, it would appear
that, according to his idea, man has some portion
of this divine intelKgence given him to balance his
sensual knowledge. How it operates, what are its
limits, what influences it exerts, or in what degree
it counteracts material agents, we can form no
conception, neither from the philosopher's own
language, nor from any of his commentators.
The system of the universe, as promulgated by
Empedocles, is dimly shadowed forth. World-
* Arist. De Sensu, cjip. -1. I'lut. <le Placit. Phil. A.
LEUCIPPUS. 37
making mth him is a very crude and bungling
affair. He collects all the elemental principles to-
gether, separates them, descants upon them indivi-
dually, and then mixes them in such confusion,
that it becomes in the end impossible to obtain
even a gKmpse of his system.
Letjcippus. 428 b. c.
Leucippus belonged to this school, and struck
out a new system of philosophy. He was a subtile
observer of the laws of the human mind. His
whole theory of human knowledge and the consti-
tution of nature, is founded upon an obvious train
of thought, when contemplating the world around
us. We incessantly see an endless variety of
forms, and a perpetual change of motion amongst
all bodies, whether animate or inanimate. We see
one thing slowly but steadily amalgamating with
another thing, and the forms and properties of
both changed. These multifarious changes of na-
tiu-e almost naturallv excite the mind to suffffes-
tions of thought foimded upon the gratuitous
assimiption, that a system of motion amongst the
inanimate particles of matter, whether organized
or imorganized, must be the efficient cause of all
the varied forms of creation. There seems to be
no other feasible solution of the phenomena we be-
hold, save a theory of this description ; the mind
rests for the moment upon it, and seems to feel
a temporary pleasure and satisfaction that it affords
a probable solution of philosophical difficulties of
such magnitude. Hence it is that this theory of
38 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
Leucippus, and modifications of it, have prevailed
since the first daT\Ti of letters amongst men, and
will, ill all hnman probability, keep its ground till
the end of time.
Leucippus supposes that every atom of matter is
invested with a peculiar principle of motion ; and
that a number of these atoms produce a kind of
vortex. Huet and Bayle have both remarked, that
this theory is very similar to that broached by
Descartes in modern times.
Leucippus says, " There are then two principles
in all things, one primitive, and the other positive :
space, and a vacuum." " Thus," he adds, " the
whole train of events we see are subjected to a
principle of necessity."
These few words embody the whole system of this
Eleatic philosopher, as it has been handed down
to us through the wi'itings of the ancients. He
thought it fully accounted for all the diversified
appearances of the universe, both physical, mental,
and moral. *
The metaphysical views of Leucippus are, of
course, founded upon the same material basis.
Life, thought, motion, are all one thing ; respira-
tion is the condition, and heat the sign of them.
The soul, in which these three properties of life,
thought, and motion reside, is itself only an aggre-
gation of atoms ; a compound of fiery particles
which circulate in all bodies.
We must, notwithstanding tliis system of mate-
rialism, award the high honour to Leucii)pus of
being the first philosopher Avho clearly detected.
DEMOCRITUS. 39
and fully explained, that important principle in
metaphysics, so highly valued in recent times ;
namely, the distinction between the primary and
secondary qualities of matter.
The whole system of Leucippus is also worthy
of remark as being the first regular theory founded
ujion materialism in its most absolute sense.
Democritus. 460 b. c.
Democritus followed in the same path of specu-
lation as Leucippus ; and more fully developed his
system. The ^dews of the latter, relative to the
distinction between the 'primary and secondary
qualities of matter, were, however, not entertained
by Democritus, who stoutly contended that the
secondary qualities were nothing but mere modifi-
cations of the thinking principle. "Honey," says
he, " is in itself neither sweet nor sour, but it pro-
duces upon the organ of taste an impression to
which we give the name of sweet ; and from hence
is derived the varied class of sensations which dif-
ferent individuals experience. It is precisely the
same with colours, sounds, and odours. ' ' He thought
that the sense of touch was the onlv one which
really taught us the knowledge of external objects.
He maintained, likewise, that all human intelli-
gence was of a passive character. " All our per-
ceptions come to us from without, and the ol^jects
which produce them emit certain emanations re-
sembKng them, and like images are imprinted on
the soul." Again, for example, water, which com-
poses the principle of life or vitality, furnishes as
40 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
it were by reflection, a copy of its properties to the
mind ; the air transmits them through the ear, by
an internal movement of particles, precisely similar ;
and thus it is with all the other organs of sense.
Democritus aflirmed that there were two kinds
of knowledge, the genuine and the abstract. The
first has its foundation in the mind ; and the latter
from the operation of the external senses. The
abstract or obscure species of knowledge is acquired
by the influence of external agents on the thinking
faculty (vovg), and thus conceptions are generated.*
Bodies operate, however, only by contact. There
must be an impression on the soul from without, f
This is indispensable. An external object is made
kno^vn to us by a sense, through the medium of
certain eflQ.uxes filled with sensation and impres-
sion, which the philosopher calls images (t'/^wXa) ;
these drop as it were from the object, and after
assimilating themselves with the surrounding air,
enter into the organ of sensation through certain
channels or pores. This process communicates
certain figures corresponding to the external ob-
jects from whence they come. But it is only the
external covering or surface of these objects which
we perceive ; and this is the chief reason of the
mass of obscurity which hangs over their real
nature or properties. There is always, therefore,
a cloudiness and haziness hanging over everything
around us ; and it is in vain to think of ever re-
mo\dng it from the sensuous organization of man.
* Arist. de Aniiiia. 1. 2. t Arist de Sensu, 2.
DEMOCRITUS. 41
We have only, in fact, a one-sicled glimpse of na-
tural objects.*
We must not, however, suppose that all know-
ledge was confined to this imperfect sensuous
operation. There was a higher principle of intelli-
gence ; something which guided and directed us
to truth, independent of the impressions from
external objects. There were certain internal
perceptions or elements of thought which seemed
to form part of the construction of the mind itself.
This has been considered by some writers as the
faculty of reflection (Siavota), which forms such an
important element in modern metaphysical science.
Whatever opinion may be formed on this point,
certain it is, that Democritus seems to have been
constrained to admit, though in. rather ambiguous
language, the existence of certain primary elements
of thought, apart from the mere mechanism of
sensation.
Condorcct, in his Sketch of the Progress of the
Human Mind, has the following remarks relative to
the philosophy of Democritus.
" Democritus regarded all the phenomena of the
universe as the result of the combinations and
movements of simple bodies, possessing a deter-
mined and fixed shape, and having received a
primary impulsion, from whence was imparted a
quantity of motion, which modified itself in every
distinct atom, but which, in the entu^e mass,
always preserved an aggregate harmony."
* Theophr. dc Sensu, 63.
42 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
CHAPTER VI.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
THE GREEK SOPHISTS.
We come now to notice that class of speculative
persons whom historians have distinguished by the
term Sojyhists. They occupied a prominent station
among the learned Greeks, although they did not
form any distinct school or party, properly so
called. The spiiit of their system encouraged an
independent tone of thinking, and but little in ac-
cordance with the constraint or authority of any
federal head whatever.
There were two species of Sophists : the one
generally exercised the profession of Rhetorician,
and the other confined themselves to the instruc-
tion of their pupils in all the branches of mental
philosophy.
The philosophy of the Sophists comes down to
us under great disadvantages, both for their repu-
tation and our own conviction. They left no writ-
ings of any moment behind them ; and what re
cords there were, have all perished. We have their
oj)inions, systems, and characters, only through
THE GKEEK SOPHISTS. 43
somewhat suspicious and prejudiced channels.
It is therefore by way of inference alone that we
can approximate to the truth.
The philosophical system which the Sophists
adopted, if it can be called a system, was the
natural result of the peculiar state of speculative
science in this age. Men of active habits and
inquiring minds, had seen one sect of reasoners
after another usurping public attention, by at-
tempting to solve the problem of the origin of the
world, and the constitution of all things, both
physical and mental. Their opinions were marked
by great subtility, inconsistency, and extravagance.
They seemed to agree only to differ from one
another. Nothing had been satisfactorily proved;
no one general principle established ; nor was
there a single philosophical resting-place for the
sole of the foot. This state of things natm^ally
created a reaction. Men of bold and stirring
habits shook off the cobwebs of speculative
subtility, seized hold of the reality of things around
them, and made a straightforward appeal to the
feelings, opinions, and common sense of mankind.
It is easy to see that an enterprise of this kind,
under such circumstances, was sure to prove
successful. Mankind listened, and they even
fancied they obtained instruction. All the recluse
and subtile philosophers were deeply shocked by
this Gothic irruption into then* territory. The
withering jeers of the multitude were keenly felt
by the speculative recluse. He had no means
44 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
of repelling the attack. His weapons were too
refined for sucli rude and vulgar warfare ; for,
under such circumstances, his retaliation would in
reality have been " to chop blocks with a razor."
We can readily therefore imagine, that no good
feeling would exist between the disciples of the old
schools of Greece, and the Sophists. There was
no communion of fellowship and sympathy between
them. It may readily be conceded — indeed the
matter seems quite ob^vdous — that the majority of
the Sophists would be shallow and declamatory
personages, dealing in generalities, and avoiding
every thing like abstruse reasoning and deduction.
But still they could not propagate their views
without spreading useful truths far and wide.
They would doubtless make a liberal use of ridicule
and banter in their popular orations ; and would,
on many occasions, push their principles to an
extravagant length. And there can be no doubt
but that many of the expressions and propositions,
which Plato and Aristotle have handed down to
us, as falling from the lips of the Sophists, were
uttered in the heat of extemporary oratory, or
when smartmg under some unmerited persecu-
tion. Making, however, every allowance, there is
reasonable groimd for supposing that their ser-
vices in the cause of true knowledge were con-
siderable, and that they by no means merit that
contempt and derision which many ancient and
modern philosophers have heaped upon them.
PROTAaORAS. 45
Protagoras. 475 B.C.
Protagoras was one of the most eminent and
early of the Sophists. His metaphysical notions
may be gathered from what Sextus Empiricus has
told us of them. They are in substance the follow-
ing, Man is the standard of the truth of all
things. He is the proper criterion of the reality
of every thing which exists. This is the funda-
mental principle of all human knowledge. Matter
is in a perpetual flux and reflux ; it is constantly
changing its forms. Our bodily senses, which
are affected by and perceive these changes, undergo
also a modification from old age, disease, and
other circumstances. The foundation of every
thing which the senses can perceive, or be affected
by, resides in matter. But men at different times,
and under different circumstances, derive various
impressions from external objects. Those whose
organs are in a healthy and \agorous state, perceive
objects just in the same manner as other persons
do who are in a similar situation, and whose sen-
suous faculties are in a snnilarlv ors^anised con-
dition. On the other hand, those whose organs
are impaired or diseased, recognise external objects
in precisely the same way as those who labour
under corresponding imperfections and infirmities.
Man, then, is the sole criterion of the truth of
things. We are perpetually in the habit of making
references to our own individual feelings and per-
4G MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
ceptions as the infallible test of truth and false-
hood.*
Plato, in one of his works, gives the most un-
equivocal evidence that the above is the sum and
substance of the system of Protagoras. In the
passages quoted by Plato, he makes the Sophist
take his stand upon the common and every-day
feelings of himian nature ; and supposes one man
to test the truth of his sensations and feelings, by a
direct appeal to the consciousness of his neighbour.
Tliis is the first great effort which was made to
bring the ordinary emotions and opinions of man-
kind to bear upon the extreme subtility and ab-
stract refinement of the various schools of philo-
sophy which had, up to this period, prevailed
throughout Greece. Protagoras spoke a language
responded to by all mankind. A fine field was
open to his rhetorical talents ; and there is little
doubt but that the common sense tone of his philo-
sophical discussions must have produced a power-
ful influence on the inquisitive spirit of his day.f
On the merits of Protagoras and his system,
philosophical historians are widely at difference.
Degerando observes, " Les autres Sophistes adop-
taient indifferemment toutes les opinions ; Prota-
goras essayait de prouver que chacune a des fonde-
mens legitimes. La plupart des autres Sophistes
n'eurent que des audit eurs ; Protagoras exer9a une
influence importante sur la marche de I'esprit
* Arist. Met. 3. 5. Diog. Laert. !). 50. Cicero, Acad. Qua^st. 4.
Plato. Theat. 2.
GORGIAS. 47
liumaiii. La plupart des autres Sopliistes furent
bientot oubliees et meritaient de I'etre ; Protagoras
a pose des problemes qui subsistent encore, et qui
peut-etre ne sont pas entierement resolus. Enfin,
il soumit a des regies I'art que professaient les
Sophistes ; il decouvrit plusieurs formes de raison-
nement, et on convient que sa methode se rap-
prochait a quelques egards de celle de Socrate."*
Emitter observes : " In all these propositions and
reasonings of Protagoras we recognize at once the
endeavour to resolve conception into sensation,
and to deny the universality of pure intellectual
thought. It was in this sense that the ancients
understood the position, that all is in a continual
state of incipiency ; for since every sensation is
nothinsr more than the result of the concurrent
activities of the percipient and the perceptible,
and thought merely sensation, the former must
consequently be a production of the constant varia-
tion of these changeable activities. All, therefore,
according to Protagoras, lives merely in the sensi-
ble changeableness, and is in fact this mutability
itself. The sensible is indeed true, so far as it is
sensibly perceived. But nothing in itself is cold or
hot, nor generally has any sensible quality ; but is of
such or such qualities, according as it is perceived
as such."t
GORGIAS. 452 B. c.
Gorgias was another Sophist of distinction. In
addition to the general current of opinions held l)y
* Ilistoire Comparee, vol. 2. p. S3, t Hist. Philosophy, vol 2. p. 5/6.
48 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
his predecessors, he advanced many original propo-
sitions of his own, and pushed them to a great
length. In a hook entitled " On ichat is not, or
on Nature i'^ he attempts to estahlish three distinct
principles or axioms, all, however, directed against
the stability of human knowledge. They are the
following. ' Pirst, — That nothing exists. Second,
— That if anything really exists, it cannot be
known to man. Third, — That if he could know it
he has not the power of communicating that know-
ledge to others.
The first proposition, that nothing exists, Gorgias
attempts to establish by the following arguments.
At first nothing existed. Then reality had no ex-
istence. Now everything must have either been
eternal, or must have been made ; or must have
possessed the characters of being both eternal and
created. If matter be eternal it could not have
been created, and must be infinite ; but that which
is infinite has no parts ; it must also be different
from that which contains it ; and nmst also be
comprised in space. This space must then be a
different and a greater thing than it ; which is a
notion not in unison with infinity. If matter has
been produced, it must have either been created
from that which previously existed, or from no-
tliing. On the first supposition it has not been
created, it has only been changed in its form ; and
on the other hand it is contradictory to say that
a thing has been created which never existed.
On the second proposition, that if anything should
even have a real existence, we could not know it ;
GORGIAS. 49
he, in substance, argues as follows : We cannot
know what things are in themselves ; for it would
be necessary, for this purpose, that there should be
a perfect relationship established between our con-
ceptions and those external realities ; that what
they offer to our senses should be the very qualities
themselves, under the self-same form that they are
perceived ; but all this is absm-d. If we could
conceive, for example, that a man could walk upon
the winds, or a chariot drive along the siu^face of
the sea, we should then be entitled to conclude
that a man might fly, and that a chariot might
ride upon the surface of the waters. That, there-
fore, which really exists escapes our knowledge.
Each sense only perceives that which belongs to
its own province ; a thing is called visible because
it is the object of sight ; but it does not cease to
exist because it cannot be seen. Wliat then can
be conceived may exist, though it may not affect
our senses, because it is beyond the limit of their
range.
The third proposition, that if anything really
existed^ loe could not communicate its existence to
others^ he defined in this manner. The means we
have of communicating with others, is through the
medium of language. But language is not identi-
cal with external things, or real objects. We only
transmit to others om- own words. Now that
which is visible is not felt by the ear, nor does the
ear see external objects ; the province of these two .
senses is quite separate and different. We say,
indeed, that language is formed from the impres-
* , ' E
50 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
sions we receive from external objects, through
the medium of the senses ; as colour, for example,
is derived from the act of vision. It does not,
however, follow from this that our words really
and fully express the qualities or properties of
things without us ; hut simply the effect they pro-
duce upon our organs of sensation. Even admit-
ting that the objects of sense really exist, we are
not from hence entitled to say that they are the
objects of language. Om' sensations and words
are two different things. *
There were several other Sophists distinguished
in their day as bold and reckless declaimers. Pro-
dicus, Hippias, Euthydemus, Thrasymachus, and
Callicles, are the chief names mentioned by Xeno-
phon and Plato. Some of these Sophists were
charged with blasphemy by the civil authorities, de-
nounced as corrupters of youth, and condemned to
public execution.
* Arist. de Gorg. Plato, Meno. p. 7^. Sext. Empiricus 1. 1. 85.
SOCRATES. 51
CHAPTER VII.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
Socrates. 400 b. c.
The name of Socrates forms a landmark in
mental philosophy. Though not strictly a meta-
physician, yet his influence as a pubKc teacher
produced a marked effect upon all the subsequent
speculations on mind. His powers were not of a
system-making or speculative cast, but were of the
highest order of common sense. In fact, he was a
sober-minded, rational sophist, who had as thorough
a contempt for pure quibbling, as for shallow and
empty declamation. His scholastic acquirements,
and his knowledge of the world, were so happUy
balanced, that he exercised all the influence and
power of a monarch over opposite and conflicting
systems and parties.
Besides the mode of reasoning adopted by So-
crates, metaphysical science received great indirect
assistance from the soundness and consistency of
his ideas upon matters connected with natural
theology. These were in strict keeping with his
lofty ideas of the reasoning faculty, and the various
e 2
52 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
important offices to wliicli it must be applied. His
notion of the soul of man, according to Xenoplion,
was, that it was allied by its nature to the divine
mind, not by essence, but by virtue of its nature.
Man was elevated beyond all the ranks of animated
beings, and this by the power of his reason.*
The influence of Socrates upon metaphysical
science arises from his peculiar method of instruc-
tion. This was based upon the general workings
and principles of his own mind. " Know thyself,"
was the key- stone to his philosophy. The first
step in the pursuit of useful knowledge was a rigid
examination into man's nature. This he ever
steadfastly kept in view. He took his stand upon
the perfect and absolute certainty of human know-
ledge, and never for a moment allowed his thoughts
to wander into the regions of doubt and perplexity.
He took the world of thought just as he found it ;
and all its daily and varied manifestations consti-
tuted the materials of his method. Every pupil of
Socrates was early initiated into the invaluable
habit of looking into his own mind ; of practically
operating upon his own consciousness ; and of de-
ducing rules and principles for the government
and direction of his reasoning powers. This dia-
lectic discipline enabled the student to place every
idea and thought in a variety of aspects, and to
fortify his logical conclusions by numerous and
apposite illustrations.
Erom what we learn of Socrates, it is quite ob-
* Xenoph. Memora. 1. I.
SOCRATES. 53
\dous that he was well acquainted with several
metaphysical theories, though it does not appear
that he ever formally reduced his o^vn thoughts
upon the subject to regular order or method.
"VThen developing his mode of instruction he always
proceeds upon propositions generally received as
true or self-evident. Aristotle savs, that Socrates,
in studying the moral virtues, was the first who,
in giving a definition of them, sought to conform
them to reason, and establish them upon the rea-
lities of things. Socrates rendered two essential
ser\ices to true knowledge, — the introduction of the
inductive method of reasoning, and an accurate
mode of using general terms. But Socrates did
not separate universal ideas from particular facts ;
his successors did tliis, and gave them the name of
ideas.*
Emitter, in his History of Philosophy, has the
follo^\ing observations on Socrates, which I think
sound and correct. " It is clear that the ultimate
object of the Socratic method was to apprehend in
the thought the essence of a thing, and that
strongly impressed mth the character which pre-
dominates in the Platonic and Aristotelian, it
made the explication of terms the centre of its
system, and sought to exhibit, in the definition,
the real nature of the object. Consequently,
although we must hesitate before we assert, with
a later writer, t that Socrates was the first to es-
tablish the doctrine of ideas, still we cannot deny
* Arist. Metaphysic. 1. 6, chap. 4. t Aristocles, ap. Euseb. 10. 3.
54 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
that the connection which he discovered between
the idea and its object, must naturally have
awakened investigations calculated to call the
ideal theory into existence."*
* See also the following works : Olearius, De Genio Socratis. Vie
tie Socrate, Amsterdam 1699. Gilbert Cooper's Life of Socrates, Lon-
don, 1749. Wasser, De Vita, Factis, et Philosophia Socratis. Menzius,
Dissert, de Socratis methodo docendi, &c. Leipsic, 1740. Lossius, De
arte Obstetrica Socratis, Erfurt, 17B5. Simon, Dissert, de Socratis me-
ntis in Philosophiam, &c., Wittembergh, 1797. Heller, Socrates.
Franckfort, 1789. M. Stapfer, De Philosophia Socratis, Berne, 1786.
Dr. Wigger's Life of Socrates.
THE CYRENIC AND CYNICAL SCHOOLS. 55
CHAPTER VIII.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
THE CYRENIC AND CYNICAL SCHOOLS.
The Cyrenic and Cynical Schools of Philosophy
formed a rather singular feature in the history of
mental inquiries. The members of them professed
to reject all formal rules of abstract reasoning, to
study nature A^ath all possible simplicity of design,
not to avail themselves of any aid from mathema-
tical forms or principles, but to be solely guided by
the common and every-day rules and maxims of
life.
Their views relative to the nature of the human
mind, and all its powers and faculties, approached
very nearly to those systems in modern times, de-
nominated by the general term " idealism." We
cannot in substance, say they, perceive and know
anything save our own impressions, — not the ex-
ternal causes of them. When we are affected by
the image of white, or the taste of siveetness, we
can very truly affirm the effect these produce upon
ourselves, but not that the object of whiteness or
sweetness has any real existence. The words we
56 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
use to designate these sensations do not designate
the objects, but simply our feelings at the moment.
The intervening links, the motion, the transforma-
tions, involved in this act of sensation, form a
complete barrier to our knowledge of what external
things are in their own nature. Hence it follows
that there is really nothing in common amongst
men relative to their sensations, except the mere
language they use to point them out ; for there is
no invariable or unalterable law of sensation for the
whole species. We employ the terms white and
sweetness, but they stand for different feelings in
different persons. Every man judges for himself,
and not for his neighbour ; he can only know that
which affects himself personally. Though our de-
cisions are expressed in the same language, there
is still no infallible criterion to judge of other
men's feelings, sensations, or emotions.
The three principal pliilosophers of these two
schools were Aristippus, Antisthenes, and Dioge-
nes ; but the metaphysical gleanings from them
are very scanty. Their principal disquisitions re-
lated to morals. What we have already mentioned
embodies nearly every notion attributed to them
on mental inquiries.*
* Ai'ist. Metaph. 1. 8. chap. 29. Cicero, De Nat. Deor. Diog, Laert. 6.
Lactantius. Divin. Inst. I. 5. Clemens Ales. Admon. Sect. 46.
EUCLID. 57
CHAPTER IX.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
THE SCHOOLS OF MEGAHA, ELIS, AND ERETRIA.
These schools were branches or offshoots from
the Eleatic Philosophy, and always retained the
fundamental lineaments of the parent establish-
ment.
Euclid. 400 b.c.
Euclid was the most distinguished philosopher
of the school of Megara. He was imbued with a
subtile spu'it, and enjoyed knotty and puzzling
questions. In dialectics he took the opposite
principle to Socrates; for he did not attack the
premises, but the conclusion. He is charged with
having renounced all analogical reasoning; but
this is absurd, he could not do so, were he ever so
confirmed a sceptic. Analogy constitutes the
foundation of nine-tenths of aU hmnan knowledge.
The rule which Euchd laid down as to reasoning
was a solid and substantial one ; that in any
inferences drawn from two cases, or sets of circum-
stances, it is necessary that every thing in these
58 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
cases and circumstances should be identical. Any-
little variation may make the greatest difference
in the deductive reasoning. To every man, there-
fore, who wishes to cultivate truth, this maxim of
Euclid is invaluable. It is for want of its know-
ledge and observance, that such erroneous reason-
ings, on every thing connected with human na-
ture, are presented to our notice in the ordinary
concerns of life.
The other distinguished disciples of the Megarean
school were Eubulides, Diodorus, and Alexinus.
Their metaphysical opinions are unimportant.
E-itter observes, " The majority of the later mem-
bers of the Megaric school are famous either for
the refutation of opposite doctrines, or for the
invention and application of certain fallacies ; on
wliich account they were occasionally called Eristici
and Dialectici. Still it may be presumed that
they did not employ these fallacies for the purpose
of delusion, but of instructing rash and hasty
thinkers, and exemplifying the superficial vanity
of common opinion. At all events it is certain
that they were mainly occupied with the forms of
thought, more perhaps with a view to the dis-
covery of particular rules, than to the foundation
of a scientific system or method."
Phsedo of Elis, a scholar of Socrates, was the
founder of the Elian school. That of Eretria
sprung out of it. The leading doctriae of both
was, that what was good, and what was true, were
based upon reason and intelligence.*
* Ciceio. Qu. Acad, 2. 42. Diog. Laert. 1. 2. Pint. adv. Colot. 23.
PLATO. 59
CHAPTEE X.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
Plato. 430 b.c.
We come to notice, at as full a length as is
consistent with the limited plan of this work, one
of the most eminent metaphysicians and general
philosophers of whom antiquity can boast. Under
his auspices the nature and powers of the human
mind were fully investigated, and clothed with a
clearness and facility of expression, which have
served as shining lights to illumine the paths of
mental philosophy for more than two thousand
years.
The powers of Plato's mind were of the highest
order. He possessed a more than ordinary share
of that mental energy, so requisite an ingredient
for all great enterprises of philosophy. In all the
learning of his age he was profoundly skilled,
as well as in the lighter departments of polite
literature. He was a great writer, orator, and
politician ; and possessed, besides, the power of
enduring mental labour to a surprising extent.
This distinguished philosopher improved all these
60 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GEEECE.
talents and acquirements by varied and extended
travelling. In Italy he devoted ninch of his time to
the sages of the Pythagorean School; at Cyrene he
studied geometry ; and in Egypt he contracted an
acquaintance with the priests, studied astronomy
with them, and attempted to penetrate into the
sacred mysteries of which they were the sole
depositaries. He overran the whole of Greece, re-
sided thrice in Sicily, and made himself acquainted,
in all the countries he visited, with their forms of
government, laws, manners, and social institutions.
The speculations of Plato constitute an impor-
tant epoch in the liistory of mental science ; and
chiefly for the following reason. He was the first
heathen philosopher who possessed enlarged and
refined conceptions of a first universal cause, and
of a clivme providence. The loftiness and purity of
his principles of natural theology, gave a tone and
elevation to all his mental investigations, and
preserved him also, in a great measure, from all
those extravagant conceits and paradoxes which
so materially mar the speculations of his prede-
cessors. He cultivated the science of mind in
conjunction with the dignified investigations of a
comparatively pure theism, and niade, in some de-
gree, the former co-operate towards the elucidation
of the latter.
Plato was the first metaphysician who cleai'ly
and forcibly laid doTVTi the general principle that a
knowledge of the laws of mind was an indispen-
sable qualification for prosecuting, with success,
physical inquiries. He says, " Philosophers have
PLATO. 61
laboured for the establishment of science, but have
neglected to ask themselves, beforehand, what
that science is ; they have speculated upon tilings,
and have omitted to examine the nature and
offices of that principle of intelligence which
alone can exercise itself upon siu'rounding objects.
What has been the consequence ? ^^ly, they have
transferred their own sensations to objects ; have
been entangled in all manner of contradictions ;
and have bewildered themselves in clouds of diffi-
culties and embarrassments."
There are, in a certain sense, two souls in man ;
we give the name of soul to that physical life and
spontaneous activity, to that organic power we
possess in common with the animal and vegetable
creation. But in a rigorous sense we apply the
word soul only to designate the principle of sensi-
bility and thought ; this principle is one and
simple; for the subject which judges is identical
with that which conceives and thinks ; therefore,
all knowledge, judgment, and science, appear to be
involved in this notion of mental identity or union.
This soul which thinks, feels, reasons, and judges,
exists only in man ; it emanates from the supreme
intelligence ; it is immaterial ; it falls upon the
organs of sense, and is not subject to change.
Body and soul, though different in their nature
and essence, are nevertheless linked together by a
powerful bond of union, and exercise on each other
a reciprocal influence ; and the health and happi-
ness of man consists, in a great measure, in pre-
serving this constant harmony.
62 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
We can only thorouglily understand the facul-
ties of the mind by carefully studying the effects
they produce. We ought then to distinguish as
many faculties of the mind as there are different
and distinct mental operations. I distinguish at
first two principal faculties, that of feeling and
thinking . To feel is to be affected by an external
impression ; to think is to operate upon our ideas.
The faculty of thinking divides itself again into
two others, the understanding and reason. The
understanding is that power which combines sensi-
ble images ; reason is that supreme faculty which
regulates all others, directs to an end or object,
marks the relations of things, and forms conclu-
sions from the whole. The understanding and
reason exercise themselves both under an active
Sind passive form; under the latter form they re-
ceive and preserve notions ; and under the former
they are united, separated, combined, and placed
in logical and methodical order. These two powers
are equally exercised on external objects and intel-
lectual notions. Wliat is eminently characteristic
of the power of thought, is that ability of uniting,
judging, and concluding relative to sensations and
ideas. Thought is a species of inward self-instruc-
tor; it interrogates itself and furnishes the answers.
This self-instructor, through the means of language,
forms the Judgment, which consists in the uniting
of ideas together, in the same manner as discourses
are formed through the instrumentality of nouns
and verbs.
The understanding is closely linked to sensa-
PLATO. 63
tion ; for every sensation is but a confused judg-
ment, which the understanding has afterwards to
develop. The latter power unites in one image
the detached and apparently unconnected impres-
sions to which sensation gives birth; the senses
furnish the materials, and the understanding ela-
borates them. Though sensibility and reason be
two separate powers, opposite in their nature, yet
they possess mutual relationships ; they appertain
to the same tliinking being, which unites, by an
act of mental consciousness, the objects of thought
furnished from both sources.
Let us consider more in detail the particular
functions attached to each of these faculties, and
the fruits of their joint and separate exercise.
There are in our minds images^ notions^ and ideas ;
the first belong to sensation, the second to the un-
derstanding, and the third to reason. Let us com-
mence then with sensible images, for they develop
themselves in man a considerable time before the
faculty of thinking. The infant experiences sen-
sations at its birth, but the indications of thought
manifest themselves much later, and in some indi-
viduals are hardly ever recognized at all. Besides,
the soul and reason cannot be conceived without
life and thought, nor these again without the influ-
ence of external things upon the organs of sense.
There are three things involved in every individual
external perception; — the object perceived, the
subject which perceives it, and the perception
itself which bears a mutual relation to both. Co-
lours, smells, &c., reside not in the objects, — they
64 MENTAL PHILOvSOPHY OF GREECE.
have their seat only in ourselves. Sensations are
then only a certain kind of affections or modifica-
tions of the power of sensibility ; the soul is pas-
sive in receiving them. An external object acts
upon the organs of sense ; certain fibres receive and
transmit this impression to the soul. Sensibility
is the faculty of being affected, modified, and
changed in its condition by this process of sensa-
tion. External impressions are remarked and
noticed from their diversity and the changes they
undergo. In fine, external objects which affect
the soul, leave certain traces behind them, the me-
mory preserves them, and imagination revives
them.
Sensible perceptions are then the effect of the
combined action of external objects upon our organs
of sense ; and it is necessary also that these percep-
tions should be united in a centre or common focus,
and the result of this concentration is the power of
consciousness. Each sense transmits to us only a
particular species of impressions; the sight, co'-
lours ; the ear, sounds ; and so on. Now we have
the power of comparing these divers classes of im-
pressions, and judging of their analogy and distinct-
ness. "Wliat is the faculty which makes this com-
parison ? It can be neither one sense nor another ;
it must have its source in the soul itself. It is the
understanding which performs this office. At the
moment when our senses are apprised of the ex-
istence of an external ol)ject, we appreciate not at
first all its divers qualities of greatness, smallness,
&c. This operation belongs to the judgment,
PLATO. 65
wliicli is seated, as it were, in the centre of the
soul, to take cognizance of these impressions. It
is in this that the power of abstraction consists.
The understanding forms notions then ; that is to
say, perceptions of relations and generic qualities,
whether as distinguished from or combined with
objects possessing a common resemblance or differ-
ence ; it isolates them from the particular incidents
belonging to them, and thus produces all those
abstract notions, without which there could be no
clear perception whatever. These abstract notions
are partly the fruits of external sensations, and
partly of the internal power of thinking ; and, un-
der this second relation, are grounded upon our
own mental nature. Sensation furnishes us with
what is particular and individual ; the understand-
ing with what is common and general. The senses
furnish us with confused perceptions in the concrete
form, and the understanding clear perceptions in
the abstract form.
Such is the general outline of the metaphysical
system of Plato. It has many very valuable prin-
ciples involved in it ; and it must be considered
by aU intelligent and candid judges, as the most
important step in the path of speculative inquiry
which had, up to his own time, been taken by any
philosopher, on the nature and powers of the human
mind.
The great dispute about Plato's metaphysical
system, has arisen from doubts as to what he means
by the word idea. Controversies innumerable fill
the annals of philosoj)hy on this point ; and to this
66 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
hour the question remains as unlikely to be solved
as when first propounded. To wade through these
controversies can be neither pleasant nor profit-
able. Were I to hazard an opinion I would say,
that, from all I have read upon the subject, I
am fully convinced that Plato meant by the word
idea, just the same thing — neither more nor less,
than what we do in common conversation or dis-
course at the present hour. It is conceded on all
hands, that he employed the word to designate al-
most all things, both particular and general ; and
this can only be accounted for upon rational
grounds, that he understood it to mean, according
to Locke's definition, tvhatever it is that is the
object of a man when he thinks. If Plato had been
asked to give a definition of this word, this must,
from the mere nature of the tiling, have been what
he would have said. Idea is the simple sign of
thought. It may be general, it may be particular,
it may be true, it may be false ; but it is, in all its
phases, just that, and no more, which occupies the
mind, or is in the mind, at the time Ipeing. How
could Plato, or any man else, give a different defi-
nition ? The thing is impossible. To define idea
is to define what is the essence of thought.*
The scientific method of Plato is essentially the
same as that of Socrates, with some additions and
improvements. In fact, Plato's method is the best
which he could form out of all preceding systems,
and that of his great master in particular. His
* See Note B. in the A|)i)entlix to this Volume.
PLATO.
67
object, like that of Socrates, was, ^liich was the
best mode of seeking after, as well as of communi-
cating:, knowledge ? On this point, the following
observations from Mr. John Mill are very judicious.
Contrasting Plato with Socrates, he says, "No
doubt the disciple pushed his mere inquiries and
speculations over a more extended surface, and to a
greater depth below the surface, than there is any
reason to beheve the master did. But though he
continually starts more original and valuable ideas,
it is seldom that these, when they relate to the
results of inquiry, are stated with any air of con-
viction, as if they amounted to fixed opinions.
But when the topic under consideration is the pro-
per mode of philosophising — either the moral spirit
in which truth should be sought, or the intel-
lectual processes and methods by which it is to be
attained ; or when the subject matter is not any
particular scientific principle, but knowledge in the
abstract, — the differences between knowledge and
ignorance, and between knowledge and mere opi-
nion,— then the views inculcated are definite and
consistent, are always the same, and are put forth
with the appearance of earnest and matured be-
lief. Even in treating of other subjects, and even
when the opinions advanced have the least sem-
blance of being seriously entertained, the discourse
itself has generally a very strong tendency to illus-
trate the conception which does seem to be really
entertained of the nature of some part or other of
the process of philosophising. The inference we
would draw is, that, on the science of the investi-
F 2
68 MENTAL PniLOSOPHY OP GREECE.
gation of science, the theory of the pursuit of truth,
Plato had not only satisfied himself that his prede-
cessors were in error, and Jioio, hut had also adopted
definite views of his own; while, on all or most
other suhjects, he contented himself with confuting
the absurdities of others, pointing out the proper
course for inquiry, and the spirit in which it should
be conducted, and throwing out a variety of ideas
of his o^Ti, of the value of which he was not quite
certain, and which he left to the appreciation of any
subsequent inquirer competent to sit in judgment
upon them."
Plato has always been a great favourite with the
philosophic poets of all countries. Every thing he
said, and every thing about him, strengthened this
prepossession. The Platonic orb, though burning
in a sepulchre, has been as a sliining light to their
path. Milton, Young, Thomson, Akenside, as
well as Shakspeare and Pope, are conspicuous in-
stances in our own country. The four first poets
were unusually proficient in Platonic knowledge.
They drank its spirit at its source, the genuine
living fountain. Shakspeare' s all-searching genius
derived its intelligence and direction from such
scattered glimpses as shone, to his acute percep-
tions, in the pages of the olden and less learned
philosophers of the middle ages. The philosophic
light was subdued, but it had much resemblance to
those roseate hues that linger on the mountain
tops long after sun-set ; and men of upward ten-
dencies of soul, like Shakspeare, are the cliff's which
catch them.
PLATO. 69
Pope knew little of Platonism himself, and wliat
he did know was solely from the Discourses of
Bolingbroke, who studied it in the Latin version
of the monk Picinus, with all the facility, but le-
vity, of his natural temperament ; and who seems
to have retailed it, so far as he had mastered it, to
his admiring pupil as msdom of his owti. How
little Warhurton really knew of the Grecian sage
may be guessed at from this, that though the editor
of Pope, he did not know that his most brilliant
work, " The Essay on Man," was but depraved and
corrupted Platonism.
Goethe has the following remarks on Plato, of
whom, like all minds of an imaginative kind, he
was passionately fond. " Plato was a happy and
beneficent spirit, sent into this world to sojourn in
it for a season. He did not seek so much to make
himself profoundly acquainted with it, as to com-
municate with gracefuhiess those treasures of wis-
dom of which mankind stood so much in need.
He penetrated into the abyss of speculation, mofe
from the lofty grandeur of his nature than from
any vain desire for abstraction. He took his flight
to celestial regions, his soul glo"vving with desire
to participate again in its divine nature. Every
thing he said had a relation with the good, the
beautiful, and the immutably true ; and he ardently
desu-ed to inspire all those who heard him with the
same lofty and noble sentiments."
The same principle which has so powerfully acted
on the philosophical spirit of poetry, from Plato's
speculations, has also exercised a great influence on
70 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GHEECE.
the current of theological thought, from the first
introduction of Christianity to the present hour.
Plato has always been a much greater favourite
with divines of all denominations than his pupil
Aristotle. There is doubtless spirituality in the sys-
tem of the Stagirite ; but it is not the spirituality
of Plato. The deity of Aristotle is indeed an active
creation, but no more. It exercises no providential
care or interest over human affau's. In the eyes
of Aristotle the soul is distinct from the body, but
without a body it cannot exist. The understanding
is connected with the soul, as the soul is with the
body, and they must all three perish together.
We can readily see, therefore, that Christian phi-
losophy could never have any very close alliance
with opinions of this description. In Plato, how-
ever, we see the creation of the world, and its
government, referred directly to the Deity himself;
and the immortality of the soul is unqualifiedly
maintained. These theological principles consti-
tute the great bond between him and all Christian
philosophers ; and that bond will remain unsevered
till the end of time.
*** It is impossible to enumerate a fiftieth part of the authors who have
written on the works of Plato. Patricius counts, among the ancients
alone, sixty-five commentators on the Platonic Philosophy, before the time
of Ammonius Saccas in the year 220. We shall give the follovting list of
publications on the subject, which will, it is hoped, be found ample
enough for any rational purpose of consultation or reference. Apu-
leius, De Dogmat. Platonis ; Alcinous, De Doctrina Platonis ; Diog.
Laertius, Olympiodorus, Ilesychius. Guarini di Verona, Vita Platonis ;
Marsilius Ficinus, Vita Platonis; Melancthon, Oratio de Vita Platonis;
L'Abbe Fleury, Discours sur Platon ; Dacier, Vie de Platon ; Sam. Par-
ker, A Free and Impartial Censure of Platonic Philosophy, London, 16()6 ;
PLATO. 71
Bernardi, ia the second book of his Serainarium Totius Philos. Venice,
1599; Coclenius, Idea Phil. Platonicse, Marbourg, 1612; Patricius, Plato
Mysticus et Exotericus, Venice, 1591 ; Keuke, Disser. De Philos. Pla-
tonis, Helmstadt, 1776; Weigenmeier, Disser. De Philos. Platonis, Tu-
bingen, 1623; The Articles of the Abbes Fraguier, Garnier, Sallier, and
Arnaud, in the Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions, Paris ; Tenne-
mann. System of Platonic Philosophy, in German, Leipsic, 1792, 4 vols.;
Remarks on the Life and Writings of Plato, London, 1760. The fol-
lowing works are on the Platonic Theory of Ideas : Scipione Agnelli,
Venice, 1615, fol. ; Thomasius, LSth Letter; Sibeth, Rostock, 1720 ;
Schulz, Wittemberg, 1 755 ; Fachse, Leipsic, 1 795 ; Schants, London,
1795 ; Bartstedt, Erlangen, 1761. M. Cousin has given a translation of
Plato's AYorks, in French, in 13 vols.; and the reader will find an English
translation by Floyer, Sydenham, and Thomas Taylor, in 5 vols., Lon-
don, 1804.
72 MENTAL PlIILOSOPnY OF GREECE.
CHAPTER XI.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
Aristotle. 384 b. c.
The successor of Plato was Aristotle, his pupil ;
a genius of transcendent powers and boundless re-
putation. He stands alone, without a single com-
petitor, in the history of the philosophy of the
human mind ; and his speculations have been the
fruitful source of more extensive and varied discus-
sion, explanation, and comment, than the writings
of any other human being that ever figured on the
stage of life.
The extensive range of his inquiry precludes the
possibility of giving here anything approacliing
even to an outline of his labours. The extent of
his acquired knowledge, the systematic turn of his
mind, his indefatigable application to study, his
unrivalled power of analysis, liis sagacity in detect-
ing general principles from a chaos of particular
facts, his ardent love of truth, and his clear and
forcible language, have been, ever since his own
day, the theme of admiration of all the lovers of
learning in every civilized country.
ARISTOTLE. 73
In the following observations under the head of
Aristotle, we shall confine ourselves to four points,
namely, liis theory of Sensation, his Categories, the
Syllogistic theory, and a few cursory remarks as
to the nature and principles of Logic in general.
These four divisions will embrace the leading topics
which the writings of Aristotle, considered exclu-
sively in the light of a metaphysician, usually sug-
gest to the minds of philosophical readers.
SENSATION.
Aristotle's theory of sensation may be developed
in the folloAving observations. —
Sensation is the feeling or emotion we experience
from external objects acting upon our organs of
sense. This sensation or feeling is, in the first
instance, passive and transitory, and is always to be
distinguished from those universal feelings which,
when once brought under the influence of the will,
have a permanent residence in the mind. Of the
five senses, Aristotle considered that of touch to
be the most important, inasmuch as it is diffused
over the whole body, and cannot be destroyed but
mtli life itself. The sense of taste he considers a
species of touch, for an especial object, — the nutri-
tion and support of the body.* The three other
senses reside in particular organs, which may be
impaired, andeven destroyed, without the risk of
life itseK.
The eye and the ear are appropriated to colours
* De Anima. 1. 2. c. 3.
74 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
and sounds ; and motion and form are conveyed to
the mind through more senses than one. A third
class of perceptions are communicated to the mind
through the united action of all the senses.
The real qualities and properties of external
bodies are made known to us through the senses ;
but those qualities and properties, such as they
appear to us, have no actual existence until they
are perceived. Previous to sensation, they exist
only in what Aristotle calls their causes ; that is, in
their fitnesses or susceptibilities to produce certain
effects upon our organs of sense. Were man
differently constituted, the world would probably
assume a very different aspect ; for then sensation
might not only inform us of the nature of external
things, considered in themselves, but also consi-
dered in relation to the peculiar organization of the
individual senses.
The powers of imagination and memory depend
upon the senses, and are, in a certain degree,
common to man with many other animals. As
sensation is created by certain motions excited in
the organs ; so imagination and memory, which are
copies of sensation, exert their power and energy
tlirough the medium of fainter motions, which are
representatives of the former.*
Aristotle considers that the perceptions of ima-
gination and memory are amenable to a certain
law of order and progression, and differ in this
respect from mere sensations. The movements and
* Rhetor. 1. 1. c. 11
ARISTOTLE. 75
influences of the latter seem more capricious and
wayward. Reminiscences are in some degree un-
der the influence of the human vnll ; and the prin-
ciples which seem to govern them are four in num-
ber,— proximity in time, continuity in place, re-
semblance or similarity, and contrariety or contrast.
And to shew, he says, how much the will has to
do with the act of remembrance, we are conscious
of hunting cihoitt, as it toere, among our thoughts,
until we meet with connecting cu'cumstances, which
bring the past perceptions sought after present be-
fore the mind.*
This faculty of reminiscence, and the poAver the
will seems to have over the train of our ideas, is,
in Aristotle's conception, a boundary line between
man and the other sentient members of creation.
The divine principle of reason is recognized in man
by the power which he possesses of nioulding the
more common sensations and emotions into more
elevated and harmonious compounds. Every spe-
cific act of remembrance implies comparison ; and
every act of comparison, expressed in the simplest
manner, indicates a substance diff'erent and separ-
able from mere matter. This substance we may
not be able fully to detect or describe ; but still we
are convinced of its existence, by the mere power
of those attributes which we conceive to belong to
it, and wliicli manifest their influence by the irre-
sistible feeluis^s of consciousness.
Between the nature and properties of mind and
* De Memor. p. 682.
76 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GHEECE.
those of matter, there is a wide and palpahle dis-
tinction. It is not sense or fancy wliich has the
power to recognize its own heing or existence ; it
is the intellectual nature alone. It is this which
ennohles man, and confers on him a resemhlance
to his Creator. It is this which, when separated
from the body, is invested with an immortal and
divine nature, and which does not decay mth the
bodily tenement it inhabits.*
THE CATEGORIES OF ARISTOTLE.
The different Categories, according to Aristotle,
comprehend all of which we can have the least
knowledge. They are ten in number, namely,
Quantity, Quality, Relation, Action, Passion,
The Where, The When, Position in Space,
Possession, and Substance.
Quantity. — Quantity is divided into discrete and
continued. Discrete is that whose parts can really
be separated, as number, &c. Continued is that
whose parts cannot be separated. These are again
divided into successive and permanent. Successive
quantity is that which comes by succession, as time
and motion. The parts of these cannot be divided
as those of number, but run onwards in a continued
series. Permanent quantity is that wliich remains
always the same, as space, which never changes as
* De Anima, 1. 3. c. 6. Yarious interpretations have been put upon
Aristotle's expressions in this part of his work. We refer the critic to
Dr. Gillies' translation of the " Ethics and Politics," vol. L p. 57, and
Note ; and also to Lord Mouboddo's " Ancient Metajjliysics," vol. 2.
p. 165.
ARISTOTLE. 77
time and motion do, but has always a lasting and
permanent existence. Its category is long, broad,
and deep. And here we may ol) serve, that quantity
when considered l)arely as extended, without breadth
or depth, is called a line ; when it has both length
and breadth, a surface ; and when it has length,
breadth, and depth, it is denominated a solid.
Quality. — Tliis is divided into four kinds. Pirst,
liahits, which are such endowTnents as are either
created or very materially strengthened, by repeated
acts of the mind. "V\Tien a man is \irtuous, we say
he possesses the habit of virtue. In a similar qua-
lified sense we apply the word habit to ivisdom,
temj^erance, learning^ &c. Those endoTMnents
wliich are acquu*ed by different acts of the mind
are also considered as qualities, but they are usu-
ally called habits. Secondly, natural poicers, which
relate more particularly to our bodies, such as the
power of walking, riding, &c. These powers are
possessed more or less by all mankind, and can be
exercised as occasion requires. Thu-dly, sensible
qualities, which are those we acquire by our senses
from the operation of external objects, such as co-
lours, tastes, smells, sounds, &c. Yovl^lHAj, figure
midifoi'm are also ranked under this category ; all
external objects must be possessed of these.
Relation. — This indicates the relative con-
nexion of one thing with another, as parent and
child, master and servant. It also denotes resem-
blance, equality, greatness, smallness, &c.
Action. — This is either internal or external.
Internal action is when I think of a particular
'78 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GllEECE.
thing confined witliin myself, and effect nothing
without me. External action regards something
without, as when I cut a piece of wood or hew a
stone.
Passion. — After action, passion naturally fol-
lows ; and is always expressed hy a verb.
The Where. — This answers to the question,
"Where was such thing done ? If one ask where
such a battle was fought, I tell him it was in such
a country, and near such a city.
The When. — This category gives answers to
questions relative to tbne. As, How long is it
since he died ? One hundred years ago.
Position in Space. — This relates to standing,
sitting, before, beliind, right, left, &c.
Possession. — This involves the whole rights of
property.
Substance. — Tliis is divided into two kinds, sjn-
ritual and temporal. Spiritual is divided into liv-
ing creatures, as men, beasts, birds, &c. ; and tem-
poral into inanimate tilings, as metals, minerals,
earth, air, stone, &c. Both orders may be subdi-
vided again into almost endless classes and varieties.
These are the famous categories of Aristotle,
and every one must see how defective they really
are, as a philosophical classification of things.
Tliis list was considered for many centuries as the
most perfect and complete arrangement of the
phenomena of nature that ever was made. On
this point Dr. Gillies observes, " The reduction of
things to genera or classes, by applying to them
common names, is the foundation of division and
ARISTOTLE. 79
definition, whicli have been called by a just meta-
phor the firm handles of science. Each of the
categories, or classes, above mentioned, that of
substance for example, may be variously divided
according to the intent of the division, which may
be undertaken for explaining the works of art or
of nature ; for delineating the institutions of civil
policy, or describing the structure of plants and
animals ; in a word, for examining any object,
whether material or intellectual, about which
human thought is conversant. But for whatever
purpose the division is intended, it can be perspi-
cuous and satisfactory only when it descends from
the more general classes or terms to those which
are less general, until it arrives at the lowest
species of all, which rejects all further partition but
into individuals only. The intermediate terms
between the highest genus and the lowest species,
stand each of them in two distinct relations, and
therefore receive two diff'erent names, that of
genus with respect to the less general terms which
they contain, and that of species with respect to
the more general terms under which they are con-
tained. Such is Aristotle's own doctrine concerning
classification and division ; a doctrine continually
exemplified in his works throughout, moral as well
as physical ; and admirably illustrated by some
modern writers, especially on the subjects of na-
tural history.
Syllogism.
Our observations in this division shall be con-
80 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GUEECE.
fined to three distinct heads ; namely, first, to show
what the syllogism is, according to the usual ex-
planations given of it hy logicians and metaphy-
sicians ; secondly, to inquire into its nature and
ohject ; and thirdly, to state, as briefly as possible,
what are the general opinions of the learned on its
real luerits, as an instriunent for the discovery and
communication of truth.
The process of reasoning involved in the syllo-
gism, has, by some logicians, been looked upon as
simply a process of comparison. When we com-
pare two things of dissimilar qualities together, we
cannot affirm or do anything respecting them, with-
out endeavouring to find some intermediate ideas,
to reconcile as it were to the mind these dissimilar
or contrary qualities. But, it may be asked, by
what process is this efi'ected ? And how do these
intermediate ideas come to discover the relations
of things of an incongruous and opposite nature ?
No rational answer can be given to these questions,
except this, that such is the constitution of our
nature, that when two ideas are presented to our
attention, from which no reasoning conclusion can
be adduced, it so happens that when one or more
intermediate ideas are presented to our minds, and
contemplated by them in conjunction with the
other two ideas, we instantaneously, as it were,
draw a logical inference from the whole.
It is from this cause that those writers who have
argued in favour of the use of syllogisms have
founded their doctrine on the principle, that every
act of reasoning assumes the form of a syllogism.
ARISTOTLE. 81
Tliey consider reasoning to be merely an operation
of the mind, which deducts some unknown propo-
sitions from other propositions which have been
rendered familiar by a previous exercise of reason-
ing, or are intuitively certain. In every simple
process of reasoning, two members or parts are
employed; and these members or parts must of
themselves be obvious to the understanding, and
we assent to their truth immediately upon their
enunciation. In a syllogism, the premises are
assumed to be self-e\'ident truths ; and if this were
not the case, we could never draw any logical in-
ference from them. In the major of a syllogism,
the connexion between the subject and the predi-
cate could not be observed by the mind, by a mere
attention to the ideas themselves which compose
the major ; for this proposition requires as much
proof as the conclusion cbawn from it. In tliis
case the mind must find out fresh matter to trace
the connexion wanted, and furnish another syllo-
gism to establish the first point in the general
one. And should it so happen, that this second
syllogism is not found sufficient to establish the
truth of the first, we must have recourse to a
thii'd, and a fourth, and so on, till it be discovered.
We go on in this manner, till we arrive at perfect
intuitive truths, and here we are compelled to rest
satisfied.
Erom these remarks, it is maintained, therefore,
that every single process of reasoning is founded
upon intuitive propositions ; and if tliis be not the
case, syllogisms must be employed to lay the
82 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
foundation. By this view of the matter, every
train of reasoning consists of a greater or lesser
number of syllogisms. These may not, in many
cases, be put into a formal shape ; but it is entirely
from the natural connexion which subsists among
the propositions, that the force and conclusiveness
of general reasoning proceed.
To show the nature of the syllogism more
clearly, we shall here give an example. Let us
take the proposition, and form it into the shape of
a syllogism — that man ought to practise justice.
Now, we want to discover the relation which ought
to subsist between man and Justice ; for the mind
does not perceive tliis relation, as the proposition
at present stands. By considering the matter a
little, we soon learn, that for man to be under an
obligation to do a thing, he must have the sagacity
to perceive, and the power to execute it. A
creature must have the faculty of distinguishing
good from evil, as well as the liberty of choosing
either, otherwise he lies under no obligation to
perform the one or refrain from the other. Now,
these are the middle terms or ideas, wliich must be
compared by the mind with the first term in the
proposition, namely man ; and when we have made
this comparison, we find that it may be affirmed of
him, that he is a being who can distinguish good
from evil, and that he has the liberty of choice in
his actions. We have here, then, two distinct
judgments that man can distinguish good from evil,
and that he has the poicer of himself to do either ;
and a third judgment immediately suggests itself,
ARISTOTLE. 83
that man ought to practise justice. The argument
may now be put into the shape of a syllogism, thus —
" Every creature possessed of reason and liberty
ought to practise justice ;
Man is a creature possessed of reason and
liberty,
Therefore man ought to practise justice."
In this syllogism three distinct parts or proposi-
tions are involved ; and they are so arranged as to
agree with the mode which our minds naturally
follow in the arrangement of our ideas in reason-
ing. The first two propositions are denominated
the premises, because they go before, or lay the
foundation for, the other proposition, which is
called the conclusion, in consequence of its naturally
groA\TLQg out of the premises. But there is a
matter here which the reader will do well to
consider thoroughly, and make himself master of.
The two terms man and Justice, which express the
two ideas whose connexion or relation we wish to
find out, are called the extremes ; and the inter-
mediate idea, by which this connexion or relation
is discovered, namely, a being possessed of reason
and liberty, takes the name of the middle term.
Now we are to understand that before the premises
of a syllogism can be established, the terms called
the extremes, and the middle term, must be
compared together ; for out of this comparison
proceeds the very essence of the syllogism. The
conclusion is the proposition which arises from the
extremes being considered either in connexion
G 2
84 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
with, or separated from, that wliich appears the
result of this comparison.
E/easoning in common life has been affirmed to
be nothing' more than merely ascribing the general
qualities of tilings to their objects in matters with
which we are concerned. We refer a particular
object to some general head or class, which general
head or class possesses some fixed attribute or
quality. We then ascribe that attribute or quality
to the particular object we have placed under the
general assortment of things. Thus, if I scrutinize
the character of my friend John, and find it to be
virtuous, I then begin to reflect that a virtuous
character is worthy of esteem and reward ; and I
draw the conclusion, that the conduct of John is
worthy of esteem and reward. This is the common
process which the mind follows in forming judg-
ments of tliis description. If we wish to arrange
the process of reasoning in the form of a syllogism,
it will stand thus : —
" Every virtuous man is worthy of esteem and
reward ;
John is a virtuous man.
Therefore John is worthy of esteem and reward."
These few remarks apply to syllogisms in ge-
neral. But we come now to speak of the diffe-
rent kinds or sorts of syllogisms. There are four
general assortments, which take tlieu' rise from the
particular situation wliich the middle term holds
in the syllogism. 1st, That in which the middle
term is the subject of the major proposition, and
ARISTOTLE. 85
the predicate of the minor. 2nd, That in which
the middle term becomes the predicate of both
premises. 3rd, That in which the middle term
becomes the subject of both premises. And, 4th,
That in wliich the middle term is the predicate of
the major proposition, and the subject of the
mmor. These four different classes or assortments
become divided again according to what logicians
call their anodes, which are determined by the
quantity and quality of the propositions framed into
syllogisms. By quantity is meant the consideration
of propositions as they relate to universals or par-
ticulars ; and by qtiallty^ whether these proposi-
tions be of an affirmatice or negative description.
All the possible modes of syllogisms may be found
by ascertaining how many combinations may
be made out of these four general kinds. The
number will be sixty-four, which, multiplied by
four, will give two hundred and fifty-six.
Each of these figures has rules peculiar to itself;
but there are some rules which are common to all
syllogisms ; and Aristotle enumerates the follow-
ing. 1st, Every syllogism must have only three
terms or propositions. 2nd, The middle term must
be taken universally in one of the premises. 3rd,
If one of the extremes be particular in one of the
premises, it must also be particular in the conclu-
sion. 4th, The conclusion must be particular^ if
either of the premises be particular ; and negative ^
if either of the premises be negative. 5tli, No term
can be taken universally in the conclusion, if it be
not taken universally in the premises.
86 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
Without drawing out these general remarks on
the natiu'e of syllogisms to a greater length, we
shall now advert to a few only of the different
kinds of syllogisms. These will he sufficient for
common purposes, as well as to illustrate the
leading principles of the syllogistic theory.
There is a kind of syllogism in which the
numher of propositions is more than three. This
syllogism is technically called a sorites; which
means a numher of propositions piled up one upon
another, in which the predicate of the first pro-
position is made the suhject of the second, and
so on, till in the conclusion the predicate is
attributed to the first suhject : thus,
" Man is an animal.
Every animal is a body.
Every body is a substance.
Therefore, every man is a substance."
Now this particular combination of propositions,
it must appear obvious to the reader, may be con-
tinued to almost any length we desire, without
weakening the premises or grounds on which
the conclusion rests. The reason of this is, that
this kind of compound syllogisms may be divided
into as many simple ones as there are middle
terms in the sorites. When such a division takes
place, and the simple syllogisms follow one
another, the last in the series becomes the con-
clusion of the compound syllogism or sorites.
This method, therefore, of constructing syllogisms
is nothing more nor less than joinmg together
ARISTOTLE. 87
several simple syllogisms; and consequently the
sorites must stand upon the same ground, in
respect to logical stability, as do the individual
parts of which it is composed.
There is another kind of syllogisms, called by
logicians entliymeme\ where one of the parts is
omitted, and is left for the mind to supply upon
the spur of the moment. This happens when one
or more of the premises is a self-evident truth, and
familiar to the mind of every one. Such, for
instance, is the foUo^ving :
" Everv man must breathe.
Therefore the king must breathe."
This syllogism has the appearance of being
imperfect, as having only two propositions; but
this is not the case. It is really complete ; for the
minor proposition, evenj Idng is a man, is omitted,
and the reader is suppossd to supply the ellipsis in
liis own mind.
Ealse syllogisms are called paralogisms ; and a
false syllogism, the error or fallacy of which is not
very readily perceived by the mind, is called a
sophism. The following kinds of sophisms are
generally treated of by writers on logic.
Iffuoixitio eleuchi, or a mistake of the question,
is a term applied to a proposition which has no
necessary connexion with the subject in- dispute.
If, for example, a man should Tvish to establish
the position, that God is infinitely good and
merciful, and begin by demonstratmg His om-
niscience, this would be a deviation from the
88 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
question under consideration; for God's omni-
science may be granted, and yet His goodness and
mercy may still remain subjects of discussion. In
like manner, a man may argue that all religion is
a delusion; for he has seen some persons who
have made loud professions of piety and devotion
in public, who were, nevertheless, very profligate
and wicked in their general conduct. This also is
an ignoratio elenchi, or a mistake of the question ;
for a hypocritical professor of a system is here
made the test or standard by wliich the nature
and truth of that system are to be estimated.
Fetitio prmcijni, or begging the question, is a
term employed to denote the taking for granted
the proposition you wish to prove. If a man were
to maintain that a certain act of his was not in
the least immoral, because it was not contrary to
the acknowledged rules of morality, nor to com-
mands of Scripture ; he would here be begging the
question, and assuming in the outset the very
thing he was desirous to prove — the harmless
nature of the act. This mode of reasoning is also
sometimes called arguing idem per idem.
Arguing in a circle is when the premises are de-
monstrated by the conclusion, and the conclusion
by the premises. If, for instance, it be affirmed
that the authority of any particular church proves
the truth of the sacred Scriptures, and the
Scriptures the authority of that church ; this
would be arguing in a circle.
Non causa pro causa^ the assigning of a false
cause for any effect. Thus when a person ascribes
ARISTOTLE. 89
certain events to good or ill luck, to the influence
of the planets, or the Hke.
Fallacia accidentis, arguing from what is local
and incidental to what is general and essential.
If, for example, a person were to maintain that a
bank-note of any country is of a value as universal
and absolute as a piece of gold, this would be a
fallacia accidentis; for paper money has only a
local, but gold a general value. And further, if a
man were to say that any particular amusement is
dangerous or immoral because it is liable to be
abused, this is arguing from what is particular and
accidental, to what is general and essential.
Sophisms of eqiiiuocation, are those which are
formed by the employment of ambiguous terms, or
terms which are of doubtful meaning. The follow-
ing is an old example. —
" He that says you are an animal says true ;
He that says you are a goose, says you arc an
animal ;
Therefore, he that says you are a goose says true."
We shall add to these remarks on the nature
of the syllogistic theory, a few observations from
Dr. Ueid, Avho wrote an Analijsis of Aristotle's
Logic. The following extract forms a compendium
of the precise mode of reasoning exemplified in
three forms of the syllogism.
"In the first figure, the conclusion afiirms or
denies something of a certain species or individual;
and the argument to prove this conclusion is, that
the same thing may be affirmed or denied of the
90 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GllEECE.
whole genus to wliicli that species or individual
belongs.
" In the second figure, the conclusion is, that
some species or individual does not belong to such
a genus ; and the argument is, that some attribute
common to the whole genus does not belong to
that species or individual.
"In the third figure, the conclusion is, that
such an attribute belongs to part of a genus ; and
the argument is, that the attribute in question
belongs to a species or individual which is part of
that genus.
"I apprehend that, in this short view, every
conclusion that falls within the compass of the
three figures, as well as the mean of proof, is
comprehended. The rules of all the figures might
be easily deduced from it; and it appears that
there is only one principle of reasoning in all the
three ; so that it is not strange, that a syllogism
of one figure should be reduced to one of another
figure.
"The general principle in which the whole
terminates, and of which every categorical syllo-
gism is only a particular application, is this, that
what is affirmed or denied of the whole genus may
be affirmed or denied of every species and individual
belonging to it. This is a principle of undoubted
certainty indeed, but of no great depth. Aristotle
and all the logicians assume it as an axiom, or
first principle, from which the syllogistic system,
as it were, takes its departure ; and after a tedious
voyage, and great expense of demonstration, it
ARISTOTLE. 91
lands at last in this principle, as its ultimate
conclusion. O ciiras homimim ! O quantum est
in rebus inane .'"
That one of the principles on which the syllogism
rests is, that the same word is invariably used in
the same sense, is quite obvious. Indeed the truth
of this position has been attested by a number of
enlightened philosophers. Lord Bacon says, "A
syllogism consists of propositions, propositions of
words, and words are the signs of notions ; there-
fore, if our notions, the basis of all, are confined,
and over hastily taken from things, notliing that is
built on them can be firm."* Professor Stewart
remarks, that "the whole theory of the syllogism
proceeds on the supposition, that the same word is
always to be employed in the same sense ; and
that, consequently, it takes for granted, in every
rule wliich it furnishes for the guidance of oui*
reasoning powers, that the nicest, and by far the
most difficult part of the logical process, has been
previously brought to a successful termination." f
We find M. Turgot making the same remark : —
"Tout I'artifice de ce calcul ingenieux, dont
Aristote nous a donne les regies, tout I'art du
Syllogisme, est fonde sur I'usage des mots dans le
meme sens ; I'emploi d'un memo mot dans deux
sens difi'erens fait de tout raisonnement un so-
pliisme; et ce genre de sophisme, peut-etre le
plus commun de tout, est une des sources les
plus ordinaires de nos erreurs.":j:
Nov. Org., part 1. f Elements of M. Phil. vol. 1, p. 35fi.
(Euv. de M. Turgot, torn. 3, p. 66.
92 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
The nature as well as the utility of the syllogis-
tic theory has heen long and keenly contested.
!For many ages it was considered almost sinful to
call in question either its truth or usefulness.
There was no language too eulogistic to sound its
praise. The syllogism was considered the noblest
and most useful invention ever produced by man ;
the universal organ of science; the eye of the
intellect ; and, like the sun, the light of the world.
It was called the " ars artium, scientia scientiarum,
organum organorum, instrumentum instrumen-
torum, ancilla, clavis, testa, murus philosophise,
docendi discendique magistra, veri falsique discep-
tatrix et judex." Aristotle himself was extolled in
the same extravagant terms. Pather Par dies, a
Prench writer, says, " Que si, dans sa physique, il
a parle en homme, dans sa morale il a parle en
Dieu ; qu'il y a sujet de douter si, dans ses
morales, il tient plus du jurisconsulte que du
pretre ; plus du pretre, que du prophete ; plus du
prophete que de Dieu." Averroes, an Arabian phi-
losopher, declares that " Nature was not altogether
complete till Aristotle was born ;" and that in liim
" she received the finishing stroke, and could
advance no further !"
The language of modern times is, however, more
subdued and modified. We are not all in the same
way of tliinking on Aristotle's merits as a logician.
There is a diversity of opinion as to the nature and
importance of the syllogistic theory. But the dis-
pute, though still undecided, is now carried on
with more calmness and liberality than in bygone
times. And perhaps the day is not far distant
ARISTOTLE. 93
when an unanimous and settled opinion will be
formed by all speculative thinkers, as to the true
nature of the logical writings of Aristotle, and of
that portion of praise to which they are justly
entitled. ,
On the general value of the syllogistic art, I
cannot refrain from giving the opinion of the late
Professor Stewart. He says : — " The remarks which
were long ago made by Lord Bacon on the inutility
of the syllogism as an organ of scientific discovery,
together Tvith the acute strictures in Locke's Essay
on this form of reasoning, are so decisive in point
of argument, and, at the same time, so familiarly
knoAvn to all who turn ^heir attention to philo-
sophical inquires, as to render it perfectly unneces-
sary for me, on the present occasion, to add any
thing in sujiport of them. I shall, therefore, in
the sequel, confine myself to a few general and
miscellaneous reflections on one or two points
overlooked by these eminent writers ; but to which
it is of essential importance to attend, in order to
estimate justly the value of the Aristotelian logic,
considered as a branch of education.
"It is an observation which has been often re-
peated since Bacon's time, and Avhich, it is astonish-
ing, was so long in forcing itself on the notice of
philosophers, that in all our reasonings about the
established order of the universe, experience is our
sole guide, and knowledge is to be acquired only
by ascending from particulars to generals ; whereas
the syllogism leads us invariably from universals
to particulars, the truth of which, instead of being
94 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
a consequence of the universal proposition, is im-
plied and presupposed in the very terms of its
enunciation. The syllogistic art, therefore, it has
been justly concluded, can be of no use in extendi/ng
qur knoioledge of nature.
" It isj not, however, merely as a useless or
inefficient organ for the discovery of truth, that
this act is exceptionahle. The importance of the
very ohject at wliich it professedly aims, is not a
little douhtful. To exercise with correctness the
powers of deduction and of argumentation ; or, in
other words, to make a legitimate inference from
the premises before us, would seem to be an in-
tellectual process which requires but little assist-
ance from rule. The strongest evidence of this is,
the facility with which men of the most moderate
capacity learn, in the course of a few months, to
comprehend the longest mathematical demonstra-
tions ; a facility which, when contrasted with the
difficulty of enlightening their minds on questions
of morals or politics, affords a sufficient proof that
it is not from any inability to conduct a mere
logical process that our speculative errors arise.
The fact is, that, in most sciences, our reasonings
consist of a very few steps ; and yet, how liable
are the most cautious and the most sagacious to
form erroneous conclusions !
"The fundamental idea on wliich Aristotle
evidently proceeded, and in which he has been so
implicitly followed by many even of those who have
rejected his syllogistic theory, takes for granted,
that the discovery of truth chiefly depends on this
ARISTOTLE, 95
reasoning faculty which constitutes the intellectual
superiority of one man ahove another. The simi-
larity between the words reason and reasoning, of
which I formerly took notice, and the confusion
which it has occasioned in their appropriate mean-
ings, has contributed powerfully to encourage and
to perpetuate this unfortunate mistake."*
Logic.
The principle laid do^ii by Aristotle, is, that all
reasoning whatever rests on one simple principle :
that "what is predicated, either affirmatively or
negatively, of a term distributed, may be predicated
in like manner of anything contained under that
term." This, I conceive, must ever be considered
a very inadequate definition of what a process of
reasoning is, metapliysically considered. All rea-
soning is called 2^ process ; now we want to know
what this process is. But we shall look in vain
for any thing in the logical works of Aristotle, or
of his commentators, ancient or modern, wliich
throws light on this curious process. To afiirm,
or deny, or predicate anything of one or of
many things, is not a process ; it seems, from an
appeal to consciousness, to be a simple act of the
mind; consequent, however, upon other previous
acts or perceptions of the thinking principle. It
may be safely afiirmed, that the whole theory of
reasoning, considered as invoMng mental pheno-
mena, is very imperfectly understood, even from
* Elements of the Pliil. of the Mind, p. 42/. Edit. 183G.
96 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
the WTitings of our ablest and most perspicuous
writers. This subject will, however, come under
the reader's attention in a subsequent part of
this work.
Aristotle dissented from Plato's notion relative
to the nature of ideas, and in many parts seems to
condemn it rather severely. But it is still a mat-
ter of great difficulty to determine the precise
character and import of Aristotle's objections to his
master's theory. The former agrees with the latter,
that the essences of things are expressed in our
notions of them, but that this essence is not found
in the general ideas which we form. This contro-
versy has given rise to considerable discussion in
Germany ; and to those who may feel any interest
in it, we refer them to the end of the volume.*
To these remarks I would add the foUomng
observations from Mr. Stewart, whose opinion on
the subject in question, is entitled to great respect.
"On most of these points, the i^liilosopliy of Aris-
totle seems to have coincided xjery nearly icith that
of Flato. The language, however, which these plii-
losophers employed on this subject was different,
and gave to their doctrines the appearance of a
wider diversity than probably existed between their
opinions. While Plato was led, by his passion for
the marvellous and the mysterious, to insist on the
incomprehensible union of the same idea or essence
with a number of individuals, without multipli-
cation or division; Aristotle, more cautious, and
* See Note C. at the end of this Volume.
ARISTOTLE. 1)7
aiming at greater perspicuity, contented himself
with saying, tliat all individuals are composed of
matter and form ; and that it is in consequence of
possessing a common form, that different indivi-
duals belong to the same genus. But they both
agreed, that as the matter or individual natures
of objects were perceived by sense, so the general
idea, or essence, or form, was perceived by the
intellect ; and that as the attention of the vulgar
was chiefly engrossed with the former, so the latter
furnished to the philosopher the materials of his
speculations.
"The chief diff'erence between the opinions of
Plato and Aristotle on the subject of ideas, relates
to the mode of their existence. That the matter
of which things are made, existed from eternity,
was a principle which both admitted; but Plato
further taught, that of every species of things,
there is an idea of form w^hich also existed from
eternity; and that this idea is the exemplar or
model according^ to which the individuals of the
species were made; whereas Aristotle held, that,
although matter may exist without form, yet that
form could not exist without matter."*
On the subtile, though important, doctrine of
Cause and Effect, Aristotle's opinion is worthy of
a passing notice. He divides all causes into four
kinds ; the material, the formal, the efficient, and
the Jinal. Material causes relate to the substance
or matter out of which things were originally
* Philos. of Mind. Vol. 1. p. 88. See also Brucker, Dr. Reid,
Harris's Hermes, and the work, " Origin and Progress of Language."
* H
98 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
made ; the formal designate that inward structure
or form, on which rest the outward figure and
diversified appearances of things ; the efficient
cause is the instrument of motion or change ; and
the final cause is the end or purpose which certain
things were made to accomplish.
"A student passing from the works of Plato,"
it has heen well said, " to those of Aristotle, is
struck first of all with the entire ahsence of that
dramatic form and that dramatic feeling with
which he has been familiar. The living human
beings with whom he has conversed have passed
away. Protagoras, and Prodicus, and Hippias are
no longer lounging upon their couches in the
midst of groups of admiring pupils ; we have no
walks along the walls of the city; no readings
beside the Ilissus ; no lively symposia, giving
occasion to high discourses about love ; no Critias
recalling the stories he had heard in the days of
his youth, before he l3ecame a tyrant of ancient
and glorious republics ; above all no Socrates form-
ing a centre to these various groups, while yet he
stands out clear and distinct in his individual
character, showing that the most subtle of dialec-
ticians may be the most thorouglily humorous and
humane of men. Some little sorrow for the loss
of those clear and beautiful pictures will perhaps
be felt by every one; but by far the greater
portion of readers will believe that they have an
ample compensation, in the precision and philoso-
phical dignity of the treatise, for the richness and
variety of the dialogue. To hear solemn disquisi-
ARISTOTLE. 99
tions solemnly treated; to hear opinions calmly
discussed without interruptions or personalities ;
above all, to have a profound and considerate judge,
able and not unwilling to pronounce a positive
decision upon the evidence before him ; this they
think a great advantage, and this, and far more
than this, they expect, not wrongfully, to find in
Aristotle."*
*** The Commentators on Aristotle are still more numerous than on
Plato. The following may be consulted with advantage : The ancient
Commentators, Simplicius, Alexander Aphrodisicus, Ammouius son of
Hermeas, Porphyry, and Themistius. Among the moderns : Bernardi,
Seminarium Philos. Peripat., Lyons, 1599; Crassot, Institutiones in
Universam Aristotelis Philosophiam, Paris, 1619; La Ramee, Animad-
versiones Aristot. Paris, 1518; Gassendi, Exercitationes Paradoxicae,
Grenoble, 1624; Delaunay, De vari. Philosoph. Arist. Paris, 1653;
Charpentier, Descriptio universEC artis Disserendi ex Ai'istotelis Logico
Organo, Paris 1564; Mazzoni, Italian translation, Venice, 1547; Back-
mann, German translation, Nordhausen, 1629; French translation by
Charpentier, 1574. The English reader will find Gillies' translation of
several of Aristotle's works useful ; and the translation of all his works
by Taylor, in 9 Volumes, may also be beneficially consulted.
* Ency. Metropoli. Art. Moral and Met. Phil.
h2
100 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
CHAPTER XII.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
ON ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, AND ANALOGY, CONSI-
DERED IN RELATION TO GREEK PHILOSOPHY.
In almost all the speculations of the ancient
philosophers, we find more or less attention given
to the powers of Analysis, Synthesis, and Analogy.
The degrees of importance assigned to these
respective powers were various ; some referring
nearly the whole phenomena of thought to them ;
while others again confer upon them hut a passing
notice. To enter into all the discussions on the
nature and limitations of the faculties we find in
the writings of the sages of antiquity, is out of our
power ; but we shall hazard a few general observa-
tions on these constituent principles of thought,
which exercise so marked an influence over the
mental movements of all mankind.
By analysis we must understand the dividing
and separating a general truth or proposition into
its elementary or component parts. This is a
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, ANALOGY. 101
mental process carried on to a great extent by all
men, without their being, in ordinary cases, in the
least degree conscious of its operation. Wlien a
beautiful and extensive landscape bursts suddenly
upon our view, the mind is occupied with the con-
sideration of the whole taken together ; but after
a certain time has elapsed, we begin to examine
the different parts of which this landscape is
composed; to reflect upon and examine them,
and to apportion out to each individual part, ac-
cording to our knowledge and taste, its due propor-
tion of influence in the general effect produced.
We examine the landscape by piece-meal ; begin-
ning, in ordinary cases, with the most important
parts, and descending in the scale of promi-
nency, till our observations have assumed a suffi-
cient degree of minuteness to gratify the spmt
of inquiry, or to grasp the mental object of which
we are in search.
Those who can attend to the operations of their
o\\Ti minds, wdll readily perceive the vast use of
this power of analysis, and how necessary its culti-
vation and exercise are to our making any progress
in many important branches of human knowledge.
Referring again, by way of illustration, to an in-
teresting landscape, we know that the artist who
can furnish a representation of it, must be greatly
indebted to this power of analysis. He must
carefully attend to the effects of the scene as a
whole ; and yet he must, at every step of his per-
formance, be carrying on a most accurate and
minute process of analytical division. He must
102 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
give to every part of the landscape a proper degree
of attention. The general aspect is grasped as a
whole by his mind ; and then it is parcelled ont
among the rocks, and prominences, and waterfalls,
and woods, and buildings, &c., in suitable propor-
tions, according to the principles of art. Indeed,
it is to this habit of analyzing his ideas of the
sublime and beautiful in external nature, that he
owes his skill ; for if he had no art to separate his
general conceptions into theu' component parts,
and apportion out to each its suitable situation, as
to dimensions, light, shade, distance, colour, &c.,
his canvass would l3e one miiform representation
of shapeless nonentities.
And the case is precisely the same with one
who, instead of representing a landscape on can-
vass, presents you with a verbal description of it.
No general language can possibly convey to you
the most distant conception of the landscape, till
the describer descends into particulars, and divides
the object which occupies his thoughts into its se-
veral parts. He must talk to you of the conical-
topped mountain ; the rugged and prominent cliff,
overhanging the banks of the river ; the weeping
willows shading the waters from your view ; and
the tremendous roar of the mountain torrent, as it
dashes from rock to rock. There must be indivi-
duality embodied in every part of his description,
that it may be understood and relished by those to
whom it is addressed; and when the whole has
been analyzed into sufficiently minute portions,
these are all summed up, as it were, by the mind,
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, ANALOGY. 103
and united into one general and uniform represen-
tation.
The same power of the mind we are here de-
scribing, is called into active exercise in tlie efforts
made in the current literature of all ci\dlized na-
tions to delineate human character, in its various
forms and aspects. But here, as in painting and
descriptive writing, general ideas must be resolved
into their individual parts, before our descriptions
of character can be rendered intelligible, or in
unison with nature. In drawing a mental or moral
portrait, we must begin with the leading and more
conspicuous traits of character, and gradually de-
scend to the more hidden and* minute principles of
action and passion; filling up the sketch, as we
proceed, with the little angular prominences and
' whimsical eccentricities, which diversify the wide
and extended range of human nature. In those
Avritings descriptive of men's habits of thinking,
powers of mind, moral principles, passions and
sentiments, we immediately recognise the hand of
a master, if the description display a minute and
skilful exercise of the power of analyzing. We are
never deceived in this matter, but promptly pro-
nounce the portrait to be admirably drawn, when
all the parts wliich constitute the picture pass in
review before our minds, and become invested with
an evident unity of design and appearance.
In subjects of an abstract and profound nature,
the mind follows the same plan to arrive at truth.
The process employed in abstruse sciences has fre-
quently been illustrated by a piece of machinery.
104 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
Let US take the steaiii-engine for an example. We
wish to make ourselves well acquainted with its
nature and mode of operation. If we wish to ob-
tain this information by the analytic method, we
take the engine to pieces, and examine its parts
separately. When we have seen the action and
use of all the parts of which it is composed, com-
pared them together, and seen their mutual de-
pendence and relationship, we then discern the
nature and use of a steam-engine. We have \m-
ravelled the mystery, and can now discover the
cause of those phenomena which so often puzzled
us.
Before proceeding farther, however, we would
call the attention of the reader to a few remarks in
reference to the j)ower of analysis. The analytic
method is never used alone, but generally conjoin-
ed with the synthetic method. They are often
alternately employed by the mind ; and these alter-
nations are, in the majority of instances, so quick
and rapid, that we cannot perceive them, even by
the strongest efforts of consciousness. The manner
in which we exert these faculties is this. We first
take the general proposition as a whole, divide it
into its elementary parts; we then sum up all
these parts again, to form afresh the original pro-
position. Thus we employ both analysis and syn-
thesis. These two operations are strictly distin-
guishable from each other, from the point at which
they set out in the reasoning process. If we begin
at the top, and descend, it is analysis; if at the
bottom, and ascend, it is synthesis.
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, ANALOGY. 105
Analysis by itself would never, however, lead us
to truth. And here we must notice a peculiarly
important principle, arising out of the mechanism
of the understanding, in relation to this analyzing
process. Were we to go on to analyze every object
presented to our minds, we would never get any
nearer the truth. There is a limit beyond which
our division of objects must cease ; but this limit
cannot be specifically pomted out by any precise
rules or precepts of logic. This discriminating
power is under the control of the superior faculties
of the mind ; and commonly goes by the name of
judgment^ taste, &c. To be entirely destitute of
this power, is to be entirely destitute of intellec-
tual acumen ; and on the contrary, to possess this
power, and to know how to regulate it properly,
constitute the distinguishing properties of a ra-
tional being.
Let us suppose that a painter, when he endea-
vours to represent a landscape, should direct his
attention so minutely to evcrytliing which com-
posed the rural scene before him, as to dwell upon
every leaf of a tree, every blade of grass, and every
minute object which came within the sphere of liis
vision, he could never by this means complete a
picture at all. The analysis would be too minute,
and carried beyond its legitimate boundaries.
Agam, should a man, when he wishes to make
himself acquainted with a piece of machinery, such,
for instance, as the steam-engine already referred
to, dwell with fastidious and scrutinizing minute-
ness on the nature, configuration, and properties
106 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
of all the fibres of wood which compose the frame-
work of the machine, or the grains of metal, or the
shape and number of the nails which have been
employed in the construction of the boiler ; if, in
fact, he were to attempt to analyze every thing re-
lating to the object of his inquiries, he might so
employ himself for a thousand years, and be no
nearer a correct understanding of the nature and
power of the engine, than the first day he com-
menced his investigations. Thus it appears that
an unlimited analysis can lead to nothing. But
this power is wisely placed under the control of
the judgment ; and, while she occupies her supre-
macy, the power of analysis is carried just to that
point which is necessary to make us perceive the
truth of the general propositions of which the mind
is in search.
These two powers of analysis and synthesis enter
into every process of reasoning, however limited or
unimportant. We are almost every moment of
our lives employing them. These operations, how-
ever, are frequently so subtle and rapid, that it can
only be from long attention to the inward workings
of our own minds, that a habit can be permanently
formed of readily recognising their existence and
influence upon our intellectual movements. Erom
the writings of logicians and metaphysicians, the
reader might be led to imagine that the analytic
and synthetic methods of reasoning are purely
matters of art^ and only of very recent invention.
But this is a great mistake. The division of our
general conceptions or ideas into their component
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, ANALOGY. 107
parts, and the power of again uniting them into
their former state of aggregation, are faculties inti-
mately blended with the very earliest movements
of the mind of man, however rude or unenlightened
it may be. We recognise the application of these
intellectual instruments in the savage, as well as in
the philosopher, as far as their respective degrees
of knowledge require that application.
These remarks will be sufficient to illustrate the
analytic method of reasoning ; we come now to the
synthetic method, or that of induction. We here
reverse the order followed in analysis. In seeking
knowledge for ourselves, or in communicating it to
others, by the synthetic plan, we begin with the
simple and elementary parts of which general
truths or propositions are composed. In abstract
science, we commence with intuitive or self-evident
truths or axioms, and advance by regular steps up-
wards, carrying evidence and conviction along with
us ; so that, at every interval of our reasoning, we
have a clear view of the ground wliicli we have
immediately gone over, and the reasons which, at
every point, have commanded our assent.
In natural philosophy the synthetic method is
generally adopted. In making experiments and
observations upon various objects, we notice the
result ; and by comparing and judging, we come
to the knowledge of those quantities or properties
of bodies which are common to many apparently
different sul) stances. As we follow up this process
we come to generalize still more, until we arrive at
108 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
what we call the ultimate principles of bodies, or
general laAVs of nature.
What generally passes under the denomination
of method, is simply the exercise of these two
powers of analysis and induction. Our all-wise
Creator has assigned them a conspicuous place
among our intellectual principles. There is in man
a love of order and arrangement, which manifests
itself at a very early period of life. At the first
dawn of reason, ere the mental powers have ac-
quu^ed almost any strength, we find the young
child begin to make selections of material objects,
and to arrange and classify them according to a
particular standard fixed in his mind, as to colour,
size, &c. Some faint traces of this power are
discernible in the inferior creation ; but it is vastly
pre-eminent in man. It gradually develops itself
as he advances to manliood ; enables him to divide
and methodize his thoughts and sentiments ; and
becomes of vital importance in the proper discharge
of those numerous duties which fall to his lot to
perform.
Analysis and induction, however, viewed singly,
cannot be regarded as instruments either for the dis-
covery or promulgation of truth. Another power
is absolutely necessary, — that of analogy ; and to
it, therefore, we shall call the attention of the
reader.
We have, in the preceding remarks, pointed out
at some length the importance of the two opera-
tions of the mind, called analysis and synthesis.
But we must here observe, that these faculties
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, ANALOGY. 109
.would be of very little use if we did not pos-
sess the power of reasoning from analogy. If
we required to analyze every object which came
before us, and to resolve it into its general prin-
ciples, before we could pronounce with certainty
any thing respecting it, our actual knowledge
would be exceedingly circumscribed indeed. Here,
however, another operation of the mind is brought
into ]olay, which relieves us from an inconceivable
degree of trouble, enlarges our knowledge, and
expands our reasoning powers to an almost indefi-
nite extent. This process is analogy. If we ana-
lyze a portion of matter into its elementary parts,
we firmly believe that another, possessing the same
external appearances as the former, is composed of
like materials. If Ave see a man following a certain
line of conduct, and bringing upon himself and
others poverty and disease, we immediately draw
the conclusion that the like will happen to others
if they tread in the same steps. In these respec-
tive instances we do not institute an inquiry into
every indi\ddual object upon which we reason and
decide ; Ijut we di'aw our conclusions from what we
have actually experienced, and apply them to
objects of a similar nature, which we may, never-
theless, never have submitted to personal examina-
tion.
The term analogy is generally used, both in
common language and in systems of logic and
philosophy, to denote a certain degree of relation,
agreement, or resemblance in some points, between
two or more objects, which in other respects have
110 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
little in common, or possess altogether different
properties or quaKties. It must he ohvious, from
the immense variety of the works of creation, that
the ohjects which hear a relation or resemhlauce to
one another must be numerous beyond the possi-
bility of calculation, and we shall tind that analogy
or resemblance is of every degree, from nearly
complete identity to direct opposition or contra-
riety.
A great portion of the reasoning of mankind is
founded upon analogy. It is in constant and uni-
versal use, and is employed alike by the rustic and
the philosopher. It is one of those instruments
which the Almighty has placed in our hands to
secure our comfort and welfare, and to develop for
our information the laws of nature ; but, like all
other gifts from the same munificent source, it
requu'es to be judiciously applied to the proper and
legitimate ]ourposes for which it was given.
In almost every department of human know-
ledge analogical reasonings are employed to a great
extent, and are found to be of vast utility. In
the science of comparative anatomy, for example,
it is of singular importance to trace out the resem-
blances between the structiu^es of different animals,
their organs of sensation, digestion, and motion;
and from this analogical inquiry we may draw
useful conclusions for the government of our own
conduct and constitution, and the promotion of
our interests. Por example, we make experiments
with certain kinds of food on the digestive organs
of dogs, and from these we infer or draio con-
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, ANALOGY. Ill
elusions that such and such effects will result to
ourselves from taking these same kinds of food;
and these experiments have often led to the forma-
tion of rules of diet and regimen of considerable
importance to our bodily health. Many highly
beneficial discoveries in medicine may be traced to
experiments and observations made upon the in-
ferior animals, founded upon the resemblance be-
tween their functions of life and our own.
In chemical science we may perceive the won-
derful effects produced by the operation of the
principle of analogy. Many of the most splendid
and important discoveries in this science were the
result of analogical reasonings. It was from this
source that Dr. Priestley proved the compound
nature of atmospheric air ; and it is related that it
was in consequence of hints which he had given,
when on a visit to Paris, to Lavoisier, founded
entirely upon analogical conjectures, that the latter
philosopher was induced to commence experiments,
with the View of proving the compound nature of
water, and of reducing it to its constituent ele-
ments. Indeed the whole history of this impor-
tant and useful department of human knowledge
exhibits very striking and incontestable proofs,
how much of the science owed its existence to
mere hints and conjectures, founded, in many
cases, upon slight resemblances or analogies.
In the science of astronomy we find that analogy
has been the principal instrument in conducting
us to important discoveries and improvements.
The law of gravitation, as unfolded by Sir Isaac
112 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
Newton, was discovered by a train of analogical
reasoning founded on one of the most trifling cir-
cumstances which daily present themselves to our
notice. While Sir Isaac sat ruminating under a
tree in his garden, an apple happened to drop from
it, and hit him on the head. He conceived that
the same law which determined the fall of the
apple might possibly be that which moved the
heavenly bodies in their orbits. This led to in-
quiry, and inquiry ended in a full and settled con-
viction, that the law which regulates the motion
of terrestrial bodies is the same which regulates
the movements of the sun, moon, and whole plane-
tary system. And it is by observing the motions
of the planets which belong to our solar system,
and by comparing their annual and diurnal motions
with the corresponding motions of the earth, that
we come to the well-grounded conclusion that
these planets are the habitations of various orders
of living beings ; for we are confident that the sun
imparts both light and heat to the planets as well
as to our globe ; and as his inflaence gives birth to
the various animated beings with which we are
conversant, "analogy," says La Place, "induces
us to believe that his influence produces similar
effects on the planets ; for it is not natural to sup-
pose that matter, of which we see the fecundity
develop itself in such various ways, should be
sterile upon a planet so large as Jupiter, which
like the earth has its days, its nights, and its years,
and on which observation discovers changes that
indicate very active forces. Man, formed for the
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, ANALOGY. 113
temperature which he enjoys upon earth, could
not, according to all appearance, live upon the
other planets; hut may there not he a diver-
sity of organization suited to the various tempe-
ratures of the glohes of this universe ? If the
difference of elements and climates causes such
variety in the productions of the earth, hoAV in-
finitely diversified must be the productions of the
planets and their satellites. The most active imagi-
nation cannot form any just idea of them, hut still
their existence is extreihely probable."
It would be impossible in this chapter to advert
to all the advantas^es which analo£:ical reasonino*
has conferred, and is daily conferring, upon science.
But these advantages are not exclusively confined
to matters of abstract speculation ; they influence
us also, to a wonderful extent, even in our common
and every-day occupations, opinions, and language.
Nearly the whole of oiu' knowledge of human
nature is founded upon analogy; though it is
commonly, but very erroneously, attributed to
experience. We conclude, that any given line of
conduct Avill be pleasant or disagreeable to our
fellow-men, merely because we conceive them to be
of a similar construction with ourselves in body,
mind, and moral feelings. "Wlien we confer bene-
fits upon our neighbour, we conceive that he will
feel grateful, because we presume that his nature
is similar to our own; and for the same reason,
when we inflict an injury upon him, we conceive
that he will feel and express indignation. The
*
114 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
food wliicli is palatable and noimshing to us,
or that which is unpleasant and pernicious," we
judge will produce like effects upon other people,
solely because we ground our conclusions upon the
analogical hypothesis that there is a close simi-
larity among all men in the organs of digestion and
general powers of life.
The whole structure of metaphorical language
is grounded on the resemblance or analogy which
the imagination conceives to exist among different
objects. We say that vii'tue is fair and beautiful,
that the mind is strong and robust, active and
lively, precisely because we conceive there is some-
thing in the moral and mental qualifications
angilogous to the material objects which we clothe
with these attributes. Metaphorical expressions
will always be found most numerous in the
writings of those authors who are led, from the
habits of theu' minds, into extensive comparisons
and a minute examination of the works of nature.
The poet is a well known instance of this. It is
from metaphors and similes that a great deal of the
pleasure which poetry affords us is derived. We
clothe the objects of nature, both animate and
inanimate, with various properties and attributes ;
but all these must in true poetry be founded upon
some real or apparent analogy or resemblance,
otherwise we derive no pleasure from poetical
metaphors ; on the contrary, nothing so readily
disgusts and puts us out of humour with our
author, as when his similes and metaphors do
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, ANALOGY. 115
not suggest to our minds some natural or fancied
resemblance to the objects which they are designed
to represent.
But though analogy is one of the most powerful
and general operations to which the mind resorts,
and the exercise of it seems indispensable to our
comfort, nay, to our very existence, yet it is not
placed beyond the reach of misapplication. Ana-
logy frequently leads us into gross errors, both in
speculation and practice; and we ought at all
times, in using it, to exercise a \dgilant circum-
spection over all conclusions which seem to rest
exclusively on analogical reasonings ; and more
especially if these conclusions involve subjects of
deep interest to our present or future well-being.
Were we able, in the majority of cases, to trace
the remote or hidden springs of those actions
which hiu'iy the unthinking and profligate part
of mankind to a course of life destructive of their
virtue, their comfort, and existence, we should find
that a great part of their misfortunes might he
fairly attributed to erroneous or fanciful analogies,
or miscalculations as to the effects of any given
line of conduct.
In our abstract and speculative opinions, we are
also greatly affected by erroneous or doubtful re-
semblances ; and no one can take up a book on
controversial topics of any description, without no-
ticing that the differences of opinion may, in nine
cases out of ten, be attributable to some false ana-
logies incidentally introduced, as it were, into the
I 2
116 MENTAL PHILOSOniY OF GREECE.
discussion, and made the ground- work of tlie wliole
matter of dispute. To give an example of this kind
of influence on our speculative conclusions, arising
from erroneous analogies, will perhaps prove more
strikingly illustrative of the truth of these remarks,
than any general observations T^liich could be made
upon the subject. The quotation I am about to
give relates to the long and keenly contested ques-
tion on liberty and necessity ; and the extract is
the more valuable as having come from the pen of
a very able and accomplished American writer, the
Reverend Jonathan Edwards. Of course it would
be altogether out of place here to express any opi-
nion on the questions under dispute ; it is simply
our duty to notice how false analogies may impose
upon the strongest minds, and vitiate a long chain
of close and argumentative reasoning. •" There is
a vast difference," says he, " between the sun's
being the cause of the lightsomeness and warmth
of the atmosphere and the brightness of gold and
diamonds, by its presence and positive influence,
and its being the occasion of. darkness and frost in
the night by its motion, whereby it descends below
the horizon." " If the sun were the proper cause
of cold and darkness, it would be the fountain of
these things, as it is the fountain of light and heat ;
and then something might be argued from the na-
ture of cold and darkness to a likeness of nature in
the sun ; and it might be justly inferred, that the
sun itself is dark and cold, and that his beams are
black and frosty. But, from its being the cause,
no otherwise than by its departure, no such thing
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, ANALOGY. 117
can be inierred, but the contrary ; it may justly be
argued, that the sun is a bright and hot body, if
cold and darkness are found to be the consequence
of its withdrawnient ; and the more constantly and
necessarily these effects are connected vdila. and
confined to its absence, the more strongly does it
argue the sun to be the fountain of light and heat.
So, inasmuch as sin is not the fruit of any positive
agency or influence of the Most High, but, on the
contrary, arises from the withholding of his action
and energy, and under certain circumstances ne-
cessarily follows on the want of his influence ; this
is no argiunent that he is sinful, or his operation
evil, but, on the contrary, that he and his agency
are altogether good and holy, and that he is the
fountain of all holiness. It would be strange ar-
guing indeed, that because men never commit sin
but only when God leaves them to themselves, and
necessarily sin when he does so, their sin, therefore,
is not from themselves, but from God, and so God
must be a sinful being ; as strange as it would be
to argue, that because it is always dark when the
sun is gone, and never dark when the sun is pre-
sent, all darkness, therefore, is from the sun, and
his disk and beams must needs be black."
Now the whole of this argument from analogy
is foim^ded upon the assumed principle, that there
is a reseynhlance of the sun, a created and depen-
dent olDJect, to the Almighty Creator of that same
object, and of every thing else. But a moment's
consideration ^vill convince us, that there can really
be no resemblance between the principle on which
118 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
the movements and energies of a dependent crea-
ture rest, and the principle on which depends the
active power of the Being who made that creature.
The two objects have nothing in common ; that is,
the sun wants the essential attributes of self-mo-
tion, will, and intelligence, which must be consi-
dered as inherent qualities in the divine nature.
We cannot fail to view with wonder and admira-
tion that subtile power of mind, which, in general
cases, balances so nicely, and promptly too, the
different degrees of evidence which result from dif-
ferent degrees of analogy existing among various
objects. Where the analogy or resemblance be-
tween two or more objects is almost perfect, the
mind readily, and upon the spur of the moment,
reasons upon both, and draws similar conclusions
from them ; and when this analogy or resemblance
becomes fainter and more imperceptible, then we
advance in our reasoning with more hesitation, and
our conclusions are encompassed with a greater
portion of doubt and uncertainty. How surprising
is this power of the mind, and how subtile and
dexterous are its movements !
Now, looking at the great importance of analogy,
both as it influences our abstract and speculative
principles and reasonings, and as it bears upon our
practical conduct, we ought to be perpetually upon
our guard to employ this mighty engine in a pro-
per manner. In this consists the greater part of
that which generally goes under the denomination
of judgment. Let us be cautious in drawing ana-
logical inferences and conclusions from certain sets
ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS, ANALOGY. 119
of facts or circumstances, which are not in all par-
ticulars alike. It is from the neglect of this pre-
caution that we are so frequently involved in diffi-
culties and perplexities in our reasonings, and
thus led into error on many important subjects.
In all our speculations we shall do well to keep
this precaution steadily in our mind's eye, and we
shall thereby be prevented from falling into many
mistakes of moment, both as it regards our ab-
stract principles and our actual comfort and
happiness.
Looking over the Grecian metaphysical systems
as a whole, we may plainly perceive, that they are
varied in character, almost solely from the propor-
tion in which Analysis, Synthesis, and Analogy,
are mingled together. Where the synthetic prin-
ciple predominates, we see a more determined love
of system, and often a reckless habit of generaliz-
ing. In the early philosophers of Greece, this is
very observable. On the other hand, when anlaysis
unduly prevails, we see the genius of philosophy
bolstering up its influence by minute, unimportant,
and frivolous particularities. Again, when we see
the speculative habit resting principally on Analogy,
we find theories and systems full of crudities and
inconsistencies. It is when all these three great
prmciples of our mind are rightly adjusted and
proportioned, that the happiest results may be
anticipated. And what is true of individuals, is
true in respect of the philosophical spirit of a
whole people.
It may be remarked, that aU readers of Grecian
120 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP GREECE.
Philosopliy will readily recognise the great know-
ledge wliicli the sages of that country generally dis-
play, in their appreciation of the nature and use of
these principles of Analysis, Synthesis, and Analogy.
They mix and blend them, so to speak, with con-
summate skill. In all the most valuable portions
of their "\Tritings we see the right application of
these general powers of thought. It is only when
very abstruse theories are developed, and fanciful
systems advocated, that we perceive any derange-
ment in the management of the reasoning faculties.
The works of Plato and Aristotle furnish us with
innumerable examples of the beautiful application
of Analysis, Synthesis, and Analogy ; especially in
those sections of their respective treatises, which
depend upon a correct observation of nature's
operations, and the every-day appearances she
presents to our view. In all the various dialec-
tical systems of Greece, we see no errors from the
application of these rudiments of reasoning ; it is
only when ultimate principles of being and of
thought are brought into play, that we find room
for dissent or censure.*
* See the Author's " Essay on Logic," Second Edit. 1848, publislied
by Saunders, 6 Charing Cross.
THE SCEPTICAL SCHOOL OF METAPHYSICS. 121
CHAPTER XIII.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
THE SCEPTICAL SCHOOL OF METAPHYSICS.
Pyrrho. 340 B. C.
Pyrrho stands at the head ofthe ancient Sceptics.
We are not, however, to understand by the term
sceptic, as here used in reference to the personal
opinions of Pyrrho himself, that he embraced the
notions commonly indicated by the generic term
Pyrrhonism in modern times. He did not deny
the absolute existence of truth; but only showed
that in seeking after it we often feel a difficulty in
seizing hold of it, from the mass of error which
commonly surrounds it.
Pyrrho formed part of the court of Alexander
the Great, in his grand expedition to Asia. The
personal friend of the philosopher was Anaxarchus,
from whom he derived a knowledge of the specula-
tive opinions of the Eleatics. Pyrrho also learned
the Indian doctrine of the Gymnosophists. He
attended the philosophical school of Megara, and
studied with great care and zeal the writings of
122 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GEEECE.
Democritus. He was greatly esteemed by all his
contemporaries for the piuity and simplicity of liis
life and conversation.
The Te}i Tropes^ so often alluded to in the philo-
sophical writings of the ancients, and which con-
tain the general tenets of what goes nnder the
name of Pyrrhonism, are attributed to Pyrrho as
their author. The principles of doubt involved in
these rules go simply to recommend a suspension
of assent, rather then a positive denial of matters
submitted to the judgment. His scepticism was
more of a passive than an active type. A Prench
historian of philosophy, and a Catholic bishop,
makes the foUoT^Tno^ observations on Pvrrho.
" Que Pyrrhon ait ete amene, par son doute
universel, a ne pouvoir agir, a ne croupe a rien
dans la pratique, a ne pas se detourner pour eviter
un precipice, comme le raconte Diogene Laerce,
ces assertions sont sans fondement et tout-a-fait
invraisemblables. Ce pliilosophe reconnaissait, au
contraire, I'autorite du bons sens, des lois, des
usages ; il admettait des regies de morale, et pre-
tendait que ces regies avaient leur fondement dans
le coeur. II voulait qu'on suivlt les apparences,
sans se mettre en peiae de la realite; qu'on agit
comme le commun des hommes, qu'on evitat
soigneusement les discussions epuieuses qui ne
pouvaient enfanter que le doute, et qu'on demeiu^at
dans ce repos d'esprit qui seul pent faire le
bonheur de I'homme."*
* Bouvier, Hist. Abregce de la Philosophic. Vol. 1. p 184. Paris. 1844.
PYRRHO. 123
The strong hold of the Sceptics was the variahle
nature of our ideas of pure sensation. These al-
ways afforded them weapons against the attacks
of their adversaries. The sceptics carried their
analogical reasonings from tliis source into every
department of human knowledge, but particularly
into our notions of what constituted good and evil.
Here too, they received fresh succour, from the
apparently discordant opinions and judgments of
mankind upon the rules and obligations of mora-
lity. People in different countries have different
notions of what is proper and beneficial ; and this
diversity is strictly analogous to the variable sensa-
tions of external things, produced by the operation
of the senses. It would be idle to deny, that
such analogical reasonings would have a powerful
effect upon popular opinion ; but still the nature
of all similar logical declamations exercises a per-
nicious iniiuence over the progress of sound and
rational knowledge.*
The more abstract scepticism among the Greek
and Uoman philosophy has a great uniformity of
character, because it was grounded upon "vdews and
argmnents which lay very open to common remark
and observation. The following may be stated as
the principal springs, out of which the various
* On the Sceptics, see Sextus Empiricus, Pyrrh. 1. Diog. Laert 9. 74.
Cicero, De Fini. 2. 13. Epictet. Fragm. ed. Schweigh. Bayle, Diction.
Huet, Traite de la faiblesse de I'esprit humain ; Ploucquet, Disser. de
Epoche Pyrrhonis, 1758; Beausobre, Le Pyrrhonisme raisonnable,
Berlin, 1753; Langheinrich, Disser. De Timon. &c., Leipsic, 1720.
121 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
currents of sceptical opinions flowed, in almost
every period of tlie ancient pliilosopliy.
1st. The great diversity in animal nature, as to
its origin, organization, &c. ; tlie differences in
wliicli external objects are viewed by the inferior
creation; all of which go to show what a vast
variation there must necessarily be in the concep-
tions formed of the qualities and properties of
external bodies, through organs of sense so much
varied. The question then is, as animals are
deprived of reason, what grounds have we to
prefer our perceptions to theirs when we are in the
search of truth ?
2nd. The diversity of character is very great in
human nature; and the differences among men,
both in mental and bodily qualifications, are varied
beyond all conception. This contrariety, joined
to the interminable disputes among philosophers
themselves, and the differences in tastes and aflFec-
tions particularly noticed by physicians, render all
attempts to arrive at the truth of things hopeless.
3rd. There is a great difference m the organs
of sense, and every organ has its appropriate ob-
jects. Do the qualities of these objects belong to
the particular conformation of our senses, or only
to the objects themselves ? Have they only as
many and such qualities and properties as we
perceive, and have they none which we do not
perceive ? What are the constituent elements of
objects, have they just such and such qualities and
no other ?
4th. The various ways in which our physical
PYRUHO. 125
organs are affected, by disease, sleep, old age,
sadness, fear, cold, heat, and a thousand other
circumstances, must necessarily create a great di-
versity of judgment relative to things around us.
5th. The differences from variation in the quan-
tities of things, produce often opposite judgments
and conclusions. A little more heat, a more rapid
motion, or a little more wine or spirit, creates
divers changes in our opinions. The general
aggregation or di\dsion of homogeneous J)odies
greatly modifies sensation.
6th. The various kinds of education among men,
and the different laws and conventional rules of
society, beget opposite opinions and conclusions on
the most important subjects.
7th. Erom the interminable mixtures and com-
binations of things, it is next to impossible to form
a correct opinion of the mass of objects around us.
Colours, density, and forms, are for ever changing;
and the eye can only judge of that which is, at tlie
moment, an object of vision.
8th. The relations of things one with another are
continually changing. We seldom see an object
precisely in the same point of \iew tvnce in succes-
sion.
9th. All relations, and objects, opinions, notions,
and principles, are connected together, and have
mutual dependencies one upon another; so that
the mind of man can never be certain that the
conclusions it forms are the really true ones. All
things are not perceived, therefore our judgments
are onesided.
12G MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
CHAPTEE XIV.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
Epicuuus. 341 B. C.
EpiCURirs was the founder of that school of phi-
losophy which has gone nncler his name for many
centuries. He was a philosopher of great parts,
and cultivated inquiries into the nature of the
human mind, in conjunction with speculations on
the principal questions of morals.
The foUomng is the suhstance of the metaphy-
sical theory of Epicurus. The soul is corporeal; it
is composed of the most refined and suhtile matter;
it is inherent in the whole of bodies, and forms a
constituent element of their nature or essence.
We can distinguish three separate or distinct
elements in the soul. The senses; the appetites,
diflPused over the whole organization of man ; and
intelligence or reason, placed in a sort of inter-
mediate position between the senses and the ap-
petites, sharpening the former, and guiding and
regulating the latter. The senses are a kind of
soul within a soul. They form the organs or in-
struments hy which the soul seizes hold, as it
EPICURUS. 127
were, of external objects. It is thus that objects
vastly varied act upon us, and that we are enabled
to distinguish the differences amongst them. Porms,
colom's, sounds, smells, and tastes, which affect
severally the five senses, are composed of cor-
puscles, disposed in different orders, endowed with
different motions, and these corpuscles are received
into the various organs of sensation, by pores or
canals proportional)ly suited to their nature. These
elementary corpuscles penetrate even into the sen-
sorium itself, strike and affect it, and give bii-th,
in our sentient being, to images similar to these
external things. These images may be compared
to the impression of the seal left on wax.
The principle of intelligence or reason exercises
supreme authority over the senses. Its province
is, whilst the senses are affected by external objects,
to think, to perceive, to conceive, to reflect, to
meditate, to discuss, and to deliberate. Heason is
not passive. But how is this thought excited ?
By a phenomenon analogous to that which produces
sensation ; by airy or sjnrittml essences, which pre-
sent themselves to reason. These spiritual essences
are disengaged from bodies, or are formed in the
air, and seize hold of the mind, and fix themselves
in it. But in the multitude of intelligences, these
essences choose those whose attention is excited,
and such as direct themselves to particular forms
of thought ; to others they remain perfect strangers.
Attention is then reason's principal instrument ; by
it, judgments and conclusions are formed.
The appetites and passions relate primarily to
128 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE,
pleasure and pain; and from these follow hope
and fear. The soul naturally expands itself when
under the influence of pleasurable feelings, and, on
the contrary, shrinks from what is painful and un-
pleasant. This pleasure and pain result also from
the subtile and minute corpuscles of bodies, which
introduce themselves into our organs of sensation.
When there is a natural harmony between these
subtile corpuscles and our internal thinking prin-
ciple, pleasure is produced ; but, in a contrary
state of things, when this harmony does not exist,
the delicate organs of sense are wounded, and pain
and suffering are the consequence.
Again, it is by an action enth'ely mechanical
that the soul puts the divers members of the body
in motion. The whole system of mental pheno-
mena may be compared to a macliine of wheels
and springs, the two ends of which rest upon
external objects. But there is, nevertheless, this
essential characteristic relative to voluntary motion,
that the soul judges beforehand, and wishes the
effect which it produces.
Of the absolute certainty of our knowledge from
the senses, Epicurus was a strenuous advocate.
Sensations are the criterion of truth; the only
test of certainty ; they never deceive us. Wlienever
there is error, it may be traced to the judgment ;
it arises, from our hasty or premature decisions
upon objects which act externally on the senses.
The circumstance of the perfect freedom of the
human mind to act or not act, just as the will
pleases, is a curious, and apparently an incon-
EPICURUS. ^ 129
sistent item in tlic metapliysical system of Epi-
curus. All other phenomena seem pretty tightly
chained down to the principle of necessity or fate ;
but the mind, or intelligent principle, he sets at
complete liljerty.
The notions of Epicurus as to the formation of
the world, are nearly the same as those of Dcmo-
critus, with whose system he was intimately con-
versant. His primary elements arc the atoms of
Democritus. The atoms of Epicurus harmonize
and repel each other, and generate a rebounding
and oscillatino; motion. Thev combine and form
various systems, which constitute what we deno-
minate visible bodies or Avorlds. These primary
atoms are infinite in number, and, therefore, an
infinite nimiber of worlds may be framed out of
them. It is needless to say that such notions arc
vague and childish.
*:^* Diog. Laert. 10. Cicero De Nat. Deo. 1. 25. Sextus Empi. Math.
7. See also the works of Gassendi, the modern commentator on the
Philosophy of Epicurns : and the following works : — Sorbiere, Lettrcs sur
la Vie, &c., Paris 16G0; Jacques Rondel, La Vie d'Epic. Paris IHJO;
Pierre de Villemaudy, Manuductio ad Philosophiae Aristotelia;, Epicurese
et Cartesianse Parallclismum, Ainsteidam U)S1 ; L'Abbs Batteux, Morale
d' Epicure, La Haye, 1686; Temple's Essay on the Gardens of Epicurus,
London 1696. TragilU Arnkiel, De Philoso. et Schola Epicuri. 1671 ;
Faust. Diss, de Deo Epicuri, Strasburg, 1655.
*
K
130 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
CHAPTER XV.
MENTAL rniLOSOPHY OF GREECE.
THE STOICAL SCHOOL OF METAPHYSICS.
As we proceed dovm. the stream of time, we find
the discussions and speculations on the nature of
the human mind hecoming more diversified, pro-
found, and important. The Stoical School of Phi-
losophy, especially in reference to the principles
and practice of morals, has long maintained a con-
sideral)le portion of respect and attention among
the learned in all countries ; and the discussions of
this school on the laws of mind are also well en-
titled to a careful and attentive notice.
Zeno. 362 B. c.
Zeno was one of the most able and distinguished
masters of this school. He followed the profession
of a merchant for some time, but relinquished it,
and attended all the most celebrated seminaries of
learning and philosophy.
The idea of this philosopher, as to the abstract
nature of the evidence which our senses furnish
ZENO. 131
US, was, that knowledge was certain and immuta-
ble. In this respect he vigorously opposed the
general doctrines of the Sceptics, in all their shapes
and forms. The train of thought which appears to
have been in his mind on this occasion, is exceed-
ingly curious and interesting ; as it seems, as far as
we are able to judge of the matter, to have led him
to precisely the same conclusions which several
metaphysicians of modern times have propounded
with all the pomp and display of new discoveries.
I allude here to the doctrine of ultimate truths,
or, as some term it, the doctrine of common sense.
Zeno maintained that evidence, and evidence alone,
was the foundation of his theory of human know-
ledge,— the very key-stone of his system ; and he
points out a guide to the use of this instrument.
He calls it right judgment, or healthy reason.
This right judgment, or healthy reason, is partly
founded on an accurate knowledge of things, and
partly upon the condition and state of the soul, as
to its exemption from corruption. Nature has fur-
nished us with a kind of model or expression of
herself, by which the mind gathers together the
divers notions of tilings. These notions furnish
the elementary principles of all science. By their
assistance an extensive field is opened for the pro-
secution and investigation of truth. As nature is
the same in all mankind, those primary notions
form a sort of common sense, which appertains to
the entire mass of humanity.
Zeno distinguished eight faculties of the soul ;
the five senses, generation, language, and thought.
K 2
132 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GUEECE.
It will be perceived by tlie reader, that lie here
classifies generation, a physical power, with the
other faculties which essentially constitute our
thinking principle. The reason of this is not
stated. These eight powers or faculties are, accord-
ing to Zeno, a kind of governess to our soul, to
lead and guide us in all matters of knowledge and
life. We can say, under this point of \iew, that
there is in the soul only one faculty, from which
all others are derived. Tliis faculty is passive when
it receives external impressions, and active when it
unites, separates, and combines them, for the pur-
pose of forming general notions and judgments from
them. Thus the nature and operations of the soul
form one perfect whole, like a smaller universe.
The Stoics introduced in their school the famous
maxim, " that there is nothing in the understanding
which has not been previously in the senses.^' They
did not admit of innate ideas. They distinguished
natural ideas from artificial notions. The former
were obtained without any eff^ort of the mind itself,
and were denominated anticipations ; the latter
were the work of the remote spontaneity of the
mind, and were called notions.
Artificial notions were derived from several
sources, namely, from analogy, composition, pro-
portion, opposition, transposition, repetition, and
privation.
Zeno differed from Plato as to the latter' s theory
of ideas. The Stoic coincided with Aristotle, but
did not implicitly adopt all his opinions on mental
speculations.
CHRYSIPPUS. 133
His notions as to the origin of things were, that
there were two principles. The one is primordial
matter, which is the passive material of which all
thin^rs are formed. The second is the active ele-
ment which moulds and forms every thing ; this is
Reason, Destiny, God. The laws of matter are
imprinted on it by this intelligent and active
principle.
Chrtsippus. 250 b. c.
Chrysippns was another distinguished pliiloso-
plier of the Stoical school. On many points he
entertained correct views as to several important
principles of mental philosophy.
He agreed with Zeno as to the difference between
sensible perceptions of external objects, and notions
of the mind created by its reflecting on its own
poAvers, or consciousness. These notions are not
propagated immediately from the senses ; they
exclusively appertain to thought. They institute,
as it were, a comparison between objects of sense ;
they seize the common and general features or cha-
racteristics which belong to them ; the one opera-
tion is founded upon natural causes, and the other
upon the reflective faculty of the understanding
alone.
Chrysippns attempted to make a catalogue of
im.demonstrable or elementary truths. His idea
was, that all other truths should be arranged
under some one of these. These general truths
may be reduced to two kinds ; those which include
propositions necessarily involved in propositions
134 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
previously admitted as true; and consequences
which result from disjunctive propositions. The
minor details of this system of reasoning are com-
prehended under the heads of simple and complex
maxims; possible and impossible; necessaiy and
contingent ; probable, paradoxical, rational, and
empirical.
On the doctrine of Causation, Chrysippus divided
causes into two descriptions ; those which he con-
sidered purely mechanical, which belonged to the
aggregate masses of matter ; and those which were
organic, and constituted the principles of vegetable
and animal life.
Most of the opinions of Zeno and the Stoics of
tliis period generally, on the nature of the Deity,
are extremely rational. They clothe the Divine
nature with noble and sublime attributes. They
regard Him as infinitely perfect, and every way
worthy of adoration and homage. It must, how-
ever, be stated, that there is a great drawback to
this species of theism. Though they invest the
Deity with these attributes, they nevertheless be-
lieve Him to be essentially connected with matter.
They say that the Deity constitutes both the visible
and the invisible world ; that God is the soul of the
world ; that He penetrates all parts of it ; that He
is the Kving and vivifying principle of it ; in fact,
that the world was composed of God, who was the
soul of it, and matter, which was its body.
Zeno and his school were strict and absolute
necessitarians. Every thing was linked together
by an inexorable fatality. They made some little
CHEYSIPPUS. 135
display of allowing the Pirst Cause a degree of
liberty or choice ; hut it was evidently a mere piece
of philosophical delusion. Cicero accuses them of
this fruitless attempt to reconcile liberty with
necessity.* Both Zeno and Chrysippus saw the
chfficulty, that if they did not invest man with
personal freedom, it was impossible to conceive how
actions could be considered either praiseworthy or
blameable, or entitled to rewards or punishments.
They were, therefore, obliged to cede a form of
liberty, to harmonize, in some measure, this moral
responsibility with the other parts of their system, f
The Stoical doctrines, as a whole, present much
that is praiseworthy and valuable. The philo-
sophers of this school set themselves against the
whole mass of vain and conceited quibbling which
too often usurped the name and authority of
philosophy and true wisdom. They took human
life and human nature as they found them. The
whole of their doctrines were grounded on the
more obvious and striking principles of men's
thoughts and actions. They say, in substance, If
your system be against common sense, it must be
erroneous ; we may not perhaps be able to rebut
all your refined and subtile arguments, but be you
assured, that nature has not left the first princi-
ples of speculation and action to be trifled with hj
the weak and puny sophistry of man. Upon these
grounds the whole of their public teaching was
based.
* C icero, Noctes Atticse, 4. 2. 15.
t Cicero, De Fato, 10. 12. Nemesius, De uatura Ilominis. c. 2.
136 MENTAL PHILOSOniY OF GllEECE.
CHAPTER XVI.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
ON THE NOTIONS COMMONLY ADOPTED BY THE
ANCIENTS, UP TO THE PERIOD OF THE STOICS,
ON THE ORIGIN OF OTJR KNOWLEDGE, AND THE
NATURE OF TRUTH.
We sliall attempt, in tliis chapter, to give a
general but concise view of some important and
elementary principles discussed by the ancient
sages ; simply with a view of fixing the ordinary
reader's attention more firmly on the real amount
of progress which the philosophy of the mind had
made, up to this point of history.
The first question with the philosophers of
Greece was, Erom whence is our knowledge de-
rived ? Does it proceed from ourselves ? Does it
emanate from any physical channel or source we
can recognize ? Does it own a di\dne or heavenly
origin? Theu' inquiries soon, however, brought
them to something which seemed to point out
what appeared to indicate, in some measure, a
probalde solution of the great problem. This
ORIGIN OF KNOWLEDGE. 137
something was Sensation. They saw that an
affection of the senses was prior to thought. This
conclusion was established not only from every
man's hom-ly experience, but from a consideration
of the infant years of mankind, when the deve-
lopment of sensation was more strikingly and
pointedly marked, as an anterior operation to
the knowledge of the existence and qualities of ex-
ternal objects. No man could be ignorant, much
less a philosopher, that a mountain, or lake, or
river, must be seen by the eye before a person can
possibly have an ideci of it ; that sounds must be
heard by the ear, before we can have an idea of
them, or be able to feel the exquisite pleasures
which are derived from their mechanical combina-
tion in the art of music. And the like may be
remarked in reference to the other three organs of
sensation. This being the precise state of the
case, inquiring men took their stand on Sensation.
They perceived that it was, in some way or other,
indissolubly and invariably conjoined Avith know-
ledge ; this they were in no position to deny,
either as philosophers or men. Nature decided
with peremptory authority. She pointed her
finger to the final cause of this great source of
knowledge, that this peculiar organization of our
senses shall be the medium of that information of
the qualities and properties of external bodies and
agencies which is absolutely requisite for the
support and enjoyment of animal existence.
We find, therefore, no difference worth mention-
ing among the various schools of philosophy as to
138 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GUEECE.
common and every-day operations of sensation,
considered as mere phenomena of existence. Its
necessary connection with knowledge coukl not be
denied. But a little inquiry below the surface of
things suggested another important question, Are
there any thoughts, or ideas, or notions, or prin-
ciples in our minds, which do not seem to have
their origin in this peculiar affection of our
senses, either from their separate or collective
operations ? We have the colours and confor-
mation of bodies by the eye, sounds by the ear,
smells by the nose, tastes by the mouth, and feeling
by the touch ; but does any one, or do all of these
produce those ideas, for example, which I have of
myself, of being or existence in general, of space,
of time, of number, of infinity, of right, of obliga-
tion, of cause and effect, and of a thousand others
which are in every man's mind, and which form
as it were the pabulum of his mental existence ?
This is the point of departure of mental philoso-
phy. To solve this problem has been the great
object of all metaphysicians from the earliest re-
cords of speculation ; and the question is still ask-
ed from a thousand different quarters, even at the
present hour.
The first step which philosophers took to throw
some light on this intricate question was, to divide
our sensations into two classes ; the one related to
the simple or secondary qualities of material bo-
dies, and the other to their primary ones. Our
simple ideas or notions of the secondary qualities
or properties of things, arc only conditionally or
ORIGIN OF KNOWLEDGE. 139
relatively uniform. Let us, for example, take the
sensation of warmth. Take a bason of water heat-
ed to a certain degree, and put a cold hand into it,
and a warm one. The water will feel quite warm
to the cold hand, but cold or chilly to the warm
one. Does then this sensation belong, as an inhe-
rent quality, to water ? Does it form a constituent
portion of its nature ? If this were granted, it would
make the water both hot and cold at the same
time, which is absurd. Such sensations are called
s'miple or secondary ones, because they depend
upon and are apparently regulated by the phy-
sical state or condition of the organs of sense. But
whether water be hot or cold, warm or chilly, it
always occupies space, it has a certain volume or
bulk, and a certain density or weight. These quali-
ties appertain to it, independently of our sensations,
or the state of our organs of feeling, taste, smell,
or sight. These, therefore, are termed the iwimary
qualities of matter, and seem to form the ground-
work of a mighty structure of intellectual mechan-
ism and contrivance.
We come now to the third step in the progress
of inquiry. Was there any inward principle in
man which could elaborate or concoct any ideas or
notions out of the ordinary sensations which our
senses produced ; or did these ordinary sensations
merely operate as exciting causes to the mind,
forming out of its otvh resources notions or ideas
which did not seem to have any immediate or
necessary connexion mth the process of sensa-
tion ? This was a puzzling question to the inquir-
140 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GPvEECE.
ing philosoplier. It was clear to him that there
were certain notions in our minds, and very familiar
ones too, which did not seem to owe their exist-
ence to the operation of external objects on the
senses ; but how to account for them, constituted
the difficulty. There were two modes of attempting-
to remove the perplexity ; the one supposed that
the mind, as by some chemical laboratory, distilled,
as it were, these more rarefied notions from the
mass of common ones which flowed throu£?h the
senses; and the other, that these refined ideas
were di'awTi from the internal resources of the
mind itself, independent of sensation. These two
theories both came under the notice of the ancients,
wliose systems we have previously glanced at. The
evidence preponderates in favour of the solution that
those general abstract notions which we possess, and
which seem to be so necessary for the acquirement
and cultivation of knowledge, owe Iheir existence
to the mind itself; and that the operation which
evolves them is called reflection. We find that the
most acute and comprehensive reasoners on men-
tal subjects, from Thales down to the time of the
Stoics, were obliged to admit this inward power of
reflection, to be enabled to make any progress in
the study of mind themselves, or to convey their
information and knowledge to others.
The abstract nature or character of truth, Avas
another stumbling block to all the ancient sages
of Greece. Are our sensations to be taken as the
evidence of truth ? They are variable and imcer-
tain. Do our more abstract and refined notions or
NATUHE OF TRUTH. 141
ideas afford more evidence ? We cannot rely upon
them either. Is there any criterion by which we
can determine a thing to be true or false ? Some
lay down one test, and some another. The Aca-
demics maintained there was no criterion of truth
whatever. The Dogmatists all agree upon a cri-
terion of truth, but differ about that in which it
consists. Plato would allow no criterion from the
testimony of the senses ; for, says he, " from them
we have nothing but opinion." He affu'med, how-
ever, that we had a criterion from pure intellect,
which afforded a test for certain knowledge. Aris-
totle differs in some degree from his master. The
former allows that the pure mind confers upon us
certain conviction, although the evidence from the
senses was sometimes very variable and uncertain.
Among all the sects of philosophers none contended
so zealously and boldly for a criterion of truth as
the Epicureans. They established thek test on
three principles ; sensation, anticipation, and pas-
sion. Subsequently, the most indefatigable hunters
after a criterion of certainty were the Stoics. They
suggested several modes by which this great desi-
deratum might be found.' Some amongst them, in
order to conquer what they conceived as prejudices,
went so far as to distrust the intimations from
their own senses, and to contend that the ordinary
principles of action among men ought not to be
implicitly relied on. They conjectured that some
wicked demon might insinuate falsehood through
this channel, and make men the objects of their
142 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
wicked and malicious sport. After laying aside,
however, all the usual maxims received among
men, they seem to have heen driven into a corner
at last, and compelled to admit, that truth might
rest upon the evidence of their own minds.
THE SECOND ACADEMY. 143^
CHAPTER XVII.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
The Second Academy.
The philosophers of the Second Academy dif-
fered in several points from Zeno and his followers.
The former especially directed their discussions
towards those parts of the mental philosophy of
the Stoics which related to the foundations of hu-
man knowledge, and the nature of truth in general.
This conflict of opinions is exceedingly interesting.
The truth of important principles was at stake;
and the various combatants brouq-ht to the task
great natural acuteness, and a perfect knowledge
of aU preceding systems.
Arcesilaus. 315 b. c.
According to Sextus Empiricus, Arcesilaus di-
rected his logical attacks against Zeno's theory of
perception. The liistorian teUs us that *' The Sto-
ics maintained three tilings ; science, opinion, and
comprehension ; the last of which occupied an in-
termediate place between the other two. Upon
144 MENTAL PniLOSOPTIY OF GREECE.
tliis point they were attacked by Arcesilans. As
comprehension has to be sustained by science and
opinion, it cannot be the arbiter of their nature or
essence. Now this comprehension resides either
in wisdom or folly. If it resides in wisdom, it is
science itself ; if in folly, it is no opinion, but mere
empty jargon. This comprehension, by which we
pretend to derive the power of giving assent to
visi]3le things, exists nowhere. We do not give
assent to what we merely see, but to reason alone.
Men only affirm formal or implied propositions.
Besides, are there not thousands of delusions from
visual objects, as well as true representations ? If
then wisdom gives its assent upon the strength of
this criterion of the Stoics, it only gives an assent
to a very illusory opinion."
This philosopher seems, however, to have limited
liis observations to the phenomena of external
things, and not to have carried his doubts to the
existence of the mind itself. But on this point
there is a diversity of opinion.
Cahneades. 215 B. c.
This philosopher, according to Sextus Empiricus,
not only opposed the Stoics in their general tenets,
but seems to have founded upon their own cri-
terion a system that went to establish contrary
propositions. Lactantius also mentions that Car-
neades had an intuitive quickness in perceiving the
weak sides of his adversaries' doctrines, and designed
their overthrow by the inward consciousness that
he would prove successful.
CAENEADES. 145
On the nature of perception Garneades has the
following observations. " The criterion which
pronounces upon truth can consist only in an ad-
hesion to the mind which creates the evidence of
the object. The senses begin to indicate the exist-
ence of objects only when they are affected by
them, whilst the former undergo divers alterations
in comino* in contact wdth the latter. It is in
these affections, and in these divers modifications
of feeling produced by external bodies, that we
must seek for the foundations of truth. Vision,
for example, shows us two things at once ; a mo-
dification of feeling we experience, and the object
which exercises itself upon us. It is thus that
light shows itself, and manifests the object which
strikes our eyes. But the sense of vision does not
invariably teach us the real nature of objects, but
sometimes deceives us. All \dsual things cannot,
then, be taken as an infallible standard of trutli,
but those things are only true which are proved to
be so in themselves."
Garneades established the proposition, that a
chain of probable evidences is connected with the
exercise of aU our organs of sensation ; but this is
more strikingly indicated from the exercise of the
organ of sight. He says, " Perception represents
two tilings at once ; the external object perceived,
and the subject which perceives it. Vision must
then be considered under two distinct relations.
First, relatively to the object perceived. This may
be either true or false ; true, if in conformity with
it ; and false if otherwise. Secondly, relatively to
* L
146 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
the subject perceiving. That which is true appears
to differ from that which is false. That which
bears the appearance of truth is probable. Some-
times this indication of truth is faint and weak ;
it may be from the smallness of the object, or from
the weakness and confused operation of the senses
themselves. Sometimes this appearance is very
striking and evident ; in such cases this distinct-
ness is a sure criterion of truth ; it is sufficiently
manifested by itself."
On the doctrine of necessary connection Car-
neades seems to have been inclined to the li-
berty of human thoughts and actions. He says,
"From the proposition, that there is no effect
without a cause, it does not follow that every thing
which happens arises from external causes. Now
our walls are subjected to no antecedent cause.
Such is the nature of all voluntary actions, that
the cause of them arises from the will itself."
E-itter observes, that " Carneades laboured to
prove that all previous attempts of philosophy to
establish a criterion of truth had miscarried, and
moreover that it was impossible to find such a
criterion. Eor, he argued, it must be placed either
in sensation, or in conception, or in reason. Now
as to the last, he mamtained that it could not be
found in reason independently of both sensation
and conception, for that which is the object of any
judgment of the reason must first appear to the
mind in a conception, which is impossible unless
it has been first of all presented to it by some
irrational sensation ; so that every operation of the
PHILO — ANTIOCHUS. 147
reason is originally dependent upon sensation, which
is irrational, and consequently the truth of ra-
tional cognition depends upon that of sensation.*
PHILO. 100 B. c.
Philo's metaphysical disquisitions related chiefly
to the abstract nature of truth and e\idence.
Sextus Empiricus informs us, that this philosopher
maintained that the reality of objects could be
known from that comprehensive perception on
which the Stoics founded their criterion.
Philo remarked that a logical consequence might
be true, though it was united to a false sup-
position. He distinguishes three species of truths;
first, that which is deduced from a self-evident
proposition ; secondly, that wliich is deduced from
a false proposition, though conditionally true ; and,
tliirdly, from a proposition from which the con-
clusion presents not only a hypothetical, but a
real truth, in spite of any absurdity contained in
the proposition itself ; as the earth moves ^ therefore
it exists.
Antiochus. 86 B. c.
This philosopher of the Second Academy seemed
to be actuated, in all his mental inquiries, with a
sincere and ardent love of truth. He set himself
to correct the general principles of the school, and
* Hist. Phil. Vol. 3. p. 614. Oxford 1839.
L 2
148 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GREECE.
to banish tliat species of loose and imdefined scep-
ticism wliich had, ever since the foundation of the
academy, hung around it, and engaged it in per-
petual quibbling discussions and irrational specula-
tions.
"Philosophy," says Antiochus "has two prin-
cipal objects in \dew; truth and happiness. He
can have no pretensions to true "uasdom, who does
not keep this double end in ^iew ; who is ignorant
from where he sets out, and whither he is going.
A real philosopher ought to establish himself upon
sound principles."
Cicero, who enjoyed the personal friendship of
this philosopher, tells us, that, on the long con-
tested point, the real foundation of human know-
ledge, Antiochus makes the following remarks.
" The testimony of the senses is worthy of all con-
fidence, if they are themselves free to act, are in a
healthy state, and no obstacle intervenes to ob-
struct the faithful perceptions they furnish. If
this were not the case, of what use would be our
deductions from them ? What would be the founda-
tion of memory ? What distinction would there
be between knowledge and ignorance, between the
lettered and the unlettered man? What would
there be attached to reason ? Of what use would it
prove to exercise its powers and faculties ? Scepti-
cism is at direct variance with the whole nature of
man, his desires, powers, and destination. Desii^es
influence the will, and suppose certain judgments
in the mind. If men wish to act, they must hold
by the truth presented to them. But above all,
ANTIOCHUS. 149
virtue is the best testimony to the certainty of
human knowledge. How could men resolve to
suifer inconceivable torments rather than desert
their duty ? or why should they bring upon them-
selves the vengeance of rigorous laws, unless they
were imder the control of clear, fixed, and deter-
mined principles ?"
The predecessors of Antiochus in the new
academy had made a fine and subtile distinction,
in theu' metaphysical system, between a clear 'per-
ception^ and a real perception. This distinction
was combated by Antiochus. He argued. How
could we affirm that an object, for example, was
white, if we happened to take it for black ? Or
how would we know when a perception was a
clear perception imprinted on our minds, if we
were not certain whether it was a real one or not ?
Such a mode of reasoning Avould go to establish
that there is neither colour, nor body, nor truth,
nor reasoning, nor' sensation, nor any thing truly
seen by the mind. We are so constituted that
our minds give their assent to testimony, just as
the scale of the balance is influenced by greater or
lesser weights.
Antiochus exercised great influence in his day ;
and w^as certainly a metaphysician of no mean
order. He was not, however, successful in fram-
ing any peculiar system ; but his aim seemed to be
to arrive at a species of eclecticism in reference to
all pre\aous speculations on the nature and facul-
ties of the human mind.*
* Sextus Empi. Pyrrho. 1. 2'ib. Nemeskis ap. Euseb. 14. 9. Stobaeus
Eclec. 2. p. 38. et seq.
150 mental philosophy of greece.
Clitomachus. 125 b. c.
Tills metaphysician was a disciple of Carneades,
and wrote four books on tlie reasons which ought
to induce us to suspend our assent to the general
truth of things. Cicero tells us that he distin-
guished vision into two kinds ; the one embraces
all things which we perceive, and those which
we perceive but indistinctly; the second, those
which are probable, and those which are not
probable.
POSLDONIUS.
This pliilosopher established a philosophical
school at Rhodes, where, it is said, he had Pom-
pey and Cicero for his hearers. He was partial to
the system of Aristotle, whose general arrange-
ment of mental speculation seemed to coincide
with his views. He opposed Chrysijipus on the
division of the soul. His great anxiety appeared
to be to reconcile if possible all the conflicting
theories of human nature, and to reduce them to
some common-sense level. It was j)robably with
this view that he revived the Platonic division of
the mental powers or faculties.
The direct influence which the bodily organiza-
tion exercises over the mind, engaged the attention
of Posidonius. He thought this influence was very
considerable, and that previous pliilosophers had
not made due allowances for it in their systems of
the mind.*
* Galen, 1. 4. pp. 143. 153. Plutarch, Fragio. 1. (^.
PAN^TIUS. 151
Human nature, in the opinion of Posidonius,
was a compound material, in wliicli the desires of
the creature corresponded to vegetable life ; the
violent passions, as anger, &c., to the brutish or
animal life ; but reason was the exclusive attribute
of man.* The doctrine of physical temperaments
is here clearly shadowed forth ; and there can be
no doubt that both the Sceptics and Stoics gene-
rally, in their public teachings and dissertations,
must have dwelt very often on the striking con-
nection which subsists between the bodily organiza-
tion and the mental habits and acquirements. This
was one of those prominent topics which the every-
day intercourse of human life must have forced
upon their attention.
PAXiETIUS.
Pansetius was a jiopular teacher of mental and
general philosophy, and endeavoured to communi-
cate his opinions with all possible simplicity and
clearness. This spread his fame in every direc-
tion; and many of the most celebrated Roman
lawyers attended his lectures, and became his phi-
losophical disciples and advocates.!
His metaphysical opinions are but little known.
His talents and acqukements did not lie in abstract
questions and theories. The system of logic he
taught had an especial reference to grammar, and
did not rest upon a full development of those prm-
* Galen, ibid. p. 170.
t Van. Lynden, De Panactio Khodio, Liigd. 1802. p. 50.
152 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF GUEECE.
ciples of reasoning so commonly incorporated with
many other ancient systems of Logic.
Pansetius was passionately fond of Plato, and
considered him the greatest philosopher that ever
lived.
The notions of Pansetins on the soul differed
from those entertained by some of the earlier mas-
ters of the Stoical school. He only admitted it to
have six parts ; and referred the faculty of speech
to voluntary motion, and maintained that gene-
ration belongs not to the soul but to vegetable
nature.
None of the speculative works of Pansetius have
come down to us. Only two physical treatises
have survived.*
* Cicero, De Fini. 4. 28. Idem De Divina. 1. 3. Nemesius, De
Natur. Horn. 15. p. 96. Clem. Alexand. Strom. 2. p. 416. Stobseus
Eclec. 2. p. 114. Diog. Laert. 7- 92.
ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL OF METAPHYSICS. 153
CHAPTER XYIII.
THE ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL OF METAPHYSICS.
The formation of the Alexandrian School of
philosophy forms an important era in the history of
mental speculations. A vast number of the most
subtile reasoners, and the most renowned men of
whom the history of letters can boast, attended,
in some part of their lives, at the Alexandrian
Seminary. This school of learning claims also
peculiar attention from its connexion with the
early introduction of the Christian faith, and with
the reciprocal influence which philosophy and re-
ligion exercised upon each other, at this eventful
period of the history of the human race.
The doctrines of the Grecian philosophy were
gradually introduced into Alexandria by the inter-
course maintained with the most eminent men in
Athens. Antiochus corresponded with Heraclitus
of Tyre, who taught at that time in Alexandria ;
Strabo, the geographer, had amalgamated the
doctrines of Zeno with those of Aristotle; and
Ammonius attempted to reconcile the doctrines
154 ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL
of Plato with those of his distinguished pupil.
These learned men soon established a taste for
abstract speculation and useful knowledge; and
metaphysics formed a very conspicuous portion of
their general system of public instruction.
It is impossible to think of the School of
Alexandria without emotion. To the di^dne, the
philosopher, and the lover of general science, she
is, and ever must be, an object of supreme interest
and regard. Every movement of her mind, from
her earliest establishment, has been fruitful of
important results, and has, in every civilized
country, left indelible memorials of her influence.
She was destined to play an interesting part in the
history of speculative opinions. She succoured the
exiled sages of Greece, and furnished them with
new weapons to combat their enemies, and even to
overthrow their own systems. She changed the
whole current of men's thoughts. Old theories were
renounced, and new ones adopted, which created
and fostered whole families of illustrious men. Her
name is inseparably connected with the greatest
event this world ever witnessed; the rise and
progress of that Christian system, which is destined
for ever to hold the flambeau to that philosophy
which she, in her early years, considered as fixed
on a rock of adamant. She is still glorious even in
her ruins.
The philosopher Potamon was one of the most
distinguished among the early founders of the
Alexandrian School, for his cultivation of mental
OF METAPHYSICS. 155
science. He had studied wdtli great care and
success the most important writings of Grecian
literature, and was highly esteemed among his
contemporaries for his skill and judgment on all
knotty and dithcult questions. According to
Diogenes Laertius, he was the founder of the
Eclectic sect of philosophers. The historian
ohserves : " But a short time since a new sect
called Eclectic had heen introduced hy Potamon
of Alexandi'ia, who selected from each school of
philosophy that which he considered the most
worthy and important. He thought there were
two criteria of truth. One resided in the same fa-
culty which judges ; that is reason, which presides
over the whole system of intellectual laws or move-
ments. The second consisted in those perceptions
which serve as the measure or instruments hy
wliicli knowledge is communicated ; or, in other
words, in the certainty and evidence of the received
impressions from external ohjects."
The Stoical pliilosophy was zealously studied
and cultivated at Alexandria. Aristotle had many
disciples and commentators ; and the doctrines of
Plato were hoth openly and secretly cherished by
many philosophers, of a more enthusiastic and
imaginative temperament. Here every thing he-
longing to philosophy was to be foiuid ; and the
wide interchange of opinions was greatly promoted
by the trading and commercial importance of the
city. Here were men of all nations collected
together for the purposes of traffic ; and the proxi-
156 ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL
mity to the seat of eastern speculation soon led to
the gradual introduction of principles and theories
with which the Grecian sages had previously been
unacquainted. This famous seminary of philoso-
phy and learning soon gave evident proofs of new
doctrines and new systems. The spirit of inquiry
received a powerful impetus; and those seeds
were profusely sown, which were afterwards to
yield such a rank and luxurious harvest.
We shall have to enumerate, in subsequent
parts of our history, some of the most eminent
pliilosophers who flourished at this notable seat
of learning.
We may allude generally to one or two doctrines
which took their rise at this famous seat of learnins',
and which are commonly connected with its history..
The one is what is called the Alexandrian Trmity,
and the other the doctrine of Myianations.
It must be observed, in reference to the first
doctrine, the Alexandrian Trinity, that many
writers have supposed that it arose directly from
the Scriptm-e doctrine of the Trinity, and was not
an original theory or speculation either from Alex-
andria or from any other place. This, on the
other hand, has been stoutly denied. It would
be contrary to the spirit and object of this work,
to enter into any controversy on the question;
therefore we shall refer the reader to ecclesias-
tical historians for a full statement of arguments
on the point in dispute.
The metaphysical doctrine of the Alexandrian
OF METAPHYSICS. 157
Trinity is this. God is of a threefold nature, and
at the same time but one. His essence contains
three distinct elements, substances, or persons, and
these three make, or constitute. One Being.
These three distinct persons or substances have
also distinct and individual attributes. The first
is Unitij ; the second is Intelligence ; and the third,
the Universal soul, or the vivifjdng cause of life
and motion.
This theory of the Divine Nature produced many
heresies in religion, and led to a great mass of idle
speculation on the nature of the human mind.
We shall have frequent opportunities of alluding
to this doctrine, in the com^se of our subsequent
inquiries into pliilosophical systems of a later date.
The theory of Emanation arose naturally enough
out of the Alexandrian Trinity. Something was
wanted to manifest the connexion between divine
and earthly natures; and hence the doctrine of
Emanation, which was invented to explain the
phenomenon. The human soul is identified with
the Infinite ; andi the world, and every thing in it,
is an Emanation from this Great Eirst Cause.
This opinion was a prolific soiu'ce of contention
for several centuries, in all the schools of philosophy
and theology.
158 NOTIONS OF THE ANCIENTS
CHAPTER XIX.
ON THE NOTIONS ENTERTAINED BY THE DIFFE-
RENT SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY ON THE NATURE
OF GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND PROPOSITIONS, UP
TO THE TIME OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE ALEX-
ANDRIAN SCHOOL.
It must appear to the attentive reader, tliat a
considerable portion of that controversial matter
which formed so essential a part of the philoso-
phical disquisitions of the ancient sages of Greece
and Rome, consisted in the nature, extent, and
application of general principles and propositions.
To examine these in all theu^ abstract nakedness ;
to estimate then' influence and power over indivi-
dual minds, and masses of men ; to see the mode
of their operation in detecting truth and falsehood;
to point out their relationsliip to the various
individual powers of the mind; and, in fine, to
view all theu' manifold offices in the general phe-
nomena of thought, was the perpetual aim of nearly
all the profound speculators on human nature, of
whom, in ancient times, we have any record.
ON GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 159
On a subject so recondite, and far removed from
ordinary observation, and tbe common trains of
thought, we might fairly expect to find a consider-
able diversity of opinion. This anticipation we
find realized by unquestionable facts. Some schools
of philosophy treated of general principles and
propositions in a plain and common sense manner,
making them comparatively easy of comprehension;
and, at the same time, calculated to promote the
cause of sound and rational knowledge. Others,
again, sublimated and refined to a great extent, and
placed those elementary rules of reasoning and
truth at a considerable distance from the grasp of
ordinary minds. While no small number of inqui-
sitive thinkers were led to form theories and
systems, which had the evident tendency to call
in question all truth and knowledge, and submerge
the human mind in the slough of irredeemable and
universal scepticism.
But though these \iews were opposite in their
nature and tendency, yet necessity, and the force
of nature, kept the generality of philosophers
within certain bounds, and gave to all theu' dis-
cussions a portion of uniformity and system. They
could not labour, nor convey their views to others,
without making use of certain formal and recog-
nized instruments of thought. This laid them
under obligations to arrange and systematize their
weapons of reasoning and argumentation. It will,
therefore, prove of advantage to the general reader
to present him with a bird's-eye view of this in-
160 NOTIONS OF THE ANCIENTS
tellectual armoury, so far as the common opinions,
statements, and systems of the ancient sages
will afford us materials.
It may he remarked here, in passing, that ge-
neral principles and propositions, for the purpose
of mental instruction, are not confined to mere
metaphysical knowledge. They embrace a wider
range. They claim a connexion with the whole
circle of the sciences ; and are applicable to the
discussion of every topic relating to human nature.
It was a generally received opinion amongst the
ancients, that all knowledge was founded upon
certam ultimate or first principles, which were
supposed, by several men of distinguished renown,
to have been imprinted on the mind at its forma-
tion, by the hand of the Supreme Being himself.
These elementary principles went, at various pe-
riods of history, under divers names ; but on the
whole they were considered, by a decided majority
of speculators on the mind, to be of a really innate
character. These principles may be divided into
three classes or sorts ; namely. Speculative, Prac-
tical, and Theological.
Speculative principles were, in the systems of
the ancients, those which related to the nature and
constitution of things, and concerning which the
mind, or the more elevated part of the intellect,
had to exercise its contemplative or thinking
powers ; as, for example, when we say that a whole
is greater than a part, or that two and three make
five. These purely speculative principles are ex-
ON GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 161
ceeclingly numerous, and must always, from the
natiu'e of the mind itself, be the ground- work of a
great portion of pliilosophical discussion. Accord-
ingly we find that they formed, so to speak, the
stock in trade of a considerable number of the
ancient schools of philosophy ; and though these
principles are in appearance distantly removed from
the ordinary \T.ews and affairs of men, yet this cir-
cumstance did not prevent them in bygone times,
and will not prevent them now, from exciting the
most lively and ardent feelings, foLinded on intel-
lectual rivalry, superiority, and distinction.
Practical principles were, in the eyes of the an-
cients, those which required something to be done ;
which led to some immediate action, and which
were determined in their nature and influence by
the suggestions of nature, or the necessities men
foimd themselves under to reduce them to applica-
tion. Such, for example, as that parents should
be honoured and obeyed; honesty and integrity
observed ; and contracts fulfilled. These practical
principles were of every-day use, and formed the
basis of human society, confederation, and brother-
hood. They constituted the materials of that
which had, more or less, been incorporated into all
systems of philosophy, and must always be invested
with paramount interest ; namely, the common-
sense feelings and opinions of mankind.
Theological princip^les were such, in the ancient
systems of speculation, as related to divine or ce-
lestial things ; as the existence, nature, and mode
of action of the Great First Cause; and these
* M
162 NOTIONS OF THE ANCIENTS
principles also embraced all those rules of conduct
and trains of thought, which were grounded upon
that sense of duty wliich prompted mankind to
feel a desire to worship and obey the Creator and
Sustainer of the universe.
There are three attributes, in the opinion of the
ancients, belonging to all innate or ultimate prin-
ciples or propositions ; namely, that they are self-
evident, universal, and the source of many con-
clusions.
1st. Self-evident principles are such as the mind
readily gives its assent to, as soon as the terms, or
any form of words in wliich they are embodied, are
expressed and understood. All negative propositions
are self-evident ; as a square is not a circle, nor a
man a horse. But then these propositions, and all
others of a similar nature, wanted one important
qualification requisite to all innate principles ; that
they are not the source of a number of conclusions.
Keither from the proposition that a square is not a
circle, nor a man a horse, is there any conclusion
necessarily deducible.
2nd. Universal propositions are such as are
agreed to by persons of all nations and creeds.
3rd. Principles are said to be the som^ce of a
number of conclusions, from which we can deduce
a great many truths.
Innate ideas may also be further subdivided, in
accordance with the ancient philosophy, into four
descriptions, immediate, common, external, and
immutahle.
1st. Immediate principles are those, the truth of
ON GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 163
which we can perceive without the help of any
intermediate ideas, such as those which constitute
the evidence on which mathematical conclusions
are grounded.
2nd. Common principles are such as are agreed
upon by all mankind.
3rd. External principles are those which ever
have been, and always must be, true. Though, for
example, a triangle had never been formed or de-
scribed, yet it needs must have been eternally true
that its three angles are equal to two right ones.
4th. Immutable principles are those which re-
main always the same. We cannot conceive how
even Omnipotence Himself could reverse their na-
ture. The terms in which such propositions are
couched may be reversed ; but their mental nature
or essence seems to be unchanged and unchange-
able. A square may be called a circle, and a circle
a square ; but still to the mind's eye, or to the
eye of the understanding, the nature of these two
mathematical conceptions remains the same. We
conceive it is not in the power of the Almighty
Himself to make two contradictory propositions,
both true and false at the same time, nor cause
the same individual to be at two different places at
the same moment. This does not argue any im-
perfection in the Supreme Being ; on the contrary,
to make Him the author of an absurdity, ought to
be considered as a manifest and great imperfection.
Aristotle, and the Peripatetics generally, main-
tained the idea that there were two principles, of a
seemingly discordant and contradictory nature, on
M 2
164 NOTIONS or THE ANCIENTS
which a great part, if not the whole, of our know-
ledge was huilt. The first of these principles was,
"Whatever is, is;" and the second, "It is im-
possible for the same thing to be and not to be."
The first proposition was called a direct one, be-
cause it was thought to form the basis of all direct
or certain information. The second was termed
indirect, and was conceived to be the ground of
all indirect demonstrations, or such as led to ab-
surd and ridiculous consequences or conclusions.
Some of the ancient Sages, who were smitten with
a love of system to a great extent, went so far as
to declare that the first proposition, that "What-
ever is, is," embodied the sum and substance of all
human knowledge.
The discussion, in the different schools of philo-
sophy, relative to the general doctrine of ultimate
or first principles, gave rise to a variety of opinions
and systems. One class of reasoners, deeply im-
pressed with the importance of truth, were anxious
to divest themselves of prejudices and partiali-
ties of every kind, in order to guard against error
more effectually. They attempted the study of
nature with minds like a tabula rasa. This led
them formally to renounce all established princi-
ples. They supported tliis course of proceeding
by urging that, from personal experience, their
various organs of sensation deceived them, and
conveyed to their minds false impressions of exter-
nal objects ; and, in fact, that these faculties of
perception were so capricious in their operations,
that no positive or legitimate conclusions could be
ON GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 165
drawn from them. These reasoners also main-
tained, that they had been induced to place faith
in a variety of things from the prejudices of edu-
cation; and that they were daily called upon to
renounce some favourite principle or other, which
a more extended acquaintance with the maxims of
philosophy showed to be perfectly absurd or ridi-
culous. Even with respect to self-e^ddent maxims
and propositions, they felt themselves not fully
justified in placing implicit confidence in them.
This brought all such reasoners to the verge of
complete scepticism. The existence of a material
universe seemed almost to vanish from their belief.
The reader will readily recognise from the pre-
ceding remarks, that the speculative principles
greatly predominated in the seats of learning at
particular periods. They also gave way at in-
tervals to investigations of a practical or common-
sense character ; and very often both were blended
in the elucidation of theological principles, relative
to the existence of nature, and the modes of opex'a-
tion of the Divine or Supreme Mind.
166 ROMAN SCHOOL.
CHAPTER XX.
THE ROMAN SCHOOL OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY.
The E-oman School of metaphysics, considered in
itself, is but of little moment. In viewing it,
however, in conjunction with various Grecian
systems, it becomes more interesting, and has a
higher claim to our regard.
The Roman people were altogether different
from the Grecians. The warlike character, the
rude and abrupt manners, and the enterprising
restlessness of the former, present a striking con-
trast to the mild, refined, and effemmate ci\Tlization
of the Greek republics. The Roman was, therefore,
a man whom both nature and education had in a
great measure unfitted for very abstract specula-
tion. His forte lay in activity and martial ardour.
Pure speculation hung always loosely about him,
because it proved but a drag or incumbrance to
his movements. The theatre of his action was
confined to the bustle and turmoil of public life ;
and his only hope of fame and distinction rested on
OF MENTAL PHILOSOPHY. 167
tlie active and efficient discharge of duties which
society imposed upon him. Not so the Greek.
His soul was fashioned in a softer mould. Luxu-
rious ease, and contemplative equanimity, were the
grand objects of his life. He lay upon his couch,
or sauntered in his garden, with his soul buried in
sublime speculation ; and to solve a problem or
develop a theory, afforded him more intense grati-
fication, than the possession of a crown or the
subjugation of an empire.
Some philosophical historians have expressed
their surprise that the E-omans added so little to
the science of mind. Why should tliey be sur-
prised at this result ? Do men " gather grapes
of thorns, or figs of thistles ?" It is no easy
matter to change the frame-work of a nation's
mind. Many ages of discipline and favourable
external circumstances, are requisite to effect such
a result. AYe may readily imiagine witli what
wonder the inhabitants of Rome would first listen
to the development of Grecian metaphysics, con-
veyed through the medium of a different and
unknown tongue ; couched in a dialectic form to
which they were entire strangers ; and aiming at
nothing short of accoimting for the origin of the
universe, and every tiling in it. The seeds of such
knowledge must have fallen upon many hard and
stony places. Several ages must have been
required to cultivate and enrich the soil for their
reception and fruition. Our surprise therefore
ouc^ht to be that the Romans reallv made so much
progress in the knowledge of the philosophy of
168 ROMAN SCHOOL.
Greece, as they actually did, considering the
manifold obstacles from political institutions,
social habits, difference of language, and consti-
tutional temperament.
The Romans first became acquainted with the
mental speculations of the Greeks, through the
channels of political relationship. The consular
and ambassadorial dignities carried the seeds of the
new pliilosophy to Rome. Scipio long patronized
the Stoic Pangetius, who seems to have been
extremely zealous and successful in disseminating
his views in the metropolis of the world. It is
said that he fully developed both the Platonic and
Stoical systems ; and made many converts of rank
and influence. A knowledo;e of other schools and
sects followed. The doctrines of the Epicureans,
and of the New Academy, were promidgated ; and
Sylla brought to Rome the works of Aristotle,
which became generally accessible, through the
means of a translation, eff'ected bv Tyrannion and
Andronicus of Rhodes.
Lucretius.
The first fruit of Grecian speculation among the
Romans, was that of Lucretius. He was a disciple
and admirer of Epicurus. His poem, De Rerum
Natiira, contains all the leading views and princi-
ples of the Epicurean pliilosophy. We have the
religious veneration and fear of the gods ridiculed ;
the necessity of emancipating the mind from all
notions of a Divine Nature; but, at the same time.
LUCRETIUS. 169
to endow it with that resolute and inflexible deter-
mination and self-government, that will enable it
to triumph even over destiny itself. Nature is the
only Deity which the poet can recognise ; but even
here, we find that strildng circumstance occur,
which demonstrates tliat poets cannot go on long
without some active or creative power ; and hence
it is that we find him gi^^ing life, vitality, and in-
telligence, to this very principle or abstraction
which he calls nature. In fact, he makes a Deity
of it, both in its essence and offices. It is only
through the instrumentality of this \dvifying or
active principle, that he has been able to make
any thing like a readable poem out of the Epicu-
rean system. He personifies Nature. He repre-
sents her as a ruling unity, who makes her power
and influence felt in every direction. Even when
this power and influence are delegated to inferior
agents, as the sun or stars, the same vital principle
goes with them, and discharges the active duties
of their office. This is not ascribable to any poetic
license, but arises from the very nature of things
themselves. There is no other course open to the
poet, no matter what his notions of fatality may be.
Lucretius' notions on the human soul are very
perplexed and irrational. His theory of the nature
of the primordial atoms of which all things consist,
is the only key we have as to what liis opinions
really were. He talks of atoms having a principle
of self motion* ; and these are the elements out of
* "Prima moventur enim per se primordia rerum." b. 2. 132.
170 ROMAN SCHOOL.
which the voluntary powers are fabricated. The
different forms of the atoms, and the direction
they take, either straight or oblique, determine
the individual character of the soul. These forms
are finite, but the seeds of each configuration are
innumerable ; and hence, by inference, the immense
variety in animated creatures.
Cicero. 106 b. c.
Cicero is the most distinguished civilian in
E/Oman history. As an historian, a politician, a
statesman, and an orator, he is unrivalled ; as a phi-
losopher he holds a respectable station. We esti-
mate him in this last character, not so much for
what he has left us of his otvti speculations, as
for what he has given us of the opinions and
systems of others. He was not a profound and
subtile genius, who could frame a system, and work
it out with the most refined and elaborate illustra-
tions ; but he had a powerful and brilliant judgment,
and keen intellectual perception, which could pene-
trate into matters of the most recondite nature.
Still, however, he was no theorist. He knew a
great deal of many systems ; felt some partialities
for particular ones ; but he never assumed the cha-
racter of a philosophical partisan, in the strict sense
of the word. He dived a little into this system,
and a little into that, but never appeared as a
thorough-paced proselyte, determined to defend
certain dogmas, whether they were true or not.
The structure of his mind, and the habits of his
CICEUO. 171
life, were quite in opposition to a eliaracter of
this description. He was in every sense of the ex-
pression, a man of the world. Knowledge was to
him an instrument for use, not an object of mere
curiosity or display. It was to promote his views
and fame as a lawyer, an orator, a statesman, and a
politician, that lie cultivated an acquaintance with
philosophy ; and in every movement of his active
mind, of which we have any literary memorial left,
we may fairly discern how adi'oitly he turned tliis
acquaintanceship to a profitable and honourable use.
We shall consider him chiefly as a metaphysician.
His genius embraced every section of Greek philo-
sophy. He had studied with considerable care and
success both Aristotle and Plato, as well as the
Epicurean and the Stoical systems. Por a critical
knowledge, he sufficiently mastered the most im-
portant theories connected with the nature and
faculties of the human miderstanding.*
On the nature of the human soul, this celebrated
man observes : " The soul is derived immediately
from the Di^dnity. It retains ties of relationship
with celestial beings ; and hence it comes to pass
that amidst all animated nature, man is the only
creature which possesses the knowledge of a Supreme
Being. The possession of this knowledge is then
sufficient to entitle man to point to Ms upward
origin. Nature has placed in us certain necessary
and elementary notions, Avliich form the basis of all
true wisdom and science. "f
On the nature of the organs of sensation Cicero
* See Note D. at the end of this Volume. t De Legibus 1. 8. 9,
172 ROMAN SCHOOL.
remarks, "Our senses have been conferred upon
us, in our present state of being, to act the part of
so many satellites or messengers, each of which is
invested "with its own proper function, and the per-
fection of each sense consists in percei^dng, mth
promptness and certainty, those things which nature
submits to them."
It is not possible, however, to determine whether
Cicero considered our sensations as affording us a
standard of truth, or whether they were fallacious,
and not to be depended upon. He is wdshful to
steer a kind of middle course between conflicting
systems. He could not go the whole length of say-
ing, that the impressions by the senses were stamped
mth infallible certainty; neither, on the other hand,
would his movements among men of the world, and
an active participation in all its duties, allow him
to consider these impressions, in the vast majority
of cases, as uncertain and illusory. To solve the
difficulty in some measure, he instituted a species
fdi iwohahility , which was to serve the common and
ordinary purpose of guiding men to safe and rational
conclusions, on all matters appertaining to the
mere phenomena of sensation. There is, however,
great vagueness and uncertainty on every thing the
philosopher has advanced on this question. In
some places he considers the senses as the mere
channels through wliich objects are conveyed to the
mind ; and that it is the peculiar province of this
intelligent principle, to procure information, to
combine, and compare, and to judge.* This position
* Tusc. 1. 20.
CICERO. 173
is, however, laid down with so many qualifications
and reservations, that it becomes quite obvious
that he had no decided or systematic opinions on
the subject of sensation generally.*
On the difficulties which present themselves in
all investigations after truth, Cicero thus expresses
himself: "All knowledge is encircled with diffi-
culties. Such is the natural obscurity of things,
and the constitutional weakness of the principle of
intelligence, that the most sagacious minds of an-
tiquity have doubted whether we ever can arrive at
truth at all. The most part of mankind em-
brace opinions without having the power of choosing
them. They judge of what they do not know ; and
attach themselves to some favourite system, as
mariners do to a rock in a tempestuous sea. But
a philosopher will only give his assent after he has
patiently heard both sides, and after a careful
re\dew of all the opinions which have previously
been advanced on the subject."
Cicero seems to have established his metaphysi-
cal creed upon the general principles of Plato's
system. Though well grounded in various other
doctrines relative to the mind, he decidedly gives
the preference to those of this eminent Grecian
sage. Cicero almost always had a fondness for Plato.
They had many things in common. There were
the same elevation of thought, and warmth of feel-
ing, displayed in both ; and the same deference
paid to the common-sense feelings and sentiments
of mankind. This must have proved a powerful
* De Finibns. 2. 12.
174 ROMAN SCHOOL.
bond of union. And there can be no rational doubt
but that the predilection which the great orator and
statesman manifested for Plato's views of the human
understanding, arose from an inward and powerful
conviction that they were more in unison with the
duties and destinies of man, than those of any other
of the Grecian philosophers.*
The immediate followers of Cicero in pliilo-
sophical disquisitions, were not signalized by any
advancements in the study of mind. Indeed it
was in a great measure neglected by all the latter
disciples of the Stoical School at Rome. The
speculations of the learned men who still adliered
to the forms of philosophy, were directed to the
principles which regulate the ordinary current of
human life, and into the nature of public and
private good and evil. The Stoical school, for a
long period after the death of Cicero, clearly indi-
cates how disinclined the Romans were to abstract
studies, and what a faint relish they displayed for
all the most sul3lime speculations which formed the
intellectual glory of Athens. With the exception
of the doctrine of the freedom of the human will,
we can scarcely recognize a single speculation
of a metaphysical character, brought prominently
* Vide, The Memoirs of Gauthier tie Sibert, on the Philosophy of
Cicero, iu the 27th book of the Academy of Inscrijjtions, Paris ; Facci-
olati. Vita C iceronis Litteraria, Paris, 1760 ; Middleton's Life of Cicero,
London ; Hulsemann, De Indole Philosophica M.TulliiCiceronis, Luxem-
burg, 1 700 ; Meniers, Oratio de Phil. Ciceronis, Leipsic ; Adam Bursius,
Dialectica Ciceronis, Zamosck, 1604 ; Janson de Nares, Brevis et
distincta Quajst. in Ciceronis Philosophia, Pavia, loJ)/ ; Waldin, Oratio de
Phil. Ciceronis Platonica, Jena, \753.
ALCINOUS. 175
forward on the stage of public discussion, for a
long series of years. To this doctrine, however,
the Stoics were enthusiastically attached. Indeed
it forms the grand key- stone to then- whole sys-
tem of morals. A few scattered thoughts on the
philosophy of mind may he found connected with
the names of Q. Sextus, Demetrius, Demonax of
Cyprus, (Enomaus of Gadara, Athenodorus of
Tarsus, Seneca, Musonius Rufus, Epictetus, and
M. Aurelius Antoninus.
ALCINOUS.
Amongst the most eminent metaphysicians
who adorned the school of the new Platonists at
Rome, Alcinous took a distinguished rank. His
" Introduction to the Fhllosophj of JBlato^^ is the
very best summary of Plato's system which has
ever been given.
Alcinous maintains that that w^liich has for its
object intelligent things, is science, or scientific
reason ; that which embraces sensible things, or
sensations, is doxatical reason, or opinion.
It foUow^s then from this, that all which flows
from the exercise of this scientific reason, is solid
and immutable, because it is itself founded upon a
basis which embodies these two qualities. On the
other hand, factitious reason or opinion offers only
general probabilities, and resemblances, because
it is founded only upon uncertain data.
The understanding is the foundation of science,
Avhich has for its objects intelligent tilings; and
176 ROMAN SCHOOL.
sensation is the link wMcli connects the under-
standing with our senses.
Sensation is an impression which the soul re-
ceives from external objects, and which impression
indicates its passive nature.
When, then, the soul receives, through the
instrumentality of the senses, a sensible impres-
sion,— that is to say, a sensation, — instead of its
being destroyed, or erased by time, it remains and
is treasured up there ; and the continuation of its
future existence, is that effect of sensation which
produces what we term memory.
When we recognize a sensible object, whilst the
presence of that object produces in us a sensation,
and this sensation is imprinted on the memory ;
when we perceive again tliis identical object, we
compare the preceding sensation, which has been
preserved by the memory, with the new sensation ;
and we thus say to ourselves, for example, Socrates^
horse, fire ; and so of other things.
When, then, we compare a previous sensation
with another just experienced, the effect of this act
of comparison is termed opinion. When the two
objects compared are in unison, the result of the
comparison is truth ; on the contrary, when there
is want of agreement, the opinion is false and
erroneous.*
Maximus of Tyre.
This writer on the mind follows nearly the same
* Introrliiction to the Philosophy of Plato.
MAXIMUS OF TYRE. 177
path as Alcinous. The distinction between reason
and the mere sentient principle, he points out in
^the following manner.
"Let us inquire what that is in man to which
we apply the terms to know, to learn, to app^^eliend,
and other phrases of a similar nature which indi-
cate that the soul is in a contemplative state of
existence. Do we call by the name of science that
which the senses assemble as in a contemplative
picture-frame, and which we commonly designate
by the name of experience ; that, in fact, which is
submitted to the eyes of the mind, and which reason,
after due examination, stamps with its own seal ?
Such a science as this, it must be owned, is common
to brutes ; for they receive sensations, acquire ex-
perience, and possess a species of wisdom. The
superiority of man is derived from his reason, and
liis relation to science is nothing but this reason
bringing under its power, for a sufficient length of
time, the multitudinous objects submitted to its
notice ; and in its active powers detecting resem-
blances and contrarieties ; separating, uniting, dis-
tinguishing, and producing an harmonious whole,
out of a mass of incongruous and diversified ma-
terials. The soul of man is a compound of mortal
and immortal elements. The latter qualities Linite
him with the gods. Instinct is the gift of the
former ; intelligence that of the latter. Prudence
or sagacity holds a situation between them both ;
and establishes the supremacy of our immortal
nature upon that which we possess in common with
the animal creation. Experience has created the
* N
178 HOMAN SCHOOL.
arts ; prudence or sagacity governs the passions and
emotions of the soul ; and intelligence represents
the laws of tliis external habitation of ours — laws
which have been created by God himself. I call
true science the harmonious combination of these
three faculties or powers."
We find Maximus entertaining the '^most lofty
ideas of the nature of the soul. He had evidentlv
drunk deep in the Platonic philosophy. It is only
the internal and intelligent parts of the man which
command liis admiration and respect ; it is these
alone which raise him to the dignity of claiming an
affinity with Deity itself. There is a genuine spiri-
tuality and life in his mental speculations, which
are not displayed in the lucubrations of his pre-
decessors.*
Maximus did not fail to notice the various sources
of error mankind had to contend against in their
pursuit of truth. Not only the passions of the soul
blind and misdirect the reason, but even philosophy
herself, infallible as she is commonly considered,
is but a frail and uncertain guide. The rivaby of
different and opposing sects, the influence of am-
bitious singularity, and the strong prepossessions in
favour of particular studies and sciences, distract
the judgment of the most sedate and able men, and
convert them into instruments of delusion. The phi-
losophy of Thales was viewed through the medium
of astronomy ; of Pythagoras, through music ; of
Heraclitus, through solitude ; of Socrates, througli
* Maximus Tvr. Diss. 12. U. 17
ALEXANDER. GALEN. 179
the moral affections ; and of Epicurus, through vo-
luptuousness. Thus mankind are bewildered and
tossed from one set of doctrines to another.*
Alexander op Aphrodisias.
This metaphysician was a distinguished com-
mentator on Aristotle, to whose ideas he added some
notions of his own. He attacks the Platonists,
the Stoics, and the Epicureans, and seems to have
been a stout and resolute defender of the perfect
stability of human knowledge.
Alexander was a strenuous advocate for free-will.
He maintains that this power was given to man,
and is one of the marks which distinguish him
from mere animal nature. He points out, with
great force, the moral and social evils which follow
the doctrines of necessary connexion, when they
are once brought into active operation in the con-
duct of individuals or whole bodies of men.
Galen.
This distinguished physician did not confine his
inquiries to those topics more immediately con-
nected with the physical constitution of man ; but
with indefatigable labour investigated those hidden
springs of mental action, which always exercise a
greater or lesser influence over the bodily powers
of human nature. He seems to have freed himself
* Diss. 25.
n 2
180 KOMAN SCHOOL.
from the trammels of systems, and to have prose-
cuted his inqumes under the influence of a sincere
and ardent love of truth.
On the abstract nature of evidence he makes
some profound and just remarks. He saw the
great error which pervaded many of the systems
promulgated by the ancients, which principally
consisted in an absurd and ridiculous aj^plication of
general terms, without making those perpetual re-
ferences to facts, which are indis^Densable for the
foundation of comprehensive branches of science
and knowledge. In his definition of synthesis and
analysis, he points out the nature of both these in-
struments, the limits of each, and the most ap-
proved rules for the advantageous combination of
both.
He distinguished four kinds of demonstration.
The first produced all science ; it seized the reality
of things, and investigated their nature completely ;
the second, that logical process on which dialec-
tics were founded ; the third, that which embraced
foreign testimony, grounded upon the probability
of the statements advanced ; and the fourth rested
on commonly received notions or opinions.
Galen remarks, that evidence is the source of all
intellectual light ; if there were no evidence, there
could be no exercise of the human understanding.-
This power is to the soul what the eye is to the
body. To perceive, is to comprehend, to know, to
be assured of the existence of things. It is necessary,
then, to commence all our inquiries with essential
and fundamental things, and to take our departure
GALEN. 181
from those things that are easy of comprehensiorij
and are immediately around us.
This philosopher considered that the common
source of error amongst men, arose from a too hasty
generalisation. The successful search after truth
essentially consists in an extensive and careful in-
vestigation, and an exact comparison as to the
differences and resemblances of thinors.
182 LATER SCHOOL OF SCEPTICISM.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE LATEK SCHOOL OF METAPHYSICAL SCEPTICISM.
At stated periods in the history of mental phi-
losophy we find that certain men invariably at-
tempted to gain distinction and notoriety, by call-
ing in question the fundamental maxims of know-
ledge, truth, and reasoning. We find all shades
and degrees of scepticism; from the humble and
simple doubter, to the absolute and dogmatical
disbeliever in even his own personal existence.
The nature of mental inquiry is favourable to tliis
intellectual disease ; chiefly from the abstract na-
ture of its principles, the uncertainty and imper-
fections of language, the difficulty attending a close
and consecutive examination of the phenomena of
thought, and the variable motives which may
influence the judgments of the metaphysician
throughout the whole course of his investigations.
tEnesidemus.
^nesidemus was a reviver of the doctrines of the
^NESIDEMUS. 183
Pyrrlionians. He was a contemporary of Cicero, was
a native of Crete, and taught philosophy at Alex-
andria. He wrote a work to point out the distinc-
tion between the doctrines of the Academicians,
and those of the followers of Pyrrho. In the se-
cond book of this work ^nesidemus treats of truth,
causation, action, chance, motion, production, de-
struction, with a view of showing the imperfections
of om' knowledge on all these matters. In the
third book he treats of our sensations, and endea-
vours to show that there is a great want of uniformity
amongst them. The fourth book is occupied with
the imperfections of signs ; and the fifth points out
the uncertainty accompanying all those deductions
which we make from sensible tilings, to matters
removed from the senses. The sixth attacks the
ordinary maxims respecting cause and effect ; and
the other three books are confi.ned to questions as
to good and evil, and the end and destiny of man.
On the subject of causation, this philosopher
makes the following remarks : " Bodies cannot be
the cause of other bodies ; for if they act, they
must either act by themselves, or by others, as
intermediate agents. If by themselves, they can
only produce that which ah'eady forms a part of
their own nature or essence ; if they act through
the instrumentality of others, then these become
necessarily one and the same substance. That
which is incorporeal cannot, moreover, be the
cause of another incorporeal substance; and for
this reason, beings cannot produce that which
forms no part of their own nature. Besides, that
18i LATER SCHOOL OF SCEPTICISM.
which is incorporeal cannot he in contact with, or
act upon, or he acted upon hy, that which is material.
Bodies cannot he the cause of incorporeal natures,
nor can the latter be the cause of the former, for
they contain opposite properties or principles. A
body at rest cannot be the cause of another body
also at rest, nor can a body in motion be the cause
of another that moves itself."*
What JGnesidemus meant by being or essence, is
difficult to conjecture. His views on the primary
causes of things seem at variance with the general
scope of his speculations. The essence (ovaia) was
the primeval body ; but whether it included a se-
condary body, is uncertain, f He also considered
air as the principle of all things. There seems,
however, to have been great confusion in his mind
on every topic of speculation.
Agrippa.
This ancient writer was the successor of ^Ene-
sidemus, and cultivated his system with great
zeal and success. He made additional maxims
to the theory of Pyrrho. These maxims are five
in number. The first relates to the differences
amongst the various schools of philosophy, on the
truth of theu' respective elementary principles.
The second arises from the notion of infinity in-
volved in every chain of proofs, that one depends
upon another ad infinitum. The third maxim, of
* Photius, Bibl. pp. 642. 648. t Sextus Empiri., Pyrrb. 3. 138.
PHAVORINUS — SEXTTJS EMPIRICUS. 185
doubt, refers to the uncertainty we must always
labour under as to the real nature of objects ; inas-
much as we can only speak or judge of things by
our own individual sensations or perceptions.
Fourthly, we are led into doubt and error from the
hasty adoption of purely gratuitous principles.
And the fifth maxim is the common practice of
reasoning in a circle. There seems, however, no-
thing novel in all these maxims. They have been
repeated over and over again by many preceding
philosophers.*
Phavomnus.
This philosopher wrote a treatise on Vision, as
well as upon the Academical propositions, and the
views of Pyrrho. Philostratus informs us that
these works were of high merit. It was against
this philosopher that Galen directed his metaphy-
sical writings. The latter remarks, "That some
recent writers, and amongst the number is Pha-
vorinus, carry their doubts to such a pitch, as to
call in question the existence of the sun."t
Sextus Empimcus.
Sextus was not only a most profound metaphy-
sician himself, but he was, on the whole, a most
able and candid historian of mental theories and
systems generally. He had paid great attention
* Diog. Laert. 9. 88. Sextus Empiricus, Pyrrh. 1. pp. 164 —178.
t Diog. Laert. 9. 87.
186 LATER SCHOOL OF SCEPTICISM.
to this department of knowledge ; and it is chiefly
to him that we owe any information at all of the
views and writings of several eminent philosophers
of ancient times.
His own personal opinions seem to have classed
him amongst the Sceptics ; but it has long been a
question, since his day, what was his degree of
doubt, and how far he carried out his scepticism
on the fundamentals of human science and know-
ledge. On this point it will be difficult to form a
correct opinion. We have only a few scattered
observations of his own, and very slender probabi-
lities to guide us. It would seem, however, that
he did not carry his system, of doubt to such a
length as to invalidate the testimony of our senses,
or the elementary principles of reason. On this
subject he remarks, " We never examine how sen-
sible things fall under our senses, nor how intelli-
gent perceptions arise in the understanding and
are there perceived by it; we receive both in a
simple and absolute manner, as a matter unac-
countable and undefinable."
Sextus remarks also, that the philosophers who
preceded him had maintained three standards
of truth, or rather we should say, three instru-
ments for the discovery of truth and falsehood.
The first is that wliich belongs to man, and which
forms his power of judgment ; the second, the
means he employs for judging, that is, Ms senses
and understanding ; and the third, that action or
power by which he applies these objects or instru-
ments. The first principle he rejects, on account
SEXTUS EMPimCUS. 187
of the compound nature of man, possessing a body,
as well as a soul, wliich must, in his opinion, give
rise to many operations we never can know any-
thing about. The second criterio7i he also refuses
liis assent to, principally on the ground of the
conflicting and variable nature of our organs of
sense, and the sources of delusion to wliich the un-
derstanding is liable from this and other causes.
The tliird standard is rejected likewise, from the
doubt thrown over our organs of vision.
The notions entertained by Sextus on the human
soul, are of a material complexion. He thought
we knew little or nothing about it.* All the
higher kinds of thought were but the relations to
the sensible particles of matter. Our sensations
seemed to be the only ground he had for anytliing
approaching to truth and certainty. But Sex-
tus was not apparently consistent even in this
position : for he maintained that man did not
know anytliing whatever of himself. We have no
sure means of arri\dng at the truth of our own
natures, either bodily or mental, f Every thing
is tainted with doubt. If the mind can know any
thins? of man, it must know him onlv throua^h
three channels, the body, the senses, or itself. If
the body compels the mind to think, then the body
moves without any reason, and consequently our
minds must be moved or impelled irrationally.
The same objection lies against the position that
the senses can be known by the mind, for they are
* Pyrrh. Hyp. 3. 51. t Pyrrh. 2. 29.
188 LATER SCHOOL OF SCEPTICISM.
themselves irrational in their movements and
operations. If we learned what the senses were
through the medium of the imderstanding, this
would reduce all to the same uniform nature or
essence. As to the mind taking notice of its own
thoughts, feelings, opinions, and emotions, this is
evidently impossihle, for we should have neither a
suhject to know, or an ohject to he known. Eor the
mind to know itself, it must know what its real suh-
stance is, all its laws of action, where its proper lo-
cation is ; and, in fact, in what mode it operates on
matter, and matter operates on it.
These douhts and objections are reiterated over
and over again by this learned Sceptic, but there
is little method or ingenuity displayed in the ar-
rano;ement of his views.
The ideas of Sextus on cause and efiTect, are
clothed in the same mystification as his other
notions on the foundations of truth in general.
Causation from the contact of material bodies is
considered very doubtful. No two bodies can
touch each other; it may be conjectured that they
may touch each other at theu^ surfaces, but the
bodies themselves can never come in contact.*
The same thing may be affirmed of all mixtures of
material elements, and the various changes they
seem to undergo in consequence. There is no real
contact of the particles in such cases.
On cause and effect generally, the objections
urged by Sextus are very subtile, and fairly stated,
' Pynhoa. Hyp. 3. 12.
SEXTUS EMPIRICUS. 189
In modem times we have seen them often brought
upon the stage of philosophical discussion. If
one thing, says Sextus, can be the cause of another
thing, one of the following circumstances must
take place ; either the quiescent must be the cause
of the quiescent, or the moved of the thing in
motion; or a moving cause produce a quiescent
effect, or a quiescent cause a moved effect. Now
this cannot be, because it is maintained, as a
general maxim, that like things can only produce
like things. Again, it is affirmed that cause and
effect must have a co-existent nature. That a
cause cannot be posterior to an effect is quite true ;
neither can an effect be subsequent to a cause, for
this reason, that if the cause be anterior to the
effect, there must be a certain time when it was
deprived of, or separated from, the effect, therefore
making it no cause at all. If again the effect be
posterior to the cause, then it must exist when its
cause ceases to exist, which would make it, in fact,
an effect without a cause, which is a thing impos-
sible to be conceived.
Besides these objections, it is urged by the
Sceptics, that our ordinary theory of causation
involves the position that all causes are active
principles, and all effects are passive ones. Now
this cannot be proved. Indeed this theory of
cause and effect contains many contradictory con-
clusions ; and it is from the consideration of these,
that Sextus sees it is impossible to extricate him-
self from this labyrinth of doubt and perplexity.
On the nature of Deitv, the whole of the doubts
190 LATER SCHOOL OF SCEPTICISM.
and speculations of Sextus are of a material
nature and tendency. There is nothing of novelty
"in them.* •
* See the three works of Sextus Empiricus ; the PjTi-honistie Hypoty-
poses, that against Encyclic Sciences, and that against the Philosophical
Sects. The two last are joined in one called Adversus Mathematicos.
i
OPINIONS ON A DEITY AND THE SOUL. 191
CHAPTER XXII.
ON THE OPINIONS OF THE ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS,
UP TO THIS PERIOD OF HISTORY, ON A DEITY,
AND THE HUMAN SOUL.
As we have now arrived at what may be strictly
called the termination of heathen speculations on
the mental nature of man, it will prove of advan-
tage to take a retrospective view of the general
notions entertained by the sages of antiquity on
the nature of a First Great Cause, and of the hu-
man soul. These are two branches of knowledge
so nearly allied to metaphysics, so closely inter-
woven with all the inquisitive powers of men's
minds, so vitaUy important to the right application
of aU speculations on human nature, and so deeply
momentous to the present and future interests of
mankind, that no apology can be necessary here
for giving these topics the fullest consideration
possible. Indeed, unless these important doc-
trines were founded in truth, and taken with us as
guides throughout life, it is difficult to conceive
what could really be the ol)ject in instituting any
192 OPINIONS OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS
investigations into tlie laws of either matter or
mind. The doctrines of a Deity, and the spiri-
tuality of the human soul, are the true vivifying
principles of intellectual existence; and without
them all speculation would only present a melan-
choly and dreary wilderness, without a single ob-
ject of substantial interest for the eye of man to
dwell upon.
Among the various modern writers on the prin-
ciples of natural theology, and the evidences of
Christianity, there are evidently two classes, cha-
racterized by strong marks of difference. One por-
tion have always shown a marked jealousy against
allowing the heathen philosophers the smallest
credit for any knowledge of a Supreme Being ; and
the other have been apt to misconceive and over-
rate the importance of that heathen knowledge.
The former writers have, in substance, maintained
that Christianity should have the sole undi\dded
honour of revealing to man the existence and attri-
butes of a Deity ; that human reason had no just
claim to such a magnificent discovery; and that
had it not been for the direct and positive declara-
tions of Holy Writ, no knowledge would have been
found at this day among the human race, on this
interesting and all-absorbing topic. Now I con-
ceive there can be no good grounds for depreciating
ancient knowledge on the nature of a Deity. There
is nothing here to detract from the merit of Chris-
tianity ; but on the contrary, to strengthen its
evidences, and to make them take a firmer hold of
the human understanding. It is quite obvious, as
ON A DEITY AND THE SOUL. 193
a matter of fact, that many of the sages of anti-
quity had very clear and elevated notions of a Su-
preme Being ; and these notions had heen worked
out by the pure force of their natural mental fa-
culties, and their accurate modes of interrogating
nature. And this is perfectly in accordance with
the declarations and spirit of Revelation itself ; for
it declares that God did not leave himself without
a witness ; inasmuch as he had given to every man
a Kght to guide him to a knowledge of Himself.
We find, on the other hand, that some theolo-
gical writers have descanted on the nature of the
knowledge wliich the heathen possessed of a Su-
preme Being, as if that knowledge was every thing
that could be desired ; and that the subsequent
revelations from heaven on this grand subject,
were nothing more than a simple recapitulation of
the opinions of Aristotle or Plato. This is errmg
on the opposite side. We should, therefore, hold
the balance fairly between both parties. The opi-
nions of the ancient philosophers are well worthy
our special regard ; but we must amalgamate them
with the more full and comprehensive develop-
ments of the Divine nature and attributes, which
the Christian system unfolds.
There is one very obvious difference between the
Deity of the heathen philosophers and the Deity of
the Christians. The former is invariably repre-
sented as a Being very far removed from all hu-
man sympathy and regard. He rules and governs
the world by general laws, but takes no interest in
the petty affau's of man. Now the Christian sys-
* o
194 OPINIONS OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS
tern brings the Deity, so to speak, nearer to man-
kind ; institutes a close and mutual sympathy be-
tween them; and represents both under the fa-
miliar and interesting relationship of Father and
children. When this difference of character is duly
estimated by the practical consequences wliich must
follow from it in our modes of worship, the result
must display the great defects in the speculative
systems of the ancient world, in reference to the
existence and attributes of the Author of the
universe.
We find that those ancient philosophers who
discussed the nature of the Great Pirst Cause, pur-
sued the same line of argumentation which has
commonly been employed by all theological writers
in modern times. There is a very interesting and
striking resemblance on this point. The proofs of
a Deity furnished by the ancients, may be classified
under three distinct heads ; namely, Immcm testi-
mony; the order and constitution of the loorld ; and
the 'jjerniciotts consequences of Atheism. Under
the first head they showed the almost universal
opinion entertained by all mankind on the sub-
ject of a Pirst Cause, and that nien of the greatest
wisdom and penetration had given their cordial as-
sent to it. In the second place, they considered
the order and wisdom displayed in the constitution
of every department of nature, '^'\1lere intelligence
is so strikingly imprinted on every thing around
us, it is but reasonable to suppose that an intelli-
gent cause must be the creating and sustaining
principle of action. Again, nothing is so perni-
ON A DEITY AND THE SOUL. 195
cious as the doctrine of Atheism. Every noble
principle, and every disinterested feeling, become
paralyzed under its withering and hateful influ-
ence. It destroys all religion, all morality, all
wisdom and justice among men.
One of the most early notions respecting the
Deity entertained by the ancient philosophers, was
that the all-creating Cause was not different in
nature or essence from the universe itself. They
imagined the Divinity to pervade all space, to be
every way present, and that no change or move-
ment could be produced but by His direct will or
influence. We find traces of this opinion through-
out the whole range of heathen philosophy. It
does not appear, however, that they deduced any
atheistical inferences from it. The reasonable sup-
position is that very elevated and transcendental
notions of supreme power led inquirers to this train
of thought, and by not mshing to mix the actions
of the Deity with every petty mundane afiair, they '
talked of this Spirit pervading and forming part of
the whole frame of universal creation.
Some philosophers — and the Stoics were of this
number — considered that the Deitv consisted of
more than one person. Cicero, in his Treatise on
the Nature of the Gods, says that all the theology
of the Stoics may be divided into four parts ;
namely, first, that there are gods ; secondly, that
their nature may be defined ; thirdly, that the gods
govern the world ; and fourthly, that they especially
interest themselves with the affairs of men.
Akin to this last opinion, was the one generally
o 2
196 OPINIONS OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS
prevalent amongst the Eastern nations, wliicli
embraced, in divers sliapes and forms, the two
principles of good and evil. This idea was the
groundwork of many systems of theology.
There was a notion almost universally enter-
tained amongst all classes of the ancient philoso-
phers, that the Deity acted under the influence of
an irrevocable fate or destiny. The affairs of the
world, and the constitution of things in general,
could not be otherwise managed than we find
them. They were always more or less scrupulous
in admitting the application of this doctrine, in all
its fulness, to the superior or intellectual part of
man, but seem to have tacitly acquiesced in it, in
reference to the Deity. There were, however,
many qualifications and modifications of the doc-
trine of necessity, when thus applied to the influ-
ence of the universal Cause.
Another opinion, somewhat curious, was adopted,
that the Deity and the Creator of the world were
two Separate Beings ; the latter, however, only the
agent or instrument in the hands of the former.
This notion, it may be observed, was confined to a
very small section of the philosophical world of
antiquity.
The Deity of the ancients was almost invariably
associated with a high degree of intelligence. He
was the centre of all thought, truth, and wisdom.
The intelligent principle is always the leading
and prominent attribute of his nature ; and good-
ness and benevolence were made to occupy a sub-
ordinate station in the character of the Divinity.
ON A DEITY AND THE SOTJL. 197
This notion gave a great variety of colourings to
tlieir theological systems.
There were, as we have already noticed, three
leading arguments used by the ancients for the
existence of a Deity, namely, testimony, the con-
stitution of the world, and the evils of atheism ;
yet, in addition to these, there were other powerful
influences which seemed to have a great effect upon
all their reasonings on this interesting question.
Among these, the origin of mcJtion occupied a con-
spicuous place. We find that, whenever a reasoner
was placed in any real or apparent dilemma on the
nature and existence of Deity, he invariably took
shelter in the origin of motion. He demanded,
how could a body move itself ? There must be a
first cause, or you cannot advance a single step
in accounting for anything. Yoar philosophy is
puerility and nonsense without it. Every reader
of the works of the Grecian sages can readily bring
to his recollection innumerable instances of the
adoption of this line of argumentation.*
The opinions of the ancient philosophers on the
nature of the human soul were exceedingly diversi-
fied, often contradictory, and sometimes unintelli-
gible. We can do little more here, therefore, Avith
any hope of profit, than just present the reader
with a few general remarks, on some of the leading
systems which obtained currency amongst the spe-
culators of antiquity.
There were a few of the ancient philosophers
* See Note E. at the end of this Vohime.
198 OPINIONS OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHEHS
who maintained that the soul was propagated by
parents to their chikben by the ordinary laws of
generation. Against this opinion it was contended,
that if the soul were created in this manner, it
must either be from the body or from the soul of
the parents. If it proceeded from the body, the
soul wonld then be a material substance ; and the
effect, in this case, would be vastly more noble and
exalted than the cause. If, on the other hand, our
thinking principle proceeded from the soul of our
parents, then the difficulty presented itself, that by
thus making the soul a simple uncompounded
substance, it could not possibly be dissolvable or
communicative. Again, it was asked, If the soul
be propagated from parents, by the ordinary laws
of generation, is it from the soul of one of them,
or from both ? There is no reason why it should
be from the one parent more than the other ; and
if we say it is from both, then vre are immediately
betrayed into the absurdity, that the soul is made
up of parts. Its unity is hereby destroyed, which
is one of the leading attributes attached to the
soul or mind of man. The opponents of this
theory always insisted, that it was impossible to
conceive how the souls of two parents should be
so united, as necessarily to produce a new soul.
On the other hand the advocates of the theory
attempted to illustrate their principles in the
followmg manner. The soul exerts a thought ;
that thought becomes the germ or seed of another
soul. There was no greater difficulty involved in
this simple assumption than there is when speak-
ON A DEITY AND THE SOUL. 199
ing of the (jerm or seed of material things. But
here it was objected, that if by a thought one spirit
could produce another, then one superior intel-
lectual nature could produce its own kind in like
manner; which would end in chaotic confusion.
Besides, this theory involved the notion, that the
soul was capable of an act of creation, which is
the especial prerogative of the Divinity itself ; for
whatever can produce a substance out of nothing,
possesses undoubtedly a power of creation. If the
soul of man had the power of creating another soul
from a simple thought, and if that thought be main-
tained at the same time to have nothing in itself of
a substantial form, then the soul would possess that
same creative power which we consider as the sole
attribute of the Deitv. To avoid this conclusion,
it was contended that though the soul had not the
absolute power of creation, yet it possessed a power
to multiply itself, and so produce other souls, in
precisely the same manner as a candle is lighted
from another, Avithout diminishing its substance.
There was a very commonly prevailing o])iuion
amongst the ancients, that the souls of men were
originally made l3y the divinity himself at the
creation of all things ; and existed in a prior state,
Avhere they were completely happy, and might have
continued so for ever, had they not committed
some heinous offence against their Creator, and
thereby lost their primitive integrity and purity.
In consequence of this, they were placed in bodies
as punishments for their former crimes. This
doctrine was objected to on the general ground.
200 OPINIONS or ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS
that if this were the real state of the case, how
comes it to pass that men had no remembrance
whatever of any former state of existence ? To
this it was answered, that eternal oblivion consti-
tuted one of the chief elements of the punishment
inflicted upon them for then' disobedience.
The doctrine of the Qiietempsycliosis, or transmi-
gration of souls, c\MniQi\. a kindred alliance with the
above doctrine. It maintained that the souls of
men passed after death into the bodies of other
living animals, whose habits, modes of life, and
dispositions, bore a suitable resemblance to those
moral pursuits and intellectual qualities, which
defined the characters of individuals on earth. If a
man led a debased and sensual life, he was doomed,
after death,to be imprisoned in some wretched beast,
there to perform a species of penance for several
ages. If, on the contrary, he lived a sober, tem-
perate, and virtuous life, he was more fortunate
in being sent to some happy and peaceful animal.
Some of the ancient philosophers pretended to have
had visions on this subject. One describes the soul
of Orpheus, who was musical, melancholy, and a
hater of the fair sex, as entering into a swan ; the
soul of Ajax, represented full of anger and ferocity,
into a lion; the soul of Agamemnon, who was
soaring and ambitious, into an eagle ; and the soul
of the scoffer Thersites, into a monkey. This doc-
trine of transmigration has often been alluded to by
modern writers of great note. How fine is Dry den' s
translation of Pythagoras' speech, in the fifteenth
book of Ovid's Metamorphoses, touching the im-
ON A DEITY AND THE SOUL. 201
propriety of eatiiig animal food. And most literary
readers must know the famous prologue which
Congreve fixed to one of his very best comedies, in
which the following lines occur, with respect to
the supposed consequences of this grand doctrine
of transmigration : —
" Thus Aristotle's soul of old that was.
May now be damn'd to animate an ass ;
Or, in this very house, for ought we know.
Is doing painful penance in some beau."
There were a considerable number of the ancient
sages who strenuously maintained that the j)ower
or faculty of thinking was an inherent and essential
property of the soul, and if this thought were taken
away from it, its nature would be entirely destroyed.
They affirmed, that the soul was a substance alto-
gether distinct and different from matter, the con-
stitutional properties of which were solidity and
extension. If the soul be neither solid nor ex-
tended, then, said they, we cannot conceive how it
can exist, when it does not think. It may be true
indeed, that a body when put in motion may con-
tinue to move in a straight line, until it comes in
contact with some other body which may give it
another direction ; but this case does not apply to
the general argument, for a body when moving is
entirely passive, whereas the soul of man is per-
petually active in all its creations ; and, therefore,
it must be concluded, that constant thinking is an
essential attribute of the mental nature of man.
This opinion was qualified, in some degree, l)y
asserting that the essential principle of the soul
202 OPINIONS OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS
was not perpetual cogitation, bnt only a communi-
cated power to think. Thought was considered re-
latively to the soul, what motion is to the body ; as
it is not always necessary that the body should be in
motion, neither is it necessary for the soul always
to think. To account for the soul's existence when
it does not think, we have only to suppose that
though the soul is not solid, so as to offer resistance
to bodies, yet it is extended ; and it is as easy to
conceive how the Divinity might communicate a
power of thinking to extended matter, as to ac-
commodate an immaterial substance, so as to har-
monise with a material one.
We must here notice those persons who adopted
the atomic or corpuscular theory of matter, for their
notions of the nature of the soul were in a great
measure peculiar to themselves. They accounted
for the soul's influence over the body upon similar
principles with those which in modern times have
been ascribed to the doctrine of attraction and
gravitation. It was a fundamental pro^iosition with
these reasoners that the seat of the soul was in the
head, and that the thinking principle is not gene-
rally diffused throughout the various parts of the
bod}^ The soul is limited to this locality, and
it is also maintained that the soul does not act upon
the body immediately . There are certain nerves,
canals, or channels, distributed through almost
every part of the body, even the most remote. All
these conduits are much of the same nature as the
strings of a musical instrument ; so that Avhen one
end of any of them is moved, the others partake of
ON A DEITY AND THE SOUL. 203
the motion. All these canals or channels of sen-
sation have a connexion with the head, and con-
sequently with the soul itself. Wlien the soul
wishes to move any particular part of the hody,
there is a motion immediately communicated
through these nerves or canals, which in their turn
move the soul, and then the sensation of pain or
pleasiu-e is produced. This was the ordinary pro-
cess by which these mental speculators endeavoured
to account for the manner in which the soul moved
the hody, and the way in which external things excite
sensations in the mind. They would not allow pure
spirit to move bodies immediately , nor bodies to act
on spirit immediately ; but the action and re-action
must be solely through the intervention of a third
medium.
There was a small section of philosophers
amongst the various schools of learning, who seemed
to have adopted that hypothesis respecting the
nature of the soul, which is now pretty generally
maintained as the most orthodox one. This view is
grounded on the notion, that at the organization of
the body, Avhen the receptacle is properly furnished,
the soul is immediately created by God himself,
and infused into the body ; like a person taking pos-
session of his new habitation, when all things are
in readiness for his reception.
Several metaphysicians of antiquity, of great
note, were exceedingly puzzled, by their inability
to conceive how the soul could act upon the body,
or the body upon the soul ; or in other words, how
a spiritual substance could have any influence over
204 OPINIONS OF ANCIENT PHILOSOPHERS
a material one, so as to move and act upon it.
This difficulty led these reasoners to adopt the
notion — a notion which has formed the foundation
of several metaphysical systems in modern times
— that all our actions were brought about by the
direct interference of God himself. This was con-
ceived to be effected in two ways. Pirst, whenever
there was an impression upon any of our organs of
sense from external objects, there was a sensation
suitable to this impression excited in the soul by
the Deity himself. Second, whenever the soul
wishes to move any particular member of the body,
immediately upon the existence of this volition,
God excites a corresponding motion in that par-
ticular member. According to this doctrine, the
will of the soul is not the immediate cause of the
motion of the body, but only the exciting cause of
the Divinity's creating that motion ; and the im-
pression made by a body upon any organ of sense,
is not the cause of the sensation, but only an
inducement for Divine interference to effect that
purpose. When, for example, I wish to move my
finger, or any other member of the body, it is not
my soul which moves my finger, or the member;
but the Deity, upon my volition, takes the occasion
to move either the one or the other.
A portion of the ancients considered the soul
and body to be but of one substance. They main-
tained that the particles of which the soul consists,
are not different in nature, but are only of a finer
and more subtile kind than those of the body.
There was a very influential theory amongst a
ON A DEITY AND THE SOITL. 205
number of the ancients, respecting the nature and
operations of the human soul, grounded upon a
very subtile and refined principle of concord or
harmony between the soul and the body. The
soul being a thinking or spiritual substance, could
not act upon the body, nor could the body act upon
it, but only through the medium of a certain con-
stituted asfreement l^etween the volitions of the
soul and the motions of the body. This theory
may be illustrated in this way. The Divinity has
decreed that every soul should have a certain train
of thought and desires, and no other ; and that
all mental operations should go on according to a
regular and circular order or plan. A thought may
produce a desire, and a desire a will, and an effort
of the will a motion of the body, and so on, in a
regular progression. In every body there are cer-
tain sprmgs for producing every species of action,
and every body must perform certain actions agree-
ably to its natui'C, and no other. This is a binding
and unerring law; and, consequently, it is impossible
for any given body to perform any other kinds of
motion than those it was destined to perform from
the beginning. Now among so many souls, possess-
ing an immense variety of different thoughts and
volitions, and so manv bodies with such different
springs or principles of action, the Deity chooses
one soul Avhose thous^hts and volitions mio'ht cor-
respond to the motions of some suitable body.
Here is a mutual sympathy created ; which may
be compared to two pendulums which do not act
upon each other, but when one is down the other
206 OPINIONS ON A DEITY AND THE SOUL.
is clown also, and vice versa. Por example, wlien
the soul had a desire to eat, the human hody was
so modelled from the beginning of time, as to take
victuals at a certain period, and in a certain given
way or manner ; and when the soul willed to go
in any particular direction, the feet were deter-
mined to move in this same direction.
Another prevailing notion was, that the soul of
man was a real part of the divine nature; not
different in nature or essence, but only in degree.
This svstem had varied and extensive ramifications,
and formed the nucleus of many doctrines on
natural theology.
MENTAL PHILOSOPnY OF INDIA. 207
CHAPTER XXIII.
MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF INDL\.
The positive knowledge we shall be able to
derive from the Indian philosophy, ^vill not be
great in amount, nor very satisfactory in its nature.
The obscurity which hangs over it is so murky and
dense, that even those who have devoted nearly a
whole lifetime to its consideration, have not been
able to reduce it to anything like system, or to
recognise what are its first or elementary prin-
ciples.
The few observations we shall make on the sub-
ject, are suggested from a perusal of the " Trans-
actions of the Royal Asiatic Society." The members
of this Society have displayed the most commend-
able zeal in all their inquiries on this subject ; and
the only regret one feels is, that their labours
should have proved so comparatively barren and
fruitless.
208 MENTAL PaiLOSOPIIY OF INDIA.
The Sankhya and Yoga.
This is considered the best known of all the
systems of Indian speculation on philosophy.
There are three kinds of knowledge which are
here recognised, namely, perception, mediate know-
ledge, arising from the varions forms of the Syllo-
gism, and traditional knowledge. The first, percep-
tion, appertains to sensible objects; but this faculty
is not of itseK sufficient to account for all the
various kinds of thought ; therefore, recourse must
be had to the second species of knowledge, reason-
ing or demonstration, which assumes two forms,
either going from cause to effect, or from the effect
to the cause. The Sankhya acknowledges no
intuitive knowledge whatever ; this is reserved for
beings of a higher grade than man.
All objects of scientific knowledge are either
creative and not created, or both creative and
created, or created and not creative, or neither
creative nor created.* Creation is the first prin-
ciple of things, without it nothing could exist.
This creative energy is supposed to be a subtile
fluid or essence, which operates in and through
the senses. This fluid or essence possesses, how-
ever, perfect unity of nature ; it is one and not
many. The evidence for this creative unity arises
chiefly from the uniform appearances of nature,
from the singleness of design imprinted upon every
* Colebrooke, Isvara- Crishnas, 1. p. 31.
THE SANKHYA AND YOGA. 209
tiling, and from the impossibility of conceiving a
creative power acting harmoniously, without being
invested with unity of conception and purpose.
This creative energy or power is not, however,
possessed of intelligence; it is a blind corporeal
body, but of a very subtile nature, so as to elude
all human perception.
That object which is neither created nor creates,
is the soul of man. The evidence for the existence
of this soul arises from many considerations. We
find a blind corporeal body in existence, whose
physical capabilities may be likened to a musical
instrument, such as an organ for example. Now
this piece of workmanship owes its existence to
some designing agent, and is made for some
pur2:)ose. This purpose is to aiford a suitable place
of residence for the soul. The e^ddence of the
existence of a soul is also evinced from the con-
sideration of its various feelings and emotions, and
its numerous sources of pleasure and pain. We see,
too, that the blind incorporeal matter cannot move
or direct itself, and, therefore, this argues the
necessity for a soul. All the higher feelings of
which the soul is susceptible afford likewise con-
vincing proofs of its separate nature and superior
excellence.
It is almost needless to observe, that there are
paljoable contradictions involved in all these opi-
nions and statements. Matter or body is consider-
ed a blind and immoveable thing, and the soul as a
vivifying energy, and possessed of intelligence.
Now this creative or living power, which is the
210 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OP INDIA.
first principle of tilings, — the source of all being, — ■
is denied intelligence, which is conferred upon a
more humble and subordinate agent, the soul of
man. This is obviously very contradictory and
inconsistent.
The principle of all corporeal things is simple
unity ; but the principle of all thinking creations
is multiple. All bodies may assume different
forms, still they are but one; a multiplicity of
souls have all distinct natures, which is evinced l3y
the different parts they are made to act in the
drama of existence.
The first emanation which arises from the
creative principle of things, is mind. All rational
and thinking beings are minor emanations from
this great 3I'md. It overrules all. A Deity means
this first-created Being, or mental energy. It has
divers modes of manifestation. There are five
elementary energies which are productive or cre-
ative of things above sensible objects, and which
energies are not perceptible to man. Those which
produce sensible objects are of a subordinate or
grosser character. These create the five senses ;
and to correspond to these, five other organs of
activity are framed, which are, as it were, the
material instruments by which these senses act.
These active organs are, the tongue, the organ of
speech ; the hands, the feet, the alimentary and
secretive organs, and the organs of generation.
These active instruments are made parallel to other
elements of an ethereal and active nature.
EHAGAVAD-GHITA — NYAYA. 211
The Bhagavad-Ghita.
This record of Indian speculation is more of a
theological nature than the preceding one we have
mentioned. There seems one simple and absorbing
principle, which is that God, or the Supreme Mind
or Soul, is the Creator of all things. Creation is
just a manifestation of the existence and nature of
this first great principle. All souls emanate from
it; and maintain a perpetual sympathy with it,
in all states of their existence. " The great Deity
is my womb, in it I lay my fruit, and the origin of
all things emanates therefrom. The Deity is the
great womb ; and I the seed-giving father." Such
are the terms employed to express tliis connection
between heavenly and earthly natures.
The Ntata and the Vaisechika.
This branch of specidation is considered by ori-
ental scholars as one of the most intellectual systems
of Indian philosophy. It attempts to develop more
fully the principles and rules of reasoning, than the
systems we have just glanced at ; but it must be con-
fessed, that after one or two elementary maxims are
laid down,we are lost in the wild and irregular super-
structure which is built upon these maxims of the
Nyaya. European thought has not yet been able to
penetrate into the mysterious arcana of their logic.
A species of syllogism is used, consisting of five,
instead of our three parts. The following is given- by
p 2
212 MENTAL PHILOSOniY OF INDIA.
Colebrooke as an an example. 1. Tlie hill is fieiy.
2. Because it smokes. 3. Whatever smokes is fieiy,
e. g. a kitchen hearth. 4. The hill also smokes.
5. Therefore it is fiery.*
According to tliis branch of Indian speculation,
the soul is possessed of altogether different pro-
perties from the body. Thought is the grand dis-
tinctive attribute of the former. This is displayed
in knowledge, desire, aversion, and the pleasures
and pains of our internal mental structure. Body
has none of these qualities or afPections. There is,
however, a bond of union between it and the soul,
and this bond is manifested by the connections
which exist between our external senses and our
physical organs. These senses are five in number,
and are not mere modifications of consciousness or
internal feeling, but they possess a corporeal nature.
To correspond with these five senses, there are five
elements provided, which sympathise or keep up
a constant intercourse with these senses thi'ough
the instrumentality of some subtile powers or
other, T\ hich are not clearly defined.
The act of perception is considered a compound
act, but of homogeneous parts alone. Hetero-
geneous or dissimilar agencies cannot act together,
or be combined into one whole.
The atomic theory of the Indians bears a strong
resemblance to that of Greece. It is afiirmed by
the philosophical schools of the former, that an
extreme point or limit must be arrived at, otherwise
* Colebrooke, 1. p. 116; and also Windischmann, p. 32. 38.
THE VEDANTA. 213
investiijations would be endless and inconclusive.
If all bodies consist of an infinite number of parts,
all must be alike infinite, and then we must concede
the conclusion that a part is equal to a whole. To
avoid so absurd a conclusion, it must be assumed
that all compound bodies are the result of a union
among corresponding parts ; and when these parts
are separated, we must come to some atom whose
di\ision ceases.* Certain dimensions are never-
theless given to this ultimate atom, for its magni-
tude is defined to be the sixth part of a particle
floating in the sunbeam.
On matters of theology, the Nyaya is very ob-
scure. It maintains that the soul is the highest of
created things, but that it is fettered by the body,
which is essentiallv the source and active instru-
ment of all evil. It is on this ground that the
Metempsychosis is advocated. The soul which has
committed any sin or fault, is, after death, again
united to a body. In this philosophy, the existence
of a Eirst Cause is obscurely stated. What notions
are entertamed seem to be of a material character.
The portion of Divine intelKgence and wisdom is
small, and undefined in its operations.
The Vedanta.
The Vedanta claims to be the orthodox expounder
of the religion of the Brahmins. A peculiarity in
this system of speculation on human knowledge is,
* Wiadischraanu, p. 1924. Colebrooke, b. I. p. 105.
214 MENTAL PHILOSOPKY OF INDIA.
that it is maintained that there are other sources
of information besides what is derived from per-
ception ; and these sources are revelation and tra-
dition. The knowledge conveyed in tliis revelation
is eternal ; and the language in wliich it is con-
veyed, is also immortal, and not of human invention.
All matter by its nature is inert, and cannot move
itself, nor eflPect spontaneously any change in its
structure. There must, therefore, be a spirit of
some kind ; and this spirit must be endowed with
self-existence and a creative energy. It exists in
itself, and can perceive, reflect upon, and be con-
scious of its own powers. The properties of the
body are all deficient in these attributes. They
cannot feel, or be sentient of their own natiu'es ;
they are only the instruments through which the
soul feels, and thinks, and understands.
On the natiu'e of matter and mind, which this
school of philosophy held, Sir William Jones makes
the following remarks : — "The difficulties attending
the vulscar notion of material substances, induced
many of the wisest among the ancients, as well as
the Hindoo philosophers, to believe that the whole
creation was rather an energy than a work, by
which the Infinite Mind, who is present at all times
and in all places, exliibits to his creatures a set of
perceptions like a wonderful picture, or piece of
music, always varied, yet always uniform."*
"The Vedantis," the same author observes,
" unable to form a distinct idea of brute matter,
* Introduction to a Translation of some Hindoo verses.
TIIE VEDANTA. 215
independent of mind, or to conceive that the work
of supreme goodness was left a moment to itself,
imagine that the Deity is ever present to his work,
and constantly supports a series of perceptions,
which in one sense they call illusory, though they
cannot but admit the reality of all created forms,
as far as the happiness of creatures can be affected
by them."
" The word Maya, or delusion, has a subtile and
recondite sense in the Vedanta philosophy, where
it signifies the system of perceptions, whether of
secondary or primary qualities, which the Deity was
believed, by Epicharmus, Plato, and many truly
pious men, to raise, by his omnipresent spirit, in the
minds of his creatures ; but which had not, in their
opinion, any existence independent of mind."*
On the nature and existence of a Pirst Cause,
the Vedanta is very confused ; and Oriental scholars
are at variance on the precise doctrines of this
branch of the Indian system. It is generally laid
down, that where there are decisive marks of de-
sign and contrivance in the construction and ar-
rangement of external objects, there must be a
designing and intelligent cause. But at the same
time this principle is clogged with so many quali-
fications and restrictions, that at length it becomes
difficult to say what is really meant by Indian sa-
vants. Mr. Kennedy controverts the opinion of
Colebrooke, that, according to the Vedanta, God is
not only the efficient but material cause of the
* Dissertation on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India.
21G MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF INDIA.
universe. The former gentleman insists that the
Indian philosophy does not acknowledge the idea
of matter at all, nay, absolutely denies its very
existence.* It is observed by Emitter, that " It
vidll at once occur to the reader, that the strongest
argument on wliich the Vedanta could have rested,
must have been the view which pervades the whole
philosophy of India, that the multiplicity of phe-
nomena does not destroy the unity of the essence.
Thus it was held, that as the essence of the soul
may remain intact, notwithstanding that the most
diversified phenomena are mirrored upon it ; so the
Supreme Mind or Spirit is not altered in its essence
by the change of the mundane objects which arise
out of itself. In this view the identity of the es-
sence is so firmly maintained, as to exclude every
possible change that can happen to or in it. Ac-
cordingly it is said of God, that although he can
transmute liimself into all, and create all things
out of liimself, he is nevertheless without shape or
form ; not affected by the states of the universe ;
without passion or change ; and similar to the clear
crystal, which apparently receives into itself dif-
ferent colours, but in reality is equally transparent
at all times ; or to the light of the sun or moon,
which, although it is invariable in itself, neverthe-
less appears different according as it shines upon
different objects. The Mind or Spirit may be com-
pared to pure space, wherein all exists and goes
through change after change, but which is not it-
* Royal Asiatic Soc. 3. p. 412.
THE VEDANTA. 217
self changed thereby. In these there is no differ-
ence between the recipient, the perceived, and the
perception ; it is without multiplicity, and he who
believes it must be multiple, dies death upon
death."*
We have given a short sketch of the mental spe-
culations of an imperfectly civilized portion of our
race ; and every candid reader must allow, that in
one point of ^dew this Indian philosophy does not
flag far behind that of more polished and intellec-
tual nations ; that is, in reference to the notions
entertained as to a first or creative principle. To
the Indian understanding, mind is indispensable to
enable even the savage to conceive any active or
creative power in nature at all ; and on this ac-*
count he is placed on precisely the same footing
as the most favoured people among whom the arts
and sciences flourish in the highest degree of vi-
gour and perfection. The savage and the civilized
man are nearly, if not identically, on a level as to tlie
first step in philosophy ; but the great discrepancy
between then* respective views arises from the dif-
ferent ways in which each analyzes and illustrates
the principle. Both admit sunply that a mind is
indispensable to the solution of the phenomena of
existence ; but when each attempts to describe in
what way and manner this mind operates and dis-
plays itself, then we recognise the great disparity
between ignorance and intelligence. The man of
civilization and science gives some plausible and
* Hist. Phil., vol. 4. p. \\o%.
218 MENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF INDIA.
rational theory for liis views and opinions ; but the
savage, or half civilized, run riot in the wildest ex-
cesses of ignorant conjecture and superstitious fears.
Both set out from the same starting point ; but they
take opposite directions, and, of course, the longer
and farther they travel, the greater is the interval
of space which separates them from each other.*
* See Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 1. pp. 19.43. 92. 118. 439. 466.
679.; and Vol. 2. pp. 1.39.
UNION OF EASTERN DOCTRINES. 219
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE UNION OF EASTERN DOCTRINES WITH THOSE
OF GREECE AND ROME.
We come now to a marked and important epoch
in the history of mental speculation, namely, the
amalgamation of the Greek doctrines with that
great and varied mass of refined and attenuated
philosophy which prevailed in many of the more
intelligent and civilized parts of the Asiatic conti-
nent. This alliance caused an obvious change in the
mode of conducting investigations into the laws of
the human mind ; and made, moreover, these in-
vestigations more subservient to other branches of
knowledge, than they had liitherto been in the
divers schools of pliilosophy at Athens, Rome, and
Alexandria. Discussions on the nature of mind
took now a more lofty a priori station ; were sub-
limated into endless refinements ; were more com-
pletely shrouded in mysterious allegories, and en-
veloped in the gorgeous pomp of Eastern metaphor
and imagery. All this proved a source of inter-
minable and unprofitable inquiries and discussions ;
220 UNION OF EASTERN DOCTRINES.
clouded the whole horizon of the philosophy of
nimd ; and ushered in a long and dreary night of
wrangling, douht, and obscurity.
What were the precise causes of this union, do
not very clearly appear from any historical records
we possess. Certain it is, that a mixture took place
between some of the leading systems of Greece,
and the peculiar views of Oriental nations ; and
that Alexandria was the principal seat of learning
where tliis union manifested itself. The doctrines
of Plato and Pythagoras seem to have been great
favourites, but there are also evident traces of some
of the opinions which exclusively belong to the
Stoical school of philosophy.
The chief difference between what is termed
Oriental philosophy and Grecian, arises from
this ; the Oriental chiefly relates to notions or j)rin-
ciples immediately connected Tvith Di\"inity, and
endeavours to develop those laws connected with
the creation and regulation of mundane afiairs.
The'Greek speculation follows a different route. It
starts with man, his mind, his feelings, his moral
emotions, and social and physical existence. It is
obvious that a different result would be effected by
these varied modes of inquiry; and as general
principles in both cases became more minutely
analyzed, the divergency from the respective points
of departure, would necessarily become wider and
more palpable. Now this is precisely what we find.
Both the Oriental and Grecian streams of know-
led":e took their rise from nearlv identical locali-
ties, from a united desire to know the origin of all
ARISTOBULUS. 221
tilings ; but they flowed through diversified regions
of thought, and at their point of junction we see
them tinged with the respective intellectual strata
over which they had passed. The Oriental was thick
and turbid, and the Greek comparatively pellucid
and clear.
Amstobulus.
After the Jews returned from their capti^dty at
Babylon, they brought with them many of the
pecuKar philosophical notions prevalent among the
Babylonians, and other neighbouring nations. This
importation of speculative novelties, changed and
corrupted the simple philosophy of the HebrcAV
people; and their learned men made various at-
t tempts to unite the foreign with their ovsti peculiar
abstract views of human nature.
Aristobulus was one of the first among the
learned Babbins who made this attempt at amalga-
mation. His views on metaphysical subjects were
precisely those of Plato, with a little admixtiu*e of
Asiatic hyperbole, and metaphor. He endeavoured
to explain the doctrines of the Jewish faith through
the means of the abstract principles of the Greek
philosophy. There are none of his writings extant;
therefore we cannot furnish the reader with any
details as to his peculiar ^dews on the nature of the
faculties of the human mind.
Philo.
Philo was a distinguished Jewish writer. He
222 UNION OF EASTERN DOCTRINES.
had studied with great care and success all the
principal Greek systems on the human mind ; and
he was, also, partially versed in the mystic philoso-
phy of the East.
He maintained that there were two distinct souls
in human nature ; the one a reasonable, and the
other an irrational or animal soul. To the reason-
able soul he attributed three separate faculties,
understanding, sensation, and speech ; and to the
irrational soul, the sensual passions and affections.
Pliilo affirms that the understanding is not only a
divine spirit, but an inseparable portion of the
divine essence itself. It is also the loord, analogous
to the Deity ; it bears his image, and virtually con-
tains in it all forms. The soul pre-exists in bodies,
and is possessed of complete liberty of action. God
has given to man prudence to govern his reason,
courage to restrain his passions, and temperance to
repress his sensual desires. Sometimes the soul,
invested with the senses, only sees sensible objects ;
sometimes, by taking a spontaneous flight, it dis-
euffasres itself from material influences, and elevates
itself to the perception of intelligent things. It is
this deliverance from the bondage of the body, that
the truly wise always aspire after; this conflict
between the senses and the free exercise of the
understanding, constitutes wisdom in its loftiest
acceptation. It is from this contemplation of the
divine essence that man obtains all his true know-
ledge, and arrives at virtuous excellence.
Philo dwells upon some of the sceptical argu-
ments of the Academic School of Greece, by repre-
PHiLO. 223
sentiiig the great difficulty there is in man's ability
to detect the truth in matters of abstract specula-
tion. The impressions from the senses are not
always to be relied on; and even those more refined
thoudits which seem to have their source out of
the mind itself, may lead us into error and delusion.
Man cannot penetate into the arcana of nature ;
and the only kind of knowledge which is calculated
to improve and delight, is that which arises from a
contemplation of the powers and faculties of the
soul.* But even here our desire for knowledge
receives a severe check ; for it is as unreasonable
for the soul to know itself, as it is for the human
eye to direct its powers to its own movements. We
know not the nature of the soul; it may be blood, or
air, or fire, or it may have no material quality what-
ever. How little then can we really know of the
matter ! All true science will teach man humility,
and will force him to acknowledge that he indeed
knows nothincf. God alone is the source of all
knowledge.
Considerable difference of opinion exists among
philosophical liistorians as to the proportion of
heathen notions incorporated with Philo's owai
Jewish system. This is a controversy not easily
decided. The majority of the German critics refer a
great portion of his philosophy to an eastern origin ;
but there is really no solid ground for this. The
theological principles involved in the Jewish Scrip-
tures were sufficient of themselves to give that
* De Ebriet. 40. p. 382.
221 UNION OF EASTERN DOCTRINES, &C
peculiar cast to a speculative system, which we
recognise in the writings of this distinguished
Rabhi. In every thing he advances there is a
great portion of common sense; few thoughts of
fanatic absurdity or oriental mysticism are percep-
table. His views are just such as an inquisitive
mind might be supposed to entertain, who had the
revealed system of Moses, and the Grecian philoso-
phy to guide him ; without availing himself of any
speculations from the Magi, or the Gymnosophists.*
APOLLONIUS OF TYANA.
There is very little known of this philosopher.
He was a sort of marvel-monger, and dealt in mi-
racles, soothsayings, and omens. On metaphysical
questions he seems to have made Pythagoras his
model and guide. Apollonius recommends that we
should adopt a pure worship of the Supreme God,
a sort of personal and inward movement of the soul
towards Him, apart from all parade or external ce-
remony. He also maintains that the anunal crea-
tion bore an affinity to man, and that the doctrine
of the Metempsychosis was well founded. He un-
dertook long journeys into India and Upper Egypt
to consult the Magi ; and he affirms, that the result
of his personal inquiries and investigations was,
that Pythagoras derived his philosophical opinions
from Indian sages.
* See Dahne's Theol. Studien u. Kritiken, Jahrg. 1833. p 984. The
same author treats very fully of Philo in his Geschichtliche Darstellung
(\. Jiulisch-Alexandrinischen Religiosen Philosophic, Ilalle, 1834.
plutaech — luciits apuleius. 225
Pltjtarch.
Tills philosopher is better knowii for his biogra-
phical laboiu's and moral disquisitions, than for his
metaphysics. He was not, hoAvever, altogether
unacquainted \^ith the science of mind, and its kin-
dred doctrines as to the origin of the world and
the nature of the human soul. The systems of
Plato and Aristotle were great favourites with him,
but especially that of Plato, whose views of life, and
speculative ideas on the Deity and the human soul,
were more in unison with his own. He adopts
Plato's division of the soul into five members ; the
nutritive, the sensitive, the sensual, the irascible,
and the rational.
LiTcius Apuleius.
This philosopher was a public teacher of the doc-
trines of Plato and Aristotle, in the time of Anto-
ninus, at the city of Madaura, in Numidia. He
endeavoured to reconcile the opinions of Plato and
the Stagirite, and steered a sort of middle path
between them on controversial points. His notions
of the Deity are rather singular. He maintains
that it would be highly derogatory to the Almighty
to guide and regulate the affairs of this world ; and
for tliis reason Apuleius thinks that mundane con-
cerns are all committed to the superintendence of
a host of angelic ministers. These ministers have
thek abode in the air, and fill up that great void
between heaven and earth.
* • Q
226 UNION OF EASTERN DOCTRINES.
All the clivers forms of religion among men, even
the most ignoble and degrading rites and ceremo-
nies, have their respective representatives among
these aerial ministers or agents. They know every-
thing, doAvn to the intents and purposes of the
human heart. He likewise affirms that the Divine
Mind is constituted of a kind of trinity of faculties,
and is immutable and eternal. All ideas reside in
this divine E-eason.
NUMENIUS.
The metaphysical opinions of this learned man
are but very imperfectly known. He was born at
Apamea in Syria, and is supposed, on this account,
to have entertained a marked predilection for Ori-
ental ideas. He was a great favourite with the
New Platonists, who considered his system, (if his
peculiar views are entitled to that designation), as
singularly profound and valual3le. He held the
character of Moses in high veneration, and was no
doul3t well acquainted mtli his writings. The phi-
losophical opinions of the Egyptians, the Magi, and
the Brahmins, he studied carefullv, and is even said
to have made free with the personal history of our
Saviour.*
His opinion on the general constitution of things
seems to have been, that there could be no cor-
poreal substance, unless there was some incor-
poreal agent previously existing. This is nothing
* Eusebius, Pr. Ev. 9. pp. /• 8.
NUMENIUS. 227
more nor less than saying, that mind must have
existed prior to matter. Everything, according to
Numenius, which is corporeal, is subject to decom-
position and decay ; an immaterial soul or princixile
is, therefore, requisite to secure immortaKty.
On the nature of the Divine essence, we have a
good deal of refined and mysterious speculation.
This is a point on which both Numenius and most
of his commentators have been sadly puzzled. The
philosopher attempted to explain the connection
which subsists between a spiritual and creative
mind, and the material universe. This was an
arduous task, and we cannot wonder that he should
fail. Indeed all his conjectures and fancies on this
subject are not worth the trouble of exposition or
comment.*
* Eusebius, Pr. Ev. 15. 17-
Q 2
228 THE GNOSTIC METAPHYSICIANS.
CHAPTER XXV
THE GNOSTIC METAPHYSICIANS.
The mental disquisitions of the Gnostic sect of plii-
losopliers are but very imperfectly understood. They
were generally incorporated with their peculiar
doctrines on the nature of the Supreme Being, the
creation of the world, the nature and origin of good
and evil, and the future destiny of the human race.
These Gnostic speculators were divided into many
different sects or parties ; but they all seemed to
maintain that man was a being compounded of two
distinct souls ; the one intelligent, and the other
sensitive. The ordinary division of the mind into
various faculties or powers, appears to have obtained
their general assent. The practical application of
their metaphysical principles was, that man should
cultivate his intelligent at the expense of his sensi-
tive faculties. " Man," say they, " is only a passive
instrument in the hands of the Divinity. Science
comes solely from this source ; and reason should
detach itself not only from the influence of the
senses, but even from itself. The ascetic, or he who
elevates himself to God, alone possesses true know-
ledge. All is then pure ecstasy.
THE NEW PLATONISTS. 229
CHAPTER XXVI. ;
THE METAPHYSICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW
PLATONISTS.
The philosopliical scliool of the New Platonists
was formed from the m.ixture of the doctrines of
Plato, with the traditions and mysteries of the East.
This school is sometimes termed by historians, the
Alexandrian School of Plulosophy. The opinions
which were promulgated by these learned men,
exercised a very marked and powerful influence over
the whole philosophy of the mind for many sub-
sequent centuries, and even over the moral and
religious principles of a large portion of the civilized
world.
Ammonius Saccas. a. d. 200.
Ammonius Saccas was the founder of this school
of philosophy at Alexandria. It is said that he was
the son of Christian parents, and had received a
Christian education ; but that when he became of riper
age, he gave himself up to the study of the Greek phi-
230 PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW PLATONISTS.
losopliy, and afterwards to the observance of tlie
rites and ceremonies of Paganism.*
The principal aim in his philosophical studies was
to reconcile the discrepancies between the Platonic
and the Aristotelian systems. How far he was able
to accomplish this task, does not very clearly appear,
from any historical accounts which we have of
him.
There are two philosophical fragments of Am-
monius Saccas, preserved by Nemesius, Bishop of
Emessa, in which some of his opinions on inte-
resting and important questions may be found.
On the immortality of the soul, Ammonius seems
to have a fixed and decided opinion. He advocates
its spirituality and indestructibility. A corporeal
body, according to his notion, must have some
principle or essence, by which its individual parts
can be held together and sustained ; for it is quite
obvious, that this principle or essence must be of a
different nature from that wliicli has no life in itself,
and which cannot communicate life, activity, and
motion. There may be a mode of the two natures,
corporeal and spiritual, acting on each other, but
their real essences must necessarily be diametrically
opposite, t
On the nature of the Deity, Ammonius held that
he was eternal and immutable, the cause of all
* See on this point, Essai Historique sur la vie, &c. d' Ammonius Saccas,
])ar M. Dehaut, Bruxelles, \S36.
t See the learned and critical Essai of Dehaut, already mentioned,
p. 135.
LONGINUS PLOTINUS. 231
things, the substance of all substances, the being of
all beings, the essence of all essences, and the arche-
type of all intellectual perception and power. The
Deity does not possess relative, but Sihsohite unit i/ ;
and He is not pure intelligence, for He is above all
intelligence, and had a prior existence to it.
LONGINTJS.
Lono-inus, the author of the treatise " On the
Suljlime," cultivated philosophy among the New
Platonists. He did not, however, adopt their most
extravagant and mystical doctrines. He rejected
the theories of Epicurus and Chrysippus, because
they had a dii'ect tendency to materialize the
human mind. Longinus affirms it is foolish to
think that the phenomena of thought and intelli-
gence can be the result of simple mechanical action,
or of a mere combination of material atoms.
Plotinus. 206 A.D.
Plotinus was one of the ablest and most renowned
of the New Platonician Metaphysicians. He was a
writer of vast acquired information, and of a vigor-
ous and powerful mind. His mental speculations
are contained in a treatise, called the " Mieade.''
This is truly considered one of the most interesting
books on abstract science of which antiquity can
boast. It contains nine parts. The first treats of
morals ; the second of physics ; the third, general
considerations on the laws of the universe; the
232 PRINCIPLES OP THE NEW PLATONISTS.
fourth, on the human soul; the fifth, on intelK-
gence ; and the sixth is a summary of the whole.
Some of the chapters or parts are douhle ones.
This speculative work of Plotinus is confessedly
one of the most abstruse which antiquity has handed
down to us. It is extremely difficult to obtain a
right conception of its leading principles, or the
end which the author had in view to establish.
The theory seems grounded on a peculiar notion
of unity ; but the exact meaning to be applied to
this word is not easily divined. Plotinus calls it
absolute, j^^rfect, and primordial unity. He tells
us again that this unity is necessary, immutable,
and infinite ; it is not numerical unity ; not the in-
divisible point of the arithmetician and geometri-
cian. It is universal unity, perfect in its own sim-
plicity. It is the highest degree of perfection ; it
is the beau ideal, the only true beauty ; it is the
supreme good, the highest excellence.
After this subtile and laboured attempt to explain
a very remote abstraction of the mind, Plotinus
endeavours to point out how this principle of unity
operated in the production of the universe. " At
first, from its own bosom proceeds the supreme in-
telligence ; a secondary, subordinate, but perfect
principle. It proceeds from its source without ex-
ternal action or internal volition ; without the first
principle of unity being either modified or affected ;
in fact, it emanates like light from the sun. This
intelligence is the image, the reflection of unity ;
the luminous crown or glory of it . This intelligence
embraces the object conceived, the subject which
PLOTINUS. 233
conceives it, and the action of conception itself;
the whole of these three things are embodied in
itself. This principle of supreme intelligence con-
stantly contemplates itself; this contemplation is
its essence."
" The universal soul is the third priaciple, suljor-
dinate to the other two. This soul is thought,
speech, an image of intelligence, the exercise of its
spontaneity ; for intelligence acts only by thought.
But this thought is determined only because it is
infinite. All chis train of events or cu'cumstances
acts not in time, but in eternity ; and the three
principles, primordial unity, supreme intelligence,
and the universal soul, though forming a hierarchy
of separate and independent dignities or orders, are
nevertheless co-eternal mth each other."
On the nature of existence generally Plotinus
maintained, that natural beings were not the true
beings. The real universe admitted neither of al-
teration nor transformation ; it is identical with
the Deity; it is the Divinity itself, such as he
manifests himself, and is eternal and immutable
like him.
On the nature of the human mmd in particular,
this subtile philosopher observes, " The human mind
has two ordinary modes of acting, and knowing ;
the one by a participation in intelligence and the
other by forms. It enjoys the former when filled
and illuminated with intelligence, which enables it
to see and feel immediately. It enjoys the second,
by means of certain characters, or certain laws
which have been engraven on our natures. Eor
234 PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW PLATONISTS.
the Supreme Being has imprinted on the himian
mind the rational form of things. True knowledge
is that, when the object conceived or known is
identical with the subject which conceives or knows
it."
" The faculties of the soul are of two kinds. The
one, derived from above, constitutes reason; the
other, descending to the inferior regions, forms sen-
sibility and vegetation."
" Reason is placed in an intermediate position
between the understanding and the senses. It acts
not by the agency of the bodily organs, but solely
by the force of intelligence."
Plotinus entertained some curious notions as to
the nature of memory. He affirmed this faculty
did not consist in preserving impressions received
from the senses, but solely in an innate develop-
ment of self-power or energy. And the power of
memory was in strict proportion with the internal
strength of this power. According to this opinion
it is not necessary to place confidence in memory,
to recal the impressions which externals may have
made upon it ; for the mind possesses in itself for
the retaining of knowledge, a sufficient power by
its intercourse with superior intelligences.
On the nature of sensation, he remarks, " The
perceptions we obtain from external objects are
always obscure ; while, on the contrary, those we
receive from reflection are always clear and lumi-
nous."
r
The general outline of the doctrine of Plotinus
bears a striking resemblance to some modern specu-
PonrHYUY. 235
lations on the human mind, Avhich we shall have
to notice in a subsequent part of this work.
Plotinus seems to have followed in the wake of
Ammonius Saccas, and to have moulded his philo-
sophical system upon the principles of that learned
person. Plotinus was of an ardent and imagina-
tive mind; and this led him, in conjunction mth
the general tone and character of the philosophy
of the times, into mystical and fanatical specula-
tions. These shed a cloudv haziness over the more
rational and solid portions of his system; for it was
not so devoid of valuable disquisitions as some
historians have imagined. There is a strong under-
current of common sense in his writings ; and his
ideas of the philosophy of the mind in particular,
show that he had culled from the systems of Plato
and Aristotle some of the best and soundest
maxims on this branch of kno^^ ledge, and that he
fully appreciated their intrinsic worth and impor-'
tance.
Porphyry.
Porphyiy was the pupil and personal friend of
.Plotinus, and embraced essentially the same prin-
ciples, as to the natiu'e of the human mind and
its modes of operation.
With the view of reconciling the doctrines of
Aristotle with those of Plato, which was one of the
grand aims of the new Platonists, Porphyry wrote
a work on the Fredicahles of Aristotle, and endea-
voured to enter into a minute analysis of the
236 PEINCIPLES OF THE NEW PLATONISTS.
notions we commonly attach to particular generic
terms of reasoning; such as genus, species, con-
trariety, identity, 8fC. This is considered a very ex-
cellent work of its kind, and it shows the profound
attention with which he had studied the metaphy-
sical works of the Stagirite.
The ideas Porphyry entertained on the nature of
general terms, may be inferred from the following
remarks on this eagerly contested point. " Genus
is the principal, which contains the species and the
individuals placed under it ; and involves an idea
of multitude, or number." ^^ If genus and species
possessed each a separate and independent exist-
ence, or were two distinct and separate notions
of the mind, then, on the first supposition, they
would have a corporeal existence; and on the second,
they would be of an incorporeal nature, for they
would be separated from sensible or external
thin2:s."
Porphpy compared the human mind, in re-
ference to sensation, to the harmonv elicited from
the cords or strings of a musical instrument. The
senses are the agitated cords, and the soul is the
musician who moves them. The human soul
has reasons contained within itself for all things ;
and it is on this account, and by this special reason,
that it can always operate on the senses, whether
there be an external exciting cause, or merely the
internal suggestions of its ovm. nature or will. If
there be an external exciting cause, then this leads
the mind to the cognizance of external objects ; if
only an internal suggestion, then we are led to the
JAMBLICUS. 237
contemplation of more intelligent ideas. Sensa-
tion never takes place without a modification being
experienced by the organs of sense ; and the under-
standing in its turn never receives assistance from
its own imaginative workings, without these intel-
lectual objects receiving an intellectual impres-
sion. The human understanding is essentially
uniform, of perfect unity of parts, one and indi-
vidual in every thing which constitutes it.
Jamblictjs.
This philosopher composed a work, addressed to
Porphyry, " Upon tJie Egyptian My steries^'" in which
there are a great number of curious and important
remarks on divers topics connected with the mind
of man. The fundamental system of the new Pla-
tonicians is strenuously upheld. Jamblicus main-
tains the existence of an intellectual and a sensible
world ; but considers the former as containing in
itseK the whole of the latter ; or perhaps, to speak
more plainly, that the sensible or external world is
only the shadow of the intellectual one. " The
Gods," says he, " which compose tliis superior re-
gion, contemplate their own divine ideas ; the stars,
or visible Gods, are only the images created by
divine and intellectual realities. A bond of union
associates these two orders of existences into one
indissoluble whole ; the visible Gods being con-
tained within the intellectual ones. The farther we
ascend in this chain of existence, the more we de-
velop first causes by their genus and essence, — the
238 PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW PLATONISTS.
more we shall be directed to the consideration of
parts of the stupendous whole, and the better able
to detect that sublime and perfect unity of design
and purpose, so visibly imprinted upon every thing
we behold."
"This knowledge of the Gods is intimately
blended with our own individual being. It is an-
terior to every mental act of examining, judging,
and reasoning. It has been co-existent, from the
beginning of time, with a certain predisposition in
our souls towards that which is good. It is the same
with all those superior intelKgences which fill up
the intervening space between the Gods and the
human soul ; which form the intermediate link
between both, in that immense chain which binds
the most elevated things with the most common,
and sustains the harmony and order of the whole
creation."
Peoclijs. 412. A.D.
Proclus was one of the great shining lights
amongst the metaphysical philosophers of the new
Platonic School. He was a man of great and
varied accomplishments, and gathered around him
a lively and intense interest during his scholastic
reign. He was born at Constantinople, in 412 of
the Christian era, and at an early age was sent to
Alexandria to study pliilosophy, oratory, and belles-
lettres.
Proclus adopted the system of Plato in all its
fulness and in all its bearings. The latter says,
PROCLUS. 239
that " unitv and variety are the essential characters
of human thought;" and this principle serves Pro-
clus to workout a very extended, subtile, and elevated
commentary, in reference to the whole constitution
of nature.
According to this philosopher the human mind
may he considered under three points of view, the
essence of every thing, identity, and diversity.
These elementary forms give rise to three other
princi]iles of a prolific nature. "The world," he
says, " is composed of harmony. Now harmony is
unity in variety. Unity and variety exist then
primarily in the conceptions of the Grand Architect;
or rather the Grand Architect is only the highest
unitv, which embraces in its bosom all other divine
unities. Similitude is the limit which determines
diversity from infinity. Similitude assembles, diver-
sity disperses. These three tilings, essence, identity,
and diversity, produce by theu' action all the forms
or unities which reside in individual tliin<?s."
Proclus distinguished five orders of faculties in
the human soul. The first is confined to the exer-
cise of the external senses. The second is that
which displays the soul's connexion mth the body,
and yet preserves her own individuality. The third
consists in rectifying and testing our opinions and
conclusions, by the aid of superior intelligences and
wisdom. The fourth detaches the soul from all in-
ferior and grovelling impressions, renders it peace-
able and tranquil, looks into its own powers, feel-
ings, and emotions, and observes the harmonious
action of the whole inward man. And the fifth
240 PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW PLATONISTS.
power is that which excites and sustains our
sympathies with all our kindred of mankind, and
with aU those angeUc forms, in which superior de-
grees of intelligences reside.
In accordance with these five powers, there are
five branches of knowledge. The first relates to
matters of a very humble character ; to material
objects and such as influence us by the force of
physical destray. The second order of intelligent
tilings has for its object all general notions, which
form the basis of reasoning. The third embraces
absolute unity, or the power of analysing and dis-
cus sing general principles, a knowledge of causes,
and conclusions and inferences draivn from them.
This branch of knowledge also embraces all mathe-
matical forms, and numbers. The fourth di\dsion
includes all theories, resolutions, compositions of
reasoning, definitions and demonstrations, and all
systems of speculative truth. The fifth class of
things relates to matters of a high and lofty cha-
racter; to a divine exaltation, gradually assimi-
latiug the human mind to the nature of the divine
Being and his attributes.
Proclus sought above all things to give order and
logical method to his speculations. Consequential
reasoning was, in his opinion, indispensable to all
useful human learning. It was one of the great
lal)ours of his life to give his master Plato's pliilo-
sophy in a logical form, and he has left us a strik-
ing memorial of his zeal and industry in this direc-
tion. But his great work of method is his " Me-
ments of Theology,'' which he has treated of at
MARINUS — ISIDORE. 241
sreat leno-tli, and which embodies the chief ele-
ments of the Platonic system, as defined and illus-
trated bv Proclus and his immediate successors. It
is impossible to look over the methodical propo-
sitions of this Treatise, without recognizing it as
the prolific parent of many subsequent theories,
both in theology and philosophy. It is an exceed-
ingly interesting exposition of an ancient system,
and treated in a manner the most profound and
logical. The whole of the propositions will be
found at the end of this volume.*
Marinus.
This philosopher was a disciple and biographer of
Proclus. The former filled the chair of Instruction
at the death of the latter.
Little is recorded of the mental speculations of
this writer. He examined with considerable pro-
fundity the nature of our abstract concejitions,
and the laws of thought which seem to accompany
their development.
Isidore of Gaza.
This member of the new Platonic theory suc-
ceeded the preceding philosopher in the chair of
Philosophy. He appears to have given to his meta-
physical speculations a decidedly rehgious turn. He
remarks, "that human knowledge and reasoning are
* See Note F. at the end of this Vohirae.
* R
242 PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW PLATONISTS.
but feelDle succours for that sublime wisdom whicli
is alone agreeable to the Divinity. To enlighten
the reason is the privilege of God himself ; man can-
not confer it ; but he must receive it as a gift."*
With the name of Proclus the ancient Grecian
system of philosophy may be said to terminate.
It had run a long and noble course ; was charac-
terised by profound thought, patient investigation,
comprehensive views, noble aspirations, and inde-
fatigable zeal ; and was destined to leave the im-
print of its existence upon the minds of all succeed-
ina: asres of civilized men. But it was henceforth
to shine only with a borrowed light. Its own
effulgence was to be obscured by brighter rays of
truth ; and it was to be used only as an instrument
for the illustration or defence of more sublime
doctrines, and more lofty views of the future destiny
of man. Another power had been established,
which was hourly on the increase, and which
should solicit the suffrages of manlvind, and place
* See I'Histoire de I'EclecticIsme, by Beausobre, Avignon, 1/66 ; Ole-
arius, Dissert, de Eclecticis ; Cudwortb's Intellectual System ; Mos-
heim's Ecclesiastical History ; Tbe Histories of Philosophy by Brucker,
Tiedemann, Buhle, and Tennemann; Victor Cousin's Translation of
the works of Proclus ; Taylor's Translation of Proclus ; Eeussling, De
tribus Hypostasibus Plotini, Wittenberg, 1690; Hebenftreet, Dissert,
de Jamblichi Philos. Leipsic, 1764; Fichte, Dissert. De Philos. Novae
Platonicse origine, Beroliai, 1818; Fabricius, Biblioth. Grec. Articles,
Proclus, Marinus; Stobaeus b. 1. Articles, De Gradibus, De Anim. Viri-
bus, De eo quod est in nostra potestate ; De Gerando, Hist. Comparee,
vol. 3 ; Ritter's His. of Philosophy, vol. 4.
PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW PLATONISTS. 243
speculative pliilosopliy upon anotlier and a firmer
basis. The great problems which Grecian inge-
nuity raised, were to be solved in a manner, and
with a clearness and conclusiveness, of which the
disciples of Plato and Aristotle had no conception.
The lofty hopes which many of the Grecian sages
entertained were to be realized to their more for-
tunate successors ; and those bright rays of light,
which gleamed in the distance, and which they but
distantly recognised, were to shine, to all future
philosophers, "more and more unto the perfect
day."
But though the independence of the Grecian
speculation was to be destroyed for ever, it was
still to be a useful and often melded instrument
in the hands of future cultivators of philosophy.
This honour was, however, to be confined to the
two great pillars of Grecian thought, Plato and
Aristotle. The smaller sects were to be compara-
tively forgotten in the new order of things. The
Stoics, the Epicureans, the Pythagoreans, the
Sophists, the Sceptics, were to pass away, but
Plato and Aristotle were to remain ; and for many
centuries were to divide the opinions and applause
of the learned and contemplative. We shall have
frequent occasion, in our historical progress, to
record the influence of theii* respective systems,
and the favourable or unfavourable judgments of
rival partizans. But that undi\dded and despotic
power they for many huncbed years exercised over
the minds of men, was now to crumble gradually to
the dust, without any hope of future resuscitation.
ii2
244 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
CHAPTETl XXVII.
ON THE METAPHYSICAL DISQUISITIONS OF THE
ANCIENT FATHERS OF THE CHURCH.
It is necessary we should fall back a little upon
the regular course of time, and notice at some
length the labours of the first promulgators of
Christianity in the field of mental philosophy.
These labours constitute an important epoch in the
history of the human mind.
The establishment of the Christian dispensation
must always be considered the most important and
interesting event in the history of the philosophy
of human nature in all its departments. Science
no longer stood alone, upon its own abstract prin-
ciples and merits, as an intellectual exercise ; but
all its doctrines were, in the future ages of the
world, to be discussed in reference to the great
truths revealed to mankind in the Holy Scriptures.
Heligion and Philosophy, it is true, had to wage
many bitter and protracted conflicts; they had
both to undergo a most rigid scrutiny before the
tribunal of human reason ; they were frequently
placed, by the over-heated zeal and mistaken views
DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS. 245
of tlieir respective advocates, in direct opposition
to one another; but still we find, that as time
rolled on, their points of difference became gra-
dually less, and both seemed calculated to throw
additional light upon, and to give natural suj^port
to, each other.
And this was nothing but a natural consequence
from the constituted order of things. Eevealed
religion did not profess to make man an entirely
new creature ; to give him a new body and a new
mind, endowed with various faculties wliich were
never before recognized in the human species. No!
it only assumed to direct his ordinary bodily and
mental fimctions, to objects and pursuits more
sublime and important, and which were but dimly,
and in many cases not at all, shadowed forth by
the mere Kght of natm-e. The relative position,
therefore, in which religion and philosophy stood to-
wards each other, was a natural position. Philoso-
phy professed to investigate all those powers of body
and mind which distinguish our species from the
inferior creation ; and to unfold the laws wliich go-
vern their mutual dependencies and relationships.
The heathen philosophers had to labour in the same
vineyard as the professors of Christianity. That
both parties should form different opinions as to
the value of their own exertions and the merits of
theii" respective modes of cultm-e, is quite natural.
Revealed religion was not a mere simple fact, or
mental conception, or intimation from heaven; but
it appealed to human reason, based itself upon prin-
ciples, laid do\^Ti abstract propositions, and openly
246 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
clialleno:ecl the liuman race to their discussion. It
did not set itself in opposition to human learning,
bnt only declared that that was insufficient of itself
to produce certain results, and guide to certain ends.
These general remarks will be fully borne out,
by a brief summary of the philosophy of the an-
cient Pathers of the Church, relative to man's
moral and mental natures, and to those opinions
and principles connected with the important doc-
trines of natural and revealed religion. It cannot
fail to prove extremely interesting to all reflective
minds, to have laid before them an intellectual
chart of the opinions of these distinguished men
on points of faith and speculation, which must al-
ways, as long as the world lasts, exercise a very
powerful influence over the minds of the general
mass of manldnd.
Here we may briefly notice, in passing, that
many distinguished writers have entertained a very
low estimate of the opinions of the Eathers, and
have upbraided them with numerous and palpable
contradictions. It must be admitted there is some
truth for these accusations. But to form a just
estimate of the Pathers, we ought always to keep
before us their exact position relative to religious
doctrines and other opinions connected with sub-
jects closely allied to them. We know that many
of the Pathers had been either educated in Pagan
systems, or were more or less brought into close
fellowship with them, in their daily commimications
with those around them. This circumstance must
have exerted a powerful influence over the every-
DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS. 247
day current of their thoughts and opinions. They
would daily meet ^dth men who had to be converted
through a formal refutation of these false systems ;
and this could only be done by means of an accurate
acquaintance with them, and an effort on the part
of religious teachers to accommodate their owti doc-
trines to the minds of their pupils. There would
always be going on a sort of compromise of prin-
ciples and opinions, with a view of obtaining a hold
of the minds of men, and subjecting them to a
peaceable course of instruction and con^dction.
Teachers would occasionally diverge a little to gain
a victory over the stubborn and deep-rooted pre-
judices of a convert. This would be done with the
best intentions, and frequently with the most happy
effect. Many of the Pathers went from country to
country, from district to district, and from town
town to, making converts, and imparting instruc-
tion as they well could. And it is quite ob^dous
that their public addresses must have varied con-
siderably from each other, on account of the diver-
sity of heathen notions, rites, and ceremonies, enter-
tained and practised by their hearers. If therefore
these addresses were afterwards published, it is
quite a thing to be expected that considerable dis-
crepancies would be apparent upon the face of them ;
not springing from any defection of doctrinal purity,
or from the lack of soim.d knowledge, but from
casual and incidental cu'cumstances. This would
naturally, in after times, give rise to observation
and comment, and a difference of opinion would
248 DISQUISITIONS or the tathers.
thus be formed. A Pather would appear under the
disadvantage of self-contradiction, and inconsistency
of statement, and thus his authority and influence
would become weakened from no justifiable cause
whatever.
Justin Martyk. 99 a. d.
Justin Martyr was one of the early Pathers of
the Church who successfully cultivated philosophy
with a view of extending and illustrating the Chris-
tian system. He had been educated in foreign
schools of learning, and, for a considerable period
of his life, had followed the heathen modes of wor-
ship. He especially studied the doctrines of Aris-
totle, Plato, and Pythagoras, and was minutely
acquainted with all the various divisions and mo-
difications of these different schools of philosophy.
After his conversion to Christianity, he still con-
tinued to cultivate profane learning ; and his re-
marks upon the use of speculative doctrines are
admirable. He says, " Philosophy is a very noble
thing, and very agreeable to God, since it leads us
to Him ; and truly happy are those who avail them-
selves of such an aid. Though the doctrines of
Plato, and the Stoics, as well as the writings of
historians and poets, are not in strict conformity
with the Gospel, yet they do, nevertheless, bear a
certain relationship to it ; and what good and just
things have been here said, are calculated to ad-
vance Christianity. The writings which existed
JUSTIN MARTYR — TATIAN. 249
previous to the Gospel gave us a glimpse of those
great truths which it has revealed ; and have vastly
aided the Divine reason wliicli is implanted in us
from our hirth. This reason is the germ or seed
which Christianity is to fructify."
Again, he says, " Socrates exhorted men to raise
themselves above mythological fables, and to search
again for the unknown God, whose existence it was
reserved for the Gospel alone fidly to demonstrate."
" The true philosopher is neither a Platonist, Pe-
ripatetic, nor a Stoic, nor a Pythagorean. If he
belongs to any of these sects, he has substituted
human authoritv for reason."
It is mentioned by Eusebius that St. Justin had
written a work upon the nature of the human soul,
in Avhich he had unfolded the various opinions
which the Pagans held of this subject ; and that he
intended to write another Treatise, to expose the
fallacy of these opinions, and also to show what were
his own notions on this important doctrine. None
of these works, however, have descended down to
our times.*
Tatian. 170 A. D.
Tatian, who was St. Justin's disciple, paid great
attention to mental philosophy in all its branches.
He had travelled a great deal, and visited many
eminent seats of learning, and possessed a very ac-
curate knowledge of aU the subtile and distinguished
Apologia. Sect. 13. 15. 46. Benedictine Eilition.
250 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
controversies of his clay. He maintains that there
are in man two distinct mental principles. " The
one is the soul, the other is superior to the soul ;
it is the understanding, the image of God. The
soul in itself is full of darkness ; alone it is sub-
jected to matter, and is confounded with it ; and it
is not simple but compound ; the mind or under-
standing uniting itself with it, gives light, power,
and life to it. It elevates and purifies it. This
mind is the di^dne reason, or Logos. It is not
communicated to all, hut only to those who live in
accordance with the dictates of justice and wisdom.
The soul, being an emanation from the Deity, is
light ; it only becomes obscured by its connection
with matter."
The peculiar philosophical opinions of Tatian are
expounded in his Gratia ad Grcecos, the only ge-
nuine treatise we have of this waiter. In this
apologetical work we find that the author was
deeply skilled in Oriental systems ; for the general
tone of all his speculations on mind and matter
bears a great resemblance to those opinions pro-
mulgated in the early days of the Alexandrian
Academv^
Tatian considered that matter was the som-ce of
all imperfection and evil. In this respect he fol-
lows Plato. This opinion had probably led him
to the Gnostic idea that our Saviour had no real
body.*
* See the Oxford Edition of the " Oratio." 1700.
ST. ATHENAGORAS. 251
St. Athekagoras. 172 a. d.
The attachment of St. Athenagoras to specula-
tive learning is well known. Even after he had
been converted from Paganism to Christianity,
he still wore the costmne used in the East in his
o^vn day by the studious and philosophic. In his
Apology, addressed to the Emperor, Marcus Aure-
lius, in the year 176, he enters very fully into se-
veral speculative theories, and compares them with
the general principles of the Christian faith. In
the writings of the poets and historians he found
the doctrine of the unity of the Deity recognised,
and several other important truths, which were
more fully and clearly revealed in the Gospel. His
grand aim was to reconcile the Christian creed
with the doctrines of the founder of the Academy.
" Plato," says he, " contemplated, with a lofty
stretch of thought, that eternal intelligence and
Divinity which reason alone can conceive; that
Being who is the only true one, who is unchange-
able, full of goodness and truth. He saw in Him
infinite power, that glorious Source of all perfec-
tion, that celestial Uuler, the universal Cause which
is every way present. The Idea is the first crea-
tion of the celestial Ruler; it is the type of all
creation. This type was necessary to shapeless
matter, to that nature which invoked and oflTered
itself to it, and which was again plimged into con-
fusion and chaos to receive that consolidation of
parts, and form and beauty, Avhich we now behold.
252 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
Though this faculty of reason be the same in all
men, yet it takes different directions, elevating
some to sublime conceptions, to heavenly things,
and to the great Author of all ; while on the other
hand the same reason produces worldly and gro-
velling pursuits, vain imaginations, and the sug-
gestions of evil spii'its. AVhile the soul is soft and
flexible, and has not embraced sound princij)les,
nor contemplated the truth, nor carried its thought
up to the great Creator of the universe, it is sus-
ceptible of false opinions, and of the influence of
malicious spirits, thirsting for the blood of their
victims, and filling their imaginations with delu-
sions, from which spring all kinds of idolatry and
superstitions."*
St. Theophilus. 172 a. d.
St. Theophilus was one of the Alexandrian Fa-
thers, and manifested a passionate attachment to
the philosophy of Plato. He became bishop of
Aiitioch in 170, and governed his diocese for thir-
teen years with great zeal and prudence. He was
a zealous disputer with heretics, and it is in these
controversial writings that we find the philosophical
opinions which he seems to have entertained. He
had evidently studied deeply both Aristotle and
Plato ; for the latter of whom, as just stated, he
shows a decided preference. St. Theophilus points
out to his opponents the great defects in all liea-
* Legatio pro Lhristianis. Sect. 5. G. 8. 15.
ST. PANTiENUS— ORIGEN. 253
then speculations, and how much superior the phi-
losophy of Christianity was, to anything which
mortal man had been able to discover.
St. Theophilus has furnished us with an historical
chronology from the creation of the world to his
own time ; and he endeavours to prove that the
history of Moses is the most ancient and authentic
account we have of the early days of the hmnan
race.*
St. Pant.enijs. 180 a. d.
The first school opened at Alexandria for the in-
struction of Christians in philosophy, was by St.
Pantsenus. He belonged to the sect of the Stoics,
and on account of his great knowledge and talent,
was appointed to carry the Gospel into India, and
to convert the Brahmins from their idolatry. He
was well acquainted with the works of Aristotle
and Plato; but manifested a decided preference
for the philosophy of the Stoics. He thought the
system of the latter, considered in relation to prac-
tical life, more in accordance with the important
practical precepts of the Christian faith.*
Origen. 185 A. D.
The famous Origen, a disciple of St. Clement's,
was a prodigy of learning and science. Prom the
* See Gesner's Edition of the works of St. Theojihilus. Zurich, 1546 ;
also Du Pin, Lardner, Mosheim, and Cave.
t See Cave, Lardner, Milner, Du Pin, and Mosheim.
254 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
accounts of Eiisebius, he had studied almost every
system of speculation, and made himself completely
master of the whole circle of knowledge in his own
times. There was nothing too varied or profound for
the versatility and grasp of his mind. His wonder-
ful activity and zeal showed he possessed an intel-
lect susceptible of great mental labour and appli-
cation. He was intimately skilled in the doctrines
of the Stoics, the Epicureans, the Platonists, and
the Pythagoreans ; and also with the traditionary
knowledge of the Hebrews as well as all the
heathen systems of speculation celebrated in his
own day. He divided ail human science into three
kinds'; namely, first, profane wisdom, which com-
prehended natural philosophy, mathematics, and
what came under the denomination at that time of
the fine arts, as poetry, rhetoric, grammar, music,
and medicine ; secondly, the tvlsdom of the p>rinces
of this icorld, which embraced all the mysteries and
speculative theories of the Egyptians, the Chal-
deans, and the Brahmins ; and thirdly, that wisdom
which was especially revealed to man in the Holy
Scriptures.
Origen seems to have entertained the opinion of
the alisolute reality of all moral distinctions. He
remarks that, " if the reality of the Gospel is in
accordance with that of the Greeks, it is because
the notions of moral rectitude are destined to regu-
late human life, and are engraved on the soul of
man by the finger of the Deity himself, in the same
manner as He has recorded theiu upon the minds
of the prophets and of our Lord and Saviour."
ST. CLEMENT. 255
This clistingiiislied Father of the Church believed
in the fact, that all the Grecian pliilosophy had
been originally derived from the Hebrew nation.
His notion of the immortality of the soul, was
grounded on the supposition of its pre-existence in
a former more elevated sphere ; and that when it
took up its abode in a material body, it still had the
faculty of recognising a Divine Being, of obeying
his laws, and of preparing itself for a life of full en-
joyment with him for ever. This notion was com-
mon both to the Gnostics and to the new Pla-
tonists.*
St. Clement. 218. a. d.
We come now to St. Clement of Alexandria,
who was the shining light and glory of his age.
His acquisitions and labours were prodigious. He
knew all the learning of the Greeks, the Sp'ians,
the Egyptians, and the Hebrews ; and had visited
every seminary of knowledge wliich was of any
note in his own day. He viewed the philosophy
of human nature throuo^h a candid and enlis-htened
medium ; and he embraced every opportunity of
shelving how nearly, on many points, the princijiles
enforced by the ancient philosophers were allied
to those laid down in the Sacred Scriptures. He
contended it was a most mistaken, as well as a
mischievous, opinion, that Christianity opposed
itseK to the cultivation of himian knowledge. On
the contrary, he zealously and eloquently contended
* Seethe Works of Origen by the Benedictines. Paris, 1783.
256 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHEKS.
that it was only by tlie cultivation of science and
useful information, that revealed truth could either
he promulgated or understood.
St. Clement openly declared himself favourable
to the Greek philosophy, even in spite of the
opinions of some of his brethren, who were hostile
to the speculative system of this country. He
says, " The Grecian philosophy forms the man to
virtue, and teaches him, also, that it proceeds from
God himself. Those, then, who would judge harshly
of the philosophy of Greece, ought to be prepared
to prove their statements ; and in order to enable
them to do this, they must study and examine it.
If it does not rest on a perfectly solid foimdation ;
if it does not always conduct to satisfactory con-
clusions ; it is ornamental at least, and exercises
the student in detecting truth from falsehood. As
the labourer first waters the bosom of the earth,
before he commits the seed to it ; in like manner
when we extract out of the writings of the Greeks
what we can advantageously borrow from them,
we are watering the earth, that the sun may
exercise his influence in giving vitality to the
intellectual seed. I do not give the name of philo-
sophy to the particular doctrines of the Portico nor
of Epicurus, nor of Plato, nor of Aristotle, but to
what appertains to justice and sound religion in
all these diflerent schools. I give the name of
philosophy to that which is really excellent in all
their doctrines ; and above all to that of Socrates,
such as Plato describes him to have been. The
opinions of Plato upon ideas, is the true Christian
and orthodox philosophy. Those intellectual lights
HERMAS TERTULLIAN, &C. 257
amongst the Greeks have heen communicated by-
God himself. But they have not been charmed by
their power, but have mingled them with human
errors and delusions."*
St. Clement frequently remarks that true wis-
dom or philosophy is the right understanding of
human and divine things; and severely rebukes
those who fall into habits of snarling disputation
or captious scepticism. He however strenuously
recommended fixed rules of reasoning, and parti-
cularly the Greek system of dialectics. On this
subject he remarks, that " Dialectics form a sort
of rampart for the protection of truth against
the assaults of sophistry. The cause of all error
and false judgment is, that we cannot detect the
reasons on which the accordance or differences of
things amongst themselves are founded ; and thus
we erroneously classify things together which
ought to be separated. It becomes necessary,
then, to apply the art of dialectics, as a useful in-
strument to conduct us to truth, to enable us to
demonstrate it to others, and to protect and defend
it from captious argumentations. But we must
guard against the abuse of this art."t
Hermas — Tertullian — Arnobius — Iren^us —
LACTANTirS, &C.
We must here make an allusion to several of the
* Stromal . lib. 1. Ed. Paris, 1641.
t See the Oxford Edition of the Works of St. Clement, 1/15; also
Du Pin, Blount's Censura, Fabricius, Mosheim, Lardner, &c.
258 DISQTJISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
learned Fathers, who entertained strong prejudices
against all kinds of profane philosophy whatever.
They were led to form notions of its dangerous ten-
dency to revealed religion, from the many examples
of eminent and learned individuals forming semi-
naries of learning under the auspices of revealed
religion, and imparting to numerous classes of per-
sons, who afterwards took an active part in ec-
clesiastical affairs, those peculiar doctrines which
emanated from these different schools of instruction.
These philosophical establishments became on many
occasions, and from the sheer force of particular
circumstances, formidable instruments in the hands
of zealous sects and parties ; and hence arose certain
feelings of jealousy against both them and theu'
principal professors. Hermas, Tertullian, Arno-
bius, Irenaeus, and Lactantius, were the leading
Fathers of the Church, who, with various modifica-
tions, adopted these opinions as to the general
tendency of human learning in matters of rehgion.
Hermas wrote a treatise to refute the Pagan
philosophers, which contains a considerable portion
of the Grecian metaphysics. Irenseus waged war
most zealously against all the religious heresies of
his own times ; and attributed them to the pesti-
lential influence of the Gnostic system, Tertullian
entertained a determined hostility to the doctrines
of Plato, which he regarded as the prolific source
of all the heresies which harassed the Christian
Church. " Heresies," says he, " are the individual
opinions of men and demons. They have their
source in that insatiable curiosity for human science
HERMAS — ^Tertullian, &c. 259
which our Lord himself severely reprobated, while
he promulgated those views which appeared fool-
ishness in the eyes of the world. This modern phi-
losophy presumptuously attempts to interpret the
Divine nature, to mislead unwary spirits." Of the
Academicians, TertuUian says, "Who art thou, im-
pudent Academician ? You overturn every con-
dition of life; you derange the whole order of
nature ; you remove a divine superintending Pro-
vidence. It must have given, according to your
doctrine, the senses to men as the most fallacious
organs for comprehending and admiring His stu-
pendous and marvellous works. Is not every thing
under the control of the senses ? Is it not
through their ministration, that all men receive
that subordinate instruction which embraces the
sciences, the common affairs of society, the relations
of things, the joys, the sorrows, the hopes, the fears,
the wants, and every thing which ornaments human
life ; since it is only by these same identical senses,
that man can be distinguished as a rational crea-
ture, capable of knowledge, even to commence
Academician himself."*
Arnobius, an African by birth, and, during a part
of his life, a zealous advocate for Paganism, expres-
sed, after his conversion to the Christian faith, his
decided hostility to all kinds of philosophy. The
science of Logic fell especially under his displeasure.
He maintained that with all its display of metho-
dical arrangement and demonstrative conclusions.
* Tertullian, De Prsescript. cap. 7-
s 2
260 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
it was but a very inefficient instrument for guiding
us to truth.* Lactantius followed in liis wake
with the same class of opinions. This venerable
Father entered very fully into all the heathen sys-
tems, with a design to collect together, and place
in one point of view, the numerous contradictions
and discrepancies to be found in these various spe-
culative theories. By this plan he made a consi-
derable display in favour of liis own peculiar opi-
nions. On the nature and use of human knowledge
generally, the following quotations will furnish us
with his views; and they embody, in point of prin-
ciple, the real essence of his writings on this siibject.
" Science," says he, " cannot be derived from hu-
man intelligence, nor could it be unfolded by the
mere effort of thought. It is the prerogative of the
Deity himself, and not that of man to possess sci-
ence properly so called. Man can only receive that
knowled2:e which comes from without. This is the
reason why the Di\ine Mind has given him organs
of sensation, through which knowledge is conveyed
to the soul." " The human soul is shut out in the
obscure abode in the body, from the means of ac-
quiring knowledge. Thus ignorance is the lot of
humanity, as wisdom is the inherent attribute of
the Deity. We need, then, a light to dissipate the
dark clouds which envelope human thought. The
Deity is this light of the human soul ; and he who
receives it in his heart, will immediately discover
the mysteries of truth ; but on the other hand, he
* TertuUian, De Prfescript. lib. 2. cap. 9.
ANATOLIUS — ST. AUGUSTINE. 261
who is deprived of this celestial light, must always
remain full of error."
On the nature and offices of Logic, Lanctantius
has the following remarks. " That portion of phi-
losophy which we call Logic, is that which contains
dialectics, and the rules of reasoning. The Divine
reason has no need of any such assistance, it re-
sides not in forms of words but in the heart, and it
is of little moment what language we employ ; for
it is things we seek, and not words."*
■■o'-
Anatolius. 226 a. d.
This Christian writer was a public teacher at
Alexandria, and obtained great celebrity from his
extensive knowledge in philosophical systems. He
studied Aristotle profoundly, and endeavoured to
amalgamate his opinions with those of other Gre-
cian and heathen speculations. It is however
unknown whether he succeeded in this enterprise,
as none of his commentaries upon Aristotle have
sm-vived to oiu' times. He was a profound mathe-
matician, and made an attempt to explain subjects
of mental pliilosophy upon mathematical prin-
ciples, f
St. Augustine. 354 a. d.
St. Augustine comes next in order, as a disciple
* De Ira Dei, cap. 1. ; Divin. Inst. lib. 2. cap. 3. ; lib. 3. cap. 16.
t See the fragments of Anatolius' Philosophy in Fabricius, BibK.
Grec, Vol. 2. pp. 274—277.
262 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
of Plato. He had at first been attaclied to the
Aristotelian theory, but it did not correspond with
his wishes, and he exchanged it for the doctrines of
Plato; these were more in accordance with the
nature of liis mind, being a man of a lively and
active imagination, and warm feelings.
We shall only make a few brief remarks on,
and quotations from, St. Augustine's work ^'Against
the Academicians^^ which is the most important
connected with the history of philosophy. He
commences the work by urging the most powerful
inducements to study philosophy, and to excite in
the student's bosom an ardent love of truth. Then
follow copious outlines of the heathen notions on
speculative topics, showing theu' various changes
and modifications during many centuries. These
he examines and discusses with great care, and
minuteness. The opinion entertained by the Aca-
demicians, that happiness consisted in seeking after
truth, he attempts to refute ; and endeavours to
establish the opposite theory, that happiness arises
from the possession of truth itself. In the third
book, he attempts to define the indefinable notion
which the Academicians entertained about probabi-
lity and resemblance ; and he finishes by refusing
his assent to the philosophy of the Academy, which
maintained that the human mind had not the power
of seizing hold of real truth.
This work of Agustine's is written in the form of
dialogue, and is exceedingly interesting. The lead-
ing idea throughout the whole treatise is, that the
Academicians have been obliged, in spite of them-
ST. AUGUSTINE. 263
selves, to admit the existence of sucli a thing as
truth; which showed, at once, that their whole
reasoning rested upon a sceptical foundation.
In St. Augustine's work " On Order,'' he has
developed that -argument for a superintending
Providence, which has in recent times been so ad-
mirably handled by many learned and able men.
He says, "Order is wisdom and perfection; disorder
is evil. Order is that law by which the Almighty
executes all which he had ordained. The wisdom
embodied in this order is united to the Deity, be-
cause that he conceives himself every thing of
which He is the source."
This venerable Father, in his soliloquies, attempts
to furnish us with the distinctive characters of
truth and falsehood. "Truth," says he, "is supe-
rior to right ; it is eternal and immutable. There
is truth in God, and in the human mind. Trutfi
is the source of all intelligence or wisdom."
In St. Augustine's book " On the Quantity of the
Soul," that is, on its power or nature, he has given
us a full discussion of every thing which the light
of nature and revelation estabhshes respecting our
spiritual frame. He treats of the origin of the
soul, of its nature, what are its faculties or powers,
why it was placed in the body, what is its condition
while it is placed here, and what will be its condi-
tion in a future life. The soul is a substance en-
dowed with reason, and placed in the body for the
purpose of guiding and directing it. " The soul
derives its origin from God ; it is simple and im-
material; and what proves tliis is, that it can con-
264 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
ceive ideas of abstract quantities and dimensions
which are not corporeal ; though it is susceptible
of feeling through the agency of the body, it is not
extended over the body."
St. Augustine distinguishes the visual perceptions
of objects, from the judgments which accompany
them. On the subject of sensation generally he
has the following remarks — " Sensation is produced
from external objects, which act upon the soul.
Sensation is not science ; and science itself differs
from reason. By reason we seek and develop
science, and reasoning is the instrument which con-
ducts us to it." Again he remarks, " The exercise
of the faculties of the soul may be divided into
seven distinct stages. In the first, these powers are
manifested in that life or being which belongs to
vegetable existence. In the second, these powers
give birth to sensation; they move and direct bodies,
and form the foundation of animal life. In the
third, they rise above the brute creation ; they com-
pare material objects with one another ; act upon
them ; change their natm'e and appearances : apply
them to human wants ; and create all that mul-
tiplicity of objects and pursuits, which we deno-
minate the arts of life. The fourth stage of these
powers of the soul, displays itself in giving birth to
a moral world ; enabling us to detach and contem-
plate our minds apart from external and sensible
things ; and in recognizing the principles of justice
and virtue. The fifth period is marked by the soul's
reflecting upon its own powers, enjoying it self fully
in its own innate liberty and ease. The sixth, or
ST. AUGUSTINE. 265
last stage, is characterised by a kind of sudden
bound, by which the soul at once aspires to really
superior things ; purified by this long course of j)ro-
bation, it steadily dii-ects its eye, with a calm and
confident assurance, towards the region of pure and
exalted intellect. In fine, intuition, the contem-
plation of truth itself, is the last act, the summit
of the ladder, the sublime end of all its efforts, and
is thus carried to the Great First Cause, to the
Supreme Author of all things.
St. Augustine has been accused, in modern
times, of a decided leaning to Pantheism ; but this
accusation rests upon a very slender fovmdation.
The fact is, that the same charge might, with equal
justice, be brought against many hundreds of able
and orthodox divines, of almost every Christian
church, and in every period of ecclesiastical history.
Everything depends upon the meaning which is
attached to the word Pantheism. It is almost unpos-
sible to tie men down to anything likea fixed defi-
nition of words of this description ; particularly
when employed under the heat and excitement of
sectarian controversies.*
There are none of the Fathers of the Church
whose lives are so full of interest, relative to spe-
* The following is the passage from St. Augustine, on which this ac-
cusation rests. " SubstantiaUter Deus ubique diffusus est. Sed sic est
Deus per cuncta diffusus, ut non sit quahtas mundi, sed substantia crea-
trix mundi, sine labore regens et sine onere continens mundum. Non
tamen per spatia locorum, quasi mole diffusa, ita ut in dimidio mundi
corpore sit dimithus, atque ita per totum totus; sed in solo coelo totus, et
in sola terra totus, et in ccelo et in terra totus, et nuUo contentus loco,
sed in se ipso ubique totus."
266 DISQUISITIONS or the fathers.
dilative opinions, as that of St. Augustine. His
mind underwent many changes ; and these changes
exercised a powerful influence over his active ener-
gies and pursuits.*
Nemesius. 356 a. d.
The writings of Nemesius are well worthy of
especial notice at this period of the Christian
Church. He was Bishop of Emessa, a city of
Phenicia, and wrote a book in the Greek language,
in forty-four Chapters, called, " On the Natui^e of
Man.^^ This is unquestionably one of the very
best productions of Christian pliilosophy of which
the early Christian Church can boast. The author
combated, with great power and zeal, the doctrine
of fatality involved in the system of the Stoics ;
and he also showed himself greatly averse to the
speculative opinions of the Manicheans. He adopted
however the doctrine of the pre-existence of souls,
which had been revived by Origen, and which was
afterwards, in the year 551, condemned at the
Council of Constantinople. Nemesius also studied
anatomy and physiology; and we find it stated
in the Oxford edition of his works, in 1671,
that he made important discoveries on the nature
and uses of the bile; and that he was well ac-
* See Confessions, lib. 1. 2. 3. 4. 7- 8. 9. The best edition of St. Au-
gustine's vvoiks is that published by the BenetUctines at Antwerp, 1703,
in 12 vols, folio.
NEMESIUS. 267
quainted with that important fact, the circulation
of the blood.
On the nature of the human soul, Nemesius en-
tered very fully, and discussed the various opinions
which preceding philosophers had expressed on
tliis interesting but abstruse subject. He main-
tains that the soul is immaterial, and that it is not
the result of a peculiar organization of body. " The
soul," says he, "is united to the body." Again,
" A portion of the faculties of the soul are destined
to serve, and another to command. The organs
of sense, their movements, and the appetites which
belong to them, compose the first class, and reason
the second."
Nemesius advances a theory of sensation in
which both intellectual and physiological facts are
stated with great clearness and effect. He had
evidently been a very attentive and discriminating
observer of nature. He distinguishes sensations
from conclusions of the understanding which ac-
company them ; and affirms that all our errors are
solely confined to the latter and not to the former.
The judgment and the memory are, in his opinion,
the two principal faculties which conduct the mind
to important abstract truths. He rejected the theory
of Porphyry, who maintained that the soul saw
every thing through sensation, as through a mir-
ror. "The memory," says Nemesius "preserves
the perceptions obtained by the senses; and the
understanding combines and arranges these mate-
rials furnished by the senses and the memory."
Again he remarks, " We are conscious of the ex-
268 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
istence of things whicli we have been accustomed
to think and judge of; as, for example, reason inti-
mates to us the existence of the sea, and the sand
on the sea shore ; though we cannot fix or define
the limits of the sea, nor number the individual
grains of sand. We can conceive the general ideas
of the sea and of the sand, but not the individual
parts of which they are composed."
To the doctrines of voluntary and involuntary
actions, Nemesius had paid considerable attention.
He has made many judicious remarks on this ab-
struse branch of the philosophy of mind.
St. Gregory. 372 a. d.
St. Gregory, bishop of Nyssa, wrote a work on
the immortality of the soul, which has been often
highly praised by learned divines since his day.
He argued strenuously against the Platonic notion
that the soul was composed of many different parts,
a sort of little municipality or commonwealth. He
allows, however, three distinct parts or principles
of the soul, namely, the vegetable life, the sensitive
life, and the intellectual life. He also refuted several
heretical opinions on tliis subject, which had gained
a considerable portion of popularity in the East.
Stnesius. 410 A. D.
The learned Synesius was the ornament and
philosopliical light of the age. He was an Afri-
can, born at Cyrene of illustrious parents. He
CLAUDIANUS MAMERTUS. 269
studied the sciences with great success ; and hav-
ing embraced the doctrines of Aristotle, he gave to
that system of philosophy additional charms and
interest, by his ingenious illustrations and the
fervour of his fancv. His mind was enerrossed
with the most lively feelings of philosophical and
religious adoration of the works of nature ; and his
reflections on the attributes of the Supreme Mind
and of the human soul, are at once just and sub-
lime.
SjTiesius, after having been for several years an
Aristotelian, began to study with great minuteness
the pliilosophy of Plato ; and more especially those
views of it which were rife in the Alexandrian
school. He became, in consequence, more ideal
and mystified in his opinions on the nature of a
Deity, the human soul, and the intellectual prin-
ciple. His orthodoxy in matters of religion was
generally questioned. It is certain he entertained
doubts on the doctrine of the E/Csurrection.
Clatjdianus MAMEHTrs. 450 a. d.
This Christian writer was a learned Presbvter at
Vienna. He was deeply versed in the dialectic
system of Aristotle, and displayed great eloquence
in his philosophical discourses. His work " On
the State of the Soul," is a curious v/ork. It is
grounded on the principles of two divisions, the
senses and the powers of reflection.*
* Fabricius, Bibli. lat. t. 2, p. 642.
270 DISQUISITIONS OP THE FATHERS.
BOETHIUS. A. D. 470.
Boetliius was famous for his virtues, talents, civil
distinctions, and misfortunes. He was born at Home
in the year 470 ; and studied philosophy and general
learning at Athens. In the year 525 he suffered
an icrnominious death, without the forms of law, for
an alleged treasonable correspondence.
Boethius studied the doctrines of Aristotle, and
made himself completely master of them in all
their ramifications. He translated the Categories
at Rome, and several other tracts of the Stagirite,
and also the Commentaries of Porphyry. But
though nominally belonging to the school of Aris-
totle, yet in spirit he was a real Platonist. The
sublime doctrines of the latter class of philosophers,
seemed to have entirely engrossed his mind, and to
have led him, in all liis speculations, to give that
form and expression to his thoughts, which were
widely removed from the dryness and technicality of
the AristoteKan theory. He loved to roam amongst
the lofty doctrines of the Grecian sages. The stu-
pendous operations of nature ; the mysterious union
of the soul and body ; the nature and attributes of
the Divine Mind ; the immortality of the soul ; and
a future state of rewards and punishments ; filled
his comprehensive intellect with the most exalted
conceptions, calculated to elevate and dignify the
human mind, and console and cheer the heart of
man. Never was there a genius better fitted, both
from its worldly afflictions, and from its own rich
MARTIN CAPELLA — CASSIODORUS. 271
and inexhaustible resources to unfold " Tlie Conso-
lations of JPJiilosophfj ; a work which must always
remain an imperishable monument to his name, as
well as a tender memorial to his virtuous and un-
merited suifering.*
Martin Capella. 474 a. d.
Martin Capella, who was an African by bii'th,
wrote a book, entitled " Satyricon, or the Me-union
of Philosophy loith Mercury.'''' Part relates to my-
thology and part to the fine arts. He also wrote on
grammar, dialectics, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic,
astronomy, and music. He adopted all the rules
and maxims of philosophy taught by Aristotle and
the Stoics. His writings are a sort of common
gathering of all the opinions and systems which
history had handed down, as prevalent at different
periods amongst the Greeks and Romans.
Cassiodorus. 480 a. d.
Cassiodorus, who was a contemporary of Boethius,
wrote several works on metaphysics and on other
kindred branches of knowledge. He was an ardent
admirer of Aristotle, and conceived his philosophy
to embrace the whole of what mankind could ever
know of the laws and principles of the human
mind. The works of Cassiodorus formed the text
books in the schools in the East, for a considerable
period after his death.
* See Fabricius, Bib. Lat.; ami Vies des Saints, Vol. 1. par Baillet.
272 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
Erom the beginning of the fifth to the end of the
sixth century, the discussions amongst the learned
Eathers were not so detached and independent of
each other, as they previously had been. There
was more of unity and party, and fewer individual
theories struggling for distinction and public favour.
Nearly the whole of the writings of the priesthood
on philosophy in general, were divided, or rather
amalgamated, into two leading divisions ; those
which were in favour of the theory of Plato, and
those who contended for the supremacy of Aristotle.
Under these two banners, the general mass of dis-
putants and writers were arrayed, and many were
the varied aspects of party success, during this long
and conflicting struggle.
There were several distinguished expounders of
the leading principles of the Platonic doctrine at
this period. In their writings against the Mani-
chean heresy, as well as in many other tracts, they
showed the harmony which existed between this
Grecian system, and the leading principles of na-
ture and revealed religion. Their opinions were at
once truly enlightened and liberal ; and manifested
how carefully they had studied both the philoso-
phical tenets of heathenism, and the theological
doctrines contained in the Holy Scriptures.
In the 7tli and 8th centuries the two most emi-
nent men, in reference to the cultivation of the philo-
sophy of human nature, were John the Grammarian
and St. John Damascenus. The first composed
extensive and erudite commentaries upon the works
of Aristotle ; and the second attempted to simplify
the Greek philosopher's doctrines, so as to render
ST. JOHN DAMASCENTJS. 273
them more comm.oiily understood. His general re-
marks as to the nature of pliilosophy, are very ad-
mirable. "Philosophy," says he, "is the science
of things which are just what we find them to be.
It is divided into two parts, speculative and prac-
tical. Speculative philosophy comprehends theo-
logy, physiology, and mathematics ; practical phi-
losophy comprehends etliics, economics, and poli-
tics. Theology has for its object that which is im-
material, such as the Deity, angels, and the souls
of men. Physiology embraces a knowledge of ma-
terial things, as of animals, plants, minerals, &c.
Mathematics consist in things which, though not
strictly corporeal themselves, have a relation to
external bodies, as number, proportions, figures,
and the revolutions of the heavenly bodies. Dia-
lectics, or the art of reasoning, is more an instru-
ment of philosophy, than one of its leading divi-
sions. It is, from its very nature, a preliminary
acquisition. The Sceptics were guilty of self-con-
tradiction when they afiirmed that philosophy had
no claim to a knowledge of things. There is no-
thing more excellent than knoAvledge ; it is the
light of an intelligent soul. Seek it, explore for it,
by unremitting investigations ; and at the same
time consult the works of the ancient heathens,
where you will find many important truths, which
you must disentangle from the errors with which
they are associated."
He has the following observations on method.
" There are four dialectic or logical methods. The
274 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
first is the di^dsion wliich separates genus and spe-
cies ; the second is the definition which defines the
sul)ject by the genus ; the third is analysis, wliich
decomposes every part ; and the fourth is demon-
stration, which establishes the truth by means of
the last term." St. John Damascenus also dis-
tinj?uishes analysis into three distinct kinds ; na-
tural, logical, and mathematical. The first resolves
compound ideas into their simple elements ; the
second resolves the syllogism into its different
parts ; and the third consists in admitting the cor-
rectness of a certain principle, in order to arrive at
a knowledge of an important truth.
On the doctrine of Sensation, St. John Damas-
cenus maintains that the faculty of sight informs us
of the magnitude, position, and distance of objects.
" Imagination," says he, " is a faculty belonging
to the irrational di^dsion of the soul, which operates
through the organs of sense. TVTien the soul per-
ceives external objects by the organs of sense, it
forms to itseK an opinion or judgment ; when it
knows, by thought, things which appertain to the
understanding, it conceives a notion. Such notions
cannot proceed from the senses ; they can be ob-
tained only by instruction. Memory is the image
which has been left by objects offered to the senses,
and seized by the action of the soul, or preserved
from that which has been perceived through the
senses, or the inward process of thought."
DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS. 275
A long darkness in tlie Lower Empire now suc-
ceeded to the comparative light which we have just
described. Leo, the philosopher, obtained con-
siderable reputation in the Byzantine Empire for
his various writings. Photius flourished at Con-
stantinople, in general philosophy, oratory, and
poetry. Leo VI., son of the Emperor Basil, dis-
tinguished himself in general literature.
There were a great number of commentators on
Aristotle in the latter centuries of theLower Empire.
David was an eminent critic and expounder of the
pliilosophy of the Stagirite ; Eustratius composed
treatises on dialectics and morals. Nicephorus, a
learned monk, cultivated general philosophy with
divinity. George Pachymera composed an Epitome
of the PJdlosophy of Aristotle, and a Compendium of
his Logic. Theodoras Metachita stood at the head of
the school at Constantinople, for his eloquence and
profundity. Magentinus illustrated the doctrines
of many of the Pythagorean philosophers. George
Cyprius, surnamed Gregory, obtained well merited
honours from the patrons of learning in his own
day. Michael Psellus cultivated philosophy, me-
dicine, and mathematics, and obtained the title of
the "Prince of Philosophers." He composed and
published an " Exposition of the Chaldean Oracles^''
and a " Treatise on the Faculties of the SoulP
*jt* The following, among many others, are interesting works on the
philosophical principles and opinions of the Fathers of the Church.
Thomasius, Origin. Hist. Ecclesi. et Phil. Mosheim, De Turbata per
Platonicos Recentiores Ecdesia. (This work has occasioned considerable
discussion among learned ecclesiastics of modern times ; particularly
Baltus and the Benedictines of Saint Maur.) Huet, Origenia. Clerc,
T 2
276 DISQUISITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
Biblioth. Select. Brucker, Hist. Crit. Phil. Carus, L'Etude de I'homme
et la Psychologic en particulier. Jean-Baptiste Crispus, De Ethnicis Phi-
losophis caute Legendis. Souverain, Le Platonisme Devoile. Baltus,
Defense des Saints Peres; Jugemens des Saints Peres sur la Morale
de la Philosophic Paiennc, (Strasburg). Barbeyrac, Traite de la Morale
des Peres de I'Eglise. StandHn, Progr. de Patrum EcclesifE Doctrina
Morali. Eberhard, Spirit of Primitive Christianity, (in German).
Roessler, De Originibus Philosophise Ecclcsiasticse. The fourth Volume
of the Bibliotheque des Peres de I'Eglise. Tennemann, Grundriss der
Geschichte der Philosophic, the seventh Volume. Cave's Lives of the
Fathers, and Ecclesiastical Antiquities. Whiston's Primitive Christianity.
Fabricius, Biblioth. Grec. Lardner's Account of the Christian Fathers.
Journal des Savans, 1734. Tillemont, Mem. Ecclesi. Gaudentius, Diss,
de Compar. Dogm. Orig. cum Dogm. Platonis.
ST. PETER THE ANCHORITE. 277
CHAPTER XXVIII.
■
OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS, FROM ASCETIC
WRITERS, ON MATTERS CONNECTED WITH REA-
SONING AND GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.
As we are just upon tlie eve of entering into a
long night of comparative stillness and unprofit-
able discussion, we shall lay before the reader a few
scattered fragments, culled from ascetic sources,
on matters bearing a. certain relationship to mental
studies. These fragments, though very scanty and
limited in their range of inquiry, will be found not
altogether devoid of interest, considering the pe-
riod and the circumstances under which they were
written.
St. Peter the Anchorite. 410 a. d.
On Simian Wisdom and Learning.
" It has often appeared to me that there are
among the learned of this world, and even among
some of our ablest divines, many odd and curious
notions about the nature of human wisdom and
278 ASCETIC WRITERS.
learning. I have long come to the conclusion that
there is no learning nor wit of men that is not
grounded in religion — Kttle that is not decidedly of
a religious character ; and my reasons for this opi-
nion I shall state to you as briefly as I can.
" Men pride themselves on theii* wisdom in ob-
serving the causes of things, and their effects. A
physician, for example, is called a learned man in
proportion to his knowledge of the cause of human
ailments, and the effects that particular drugs have
upon them. And, again, a man is called a wise
legislator who is acquainted with the causes of so-
cial happiness and prosperity, and with the effects
which particular measures have upon the welfare
of the community. Here causes and effects are the
materials of Avisdom. Now I conceive that no
man can be intimately conversant about these,
make them daily objects of his attention and no-
tice, and pride himself on his mode of arranging
them in Ms mind, without his thinking often of
the First Great Cause, which made and sustains
all things. I know well there are thousands of
learned men who never directly refer theu" wisdom
to the Deity ; but still the thought is in their
minds, whether they give formal utterance to it or
no. And this is the thing to look at. If there
were not indirectly a reference made to this know-
ledge of Deity, it is difficult for me to see how there
could be anything like wisdom in the world, or
why men should pride themselves upon possess-
ing it, and demand praise from others for it.
SAINT PETER THE ANCHOUITE. 279
" You have heard me often mention in conversa-
tion, that I very much douhted if there were ever
such a being as an Atheist; and it is upon the
strength of this doubt that I am now offering my
opinions. All the philosojjhers I have read of who
have been charged with denying the existence of a
God, always had a notion of supreme power about
them. This notion mav have assumed various forms,
but it is always in the mind of man, and influences
him without his knowing it. It is never destroyed,
and I question much whether it be ever very much
weakened. The natural man, it is true, does not
know God as we Christians know Him; but he
does know Him notwithstanding. We are not in
a precise situation to estimate the influence which
this primary notion of the Deity may have over the
other faculties of the mind, nor over the judgments
we form of things. We cannot do this either wiA
other people or ourselves. But I hold it evident
that the whole frame-work of our nature rests upon
it ; and there would be nothing in the miiverse we
could call wisdom or learning, unless it were based
upon this fundamental principle of theology.
"Learning and wisdom Avould not be placed
against each other in the world's estimation, if men
would only base their knowledge upon religion.
They ought to commence with it, and descend
to other branches of information ; and not begin
with the latter, with a vicAV of obtaining a know-
ledge of the former. This is inverting the natural
order of things. Most of the heathens, and even
280 ASCETIC WRITEliS.
some good Patliers of the Church, have maintained
that Socrates was the wisest man of ancient times ;
and the proof that is adduced for this is, that he
connected his knowledge with some definite notions
of a God. This has often struck me as a very curi-
ous circumstance; hut it is very confirmatory of
what I am now contending for. If we couhl make
ourselves acquainted with every thing in this world,
and yet had no notion of what lay beyond it, what
men call wisdom would he hut a poor and miserable
thing indeed. And in all the Pagan writers we find
that continual references were made to the wisdom,
favour, and applause of the gods, when they were
intent on doing great things. The Deity must be
the fountain of all knowledge and wisdom, and in
proportion as men direct their minds to him, they
will make real progress in knowledge ; but if they
tleglect liim, all they can know is but dross and
emptiness."*
St. Alonzo de Vega. 530 a. d.
Nature of Unbelief.
" In moving much in the world, in the early part
of my life, it has often been my lot to meet with
men who refused to give credence to the Gospel ;
and the variety of reasons they adduced often at-
tracted my notice. But I have almost uniformly
found that, at bottom, such men did not approve
* Dies y siete Coloqnios y Discursos Yarios, Salamanca, 1593, Vol. 1.
)))). 310 — 314. Flos Sanctorum, Madrid, 1710,
ST. ALONZO DE VEGA. 281
of religion in theii* lives, and this, I conceive, made
them averse to its truths. Some exceptions to
this rule I have met with ; and when the parties
were men of intelligence and learning, I have felt
no small degree of interest in discussing points of
doctrine with them.
"In all my encounters of this kind, I have
noticed that their oT)j actions were much of the
same cast as those which the old pliilosophers used
to employ in their discussions and wranglings with
one another, on the general doctrines of a Deity
and a superintending Pro\ddence. The latter, as
well as modern douhters, always wanted to know
the reasons for things being constituted as they
are. Now this is a silly notion, because it is just
as pertinent against as for those who use it. It
is a two-edged sword. Therefore, whenever I
have met with persons who followed this line df
argumentation, I have endeavoured to turn their
own weapons upon themselves, and this has often
made them plead for mercy. I adopted this mode
of warfare, from an accident which befel me in one
of my travels, and which I shall here relate.
" Going once over one of the most wild and
mountainous parts of Spain, I was accompanied by
a physician, with whom I had become acquainted
in the last town in which I had rested. He was a
very intelligent man ; knew Hippocrates and Galen
by heart ; was fond of disputation ; but would not
listen to my doctrines of religion. We were be-
nighted in the midst of one of the mountain passes;
282 ASCETIC WRITERS.
but, after a good deal of suffering and fatigue, were
seen by a shepherd, who took us to his humble
dwelling, and succoured us for the night. The
badness of the weather prevented us from leaving
our quarters the next day. To beguile the hours,
my friend, the physician, began to converse with
the shepherd, with a view of sounding the depth
of his knowledge of sundry matters. The physi-
cian found him a keen and witty man by nature.
This gave some zest to the conversation. My com-
panion attempted to explain several things dis-
tinctly connected with his own profession, but the
shepherd would not believe his statements, and
always met his declarations and reasonings with
the inquiry, why such and such a thing was made
in this or that particular manner, rather than in
some other ? When the physician attempted a
solution of any question, the shepherd laughed and
shook his head in derision. When the physician
affirmed that such and such things were true in phi-
losophy, the shepherd denied the truth of the state-
ment, and asked, with no small portion of ironical
wit, why should the thing be in that way, when
another way, apparently much simpler, would have
answered the purpose ? I saw my friend was ex-
ceedingly annoyed ; but I enjoyed the dispute my-
self; for it so happened that when I attempted to
unfold any theological principle or doctrine, he
dexterously employed the same line of argument
against me which the simple and untutored shepherd
now used against liimself. The physician was in
ST. ALONZO DE VEGA. 283
the habit of asking me why the Almighty had not
made us so as not to have needed the costly sacri-
fice of His own Son ? why we could not see the
truth of another life in a much clearer light than
we do ? why there should l)e any evil at all in the
world ? These and many more questions of a simi-
lar nature he urged to haflB.e and confute me. Now,
I fancied he had thought of this in his conflict with
the shepherd, and had felt inward mortification in
consequence. Por my part, I felt a secret pleastlre
at his discomfiture, and I endeavoured to draw a
useful lesson from it. I have found such argu-
ments as these used by the shepherd, to question
the truth of jDlain prmciples of knowledge, almost
universally employed among doubters of the Gospel.
When the real nature of these arguments is ex-
amined, they will be found a very weak subterfuge
for error and delusion."*
On the Immortality of the Soul.
*' All my readuig and reflection have convinced
me that man lives after his earthly career ; and my
reasons for this opinion are drawn more from
human testimony, and the nature of things, than
directly from the Scriptures themselves. The opi-
nion of another life is universal ; no people are
devoid of it. Idolatry of all kinds is a striking
manifestation of it. It was the creed of the Egyp-
tians, and Chaldeans, and Persians, and Greeks,
* Los Padres del Disierto. Madrid 1564. Vol. 1 pp. 200. 202.
284 ASCETIC WRITERS.
and Romans, and Jews, and is interwoven with all
Pagan rites and ceremonies."
" Socrates says, ' I hope there will be something
after death, and that the future life will he better
for vii'tuous men than for the wicked.' Plato, in
his letters, remarks, ' That we ought to assent to
the ancient and sacred opinion, that the soul of
man is immortal ; and that after this life it will be
judged and punished severely.' Aristotle spoke of
the happiness of a future state as an opinion of very
great antiquity, even in his day. Cicero says ' that
the immortality of tlie soul has been adopted and
defended by the most distinguished men.' And a
like opinion may be found in Homer, Thales, Py-
thagoras, and Zeno."*
Pelagius. 768 a. d.
Pelagius was born in some part of Sj^-ia, but
the exact place is not known. The events of his
life are but briefly related by his Spanish bio-
graphers.
It would appear that this recluse was born of
rich and influential parents, who gave him a very
learned education. He was employed, in the early
part of his life, in the service of Prince Abdalrah-
man, who, in 750, at the revolution of the Caliphate
at Damascus, having fled from the massacre of his
family, came into Spain, and fixed liis residence at
* Los Padres del Disierto, Vol. 1. p. 250.
PELAGITJS. 285
Cordova. Here he found an independent kingdom,
where the arts and sciences were introduced and
cultivated with assiduity, during a period when
most other kingdoms of Europe were involved in
heathen darkness, barbarity, and ignorance. *
Pelagius, for several years after the establishment
of Prince Abdalrahman in Spain, laboured with
uncommon zeal and effect in promoting a know-
ledge of all kinds of science, and a love of general
literature. In this laudable undertaking he met
with every degree of encouragement from his mu-
nificent and intelligent patron, who kept him about
his own person, and consulted him in every under-
taking for the welfare of his kingdom.
At the age of fifty-three he was tiredof all public
life, and determined to withdraw into solitude to
devote himself exclusively to the perusal of the
Holy Scriptures, to which he thought he had not
paid so much attention as he ought. This resolve
gave Prince Abdalrahman great pain. He used
every art of persuasion to induce Pelagius to change
his mind, but all to no purpose.
He sought out one of the most barren and deso-
late places in the country, where to fix his dwelling
place, wliich was a cave hewn out of a soKd rock.
Here he lived upon the wild fruits of the earth,
and drank nothino^ stronsrer than water. In the
heat of summer he had a kind of cradle erected
upon a lofty tree which over-hung his cell, wherein
he slept during the night. His mental occupations
were the reading of the Scriptures, and the study of
286 ASCETIC WRITERS.
some of tlie most distinguished of the Grecian and
Roman philosophers, of whose writings he was
passionately fond.
It is related that once in every year he paid a
-v^sit to the Prince, his kind patron, who was always
delighted to see and converse with him. It is not
known in what year he died, but his age is stated
to he eighty-two. He was buried with great pomp,
and many thousands of persons, from aU parts of
the country, came to pay their respects to the ashes
of this singular and talented man.
His literary remains are under the head of "Prag-
ments," from which the following extracts are made.
His knowledge of philosophy is singularly great for
the time in wliich he lived.
On matters relating to Knowledge in general^
and Reasoning .
The human mind is divided into two faculties,
viz. the judgment, and the memory. Philosophy
is of use to inform and rectify the mind ; but it
will be necessary to give a definition of the word
philosophy, and to show whence it had its origin.
The ancients who employed their time in the search
of knowledge were called Sophoi, l3efore Pythagoras
existed, who, out of an air of modesty, refused the
name, as being proper to immortal gods only ; in-
stead of which, he assumed the name of philosopher,
and which, since his time, has been attributed to
the former characters, and hence arose this desig-
nation.
PELAGIUS. 287
Vulgar knowledge is that by which we know
only the bare existence of things, without being able
to give reasons why they are so and so. Solid know-
ledge is that of which we know the causes and
effects ; as that the sun melts snow, and the frost
, congeals water.
Aristotle divided his works into two kinds, exo-
terica and acroamatica ; the former he wrote for
the vulgar, without giving any reason for what he
affirmed — as, God was to be worshipped, or the
soul was immortal, which men were to believe
upon his word. The latter he taught his disciples,
to whom he proved every thing he said with the
strongest arguments he could advance.
Prom hence may be drawn the following four
corollaries : —
First — Vtilgar knowledge is that which we wholly
acquire by the senses, and is the foundation of all
solid knowledge ; for we must know a thing is so,
before we can offer a reason for it. Vulgar know-
ledge is the least degree of knowledge we can
conceive.
Second — Solid knowledge does not depend so ex-
clusively upon our senses, but upon right reason ;
that is, by deducing some truths from others by a
necessary conclusion. But there are some parts of
learning which cannot be called philosophy ; such
as mathematical arts ; and even theology, because
acquired by revelation. As to mathematical arts,
though they be deduced from some principles of
philosophy, yet it commonly happens that the arts
288 ASCETIC WRITERS.
are themselves illustrated by an inquiry into the
nature of things, and by practice and experience.
It may be said, since right reason is the faculty of
deducing some truths from others, how comes it to
pass that we embrace false opinions ? We answer,
by an unavoidable mistake, or erroneous judgment,
from whence many errors proceed. But a philoso-
pher ought not to receive any doctrine but what
can be deduced from seK-evident truths, principles,
and axioms. On the other hand, there are some
doctrines which cannot be demonstrated by axioms
and definitions ; in that respect they have recourse
to probability and analogy.
Philosophy is divided by some writers on meta-
physics into subjective and objective.
Pirst — Objective is a system or collection of so
many dogmas or opinions.
Second— Subjective is a faculty, or a certain
habit of deducing some truths from others. If we
understand philosophy in the second sense, viz.
subjectively, sceptics may be recorded among phi-
losophers, as being always searcliing after truth, but
never coming to a resolution on the certainty of
any thing. But if we place philosophy in the for-
mer, (where we may with more propriety,) they
have no claim to be classed with philosophers.
Philosophy by some is divided into true and
false.
True philosophy is that which is founded upon
right reason. Pliilosophy does not deserve the
name of false, because there is no such thing. Phi-
PELAGIUS. 289
losopliy is by others called eclectic ; this name was
given to those who, out of doctrines and opinions
which they had heard or read, chose what they
thought l)est, and most agreeable to truth and
reason.
The objects of philosophy are truth and goodness ;
and the end of it, the true happiness of mankind.
Philosophy is again divided into instrimie)ital,
theoretical, and practical. The first part of philo-
sophy is logic, which is instrumental, or, as Aristotle
called it, organon, a machine, because it is to the
mind what an instrument is to the body. I cannot
cleave a piece of wood with my hand, but easily
with an axe ; so logic affords proper help and as-
sistance to the mind for investigating truth, and
distinguishing it from falsehood.
But it is necessary to give the derivation , of the
word logic. It comes from the word logos, i. e.
sermo, or ratio ; and it is very probable it comes
from logos in the last sense, because it is the art of
reasoning. Though some who occupy themselves
in trifling speculations, call it sermo, because,
say they, thoughts are the internal speeches of
mind. The object of logic is truth in general ; and
the end of it, the investigating of truth, and com-
municating it to others.
Logic may be defined the science for discovering
and propagating truth. A science is any part of
learning which depends upon seK-evident truths or
undoubted principles. Hence logic may justly be
termed a science, because it is founded upon axioms
or self-evident principles. Truth is, as it were, hid-
* u
290 ASCETIC WRITERS.
den in a pit, and logic is the ladder by wliicli we
may descend to searcli for it. Truth is Ijlended
with falsehood, and therefore logic is rendered
more necessary, which teaches the method of in-
vestigating truth.
Logic is conversant about three things : —
Pirst — The nature of the human understanding.
Second — The nature of truth.
Third — The method of investigating truth and
communicating it to others.
The nature of the human understanding, which
is divided into two principal faculties, the under-
standing and the will. The understanding is chiefly
conversant about truth ; the will, about goodness.
In the understanding mind there are certain ideas
which experience tells us are infinite in their num-
ber. Plato, and the philosophers of his time, were
of opinion, that these ideas were stamped or im-
printed iipon the mind of man from its first forma-
tion, ])y the Author of nature ; and these were
called innate truths or ideas.
The idea we have of immaterial things comes
from the inward man; that is, by reflecting on
what passes in the human mind. Hence some are
to be found fault with in saying we have our ideas
of immaterial things from material things, as the
passions of hope and fear, joy, anger, &c. These
could never be acquired by material objects. Thus,
suppose a man void of any of the passions, as for
example, anger ; he could never form an idea of it
from merely seeing a man in a rage, with his
countenance changed, and speaking loudly; but
PELAGIUS. 291
tliat which gives him an idea of it, is by reflecting
on what passed in his o\Yn mind when he was
affected with this passion ; for, until he feel it
himself, he can never have a just idea of it. ^^Tien
the mind is furnished with a considerable num-
ber of ideas, the first thing which occupies it is,
the comparing two of them together, to see whether
they be equal or unequal, whether they agree or
disagree ; as when we see a child that knows the
difference between a book and a leaf of paper, by
lifting and comparing them together. But when
the objects cannot be removed and applied to one
another, as two buildings, we must have recourse
to some intermediate measure, as a rope, yard,
&c., and measure the one, and then the other, and
see whether they agree or disagree.
There are three acts of the mind, which are called
perception, judgment, and reasoning. First, Per-
ception is that which we barely perceive, without
passing any judgment upon it, as the fire, a house,
the sun, moon, or stars, &c. This is called percep-
tion, and sometimes apprehension. Second, Judg-
ment is the comparing of two ideas together, as, I
have an idea of Grod, and another of justice, and
can judge that God is just, for I see that these ideas
agree. Third, E;easoning is the third act of the
mind : it takes place when two thmgs cannot be
afiirmed to agree or disagree without the help of
some intermediate idea, as for example, I want
to compare my soul with matter. I cannot do it
immediately, but I find out an intermediate idea, a
middle term, which is tJiinhing. I first compare
u 2
292 ASCETIC WRITERS.
tliinldng with matter, and I find it does not agree
with it, then I conclude that my soul is not matter.
If we were only endued with these three faculties,
all our knowledge would be very confined, and would
depend upon things present ; for example, if I were
shut up in a room tallciug with a man, then all my
knowledge would he confined mthin these walls ;
but the Author of Nature hath endowed us with an
act of the mind called the imagination, whereby we
can excite the ideas that were formerly in our mind
from the world around us : the imagination is the
knowledge of things absent as if they were present.
I can form an idea of a horse or an ape, though
they do not immediately aff'ect my senses : thus
the imagination brings into our mind the ideas we
formerly had. By the help of the imagination we
can excite the ideas of objects, corporeal things,
and exert certain faculties about them. I think
there are four such faculties, viz. Compounding, Dis-
cerning, 'Recalling, and Retaining.
Pirst — Compounding is the combining or gather-
ing our ideas into one collection, as the idea of a
unit ; and ]3y joining as many ideas to it as make a
dozen, or a score, I have as distinct an idea of these
numbers as I have of a unit. Wliat would be our
condition if we wanted this faculty ? We should
then have no idea, for example, of the college, be-
cause it consisted of many houses ; but only of our
room ; and so of other things which consist of parts.
Second — Discerning, or distinguishing, is the
separating our ideas from one another. I have an
idea of two men being intimate friends ; I cannot
PELAGIUS. 293
distill guisli tlie one from the other, in their friend-
ship.
Third — Recalling is the bringing back into our
minds the ideas we formerly had. By this act we
remember our former acts. It is commonly called
the memory, which is, as it were, the repository of
all our ideas.
Pourth — Retaining is the keeping in our mind
the idea of an absent corporeal object excited in
our mind bv the imas^ination. I have the idea of
a triangle, and can retain it in my mind until I
have compared all its parts. But it is almost im-
possible for one to keep his thoughts for a month
or two fixed upon one object, on account of the
vast number of ideas that crowd in upon us : no
sooner does one disappear than another appears.
Hence, this faculty of retaining is so imperfect in
some men, that it renders them very unfit for ac-
quiring knowledge, because they cannot keep in
their minds any thing so long as to examine and
consider its properties and qualities.
Thus, then, that faculty which keeps and retains
an idea for some time is exceedingly useful to
man ; and without which all our ideas would be
jumbled together as a chaos.
There are three / other faculties : Comparing^
Naming, and Ranging of oiu' ideas into different
classes.
Pirst — Comparing our ideas together; namely,
two triangles together to find the difference.
Second — Naming is an act of the mind, by which
we express om* ideas by articulate sounds, called
294i ASCETIC WRITERS.
words, in order to distinguish one thing from
another. Words are nothing else but the marks
of our thoughts, by which we keep converse, and
communicate our knowledge one with another.
Third — Hanging, or reducing our ideas into pro-
per classes. To illustrate these, we observe that
many things produced by nature have a certain
resemblance one with another; as, when we ob-
serve a certain rank of beings of an erect form,
with their heads set, so as to make them look
towards heaven ; these we commonly comprehend
under one general class called men : so also as
to horses, birds, and fishes. If we had not this
faculty we should be obliged to give a name to
every individual, which, in the first place, would
be impossible, because no man could be endowed
with such a memory as to find a name to every
grain of sand, or single hair ; and even if we were,
it would be idle and superfluous, because by nam-
ing the hairs of our head we could not convey any
diff^erent idea to ourselves or others. However,
there are some classes that occur in common con-
versation, of which we are obliged to call every
individual thing by a particular name, for distinc-
tion sake, in order to excite the same idea which
is in the minds of others. Hence, every man is
called by a particular name; and it is even the
same with horses sometimes. In like manner
sportsmen distinguish dogs ; and we call countries
and kingdoms by particular names, for no other
reason than because they frequently occur in com-
mon conversation ; and we thus communicate a dis-
PELAGIUS. 295
tinct idea of them into the minds of others. The
shepherd calls his dog by name ; but he need not
use this formality to his sheep. But we may pro-
ceed further. All those who have life, and are
endued with spontaneous motion, we call by the
name animal. Yet some who are more speculative
have found out a more general name, under which
we may comprehend all things which have life,
whether rational, sensitive, vegetative, called by the
name vivens. Some have gone further, and have
comprehended all things material under one name,
called substance. But there is another power of
the mind wliereby we make one singular idea
universal. Every idea as it enters the mind is
single, and we make it complex by making that
simple idea represent a whole class of things ; as
when I have the idea of a book, by abstraction I
can make it represent all books, of different sizes. If
we had not this act of the imagination, we could not
have a general idea, but only l3e conversant about
individuals ; as we could not have the idea of a
triangle in general, but only of some certain one.
Thus it is by the act of compounding we combine our
ideas, excited in the mind by the imagination, into
one collection ; then by an act Ave can imagine a
pole which reached from our eyes to the stars ; and
first having a notion of gold, and then of a mount,
we can form the idea of a golden mountain, a sea
of milk, &c., which are called creatures in the mind^
but not in the nature of things.
Again, ideas which contradict and destroy one
another, which neither exist in the mind nor in the
296 ASCETIC WRITERS.
nature of things, are called nonentia, as a square
circle, since the imagination may compound ideas
which cannot exist in nature. To prevent being
led into errors and mistakes, there is need of the
judgment to distinguish these ideas from real ones ;
hence it is that he whose judgment predominates
is fit for philosophy, the civil laws, &c. ; and he
who excels in the acts of the imasrination is best
qualified for poetry and oratory ; and he that ex-
cels in memory is fit for acquiring the languages.
Since the mind of man is endued Tvdth such acts or
faculties, how comes it to pass that we often em-
brace falsehood and fall into errors ? It has been
a question much agitated among philosophers,
what is the source and spring of all errors and
mistakes P One of the ancient philosophers im-
putes it to the depravity of the will ; but others
say that it is the limited natui'e of the human
mind, and the understanding being so narrowly
confined is the source of all errors and mistakes.
The prejudices of autliority and 'precipitancy aj;e
the chief leadino' causes of error.
First, the prejudice of authority is defined to be
the embracing of or rejecting an opinion without
thoroughly examining into it, upon the qualifica-
tions or endowments of the persons who maintain
it, as children are obliged to obey their superiors,
parents,' and nurses, and to believe for truth what-
ever they say, since they cannot search into the
arguments upon which the doctrine is supposed to
rest. So when they come to the years of maturity,
and are able to converse with their acquaintances,
PELAGIUS. 297
and the doctrines are never contradicted which
were tokl them by their nurses, parents, or others,
in their tender years, they make such impression
upon their minds, that they think them sacred,
and a thing unpardonable to part with them as
long as they live. Another instance is this ; many
follow the opinion of Zeno, who said there was no
vacuum. In this country, we believe the contrary.
Besides, there is a prejudice in religion, as we see
from experience; for almost whatever doctrines
prevail in the country where we are brought up,
we adhere to without examining them, chiefly be-
cause the minister or people around us maintain
them.
There are more prejudices, as those of antiquity,
honour, fame, and probability ; and there is a pre-
judice which is still more ridiculous, as we see most
common people believe what theu' rich superiors
say, because they are rich, and for no other reason.
Thus far concerning the prejudice of authority.
Second. The next grand prejudice is that of
'precipitancy or rashness. It is defined to be a re-
jecting or embracing an opinion without acearately
considering it, as we see most people are averse to
reasoning or entering into a long series of argu-
ments whereby they may prove the principle they
embrace, and are content with a superficial know-
ledge of them ; and their minds are often changed
with the books they read, or by the arguments
they hear advanced about any subject. Por ex-
ample, when they hear the argument raised to
prove the immortality of the soul, they easily as-
298 ASCETIC WRITERS.
sent to it ; and when tliey hear the argument as-
serted, to prove the contrary, they as easily embrace
it, and alter their opinions as often as they hear
different arguments offered.
Under this class may be comprehended that
prejudice which is called a spirit of contradiction.
We see a great many show their wit and learning
in contradicting whatever arguments they hear
advanced either on the right or wrong side of the
question; and also a great many debates g^rise
about the meaning of words in matters of religion.*
On the Thinking Principle of Animals.
It has been often a keenly agitated question
whether the lower orders of creation perceive ideas
as we do. Some of the ancient philosophers, who
abounded in nice distinctions, particularly those
who resided at Alexandria, divided souls into three
kinds — rational^ sensitive, and vegetative. The first
was given to man, the second to animals, and the
third to plants.
There were two philosophers who made no
small noise in Arabia, about fifty years ago, that
maintained that animals were susceptible of sensa-
tions from external objects, and, consequently, that
they had a sensitive soul, but were deprived of a
perceptive one, whereby they are prevented from
reflecting upon their own inward sensations, and
from comparing two or more ideas together.
* See Los Padres del Disierto. Madrid 15G4. 2 A"ol. Art. St. Pelagiiis.
PELAGirs. 299
I have often perused with amusement the treatise
on this subject, composed by the good Nemesius,
Bishop of Emessa, who was a decided advocate for
giving certain animals credit for a great share of
artifice and prudent calculation. He cited a variety
of instances which had come under his own per-
sonal observations, wherein great msdom and fore-
thought were clearly manifested in the animal
nature. But it must be allowed on all hands, that
there is something pre-eminent about man, over
all classes of the living creation.*
* See Los Padres del Disierto. Madrid 1564. 2 Vol. Art. St. Pelagius.
300 PUINCIPLE OP AUTHORITY
CHAPTER XXIX.
ON THE PRINCIPLE .OF AUTHORITY, IN MATTERS
OF PPIILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY, MAINTAINED
BY THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH.
In cultivating an acquaintance witli pliilosopliy,
it was natural for the Eatliers of the Church to
view all its principles through the medium of the
doctrines contained in revelation. A rigid exami-
nation of every abstract proposition grounded on
human nature, would he instituted with a view of
ascertaining all its hearings upon vital questions
of faith and duty. This practice, so natural to
men placed in their situation, would almost insen-
sibly suggest rules and maxims of religious autho-
rity. Human nature, in its widest range, was the
common arena of disputation, both for philosophers
and theologians. It was the source from which
both drew all their materials, though they received
them through different channels. Philosophers spe-
culated in the closet ; theologians in society ; the
one illustrated their principles by mental abstrac-
tions, the other by the every day scenes of life and
character. The theologian would, in consequence.
MAINTAINED BY THE FATHERS. 301
be powerfully iuclined to appeal to human autho-
rity, in support of his general views and abstract
principles of human nature. The ordinary modes
of thinking and l^eling among mankind would be
constantly referred to, and become invested, in
his eyes, with an authority in matters of specula-
tion, from which there could be no philosophical
appeal.
The every-day discharge of the arduous and
important duties of the Clergy, would invariably
strengthen this principle of authority. A Divine
Revelation is of itself an act of authority of the most
comprehensive and decided nature. It is opposed
to the doctrine of the infallibility of human reason ;
it deiines limits to speculative inquiries ; it directs
them into particular channels ; and renders them
subordinate to certain ulterior purposes and ends.
This revelation, therefore, involved the doctrine of
authority, in all its fulness and purity, and could
not but prove powerfully influential on the minds
of those, whose herculean labours were du'ected
towards its extensive promulgation among man-
kind.
It must have proved, also, not a little influential
on the minds of the Eathers, that many of the
ancient heathen philosophers, whose writings were
famiKar to them, acknowledge the necessity of some
divine authority and communication, to direct men
to sound and wholesome conclusions on philoso-
phical doctrines and systems. The Pathers were
acquainted with the declarations, on this point, of
302 PRINCIPLE OF AUTHORITY
Pythagoras,* Socrates, f Plato, J Aristotle, § Hip-
pocrates, 1| Cicero,^ Catullus,** and Seneca.ff
Indeed this question of religious authority has
always, since the introduction oi Christianity, heen
more or less a suhject of discussion ; and has exer-
cised over speculative philosophy a much more ex-
tensive influence, hoth directly and indirectly, than
is commonly imagined. In our o\^ti day, especially
in continental countries, it is quite a popular con-
troversy ; and it may be considered as a singular
thing, in the history of modern speculation, to find
some of the most distinguished of the German me-
taphysicians maintaining the necessity of a divine
revelation to guide mankind in their philosophical
inquiries. To hear this from Pichte, Schelling,
Hegel, and Herder, whose speculative systems lead,
by a short route, to absolute pantheism, must
be considered as something both curious and in-
structive.
St. Justin, after having alluded to the disputes
among philosophers, and the uncertainty of almost
every fundamental principle which they have at-
tempted to establish, attributes this unsatisfactory
state of affairs, to the opinions they entertained as
to the infallibility of human reason, and the vain
attempt to dispense with instruction. " Quod a
peritis dlscere noluerint, sed esse existimaverint
* Deinoph. Lact. Pythagoras. f Memorab. Socrat. 1. 4.
X Phfcdo.'p. 83. § De Alundo. Cap. 4,
II Book. 3. II De Legg. 1. 7- 2. 14.
** Liber 64. Ver. 385 et seq. ft Lpis. JJO.
MAINTAINED BY THE FATHERS. 303
mentis liumanse solertia claram coelestiuni reriim
cognitionem assequi posse, cum ue terrestrium.
quiclem potuerint." And he concludes T\-ith refer-
ring to the doctrines of the ancients, who had faith-
fully transmitted the truth to us, which they had
originally received from God himself. " Quocirca,
ciim veri nihil de E^eligione a doctorihus vestris
(Grsecis) prgecipi posse constet, et idoneum satis
documentum vobif ignorationis ipsi suae per dissi-
dentes inter se factiones exhibuerint, reliquum esse
opinor, ut ad majores nostros revertamur, qui et
magistros vestros longe tempore anteverterunt, et
nihil de suis ipsorum cogitationibus et placitis
docuerunt ; minim e ipsi mutuis dissensionibus in-
vicem conflictantes, aut alii aliorum dicta evertere
in anunum inducentes ; quippe qui omni conten-
tionis studio et factionum dissidio liberi, sicuti a
Deo acceperunt, ita nobis doctrinam tradidermit."
Hernias descants upon the errors and contradic-
tory systems of philosophers ; and contrasts their
pretended knowledge, ^^dth the certainty of that
which is transmitted to all mankind by tradition.
*' Beatus apostolus Paulus, Corinthiis, qui juxta
Laconicam Grseciam habitant, scribens, cluu pro-
nunciavit sapientiam mundi hujus apud Deimi
stultitiam esse, prseter rei yeritatem locutus non
est. Videtur enim mihi ab anc^elorum defec-
tione principium repetiisse, cur philosophorum
decreta inter se neque consentiant neque appro-
bentur."
Clement of Alexandria maintains that the first
principles of philosophy are obtained by faith, and
304 PRINCIPLE OF AUTHORITY
not by demonstration. " Ostensmn est principil
Tiniversorum esse earn, quae fide liabetur, scientiam,
non autem demonstrationem." [Stromat. lib. 2.)
He says, besides, that common sense should form
the basis of all demonstration, and that the human
mind, in all its investigations, ought to set out
from an immutable principle, which can only be
established by faith. " Si ejus quod est certuni et
extra controversiam referatur fides ad id quod
omnes confitentur, illud est constituendum doc-
trinjB principium. ... Si est demonstratio, omnino
necesse est prius esse aliquid ex se credibile quod
quidem dicitur primum et indemonstrabile. Ad
fidem ergo indemonstrabilem reducitur omnis de-
monstratio." {Ibid. lib. 8.)
In opposition to the incredulity, that faith is the
foundation of all our knowledge and movements,
St. Theophilus of Antioch says, " Quid, obsecro,
incredulus es ? Non animadvertis actiones omnes
antecedere • fidem ? Quis, cedo, agricola metere
potest, nisi prius semen credat sulcis ? Quis mare
poterit trajicere, nisi prius semetipsum credat navi
et gubernatori ? Quis, morbis implicitus, sanitatem
recuperare poterit, nisi semetipsum prius credat
medico ? Quam artem, quam scientiam quis dis-
cere poterit, nisi prius semetipsum tradiderit et
credlderit prseceptori ? Si igitur agricola credit
telluri, navigaturus navi, infirmus medico, tune
refugis temetipsum credere Deo, a quo tot fidei
arrhabones accepisti."
Tertullian calls philosophers the 'patriarchs of
heretics.
MAINTAINED BY THE FATHERS. 305
Origen proclaims that all human things depend
upon faith. Quomodo Deo credere non sit ration!
cousentaneum magis, ciim a fide omnia hummia
pendeant? {Cont. Celsus, lib. 1.)
Arnohius says, in his work against the Gentiles,
that we can explain nothing without faith, which
is the foundation of the social and scientific order
of things. " Itaque cum nobis intenditis aversionem
a religione priorum, causam convenit ut inspiciatis,
non factum ; nee quid reliquerimus opponere, sed
secuti quid simus potissunum, contueri. Nam si
niutare sententiam culpa est ulla vel crimen, et a
veteribus institutis in alias res novas voluntatesque
migrare, criminatio ista et vos spectat, qui toties
vitam consuetudinemque mutastis ; qui in mores
alios atque alios ritus, priorum condemnatione
transistis."
St. Augustine wrote a book on the utUitij, or
necessity, of faith. He urges that every one ought
to commence bv faith ; for without it there can be no
soKd foundation for rational religion. He says that
the medicine of the soul consists of two ingredients,
mithority and reason. Authority acts by faith, and
prepares the way for reason, and by this means in-
tellectual knowledge is created. [See De ut'ilit. cre-
dendi, &c.]
In the works of Theoderet there are long and
numerous passages to be found, in favour of the
same doctrine.
Vincent of Lerins maintains that faith is in
strict conformity Avith human nature. Faith is the
basis upon which the natural order of things rests.
306 PRINCIPLE OF AUTHOUITY
It guides US in all our actions ; is common to all
men ; and it may safely be concluded, from these
facts, that if it be necessary in matters of human
knowledge, how much more necessary must it be in
matters appertaining to heavenly things.
Lactantius estabhshes the necessity of attending
to traditionary and revealed knowledge, as helps to
reason and judgment. (See Dwin. Inst. lib. 1. 3. 7.)
St. Hilary says, "Non est de Deo humanis judiciis
sentiendum; a Deo dlscendum est, quod de Deo
intelligendum sit ; quia non nisi autore cognosci-
tur." {De Tr'm. lib. 5.)
We have the principle of authority still more
minutely and forcibly stated by St. Peter the
Anchorite, who lived about the middle of the fifth
century. This pious recluse states his case in the
following manner. —
" To the ears of the enemies of our holy faith,
and to those latitudinarian people who never care
much about any thing serious, the authority of the
Church is a matter of ridicule and mockery. But
not so to the humble and intelligent Christian. It
is his constant theme of exultation, the foundation
of all his hopes, and the never-failing stimulant to
all his exertions. Without authority, human and
Divine, such a thing as a Church could not exist,
any more than the human body could exist without
a soul."
" But men even of intelligence and piety greatly
perplex themselves and others, with abstruse specu-
lations upon the nature of ecclesiastical authority,
and from whom it derives its life and power;
MAINTAINED RY THE FATHETIS. 307
whereas the matter appears somewhat plain to me.
It is quite obvious that the spmtual authority of
the Church, (for I am only considering it in this
light) must be involved in every revelation from
heaven. This revelation must be simply the decla-
rations'or commands of the Deity to men. Authority
is here implied in the very act of revelation, and
arises from the relative situation of the lawgiver,
and those who receive his commands or precepts.
To argue, therefore, that church authority has no
foundation, is in fact to argue that there was no
revelation at all. And it has often appeared to me
that this is the only consistent result to which a
man can arrive, if he doubt at all the obligations
and injunctions of ecclesiastical authority. No
communication from heaven, no matter for what
end, could ever be of ])encfit to any save those who
immediately heard it, if the principle of authority
be once shaken or denied. Por in order to transmit
the revelation from those to whom it was imme-
diately given, to the next generation, reliance, the
most perfect and unconditional, must be placed upon
the words and declarations of men ; otherwise the
thinc^ revealed is at an end. There is no channel
for its perpetuity to succeeding races of men.
Authority, which is simply faith in the declarations
of a particular set of men relative to a particular
matter, is the verv essence of all revealed truth,
and the vital principle by which alone its life can
be preserved."
" Now if this be the nature of church authority,
when considered in relation to those who imme-
x2
308 PRINCIPLE OP AUTHOEITY
diatelv receive a Divine communication, it must still
retain all its leading attributes, when descending
the stream of time, among succeeding ages of men.
The perfect unity of its nature can never he de-
stroyed. There is the same obligation for us to be
guided by the authority of St. Athanasius or St.
Augustine, as lay upon them to respect the authority
of the Church under St. Justin or Irenaeus ; and
the latter to respect the authority of the Apostles
and their immediate successors. All is suspended
as it were by a chain, the first link of which is fixed
in the heavens, and +he last touches the earth. But
I think I hear a question put to me, ' Pray do you
say that every thing which a nmnber of the clergy
affirm is to be the unerring rule of my faith and
conduct ? Is my judgment or reason to have no
part in the matter ?' Now I would answer to
this very natural and pertinent question, that you
are under no obligation to attend to what they
command, if they tender you no proofs of their
authority. But then the clergy of the Church always
carry the instruments of their power mth them ;
that is, the word of God, of which they are the ex-
pounders and interpreters. This word, as they now
give it to you, they received from their immediate
predecessors, who again received it from theirs ; and
so on, till they came to the Apostles and Prophets
themselves, who were the recipients of the direct
wiU of God."
" I can conceive it consistent for a man who im-
piously denies the existence of a divine revelation,
to deny also religious authority ; but for any one
MAINTAINED BY THE FATHERS. 309
to pretend to believe the divine origin of the Scrip-
tures, and yet deny the authority and power of the
Church in matters of religious opinion and belief,
is to me one of the most contradictory things
imaginable. Indeed, it seems to me unreasonable
for men to object to Church authority, inasmuch
as the same thing is to be found in ordinary life.
What is called public opinion, the general voice of
the world, common sense, and such like things,
are nothing but modes of expression to indicate
human authority displaying itself in matters of
general and universal interest. Much of the every-
day knowledge of the world, which we have all
more or less to be acquainted with, and to put in
practice, is derived from sheer acts of human au-
thority. Men are guided in their conduct by it,
and pay a hallowed reverence to its injunctions.
If this were not the case, the world would l)e in a
most lamentable condition. The analogy is com-
plete between hmnan authority in worldly aifairs,
and religious authority in matters of theology. In
the concerns of life there are certain latitudes al-
lowed for a difference of opinion and conduct ; but
essential and vital principles are of universal appli-
cation, and objects of universal belief. So in mat-
ters of theology, a certain sphere is permitted for
non-essentials ; but general and vital doctrines are
of paramount obligation and necessity for man's
salvation."*
* Dies y siete Coloquios y Discursos varios, Salamanca, 1593. Vol. 1
pp. 310. 316. Flos Sanctorum, Madrid, 1710. 2 vols. Origen de lo
Frayles Ermitanos, Barcelo. 1628.
310 AUTHORITY OF THE FATHERS.
Every one aequamted with the philosophical
doctrines zealoLisly promulgated both on the conti-
nent of Europe and in Great Britain within the
last century, vnR readily recognise, in these state-
ments, the outlines or germs of some favourite theo-
ries of metaphysical theology. These will he more
fully developed in another part of this Work.
ON MOHAL EVIDENCE. 311
CHAPTER XXX.
ON MORAL EVIDENCE, AFTER THE FULL ESTABLISH-
MENT OF CHRISTIANITY.
There was no department of human knowledge
which received such a marked accession of improve-
ment, after the introduction and establishment of the
Christian dispensation, as the principles, rules, and
maxims appertaining to moral evidence. Here, in
a comparatively short space of time, great altera-
tions were effected ; general principles of evidence
were more firmly grounded in the minds of men ;
their various applications and modifications were
more clearly defined ; and the whole framework of
reasoning, on subjects connected with human na-
ture, was more widely and securely extended over
its former foundation. All this had a weighty in-
fluence over the moral, religious, intellectual, and
social condition of mankind.
The introduction of Christianity threw an im-
portant element into the arena of human disputa-
tion. Here a great number of new principles were
announced ; new doctrines unfolded ; novel motives
312 ON MOHAL EVIDENCE.
to human action enforced ; a fresh catalogue of
future rewards and punishments published ; an im-
mense variety of mii'acles, facts, supernatural ap-
pearances, historical declarations, personal narra-
tives, deeds, exploits, sayings, and observations,
were made known ; and more full and conclusive
illustrations of all those elementary and abstract
principles of theology, morals, and civil institutions,
which the pure light of nature had previously sug-
gested to men's minds, were furnished to the think-
ing part of mankind. This immense augmentation
of materials for reasoning overwhelmed the narrow
framework which heathen philosophy and logic had
erected, and compelled the application of a more
comprehensive and accurate instrument for the in-
vestigation and establishment of truth, than had
liitherto been employed.
It is quite obvious to ordinary readers, that the
modes of reasoning generally prevalent amongst
the heathen sages, were marred and disfigured by
a perpetual inclination for sophistical wrangling
and ingenious trifling. These were their great lo-
gical besetting sins. When, therefore, Christianity
took a firm hold of men's minds, these imperfec-
tions were gradually removed. Men disputed and
argued under the influence of more powerful and
lofty motives than hitherto. Truth was not now a
mere toy or plaything, but a matter of deep and
universal concern ; and on this account it was to
be enforced and promulgated with becoming seri-
ousness, and under the most weighty and biading
obligations. Hence it is, that we perceive the great
ON MORAL EVIDENCE. 313
change wliicli men's minds underwent by reason of
the Christian faith, and how firmly and judiciously
were important bulwarks erected, to preserve men
from falling again into the sea of universal scep-
ticism and doubt.
It is a difficult matter to give a full and precise
definition of what is meant by moral evidence. It
is not confined to matters of mere morals, but em-
braces a wider range, and is commonly understood to
comprehend all those topics connected Avith the na-
ture of man as a moral, an intellectual, a religious,
and a sociable being. It is in this acceptation that
we emplov the term moral evidence. It must be
obvious, that the principles connected mth subjects
so important and varied must be very numerous,
and would require, for their full development, a
space far beyond what can be allotted. Our re-
marks must, therefore, be of a very general nature ;
but, it is confidently hoped, they will not be alto-
gether unsuitable or unprofitable.
The fu'st principle which was firmly established,
relative to the nature of moral proof, at the period
of the establishment of Christianity, was the de-
fining of the nature of moral evidence from other
kinds and descriptions of e\ddence. This was a
most important matter ; not only to the moral,
intellectual, and social interests of mankind, but
also to their religious welfare and interests. This
distinction lay at the foundation of all theological
discussions, and proved of incalculable value to the
Ancient Pathers in their disputes with the heathen
philosophers, and in their systematic expositions of
311 ON MORAL EVIDENCE,
Gospel truth. It was clearly pointed out that mo-
ral evidence differed essentially from demonstrative
evidence. That no facts or arguments grounded on
human nature, stood in the same relation to abstract
truth, as arithmetical numbers or mathematical
forms.
Moral evidence, at this period, vras considered to
consist of two leading parts or divisions ; namely,
observation or experience, and testimony.
Experience was considered as particular and ge-
neral ; particular when applied to a man's own ob-
servation, and general when derived from the com-
mon observation of mankind. These two kinds are
mixed and blended together in a variety of propor-
tions ; and this amalgamation gives rise to a vast
portion of our knowledge, and to the diversified
means of applying it to our circumstances in life.
Testimony was considered of two kinds, divine
and human. Divine testimony was looked upon
as the highest degree of moral evidence ; for nothing
could be considered as untrue, if revealed from God
himself. This was, in all its leading features, a new
species of evidence, arising out of revealed religion,
of which mankind had no conception till the intro-
duction of the Christian system.
Human testimony is of various kinds ; single and
compound, direct and indirect, written and unwrit-
ten. But all human testimony must be modified
by experience ; and it is only when taken in con-
junction with it, that this species of evidence can
lead us to safe conclusions.
This mixture of experience with testimony gives
ON MORAL EVIDENCE. 315
rise to a multitude of rules respecting the evidence
of things in general. The nature of the matters
submitted to our judgment ; the character and num-
ber of the observers ; what were their opportunities
for careful observations ; are all important elements
arising out of this combination.
Besides these there is analogy, which is often mis-
taken for experience. It is an im23ortant branch
of moral evidence. In addition, we have the ^j^'^-
stmiptive, ov internal evidence of things, which forms
a considerable portion of what goes under the de-
nomination of moral evidence.
Certain rules of application arise out of these
general principles. These are very numerous, and
of infinite utility for the advancement of truth.
There is, 1st. The necessary personal qualifications
to discuss any particular question. A man may be
wholly incapable of discussing a question, from ig-
norance, the force of prejudice, interested views,
and manv other causes. 2nd. We must be sruided
in all our inquiries by strict rules of evidence ; these
must not, on any account, be lost sight of. 3rd.
"We should in all discussions endeavour to look out
for, and make our observations and illustrations
subservient to, some general principle, on which
the whole question may rest. This is of singular
importance ; as it strengthens the mind, and gives
it a just confidence in its own movements.
These were some of the leading principles re-
specting moral evidence, which are conspicuously
illustrated by the writings of the learned, after the
introduction of Christianity. From its first an-
316 ON MORAL EVIDENCE.
nouncement, till its firm establishment in all the
seats of learning and science, we find a gradual pro-
gress was made towards rational and enlightened
principles of discussion. The peculiar nature of
the Gospel aided this ; because it contained every
variety of fact and doctrine which were calculated
to excite profound and interesting disputes amongst
the learned men of the day, whether Christian or
heathen.
HUMAN ACTION. 317
CHAPTER XXXI.
ON THE OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS OF THE
CHURCH, ON THE LIBERTY AND NECESSITY OF
HUMAN ACTIONS.
The doctrine of the necessity or lil^erty of the
human will, decidedly belongs to the science of
metaphysics. It is not only a very curious and in-
teresting question, when considered in reference to
the variety and forcible nature of opposing argu-
ments involved in it ; hut it is also of the highest
importance to our welfare as moral and religious
agents. It cannot therefore be considered out of
place, in a history of this kind, to give a succinct
outline of the sentiments of the Philosophical
Eathers of the Church, on this interesting topic ; a
topic which it requires no keen prophetic powers to
divine, will ever remain a standing subject of dis-
cussion amongst mankind. As the question is so
intimately blended with theological and moral doc-
trines and principles of the utmost moment, it can-
not Imt prove of use to students of theology and the
kindred science of morals, as well as to the general
reader, to have an epitome of the opinions of the
318 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
early sages of the Christian dispensation, on a doc-
trine of such importance and interest.
It is a common, but a very superficial notion,
that the doctrines of free-will and necessary con-
nexion, are purely speculative crotchets, and have
little or no legitimate bearing, either directly or
indirectly, upon any portion of really useful human
knowledge. Now, it so happens, that these doc-
trines are vitally interwoven with all natural
and revealed religion; and there has not been
a single controversy about the principles of either,
or their application to human conduct, that has
not arisen directly out of these philosophical
doctrines. And a moment's consideration must
prove sufficient to convince us that this could not be
otherwise. E^eligion is a system of duties and obliga-
tions, and of rewards and punishments. This must
of course relate to a code of laws, and to beings who
have to attend to it, and to reap the fruits of their
observance or neglect of it. Here the elements of
j)Ower in the lawgiver to enact and enforce, and in
the agent to obey, are at once appealed to, and our
constitutional notions of the nature and limits of
both, become the subject of eager discussion and
intense interest. This is the prolific germ of all the
different systems and views of religious truth ; and
a firm foundation is here laid, as long as the human
mind is constituted as it now is, for an extensively
varied outline of religious doctrine and l)elief.
It woLild necessarily lead us too much into detail,
were we to illustrate this position by a reference to
all the religious controversies for the last eighteen
ON HUMAN ACTION. 319
liundred years. The bare enumeration of tliem
would be scarcely possible within the limits of an
ordinary volume. But we may be allowed to glance
at some of the more prominent ones, with which
every theological student is supposed to be fami-
liarly acquainted.
On the very first introduction of Christianity,
we find that the doctrines of grace, original sin, and
predestination, were eager topics of discussion in the
religious community. Dr. Priestley, in his " Cor-
ruptions of Christianity," boldly afiirms that these
doctrines were scarcely knowai until the fourth cen-
tury, but this is evidently a great mistake. Though
they might not have at first assumed that j)recise
form and character with which they have, in recent
times, been invested, yet the ^;rw?ci7;/^ on which
these doctrines rest, as on a common centre, were
debated by the early Christians with keen perti-
nacity. The Gnostic heresy, introduced into the
Christian church in the first centurv, did in fact
embrace, in point of principle, the whole of these
doctrines within itself. Here we distinctly find
that the principtle of evil was necessarily confined
to, and formed a component part of, all material
objects ; that the divine influence upon man's
life and conduct, was under the direction of this
mechanical association ; and that all diseases, trou-
bles, wars, devastations, and \dces, were necessarily
under the control of a certain species of malignant
demons or spirits. The doctrines of Simon Magus
were essentially the same as those of the Gnostics.
He held the eternity of matter, and the influence
320 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
of the evil ])rmciple over the minds of men. The
systems of philosophical theology advocated by
Menander and Cerinthus, who lived a little after
Simon Magus, are precisely similar to his in all
their leading features. The Gnostic Theory was
the parent of this entire and numerous brood of
heretical notions.
The famous Pelagian controversy, in the fourth
century, related to the powers of the human will.
This celebrated dispute branched out into various
ramifications, and kept the minds of speculative
disputants in full activity for some centuries after-
wards. Some took a certain portion of human
liberty, and others took a little less, into their
respective systems, and this discretionary licence
gave rise to numerous distinctions, ^\ hich the lapse
of ages has buried in forgetfulness.
Then follow the fierce and long continued con-
tests of the Schoolmen. Here we find the doctrines
of liberty and necessity fully entered into and dis-
cussed in all their bearings and dependences.
The learning and genius employed on this occasion,
have been the theme of admiration of all the specu-
lative theologians of modern times.
The Protestant Reformation brought the doc-
trines of free-will and necessity again into the field
of controversy, with all the stirring interest which
belonged to this singular and important event.
The Roman Catholic notions of human merit, and
the discipline of the Church founded upon them,
were the especial topics of opposition by all the
leading Reformers ; and this circumstance naturally
ON HUMAN ACTION. 321
led them to advance principles of an opposite com-
plexion. Religious controversies of a very extended
nature were the fruits of this conflict.
The writings of Luther, Calvin, Erasmus, Zuin-
glius, Melancthon, and others, as well as the proceed-
ings of the Council of Trent, go to prove the deep in-
terest involved, at the time of the Reformation, in the
doctrines of free-will and fate, and the intimate rela-
tionship conceived to exist between these doctrines
and the principles of natural and revealed religion.
Prom the period of the Reformation to the pre-
sent hour, theological controversies have run in the
same channel. There may have been a change of
names amongst them, and subtle and refined dis-
tinctions made in modern times ; but the essentials
of discussion are precisely similar to those Avhich
have gone the round of the Christian world for tlie
last eighteen hundred years. The doctrines of jus-
tification, redemption, faith, election, the influence
of the Holy Spirit, &c. &c. are to be received on the
authority of Holy Scripture. A spirit of true philo-
sophy should lead us at once to embrace whatever
the Sacred Record teaches; while the disputes which
have ever agitated mankind upon these subjects are
obviously grounded, to a very great extent, upon
peculiar and partial views of the doctrine of human
freedom and necessary connexion: and owe tlieir
very existence to the deep-rooted hold these philo-
sophical speculations have on the primary elements
of the human mind.
We shall now give a short account of the opinions
* y
322 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
of the Christian Fathers of the Church as to their
conceptions of free-wilL These quotations will
clearly show that there was but one opinion amongst
them as to the intimate connexion which exists
between this doctrine, and man's moral and reli-
gious obligations to obey the divine commands.
Ignatius. — " I do not s^ ^Iv of two natures of
men, but that the one man is sometimes of God.
sometimes of the devil. If any one be pious, he is
a man of God ; but if any one be impious, he is a
man of the devil, being made so, not by nature,
but by his own will."
Justin Maiityr. — " God foreknows some who
would be saved by repentance, and some, perhaps,
who are not yet born. But lest any one should ima-
gine that I am asserting that things happen accord-
ing to the necessity of fate, because I have said that
things are foreknown, I proceed to refute that
opinion also. That punishments and chastisements
and good rewards are given according to the worth
of the actions of every one, having learned it from
the prophets, w^e declare it to be true ; since if it
were not so, but all things happen according to
fate, nothing would be in our own power ; for if it
were decreed bv fate that one should be cood and
another bad, no praise would be due to the former,
or blame to the latter. And again, if mankind had
not the power, by free-will, to avoid what is dis-
graceful, and to choose what is good, they would
not be responsible for their actions. But that man
ON HUMAN ACTION. 323
does what is right, and what is wrong, by his own
free choice, we thus prove : we see the same person
passing from one thing to that which is contrary
to it ; hut if it were fated that we shoukl he either
had or good, he would not he capable of doing con-
trary things, or so often change ; but neither would
some be good and others bad, since we should so
declare fate to be the cause of bad things, and to
act contrary to itself. Or that which was before
mentioned would appear to be true, that neither
virtue nor vice is in reality anything, but is only
imagined to be good or bad ; which in truth is the
highest impiety and injustice. But we say that
there is this immutable fate, namely, to those who
choose what is good, a worthy reward; to those
who choose the contrary, a worthy punishment.
For God has not created man like other things, as
trees and four-footed beasts, incapable of acting by
choice ; for then he could not desu'e reward or praise,
not ha\dng chosen good of himself, but being made
so ; nor if he were bad, would he deserve punish-
ment, not being such of himself, but miable to be
anything except that which he was made."
Tatian. — " The Word, before the formation of
men, created angels. But each species of these
created beings was endowed with power over
themselves, not ha\ang natural goodness excejDt
only from God, being perfected by men through
the freedom of choice ; that he who is wicked may
be justly punished, being made wicked by himself;
y2
324 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
and that he who is just may deservedly be iDraised
on account of his good actions, not having, through
his power over himself, transgressed the will of
God. Such is the nature of angels and men. But
the power of the Word having in itself the fore-
knowledge of what would happen, not according to
fate, hut by the determination of free agents, fore-
told future events, and guarded against wickedness
hy prohibitions, and commended those who should
persevere in goodness.
" Free-will destroyed us. Being free we became
slaves ; we were sold because of sin. No evil pro-
ceeds from God. We have produced wickedness,
but those who have produced it have it in their power
again to renounce it."
luEN^TJS. — " John the Baptist, speaking of Christ,
says, ' He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost,
and with fire : whose fan is in his hand, and he will
thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat
into the garner ; but he will burn up the chaff with
unquenchable fire.' He therefore w^ho made the
w^heat, and who made the chaff, are not different
persons, but one and the same person, judging,
that is, separating them. But the corn and chaff
being inanimate and irrational, are made such by
nature. But man, being endowed with reason, and
in this respect like to God, being made free in his
will, and having power over himself, is himself the
cause that sometimes he becomes wheat and some-
times chaff. Wherefore he will also be justly con-
ON HUMAN ACTION. 325
demned ; because being made rational, he lost true
reason, and living irrationally, he opposed the justice
of God, -delivering himsell* up to every earthly spi-
rit, and serving all lusts."
Clement of Alexandria. — "Neither praise, nor
dispraise, nor honours, nor punishments, would be
just, if the soul had not the power of desiring and
rejecting, and if vice were involuntary.
" As, therefore, he is to be commended who uses
his power in leading a virtuous life, so much more
is he to be venerated and adored who has given us
this free and sovereign power, and has permitted us
to live, not ha^dng allowed what we choose or what
we avoid to be subject to a slavish necessity.
" That thing is in our own power, of which we
are equally masters, as of its opposite ; as, to phi-
losophize or not ; to believe or not.
" ' Por therein is the righteousness of God re-
vealed from faith to faith.' The Apostle therefore
seems to announce two faiths, or rather one which
admits of increase and perfection ; for a common
faith is laid as a foundation.
" Since some are without faith and others con-
tentious, all do not obtain the perfection of good.
Nor is it possible to obtain it without our own
exertion. The whole, however, does not depend
upon our own will, for instance our future destiny ;
* for we are saved by grace,' not indeed without
good works. But those who are naturally disposed
to good, must apply some attention to it.
" Faith, although it be a voluntary consent of
326 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
the soul, is, however, the worker of good things,
and the foundation of a right conduct.
" His will is, that we should be saved by our-
selves. This then is the nature of the soul, to move
by itself. Then we who are rational, philosophy
itself being rational, have some relation to it. Wit-
ness, indeed, is a tendency to virtue, but it is not
virtue. All men then, as I said, are qualified by
nature for the acquisition of virtue. But one man
makes a greater progress, another less, both in
knowledge and practice. Therefore some men have
attained even to perfect virtue, but others have
gone only a certain length ; and again others, being
neglected, though they had otherwise a good na-
tural disposition, have turned in an opposite di-
rection.
*' Wlierefore, when we hear ' Thy faith hath
made thee whole,' we do not understand him to say
that men will be saved, however they have believed,
unless good works also shall follow."
Tertullian. — " Every one has a right belonging
to man, and a natural power, to worship that which
he shall think right ; nor is any one injured or be-
nefited by the religion of another. Nor is it any
part of religion to force religion, which ought to be
taken up spontaneously, not by force.
" I find that man was formed by God with free-
will, and with power over himself, observing in him
no image or likeness to God more than in this
respect ; for he was not formed after God, who is
uniform, in face and bodilv lines, which are so va-
ON HUMAN ACTION. 327
rioiis in mankind ; but in that substance which he
derived from God himself, that is, the soul, answer-
ing to the form of God ; and he was stamped Avitli
freedom and power of his will. The law also itself,
which was then imposed by God, confirmed this
condition of man. Por a law would not have been
imposed on a person who had not in his power the
obedience due to the law ; nor again Avould trans-
gression have been threatened mth death, if the
contempt also of the law were not placed to the
account of man's free-will. The same tinner also
you may find in the subsequent laws of the Crea-
tor, when he sets before men good and evil, life and
death, and likewise the whole order of discipline,
arranged by precepts ; God dissuading, and threat-
ening, and exhorting, and man being free and at
liberty to obey or to despise. Por it was necessary
that the image and likeness of God should be form-
ed with a free will in his own power, in which this
very thing, namely, freedom of will and power,
misrht be considered as the imac^e and likeness of
God. He who shoidd be found to be good or bad
by necessity, and not voluntarily, could not mtli
justice receive the retribution of either good or evil.
"Therefore, though we have learnt from the
commands of God both what he wills and what he
forbids, yet we have a will and power to choose
either, as it is written, ' Behold I have set before
you good and evil ; for you have tasted of the tree
of knowledge.' Therefore that which is sul)ject to
our own T\ill, we ought not to refer to the will of
God ; he who wills no evil, wills that we should
328 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
have a will. Thus it is our own will, when we will
evil, contrary to the will of God, who wills that
which is good. Moreover, if you ask whence that
will conies hy which we will anything contrary to
the will of God, I ^vill tell you ; it conies from our-
selves. And not without reason; for you must
resemble the origin from which you sprang, since
Adam, the author both of our race and of sin,
willed that in which he sinned. Eor the devil did
not communicate to him the will to sin, but sup-
plied matter for the will. But the will of God di-
rected him to obedience. Wherefore if you do not
obey God, who having given you a command, has
formed you ^ith a free power, you will voluntarily
fall, by the freedom of your Avill, into that which
God does not will. And thus you think that you
are destroyed by the devil, who although he wills
you to will that which God does not will, yet he
does not cause you to will : because neither did he
compel our first parents to the will of sin ; nor
were they unwilling, nor ignorant of what God
forbade ; for he forbade it to be done when he made
death the consequence of doing it. Therefore the
only work of the devil is, to tempt that which is in
you, whether you ^vill. But when you have willed,
it follows that he turns it to his own purpose (sibi
subjungit,) not having caused the will in you, but
having taken an opportunity to work upon your
will. Therefore, since the will is in ourselves only,
and by it our disposition towards God is proved, I
say that we must deeply and earnestly consider the
will of God." ' -
ON HUMAN ACTION. 329
Origen. — "Moreover, because the soul, having
substance and life in itseK, when it departs out of this
world, will be disposedof accordingtoitsmerits, either
enjoying the inheritance of eternal life and bliss, if
its conduct shall have procured this for it, or suffer-
ing eternal fire and punishment, if the guilt of its
sins shall have thrust it into that condition ; and
because there w^ill be a time of the resurrection of
the dead, when this body, ' which is sot\ti in cor-
ruption, will be raised in incorruption ; and that
which is sown in dishonour ^^dll be raised in glory ;'
this also is settled in the doctrine of the Church,
that every rational soul has free-will, and that it
has to contend against the devil and his angels, and
the powers which oppose it, because they strive to
burden it with sins : but we, if we live rightly and
prudently, endeavour to rescue ourselves from this
kind of burden. "Whence, consequently, we may
understand that we are not subject to necessity, so
as to be compelled by aU means to do either bad or
good things, although it be against our will. Eor
if we be masters of our wiU, some powers, perhaps,
may urge us to sin, and others assist us to safety ;
yet we are not compelled by necessity to act either
rightly or wTongly.
" I assert that man is endoAved with free-will,
declaring that this is the greatest gift conferred
upon him by God, because all other tilings are by
necessity obedient to the command of God. Eor if
you speak of the heaven, it stands bearing the Lord,
330 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
not moved from its appointed place. And if you
choose to speak of the sun, it performs its appoint-
ed motion, not refusing its course, but by necessity
serving the Lord. And in like manner you see the
earth fixed, and hearing the command of him who
ordered. In like manner other things by necessity
serve the Creator, not any one of them being able
to do any other thing than that for which it was
made. Wherefore we do not praise these things
which are thus obedient to the Lord ; nor is any
hope of better things laid up for them, because they
have voluntarily observed what they are command-
ed. But it is the will of God that man should obey
the understanding, and he has received ]iower to
subject himself, not being governed by the necessity
of nature, or destitute of power ; which I say is
being endowed with free-will, for the sake of better
things, that he may receive better things from Him
Avho is more excellent (which is the consequence of
obedience), and moreover, as it were, a debt from
the Creator. Eor I do not say that man was thus
made to his injury, but for the sake of better things.
For if he had been made like one of the elements,
or any thing of that kind, there would have been a
necessity that he should serve God; he would no
longer receive a suitable reward of his choice, but
man would be as an instrument of his Creator, and
he who uses it would be the cause of these thinsrs.
But neither would man have arrived at suj^erior
knowledge, knowing nothing else but that only for
which he was formed. I say therefore that God
ON HUMAN ACTION. 331
has thus honoui'ed man ; it being his will that he
should know better things, he has given him the
power to be able to do what he chooses."
Cypeian. — "That a man has free-will to believe or
not to believe, we read in Deuteronomy, ' I have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing ;
therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed
may live!' Also in Isaiah, 'If ye be willing and
obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land ; but if
ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the
sword ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.'
Also in St. Luke's Gospel, ' The kingdom of God is
within you.' "
EusEBius. — "So that it must be altogether ac-
knowledged that we have liberty, and the free-will
of a rational and intelligent nature.
*' The Creator of all things has impressed a na-
tural law upon the soul of every man, as an assist-
ant and ally in his conduct, pointing out to him
the right way by this law ; but, by the free liberty
with which he is endowed, making the choice of
what is best worthy of praise and acceptance, and
of greater rewards, on account of his good conduct,
because he has acted rightly, not by force, but from
his own free-will, when he had it in liis power to
act otherwise. As again, making him who chooses
what is worst, deserving of blame and punishment,
as having by his OAvn motion neglected the natural
law, and becoming the origin and foundation of
wickedness, and misusing himself, not from any
332 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
extraneous necessity, but from free-will and judg-
ment. The fault is in him who chooses, not in God.
Eor God has not made nature, or the substance of
the soul, bad ; for he who is good can make nothing
but what is good. Every thing is good which is
according to nature. Every rational soul has na-
turally a good free-will formed for the choice of
what is good. But when a man acts wrongly,
nature is not to be l)lamed; for what is wrong
takes place not according to nature, but contrary
to nature ; it being the work of choice and not of
nature. Eor when a person who had the power of
choosing what is good, did not choose it, but vo-
luntarily turned away from what was worst, what
room for escape could be left to him who is become
the cause of his own internal disease, having neg-
lected the innate law, as it were his Saviour and
physician ?'
)'>
Athanasius. — " Eor the knowledge and accurate
comprehension of the way of truth, we have need
of nothing but ourselves. Not, as God is above ail
things, so is the way which leads to these things,
remote or extraneous to ourselves ; but it is in our-
selves, and it is possible to find its beginning of
ourselves."
Cyril of Jerusalem. — " God requires nothing
else of us but a good will. Do you say. How
are my sins blotted out ? I say to you, by will-
ing, by believing. What can be more concise than
this ? But if your lips declare a willingness,
ON HUMAN ACTION. 333
and your heart does not, he who judges knows the
heart. From this day, therefore, cease from every
evil work. Let not your tongue utter irreverent
words ; let not your eyes sin ; let not your thoughts
Avander about vain things."
Hilary. — "What, therefore, we are, is rather
our own gain than His who formed us what we
are; because God, not grudging his own eternal
goodness, takes us into the perception and use of
liis own blessed goodness. But he who is per-
fect and good used his goodness towards us, and
his blessedness, not without reason and method.
Por he permitted to every one of us the liberty of
life and sense, not fixing necessity either way, so
that the law should compel every one to be by
nature good or bad ; but he who had benevolently
created us to enjoy his blessedness, appointed us a
qualification for it, through the merit of an inno-
cent and honest life. Eor Avhat honour and reward
could the necessity of goodness deserve, when a
certain force, interwoven in our nature, would not
sufi'er us to be bad ? Goodness, therefore, is per-
mitted to the will ; that the will of goodness might
obtain to itself a reward ; and that there might be
again and enjojTuent of this eternal blessedness
from merit, and not an indiscriminate necessity by
law. And though he invited us to the will of
goodness, that is, to live well and honestly by the
hope of deserving and experiencing his goodness,
yet he added a punishment for shunning and de-
spising it; so that when he had left us a liberty of
334 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
will to deserve goodness, because a necessity of
nature did not admit of desert, the terror of punish-
ment threatened on the other hand proved this
very liberty. And thus lil3erty was permitted for
the deserving of reward, with a due reward to
equity and justice ; and the power of liberty is,
through the goodness of God, restrained by the
fear commmiicated to us ; that the hope of deserv-
ing might admonish us to a good will, and the
punishment of apj^ointed revenge might dissuade
us from a bad will."
Epiphanius. — " How does he seem to retain the
freedom of his will in this world ? Eor to believe
or not to believe is in oiu' own power. But where
it is in our power to believe or not to believe, it
is in our power to act rightly or to sin ; to do good
good or to do e^dl."
Basil. — " These things are in our own power,
as to subdue the passions, or to indulge in plea-
sures ; as to restrain anger, or to attack him
who provokes us ; to speak truth or falsehood ; to
be meek and gentle, or proud and overbearing.
Do not then seek the origin of those things, of
which you are yourself the master, from any other
quarter ; but know that that which is in itself evil,
derived its origin from voluntary lapses. For if it
had been involuntary, and not m our own power,
those who act unjustly would not have had so great
fear of the laws hanging over them."
"If the origin of vicious and virtuous actions be
ON HUMAN ACTION. 335
not in ourselves, but there is an innate necessity,
there is no need of legislators to prescribe what we
are to do and what we are to avoid ; there is no
need of judges to honour virtue and to punish
wickedness. Eor it is not the injustice of the thief
or of the murderer, who could not restrain his hand
even if he would, because of the insuperable neces-
sity which urges him to the action."
Gregory Nazianzen. — " The good derived from
nature has no claim to acceptance ; but that
which proceeds from free-will is deserving of praise.
Wliat merit has fire in burning ? For the burn-
ing comes from nature. What merit has water in
descending? Por this it has from the Creator.
What merit has snow in being cold ? Or the sun
in shining ? Por it shines whether it will or not.
Give me a virtuous will. Give me the becom-
ing spiritual, from being carnal ; the being raised
by reason, from being depressed by the weight of
the flesh ; the being found heavenly, from having
been low-minded; the appearing superior to the
flesh, after havmg been found to the flesh."
Gregory oe Nyssa.— " Since man was made
in the likeness of God, and was blessed in being
honoured with free-will, (for to have power over
himself, and to be subject to no master, is peculiar
to the blessedness of God), to be forcibly impelled
to anything by necessity, would have deprived
him of his dignity. Por if voluntarily, according to
the motion of free-will, they directed the human
336 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
nature to anything improper, and were driven
from it forcibly and by necessity, such a pro-
ceeding would have taken away from them the
pre-eminent good, and would have deprived
them of the honour of being like to God. Por
the free will is likeness to God. Therefore,
that both power might remain to human na-
ture, and that evil might be done away, the wis-
dom of God devised this mode, to suffer man to
pursue those things which he wished ; that having
tasted the evils which he desired, and learned by
experience what exchange he had made, he might
voluntarily return by his own desire to his former
blessedness, shaking off from his nature every-
thing which disturbs the passions or is inconsistent
with reason, as a burden."
Ambrose. — "We are not constrained to obedience
by a servile necessity, but by free-will, whether we
lean to virtue, or are inclined to vice.
" No one is under any ol3ligation to commit
a fault, unless he inclines to it from his own
will."
Jerome. — "Do not think that there are only good
or only bad things in the world, since this world con-
sists of different things, contrary to each other, hot
and cold, dry and moist,hard and soft, dark and light,
bad and good. But God has done this, that wis-
dom maybe displayed in choosing good and avoiding
evil, and that free-will may be left to man.
'" If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the
good of the land ; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye
ON HUMAN ACTION. 337
shall be devoured with the sword ; for the mouth
of the Lord hath spoken it.' He preserves free-
will, that either way there may he punishment or
reward, not from an antecedent decree of God, hut
according to the merit of every individual.
" He gave them free-will ; he gave them the
liberty of their own mind, and that every one might
Kve, not under the absolute command of God, but
under his own direction ; that is, not by necessity
but by mil, that there might be room for virtue,
that we might be distinguished from other animals,
while, after the example of God, it was permitted
us to do what we will. Whence both the judgment
against sinners is equitable, and a just reward is
given to the holy or just."
Augustine. — "Pree-will is given to the soul,
which they who endeavour to weaken by trifling
reasoning, are blind "to such a degree, that they do
not even understand that they saw those vain and
sacrilegious things with their own vnR.
" Every one is author of his own sin. Whence,
if you doubt, attend to what is said above, that sins
are avenged by the justice of God ; for they would
not be justly avenged, unless they were committed
with the will.
" Lastly, if we do not act wrongly with the will,
no one is to be reproved at all, or admonished ;
and if you take away these things, the Christian
law and the whole discipline of religion must
necessarily be destroyed. Therefore sin is com-
mitted by the will. And because there is no doubt
* z
338 OPINIONS OF THE FATHERS
but sin is committed, I perceive that not even this
is to be doubted, that souls have free-will. Eor
God judged that his servants would be better if
they served him freely ; which would be impossible
if they served Mm not with the will, but from
necessity."
Chrtsostom. — " God, from the first formation
of man, implanted in him the law of nature. And
what is the law of nature ? He framed it for his
conscience, and enabled us to know from ourselves
the difference between good and evil.
" Since he has made us masters of the choice of
bad and good actions, and wishes us to be volun-
tarily good ; therefore if we be not willing, he does
not force, he does not compel ; for to be good by
force is not to be good at all.
"When you hear these tilings, do not imagine
that the calling carries with it necessity, for God
does not compel, but leaves men masters of their
free-will, even after they are called."
Theodoret. — " God created the whole nature of
incorporeal things, making it rational and immortal.
Free-will is peculiar to what is rational. But of these
some have preserved a good disposition towards
the Creator, but others have fallen into wickedness.
This we may also find among men. Eor some
indeed are lovers of virtue, but others are workers
of wickedness. If, therefore, any one complains of
the creation of mcked persons, he deprives the
champions of virtue of the prizes of victory. Por
ON HUMAN ACTION. 339
if they had not the desire of virtue in the choice of
the will, hut were unalterably fixed by nature,
those who successfully struggle for piety would be
unknown. But since the will has the choice of
what is good, and of the contrary, some justly ob-
tain the crown of victory, and others suffer punish-
ment for their voluntary offences."*
* See the Author's work on "Free Will," second edit., 1848, pubhshed
by Saunders, Charing Cross ; and also the writings of Drs. Copple-
stone, Hampden, and Whately, who have treated the bearing of the doc-
trine of Necessity on Theological doctrines, at considerable length. —
See also Note G. at the end of the Volume.
z 2
310 AJIABIAN METAPHYSICS.
CHAPTER XXXII.
ON THE METAPHYSICAL NOTIONS OF THE
ARABIANS.
We shaU now take a retrospective view of the
state of metaphysical knowledge amongst the Ara-
bians, soon after the introduction of Christianity.
This does not promise to be a very fruitful field of
inquiry ; but still the subject is well worthy of a
particular notice. We shall also allude to the
notions of the Jews on mental subjects ; at least
that portion of this ancient and interesting people,
who resided in the East, and mingled with the
Arabs and other kindred oriental tribes.
The Arabs, in point of philosophy, must always
appear a curiously constituted people. In the early
parts of their history, they were the bold, courage-
ous, and fierce conquerors of the East ; and it was
a considerable time after these successful invasions
had been made, that the attention of the people
was directed towards the cultivation of letters and
philosophy. Wandering in arid deserts, and lead-
ing a pastoral life, their minds sQcm to have been
ARABIAN METAPHYSICS. 341
insensibly trained to severe habits of inward con-
templation ; and the charms of poetry, and the
mental mechanism of numbers, appear to have
formed the primitive elements of their early learn-
ing. This habit of inward reflexion, however, pro-
duced other fruits in the due course of time. It
led the Arabs to dwell upon the nature and powers
of their own understandings ; to scan all the pecu-
liarities of thek actions ; to watch all their subtile
movements ; and to pourtray the divers important
ends and purposes which the inward macliines were
so admirably fitted to accomplish. The intellectual
history of this people is still buried in comparative
obscurity ; although there are, in many of the public
libraries throughout Europe, an immense number
of Arabian manuscripts, which, if brought to the
light of day, would undoubtedly tend materially
to dissipate the thick clouds which at present en-
velop the philosophical opinions and acquirements
of this singular race of mankind.
All the modes of life and intellectual habits of
the Arabs peculiarly fitted them for entering into
the subtile questions connected with metaphysical
disquisitions. This is strikingly conspicuous in
all their writings. They invariably manifested a
decided preference for abstract forms of disputa-
tion, and rigid rules of investigation. Aristotle,
on this account, proved their great master, their
guide, the object of their most devoted veneration
and attachment. His dry and formal rules accorded
admirably with the genius of their minds. Plato,
and his commentators and disciples, were never,
342 ARABIAN METAPHYSICS.
consequently, relished, if we except Plotiniis and
Proclus. The Platonic system abounded too much
with imaginative and lively theories and senti-
ments, and breathed moreover too ardently the
spirit of liberty and freedom, to suit the taste of
the slavish worshippers of the Koran.
It is remarked by a Prench writer of great learn-
ing and genius, " That there is, between the philo-
sophical productions of the Greeks and Arabs, the
same difference, or rather the same contrast, wliich
exists between the literary works, the manners,
genius, and civil institutions of the two peoples.
The philosophy of the Greeks had in it something
brilliant, fascinating, and lively, like the beautiful
views in Attica and Asia Minor ; that of the Arabs
had something grave, monotonous, and arid, like
the deserts they inhabit. Pull of charms, even in
its errors, the former excited an enthusiasm simi-
lar to that which inspired it ; the latter, dull and
malancholy, even whilst they seized hold of truth,
breathed the habit of resignation, and the influence
of fanaticism. The Greeks displayed an easy eleva-
tion and spontaneity of thought, though a certain
restlessness of spirit; while the Arabs displayed
mdomitable patience, and bore upon them the im-
print of rigorous formalities. The Athenians prided
themselves on harmonious co-ordinations ; the in-
habitants of the desert on complicated combina-
tions. The genius of poetry seemed to preside in
the meditations of the Greeks ; the laws of calcula-
tion in those of the Arabs. The Greeks imagined,
invented, created matter; the Arabs laboured at
ARABIAN METAPHYSICS. 343
what was placed in their hands, and imprinted
form upon it. Intellectual light seemed to spring
up among the Greeks as by enchantment ; among
the descendants of Ishmael, it was the fruit of
painful conquest.
We shall mention here the three famous Arabian
Caliphs who exercised such a marked influence
over the intellectual progress of their countrymen ;
namely, Almanzor, Alraschid, and Almamon. His-
torians described the first, Almanzor, as having
been a very enlightened and intelligent prince.
He was passionately fond of learning and philoso-
phy. He studied politics in conjunction with in-
tellectual learning and astronomy ; and he trans-
lated into the Syriac and Arabic languages several
treatises of Grecian literature. Alraschid was equally
distinguished for his wisdom and love of knowledge;
and in addition to his taste for the abstract doc-
trines of philosophy, he had a thorough knowledge of
poetry and the belles lettres. Almamon, who flou-
rished in the 9th century, was still more reno\^^led
then either of his two predecessors. He endea-
voured to obtain knowledge from all parts of the
then known world. He invited learned men to
his Court, without any reference to their religious
opinions. He penetrated into all the abstruse
doctrines of the Chaldeans, the Persians, and the
Greeks. Public schools of philosophy were esta-
blished, and those of Bagdad and Bassora obtained
especial distinction. The doctrines of Aristotle
were taught and expounded within the walls of
Tunis, Tripoli, and other African cities.
34<1 ARABIAN METAPHYSICS.
Alkendi.
Alkendi, who attended the Court of Almamon,
was a distinguished philosopher. He inspired the
Arabs with an enthusiastic veneration for the doc-
trines of Aristotle, and furnished them with trans-
lations and commentaries upon several of his works.
Alkendi published a " Treatise on the Study ofFhi-
losopliy i" containing questions on logic and meta-
physics. He also cultivated mathematics and phy-
sics with singular success. There is besides a book
ascribed to his pen, ^'■ZTpon the Compositions of
Medicines.'"
Alfarabi.
AKarabi obtained well merited fame at the
school of Bagdad. His mind embraced a wide range
of study. He was a mathematician, an astronomer,
a physician, and a philosopher ; and devoted his
whole life to study and learning. " He penetrates"
says Albufarage, " into the most profound points
of logic ; but in his endeavours to revive them, he
renders them difficult of comprehension. He sug-
gested ingenious but subtile speculations ; and
completed the investigations of Alkendi upon the
arts of analysis and method." Alfarabi added very
useful commentaries to Aristotle's art of thinking,
and made the Arabs acquainted with his rhetoric.
We must also notice here two tracts of Alfarabi,
the first " JJpofi the Sciences'^ and the second " TJp)0}i
ALrARABI. 345
the Understanding.'" The first is a sort of dictionary
or methodical classification of various branches of
knowledge; embracing the leading and fundamental
principles of these sciences, and their relative con-
nexion mth one another. At the head of all these
departments of knowledge, he places divine wisdom,
which he divides mto three parts, the last of which
embraces immaterial objects. "This science," says
ho, " demonstrates that these objects, in their aggre-
gate number, are gradually elevated to the height
of perfection. The ascending scale terminates at
the first principle anterior to all things ; this is
that primordial unity, which confers existence and
design upon every thing we see. Truth flows from
it as its source."
In Alfarabi'swork, ''On the Understanding," we
find, in substance, the following propositions and
principles laid down. These form the latent germs
of several subsequent abstract systems of mental
philosophy, which enjoyed considerable notoriety
in the East, This philosopher took Aristotle for
his guide. The former maintains that the human
understanding is that faculty of the soul by -which
men acquire the certainty of universal and neces-
sary truths and propositions. These are not, as
commonly imagined, obtained by labour or atten-
tive meditation, but arise out of the native resources
of his own mind, without his knowing from whence
they came, or from what derived. The understand-
ing is, however, itself composed of three distinct
powers or faculties ; namely, the understanding of
power, the understanding in action, and the active
346 ARABIAN METAPHYSICS.
understanding. It is by this macliinery tliat all its
important functions are performed. The under-
standing of poioer separates the/brms of substances
from those tilings in which they reside, and trans-
fers them to itself. These forms are distinguished
from corporeal forms in this, that the former is
imprinted only upon the surface, but the latter
penetrates into the very depth of things. "When
the understanding has received these/orms, it then
becomes the understanding in action^ and the forms
are 'perceived in reality^ and become the forms of
the understanding itself. In this new state these
forms are not what they were when they resided in
theu' substances. There they were bound to cer-
tain conditions which are now removed. Here
they are considered under new relations, and re-
ceived into the understanding in action ; they enter
into the universality of existing things, which be-
come the exclusive province of intelligence. "When
then the soul embraces all intelligent tilings, by a
glance of the unde^'standhig in action it perceives
itself, it perceives its own act, and recognises its own
proper essence. It has here acquired noilim^ fi^om
loithout, but only from an inward act of reflexion.
The province of the active understa/nding is, to
recognise that which is most perfect in itself. It
grasps, in an abstract manner, the forms which
belong to substances ; not such, however, as resid-
ed in them previously to their being detached from
these substances, but, penetrating into the nature
of all sul)stances, the active understanding im-
prints these forms on itself, such as they really are
AVICENNA. 317
in their abstract natures. These forms are indivi-
sible. The active understanding^ so to speak, sub-
stantializes itself in man ; its essence, action, reality,
are identical. There is here no need of the common
substances of bodies ; no need of assistance from
any corporeal organs ; no need of either senses or
imagination ; for its own action embraces all bo-
dies, and the powers which manifest themselves in
them are simply the materials upon which the ac-
tive understanding exercises itself.*
AviCENNA.
Avicenna was another most distinguished Ara-
bian metaphysician. A great part of his life
was spent in public turmoils and engagements ;
but still he was enabled to devote a considerable
portion of his time to the cultivation of learning
and science. He also studied medicine ; and gained
such celebrity in this important branch of know-
ledge, as induced some liistorians to call him the
Eippocrates of the Arabs.
Avicenna was a zealous disciple of Aristotle, and
lost no opportunity of inculcating and expounding
his doctrines. Professor Tiedemann makes the fol-
lowing remarks upon him. " We find in the views
of Avicenna a remarkable clearness and precision ;
in all his reasonings a profound acuteness ; and in
all his thoughts a natural and pleasing connection."
In Avicenna' s Treatise on Logic, we find he
adopts the principles of Aristotle, but does not fol-
* Alfarabi, De Scicntia. Paris, 16:38. pp. 35. 62.
348 ARABIAN METAPHYSICS.
low him slavishly in every abstract doctrine. The
Arabian philosopher maintains that "All know-
ledge consists in representation and conviction. We
may represent things to ourselves very well, with-
out, however, persuading ourselves of their truth.
E-epresentation is acquired by definition, or some
similar thing ; but conviction is derived from rea-
soning."
Avicenna qualified the doctrine of Aristotle re-
specting his division of the negative, sensible, and
rational soul. The former remarks that those
distinctions indicate rather three modes of action,
than three distinct things. " The vegetable soul
has three faculties ; nutrition, augmentation, and
generation ; the sensitive has two faculties, those of
apprehension and motives; the latter excites or
produces motion, and creates appetites. The fa-
culty of apprehension is a compound one. It exer-
cises itself both externally and internally. We
commonly attach to it five external senses, and five
internal ones. The bodily or external senses em-
brace hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, and smell-
ing ; the five internal ones are, first, \dsion ox fan-
tasy, the second, imagination, the third, cogitative,
the fourth, estimatwe, and the fifth, memory. The
rational soul is divided into two grand parts ; the
one embraces the faculty of knowledge, and the
other of activity. These two rule and guide the
whole inward man.
Avicenna points out, in few words, the process
by which children learn to distinguish one object
from another. " The first image," says he, " which
is traced in the mind of an infant, is the particular
ALGAZELI. 349
form of a man or a woman. But it cannot distin-
guish between the man who is its parent, and him
who is not ; nor between its mother and a stranger.
Nevertheless it soon learns to recognise this differ-
ence, and to make proper distinctions amongst par-
ticular objects. Eor a short time after its birth it
has only very confused notions of single objects."*
Algazeli.
Algazeli, in the eleventh century, obtained great
honour as a philosopher at Bagdad and Alexandria.
He was a person of great penetration and sagacity,
and his powers of imagination were far above the
common order. He cultivated theology with unre-
mitting ardour ; and his work on the " Religions
Sciences " enjoyed unrivalled popularity throughout
the whole Eastern republic of letters.
In all his disquisitions on mental subjects, he
followed a most independent course, and manifest-
ed a becoming anxiety to examine everything for
himself, and to take nothing on trust. As might
naturally be expected, from this turn of mind, and
from the nature of philosophy herself in this age
and country, he differed in many respects from his
contemporaries. He combatted the new Platonists
upon the eternity of the world, a universal ema-
nation, absolute identity, perfect unity, the non-
existence of matter, and the migration of souls.
The general proposition of this school, that " In-
* See Logique d'Avicene, translated by Vattier, Paris ; Metaphj's.
Trait. 2. chap. 1. ; and also Note H. at the end of the Volume.
350 ARABIAN METAPHYSICS.
telligence can only know itself," he argued against
with great zeal and effect.
On the intricate question of cause and effect,
Algazeli made some remarkably subtile and curious
observations. It is quite evident that the theory
of Hume is here anticipated.
On the general nature of the human understand-
ing we find the following is, in substance, an epi-
tome of the system x)f Algazel. The human soul
has two faces, the one by which it directs its atten-
tion to the wide region of superior things, there
extracts the light of knowledge, and, by virtue of
its own distinctive character, receives the emana-
tions from this superior light. The other face is
dii'ccted towards inferior things, under the govern-
ment and guidance of proper organs. Sensibility
and imagination can only exercise themselves upon
material objects ; they can seize only individual
things ; they perceive or conceive them under cer-
tain conditions, as time, place, figure, &c. The
faculty of estimation depends then upon substances
or external things, since it derives from this source
the perceptions on which it rests. But we have
also another faculty which seizes the essential pro-
perties of things, and strips them, as it were, of
their particular qualities or accidents. This is sum-
mary or general abstraction. This faculty differs
from the preceding ; it is the understanding ; and
it gradually elevates and develops itself, in propor-
tion as it is exercised.
The following remarks display the judicious and
accurate observer of mental habits and phenomena.
"The understanding can perceive itself; it can
AVICEBRON. 351
perceive its own perception ; it can perceive what
it produces ; it can pass from the strong to the
weak, from the obscure to the luminous, without
any essential change of its nature. It is strength-
ened, instead of being weakened, by years. The
derangement of the organs of sensation may, it
is true, act upon the intellectual faculties in two
modes ; viz. by causing a distraction of the mind,
when accompanied by pain ; and by depriving the
mind of the assistance of these organs for the in-
vestigation of external objects. But our intellectual
power can, by virtue of its own innate energy,
emancipate itself from this double dependance."*
AviCEBRON.
This was a very acute and distinguished Arabian
philosopher. The only account of his writings is
from Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and Wil-
liam of Paris. We gather from these three sources,
the following short outline of the leading views en-
tertained by this writer.
He attempted to penetrate into the original
cause of all things. He wished to investigate what
was the quality of the jii^st matter, and the first
form, which produced all things. The quality of
the first matter is to receive, to be the subject, to
contain ybrm in itself, to exist by itself; that is to
say, not to exist in anything else. The nature of
the first form is to be in another thing, to give
reality to matter, to determine its power, and to
* Logica et Philos. Cologne. 150().
352 ARABIAN METAPHYSICS.
form a portion of its essential nature in this com-
pound state. Matter is thus maintained to reside
in intellectual things, comprised under quantity,
combination, and contrast. The author attempts
then to prove that this first or primary matter is
purely spiritual, as it expresses the highest and
most refined abstraction, after being stripped of all
its variety of particular forms. The Supreme Being
is not, however, included in this spiritualised
matter, for He is above all forms or qualities.
The 2)ri7nari/ foi'm is intellectuality. Intelligence
occupies the first rank in the order of beings ; it is
itself composed of matter smdform ; its form, then,
presides in all things. The primary form imposes
limits to the modifications of matter. Intellectu-
ality is such, that it comprehends all things ; it is
that from which all forms proceed, and from which
every thing in heaven or in earth takes its rise.
These two elementary principles being laid down,
there is an affent to . carry them into operation.
This is termed the ^;riwi«rj/ agent. His act con-
stitutes the light of intelligence. It resides in per-
fect simplicity or absolute unity. It cannot act im-
mediately ; because the will is the instrument of
action. This will contains within itself the reason
or word for everything which exists. It chooses out
of the general treasure those figures or types it
wishes to act with. It determines the first or
primary matter; it imprints upon it the first
act of intellectual light. This intellectual light is
varied according to the variety of figures or types.
It produces, by degrees, matter, under the relations
of quantity, combination, and contrariety. It is
AVERROES. 353
thus that the will always proceeds from unity ; for
intellectuality penetrates all things by vu'tue of its
own simplicity. All form is, at the commencement,
the author of its own archetype.
AvERROES,
This was, without doubt, one of the most
able and subtile of all the Arabian philoso-
phers. He had studied the philosophy of Aristotle
with peculiar care and attention, and became en-
thusiastically enamoured of his doctrines. By un-
wearied zeal, great learning, intense application,
and a profound subtility, he imprinted his mind
upon his own age; and long after his death, re-
tained the distinction of being one of the most able
and original commentators on the Aristotelian phi-
losophy.
"We find, in his remarks upon Aristotle's meta-
physics, that he was an admirer of the doctrine of
an intelligent hierarchy and universal emanation.
He remarks, " that motion can be imparted only by
intelligence; all motion presupposes a motive which
appertains to a spiritual or immaterial being. The
celestial spheres have their intelligent attributes,
derived from the Supreme Power, the first princi-
ple of all things. This motion is communicated
successively into all regions ; from the highest de-
gree of creation, even into our own sublunary world,
this nation is conducted and transmitted by a suc-
cession of intelligent agents."
* 2 a
354 ARABIAN METAPHYSICS.
On the sj^iritual or immaterial nature of mental
perception, this metaphysician entertained some
very refined notions. He conceives that our organs
of sensation only perceive the sensible qualities of
matter, detached from matter itself. This consti-
tutes, in his opinion, the act of perception, a spiritual
or immaterial act. Some of these qualities of matter
are universal, and some particular and individual.
But these two kinds of qualities are not perceived
in the same manner. The mind seizes hold of ge-
neral or universal ideas, without any direct com-
munication, so to speak, with matter itself ; there
is no intermediate agency requisite to obtain these
ideas. On the contrary, to obtain individual or
particular qualities, there must be an intermediate
agent to communicate with matter, for without
this intermediation, the mind would not be able
to distinguish these particular, from general or uni-
versal, qualities. Nature has provided /orwzs, to
act as these agents, which hold a middle station
between corporeal and material ; these forms are
material relatively to objects, but spiritual rela-
tively to the soul. As interposing instruments they
are thus of a mixed character. Now these inter-
mediate assents are the instruments of the senses ;
those things which perception requires, to detect or
seize hold of universal or general qualities. The
act of perception is so much the more perfect, in
exact proportion as the intermediate agent is re-
fined and subtile. This mental operation may be
illustrated, more particularly, by a reference to the
senses of sight, hearing, and smelling. The air, by
AVERROES. 355
the aid of light, receives the forms of objects, and
bears thera to the retina of the eye ; from thence
they are transmitted to the common sensorlum^
which also receives the forms of the objects. Erom
there these forms are again transported to the im-
agination, where a new and spiritual character is
given to them. Here, then, are three successive
orders of i\iQs,Q forms of external objects : the first
is corporeal ; the second resides in the organs of
sensation ; and the third is the faculty of the ima-
gination. The second is spiritual, and the third
is still more so ; and this is the reason why the
imagination has need of the presence of external
objects, in order that this form should be presented
to itself. This process is what Aristotle wished to
illustrate by the mirror with a double face. If the
spectator place this mirror opposite to him, he will
see, on one of its faces, his own image ; and if he
place the mirror in such a position that this image
it retains may be reflected upon the surface of the
water, he will perceive a second image similar to
the first. Now in the process of sensation i\\Q,form
perceived is like the image of the spectator ; the
mirror is like the air which transmits the form ;
the water is the eve or the organs of sense. One of
the faces of the mirror is the sensitive faculty ;
and the other face is the imaginative one. If the
spectator turn the mirror and consider only the
second face, then the reflected part will not be upon
the water, and there will, consequently, be no more
than one image. Similar phenomena take place in
the process of perception in reference to both hearing
2 A 2
356 ARABIAN METAPHYSICS.
and smelling. Bnt this faculty of perception is not
tjie same in all animals ; man alone is able to seize
hold of the proper qualities of objects, with all
their shades and degrees, resemblance and contra-
riety. He can extract the juice from the fruits,
whilst the brute creation have to stop and peel off
the bark. As a proof of this, man is the only ani-
mate creature who can appreciate fully the har-
mony of sounds in all their multiplied variety.
The way in which we obtain abstract notions, is
described by Averroes in this manner. In our
common organs of sense reside the images, the cha-
racter of which is precisely the same here as in sen-
sible objects ; and the relation of these images to
the material understanding is the same as these
sensible objects are to the senses themselves. This
may be comprehended more distinctly by saying,
that this image is to reason, what the sensible ob-
ject is to sensation. The soul can then conceive
nothing without the assistance of the imagination;
nor the material understanding, without the help
of sensation. Here we perceive two images asso-
ciated together, and our intelligent notions become
corrupted through the influence of this contagious
contact. As to these intelligent notions, they are the
qualities of the/brms of imagination detached from
matter ; and must needs have different qualities
from the latter.
The material understanding is a notion peculiar
to this Arabian philosopher. He explains its na-
ture and operation in the following manner. The
faculty of imagination retains the forms which have
theophiltjS. 357
been made upon it ; these forms are transmitted to
the material understanding, there to become the
objects of thought. But an agent is requisite to
impress them upon the latter, and that agent ap-
pertains to the active understanding. This material
understanding conceives abstract notions, so that
the abstract understandino; makes one with it. To
conceive abstract notions or ideas, is no other thing
than simplv to conceive a thinsc subsistmo^ bv itself.*
Theophilus.
This author was a native of Seville, and a physi-
cian and philosopher. His work entitled FMloso-
'plius Autodid actus, is a very curious one, and has
been translated into Prench, English, German, and
Dutch. He obtained great reputation and respect
amongst all the leading tribes of the Arabs, and
also among the Jews. The learned Leibnitz de-
clared he had perused this publication with delight,
and found it abounding with elevated and just con-
ceptions of human nature in general.
Thisphilosopherremarks, thatman possessesthree
relations of similitude or affinity ; namely, one Avith
the animal creation, another with celestial beings,
and the third with the necessary and divine Being.
To these three orders of relationship appertain three
modes of action. The first exercises itseKupon our
material organs ; the second upon the vital spirit ;
and the third upon its own essential essence.
The first mode of action is directed towards sen-
* Commeut. in Aristot. Metaph. lib. 4. cap. 2. See also Note I. at
' the end of the Volume.
358 ARABIAN METAPHYSICS.
sible objects. Far from acquiring instruction here,
we often meet with great obstacles; for external
things are a kind of veil which envelops true sci-
ence and knowledge. The second only obtains an
imperfect intuition, or a confused assemblage of
objects ; but when directed upon its own essence,
it then confers knowledge. By the third action we
acquire complete and perfect intuition. Its atten-
tion is absorbed in the contemplation of necessary
existence. It annihilates itself ; it vanishes like a
vapour. Its own essence, and all other essences of
things, disappear before that one Being, who at
once possesses unity, truth, grandeur, sublimity and
power.
Celestial bodies have three attributes ; one by
which they throw light, heat, and rarefaction over
inferior substances ; the second relates to their own
nature, their happiness, holiness, purity, and power
of rapid motion ; and the third refers to the Su-
preme Being, whose will they execute, whose power
they recognise, and whose presence they perpetually
enjoy. Man ought to imitate these three kinds
of attributes. To conform himself to the first, he
ought to extend a benevolent protection to all ani-
mal natures, and to all plants, and endeavour to
preserve them in a perfect condition. To bring
himself under the influence of the second attribute,
he should preserve himself from all impurities ;
practise ablutions ; pay great attention to the pro-
prieties of the body and of dress ; and use suitable
exercise, and even circular movements, though he
should thereby experience giddiness of the head.
In reference to the third attribute, he should
THEOPHILUS. 359
shun all obstacles from sensible objects ; shut his
eyes and ears ; repress all flights of imagination ;
and reduce all his faculties to a certain state of
languor, until he approaches a state of pure intel-
lectuality.
Arrived at this high state of perfection, man will
learn that his own essence does not differ from the
essence of the Supreme Being ; that there is really
but one universal essence. The Divine Essence is
like the rays of the material sun which expand over
opaque bodies, and which appear to proceed from
the eye, though they are only reflected from its sur-
face. All beings distinct from mere matter, which
possess this knowledge, are identified with the di-
vine essence; for knowledge is nothing but this
essence itself. These beings are, therefore, not dif-
ferent, they are only one and the same. Multipli-
city, variety, and aggregation appertain only to
bodies. The sensible world is only the shadow of
the Divine world.
Theophilus further remarks, " In considering the
number of his organs, and the variety of their func-
tions, man would appear to be a compound being ;
but in lookinsc asjain at the secret tie which unites
all these organs, and their principle of action, man
shows himself to be truly but an individual being.
This unity is derived from the unity of the vital
principle. ^^
This philosopher led a life of singular abstraction,
and enjoyed fits of pure intellectual ecstasy. In
one of these he afiirms that he saw the supreme
and celestial sphere, in which the essence of im-
360 AKABIAN METAPHYSICS.
materiality resided. All joy and beauty dwelt here,
and the sight was the most ravishing imaginable.
He perceived a spiritual Being, who was neither the
first of beings, nor the sphere itself; without, how-
ever, its being different from both. It was like
the image of the sun produced in a mirror, which
is neither the sun itself, nor the mirror.*
*** See Geor. Elmacinus, Historia Saracen. Lugd. 1625; Assemani,
Historia Arabum. Rome 1/19; Bayle — articles, Alchabitius, Alchindus,
Averroes, Almacin; Peringer, Historia Linguae et Erudit. Arabum, Al-
pini, 1694 ; Ludovicus, De Historia Rationalis Philos. apud Arabos et
Turcas ; Nagel, De Studio Philos. Graecse inter Arabos ; Fabricius, Bib.
Graec. De Viris quibusdam illustribus apud Arabos ; The Histories of
Philosophy by Brucker, Tiedemann, and Tennemann; Bodiiguez de
Castro, Bibl. Espagnole, book 1st.
* 'I
Theoph. Philosophus Autodidactus, edition by Pocock.
THE PERSIAN SOPHISTS. 361
CHAPTEE, XXXIII.
THE PERSIAN SOPHISTS.
The metaphysical notions of the Persian So-
pliists are but very imperfectly kno^^Ti. They are
shrouded and enveloped in a mighty maze of ec-
static rapture and frantic abstraction. Their phi-
losophy is but a jumT)le of most of the opinions of
the Oriental nations, -with a few slight peculiarities
belonging to the Persian nation.
The Sophists considered the human mind to be
under the direct influence of the Divine nature.
This influence they designated by the terms ema-
nation, call, proclamation, attraction, &c. They
declared that the path which conducted to God, was
the commencement of that which introduced you
to the bosom of the Eternal himself, and which
placed you in full possession of the true spiritual
absorption.
The doctrine of absolute unitv, maintained and
enforced by the New Platonists, was also a fa-
vourite pliilosophical dogma of the Persian So-
phists. They affirmed that every man whose heart
362 THE PERSIAN SOPHISTS.
was free from doubt, knew, with the most perfect
certainty, that there was but one Being in all na-
ture. I and the Divinity are the same thing. The
Sophists also represented the body as a sort of
prison-house for the mind or soul. " Do you wish
to enjoy true liberty ?" say they, " then disengage
yourself from the vain illusions which obstruct you,
and take refuge in the Divine essence, where truth
exclusively resides." On the doctrine of Divine
emanations they remark that "This universe is
only a small meandering rivulet from the ocean of
Divine Beauty and Perfection." Pour species of
Divine manifestation are distinguished; namely,
iirst, the contemplative mind sees the absolute es-
sence, under the figure or representation of some
corporeal being; secondly, he sees this absohtte
unity under one of its attributes of action, as the
giving of what is needful ; the third appears under
the form of one of the attributes which constitute
its own essence, as science or life; and in the
fourth, the contemplative spirit loses its conscious-
ness in its existence.
The Sophists enveloped their disquisitions on the
mind of man with a crowd of fables and allegories.
To assist the flights of contemplative ardour and
ecstasy, they recommended the practice of ab-
stinence, watchings, silence, restraint of the appe-
tites ; a renouncement, in fact, of all bodily plea-
sures. They urged that men should bring themselves
to a state of apathetic insensibility, in order that
they might fully realize the delights of celestial
beatitude.
AVENPACE. 363
AVENPACE.
Little is now known of the metaphysical specu-
lations of this author. He was a physician, cul-
tivated mathematical learning, and had studied the
works of Aristotle with great zeal and attention.
His peculiar ideas on the mind of man are con-
tained in a letter entitled " The Conjunction of the
Understanding loith Man." In this fragment he
supposes that all intelligent things are produced or
created ; and that everything which is produced of
this intellectual natiu'e, is possessed of an essential
character or quality. The understanding has the
power, by virtue of its own peculiar natm-e, to de-
tach this essential character from things, and make
it an object of abstraction. He concludes that the
human understanding is a uniform thing in all
mankind ; and that it is a separate and independent
thino' from matter in all its forms and modifica-
tions. It may be remarked here, that this writer's
notions are but very imperfectly expomided, and
seem shrouded in a more than usual portion of
mvsticism.*
* See IMalcolm's History of Persia; Journal des Savans, 1821 et
1822 ; Sufismus, sive Theosophiee Persarum Pantheistica. Berlin, 1821 ;
and Note J. at the end of the Volume.
364 CABALISTIC METAPHYSICS.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE CABALISTIC METAPHYSICS.
The origin of those speculative opinions, which
sprang from the minds of what are termed the Ca-
balistic Philosophers, is enveloped in great obscu-
rity. Several learned and lengthened controversies
have arisen out of their history, relative to their
precise opinions on many important doctrines which
they profess to discuss. It seems, however, to be
pretty generally considered at the present day, that
thek speculative views are a compound of theo-
logical, philosophical, and mystical opinions ; and
that a great portion of the attention which this sect
excited in their own day, as well as that which they
have subsequently obtained from modern histo-
rians, arose from the allegorical, mysterious, and
symbolical language in which they clothed all their
thoughts and principles.
The chief divisions of the Cabalistic doctrines are
the following.
Out of nothing, nothing can be produced; be-
cause the distance between existence and non-exist-
CABALISTIC METAPHYSICS. 365
ence is infinite. Matter, though achnitted to be
something, is an imperfect thing, and cannot he
self-existent. The Creator of all things is a Spirit,
eternal, uncreated, and of infinite intelligence, hav-
ing witlun itself all life and motion, as attributes
of its nature. This Creative Spirit fills all space,
and is called En-Soph, the Infinite Deity. This
spiritual power is the fountain of all created exist-
ences, which emanate from it, but are neverthe-
less united with it. The universe, and everything
we behold in it, is an emanation, which displays
the attributes and properties of this Pirst Cause to
human intelligence.
Anterior to creation, all space was filled mth
the Or Haen-Soph, or Infinite Intellectual Light.
When the Divine volition willed the creation of
nature, the eternal light hitherto difiiised through
infinite space, withdrew to an equal distance, in
every direction, from a central point, as a sphere
of operations where all things were to be created.
There are traces left in this vacated space of the
existence of the Divine essence, and these traces or
detached portions of Infinite Intelligence are to
l)ecome the seeds of future worlds. Erom a cer-
tain point in the concave surface of the eternal
Kght which envelops the opaque sphere, the crea-
tive emanation is first exerted, and the rays of in-
telligence or mind emerge in straight Knes into
the abyss of darkness or non-entity. This beam of
light effected a communication between creative
agency and non-entity, through the means of which
future worlds can be produced. Through the
'^GQ CABALISTIC METAPHYSICS.
opening caused by this beam of light, various
streams of intelligence flow, in clivers distances
from the centre, and are separated from each other
by dark portions of space. There are ten of these
circles of light, which are called Sephir^ or
Splendoks.
The first emanation from the Living Eountain,
is the rectilineal beam, and this is the source of
all other emanations, or creative existences. This
rectilineal emanation is designated by the name of
Adam Caijmus, the first man, the primary effect
of Divine power, the Son of God. These Sephirse
are fountains from which flow every created thing
subordinate to this Adam Cadmus, and are named
in the following order : Intelligence, or the Crown,
Knowledge, Wisdom, Strength, Beauty, Greatness,
Glory, Stability, Victory, Dominion. These must
not, however, be considered in the light of mere
agents or instruments of the Divine operations,
but simply media though which creative energy
manifests its power. They are not detached por-
tions of the Divine Essence, but purely attributes,
virtues, or powers, possessing an individual but de-
pendent existence, through the mediation of Adam
Cadmus, the primary emanation.
In the Ensophic world, or world of infinity, there
are four inferior worlds or emanations, depending,
however, upon the superior one. These have ap-
propriate designations. Aziluth, is the world of
emanation which produces the Sephirse ; Brish,
embraces certain sj)iritual natures or forms which
derive their essence from the Sephirae; Jezirah,
CABALISTIC METAPHYSICS. 867
or the world of forms ; and Asiah, or the visible
and material world, comprehending every thing
susceptible of motion, composition, division, or de-
composition.
These derivative or secondary worlds may be
considered as evolutions or expansions of the Divine
nature, and possess more or less splendour, in pro-
portion to their distance from the centre of Eternal
Light. The last and most remote emanation is
MATTER, which is produced by a species of re-action
of the divine light, in receding from the fountain,
whereby it becomes so attenuated as to be absorbed
in darkness, and nothing but an opaque substance
is left as a residue. This matter or residue is only
one degree removed from non-entity. It has no
separate or independent existence, but is purely a
modification of the emanative power of the Eternal
Light.
These derivative or secondarv worlds have vari-
ous orders of creative beings. Those in Aziluth,
are superior to spirits, and are denomiated Persons.
The beinsrs of the second world are called Thrones,
on account of the authority they exercise over other
natures of an Angelic order, which inhabit the
third world. The fourth region is that devoted to
evil spirits, the refuse of emanation. These are
the Authors of evil ; but they are always aspiring
towards the Sephirse, and will, in the revolution of
ages, return once more into the fountain of Eternal
Light.
The human soul, which proceeds by emanation,
is of the same order as the Eternal Mind. When
368 CABALISTIC METAPHYSICS.
united with tlie body, it forms a complex creation,
endowed with reason, and capable of action. This
soul consists of four parts, the principle of vitality,
the principle of motion, the power of intelligence,
and the divine principle by which it can contem-
plate, and hold intercourse with, the Ensophic
world.
All souls were created at once, and existed in
the first emanation, Adam Cadmus. Every hu-
man soul has two guardian angels, created by
emanation at the time of the production of souls.
The human mind is connected with the Divine
nature, lilve the radii of a circle with their centre.
The Divine energy upholds all things. When
this energy is exerted, new forms of life and being
are produced ; when it is withheld or lies dormant,
the streams of life return again to their proper
fountain from whence they came.*
* See Enfield's His. Philo. Vol. 2. p. 220 ; Menasseh Ben Israel, De
Great, p. 27 ; Reimann, His. Theol. Jud. ; Budd, Introd. Philos. Heb. ;
Burgonovo, Select. Cabb. Dogm.; Basnage, Hist. ; Brucker, Hist. Crit.
Philos. ; Wolf, Bibliotheca Hsebr. ; Hottinger, Biblioth. Orient. ; Morus,
Fundamenta Philos. sive Cabbal. ; Helmont, Dialogi Cabalistici.
ox THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE JEWS. 3G9
CHAPTEH XXXV.
ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE JEWS.
The metaphysical opinions of the Jews after their
complete dispersion over almost every civilized
country in the world, are not of very great import-
tance. The principal service they rendered to mental
philosophy, was their diffusing the knowledge of
many of the speculative opinions of the Greeks,
among those nations they visited for the purposes
of mercantile traffic and gain. This tended in
many cases to keep alive an interest in those
ancient mental theories and systems, even among
a class of but comparatively learned people, and
very incompetent to appreciate, to the full extent,
their nature and worth.
At what precise time the Jews became acquainted
with the speculative philosophy of other eastern
nations, it is a difficult matter to determine. But
certain it is, that there were learned persons among
the Jews who obtained considerable notoriety for
their knowledge of foreign speculation, and for
their amalgamation of it with their own Hebrew
notions. Simon Magus, Dositheus, and Menander,
* 2b
370 ON THE PHILOSOPHY OP THE JEWS.
are instances of this. It is commonly affirmed
that they were all three well acquainted with
Oriental opinions as to the nature of Deity and
the human soul ; and that they zealously laboured
to form something approaching to systematical
theories, out of the miscellaneous and scattered
fragments of philosophy they had collected to-
gether, from divers eastern nations.
It is well known that the Jews were, at a later
period of their history, divided into several sects,
who grounded their differences in rites and ceremo-
nies upon certain speculative tenets. The chief of
these sects were the Sadducees, the Karseites, the
Pharisees, and the Essenes. The Sadducees main-
tained the materiality of the human soul. It died
with the body. Neither had angels or spirits any
separate existence from the corporeal frames or vest-
ments in which they were enveloped. They believed
in the existence of the true God, the supreme and
intelligent Governor of the universe. His perpe-
tual and providential care was also a tenet of their
creed. The human a\t11 was, however, free from
any interference or control from this cause ; and
this was the reason for the obligatory nature of all
moral and religious institutions. The homogene-
ous nature of man was a point they zealously main-
tained, without any conditions or compromise what-
ever.*
The speculative tenets of the Karseites were some-
what different from those of the Sadducees. The for-
mer affirmed that all created existences derived tlieir
* Josei)lms. DeBfll. J 1. 2 o V2.
ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE JEWS. 371
Origin from an uncreated and eternal Deity, to whom
they bear no resemblance whatever. The Supreme
Being rules and governs every thing ; the human
mind is under His influence to a certain extent,
but at the same time its voluntary powers and ener-
gies are maintained to their full extent unimpaired.
The human soul is immortal, and, if virtuous, goes
after death to dwell with celestial intelligence for
ever ; but if unworthy and wicked, is subjected to
suffering and disgrace.*
The Pharisees were a powerful and influential
sect among the Jews. Their metaphysical opinions
were that the universe is the work of one intelligent
and eternal God, who governs all things by the
word of his power. Man is under the divine in-
fluence, but still his will is free to act. The soul
is spiritual and immortal, and will be rewarded in
a future life accordins^ to merits or demerits in this
life. There are other spiritual existences besides
man ; as good and bad angels. f
The opinions of the Essenes were that the hu-
man soul was immortal, that it was constituted of
a very subtile kind of ether ; that it was in a state
of exile or imprisonment in this earthly body ; and
that when it was released by death, it would, if
good, wing its way to celestial and happy regions
beyond the ocean, and, if bad, to where there was
unceasing lamentation and woe. The Deity, by in-
finite wisdom, created all things, and by His provi-
dential care maintains and supports them. I
* R. Japhet. Lev. Conf. Wolf. Bill. Heh.
t JosepliTis. Ant. .Tud. 1. \3. c. 9. + Josephus. De Bell. J. 1. 2. c 12.
2 B 2
372 ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE JEWS.
After the destruction of Jerusalem, and tlie dis-
persion of its inhabitants, little is known of the
speculations of the learned among the Jews. Their
peculiar philosophical notions seem, for a long pe-
riod, to have been buried in oblivion. It is stated,
however, that so early as the year one hundred and
thirty-eight of our era, a Jewish school was estab-
lished by Akibha, at Lydda or Dioscopolis, and
that he had as many as twenty-four thousand stu-
dents.* The peculiar opinions he held Avere sup-
posed to have been a compound of Pythagorean and
Cabalistic speculations ; but we have no detailed
account of them. After Akibha, Simeon Ben Ja-
chai flourished, at the commencement of the third
century, and taught the Cabalistic doctrines with
great pojoularity among the Jewish people.! After
this we hear almost nothing of the public teaching
of this peculiar nation, until the beginning of the
tenth century, when the Schools of Sora and Pum-
beditha were renovated under the auspices of Uabbi
Saadias Gaon, a native of Egypt, well skilled in
most of the philosophical opinions and systems which
had been promulgated for many centuries previous
in the Alexandrian Academy. | This Jewish writer
composed two works, one called " The Philosopher's
Stone," and the other " A Compendium of Jewish
Theology ;" the latter illustrated at great length by
a series of abstract and logical statements and
proofs.
* Zemncli David, ad An. IMiindi. .'57(10. Dayle. Liglitfoot, Hor. Heb.
t 2. ]). 4A^).
. t Woir.Bib : Hel). Chap. 1. j.. 70:.'. + Gauzii Zemach David, p. 51.
EBEN EZRA. — MOSES MAIMONIDES. 373
Through the influence of the Arabians and Chris-
tians, the Jews became acquainted with the Greek
philosophy, particularly the works of Aristotle. This
gave, in some measure, a new impulse and direc-
tion to theu' speculative labours and views. Seve-
ral learned men sprang up amongst them, who dis-
played great natural aptness for general philoso-
phical and mental speculations.
Eben Ezra.
This was a very learned and talented Jew, in
Spain, who flourished about the middle of the
twelth century, and who cultivated an acquaintance
with many branches of philosophy. He was a native
of Toledo, and his contemporaries conferred upon
him the name of the " admirable," on account of
his varied and profound acquirements. In his writ-
ings, he treats of philosophy, astronomy, medicine,
poetry, grammar, theology, and the interpretation
of the sacred books of the Cabalistic Science.
MosES Maimonides.
This philosopher was a native of Cordova, in
Spain, and had studied all the Grecian metaphysics,
with great attention and success. Among his own
sect of the Jews, he excited a spirit of opposition ;
and a charge was brought against him of having
imbibed some of the doctrines and opinions of
Islamism. On this account, he fled from Spain
to Egypt. He established a philosophical school at
374^ ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE JEWS.
Caii'o, where his fame soon procured him a large
crowd of students and admirers.
A very just remark was made by this learned
man, relative to the study of theology, which has
called forth imqualiiied approbation from sound
thinkers of almost every age since his day. " The-
ology," says he, " ought to be preceded by the
study of other philosophical branches of knowledge.
God can be known only by his works, and the in-
vestigation of the laws of nature is the route which
will conduct our reason to Him."
Maimonides was the author of a work on Logic,
called Miloth Higayon. This treatise was origi-
nally written in Arabic, but was afterwards trans-
lated into Hebrew, by Moses Eben Tibbon. Mai-
monides follows Aristotle's method, though he en-
deavours to make it applicable to his own peculiar
theological views.
Tliis learned Jew was also the writer of a work
On Psychology, in which the various powers and
faculties of the mind are examined and commented
on. This work presents a curious medley of no-
tions ; and is, on the whole, the most unintelligible
of all Maimonides' speculations.*
*** See Zeltner, Diss, de Beruria, Altdorf, 1/14 ; Rabbi Moses Mik-
kozi ; Zeraach David, Hist. Misha. and the writings of Wolf, Basnage,
Rowland, Lightfoot, Hottinger, Buddaeus, and Prideaux.
* See Scheycr's " Psychology of Maimonides," Frankfort, 1H45.
ON DISTINCT FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 375
CHAPTER XXXVI.
ON DISTINCT FACULTIES OF THE MIND, AS RECOG-
NISED BY PHILOSOPHERS UP TO THE NINTH
CENTURY.
At this point of the liistory of mental philosophy,
we shall make a few remarks upon the different
faculties of the mind, which metaphysicians have
noticed, and attempted in their writings to define.
The number and names of these faculties have oc-
casionally undergone changes, in accordance with
divers general theoretical systems ; but still we
shall be able to give such an outKne, as will answer
the purpose of fixing the reader's attention upon the
more obvious divisions of our intellectual structure.
The operation which has generally been recog-
nised by almost all previous writers, is that of per-
ception. There has been great uniformity in the
language employed, to describe the nature and
limits of this faculty. There can be no act of per-
ception unless the mind receives an impression
from external objects. This seems to have been
376 ON DISTINCT FACULTIES OF THE MIND.
unanimously agreed to by all reasoners. This power
has sometimes been considered under two aspects ;
the one mediate and the other immediate. When,
for example, we read a book, the letters are what
we perceive mimedlately ; while the ideas which
are signified by them are what may be considered
as perceived mediately.
It is clear from the speculations of almost every
writer on the mind, up to this stage of history, that
perception claimed and obtained priority of con-
sideration before any other mental power. It is
also well known, that whatever opinion there might
be entertained by different sects of philosophers, as
to the evidence which perception affords us to arrive
at truth, or to form a decision as to a knowledge
of things, there never was any doubt but that it
was really and truly through the influence of our
organs of perception, that we owed all the informa-
tion we had of external nature.
The next important faculty of the mind noticed
and discussed by the ancient philosophers was that
of memory. This fills an important office in their
ideas of the mental economy. It consists in re-
taining those simple and complex ideas or notions,
which Ave receive from sensation and reflexion.
Aristotle and others paid great attention to this
power. Its mode of operation was well observed
by nearly all the ancients ; and the various degrees
of retention enjoyed among men, were accurately
noticed, in the very early periods of intellectual
history. Memory was seen under two phases ; the
one merely keeping the idea for some time before
ON DISTINCT FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 377
it, dwelling upon it, and turning it, as it were,
over on every side. This was called contempla-
tion ; and the same term is used now to express this
phenomenon of memory. We have again another
form of memory, namely, the power of reviving
certain past ideas or trains of thought, after they
have been for a long period absent from the mind's
perception. The Grecian philosophers dwelt often
on this exhibition of memory ; and seem to have
marked the laws of recurrence with great accuracy.
They considered memory as a kind of store-house
or repository of ideas or notions. Our language
of the present day, is strikingly expressive of the
same thing.
TVliat are called the laios of memory were accu-
rately and scientifically investigated by the ancient
metaphysicians. The modes in which they dis-
cussed their philosophical principles led them by a
direct route to pay great attention to those laws.
Attention and repetition were found powerful as-
sistants to remembrance. When attention becomes
interestedly and intensely fixed, retention and ac-
curacy are the necessary results ; and repetition
formed in ancient times, as it does now, an ex-
ercise of the highest importance in the divers plans
of scientific and ordinarv education.
In all the historical epochs of philosophy, we
find certain plans and suggestions for aiding and
strengthening the power of memory. The every-
day practical importance of the faculty, naturally
gave rise to these projects for increasing its power
and usefulness. Cicero speaks of artificial means
378 ON DISTINCT FACULTIES OF THE MIND.
of strengtliening the retentive principle, and that
he found them of service in his own case, in the
delivering of his public orations. Several other
distinguished men of antiquity availed themselves
of these mechanical aids to remembrance.
Of all the ancients, Aristotle seems to have
viewed memory in its widest signification. His
rules and definitions of it became quite philosophical
canons in succeeding ages ; and we find, throughout
all the scholastic writings, his notions of this men-
tal power were invariably adopted by the school-
men of all parties.
The judgment was an important intellectual
power among the ancient pliilosophers. They did
not define it very accurately; but it seemed to
stand for that prompt internal perception of truth,
which results from a calm and dispassionate consi-
deration of evidence. Among the sceptical sects of
antiquity, we seldom find suspicion thrown upon
the judgment itself, but chiefly on the materials
which were supposed to be submitted to its notice,
through the channel of the external senses. The
power itself generally escaped unscathed; and where
there was doubt as to the reality of its determina-
tions, that doubt was attriljuted, by the Scej^tics,
to deceptive elements thrown in the path of the
judgment, to warp or distort its decisions.
Judgment was often denominated a perceiving
or discerning of truth ; just as we speak, in ordi-
nary language, of that power at the present time.
The various kinds of judgment, or rather, perhaps,
the various topics on which it was exercised, were
ON DISTINCT FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 379
often subjects of remark and observation among-
the ancients; and distinctive names or epithets
were given to these efforts of the judgment, when
directed to particular departments of knowledge.
Abstraction was a power of the mind which the
earliest metaphysicians recognised. They consider-
ed it much in the same light as we do at present.
With them, as wdth us, it was the withdrawal of
an idea or general notion from others with which
it might be accidentally or necessarily connected,
and considering it apart. The mathematical stu-
dies of the ancients were highly instrumental in
bringing this faculty of the mind perpetually before
them, and of impressing them with a lively convic-
tion of its great usefulness and importance.
Reasoning, in the general opinion of the ancients,
was related more intimately to the dialectic art,
than to the judgment. Reasoning was of a more
light and artistic character than the latter. Gra-
vity and circiunspection were the characteristics of
the judgment. Reasoning, on the contrary, seemed
not to have much necessary connection with truth,
and not by any means to possess a very lively and
disinterested affection for her. Mere reasoners were
always plentiful, and to be found every where, and
ready armed upon all questions ; but men of judg-
ment were more rare. E/casoning often coquetted
with error, but judgment showed more steadiness
and fidelity. The former often brought temporary
discredit upon philosophy by attempting to show
" the weaker to be the stronger reason ;" but the
power of the judgment was a prudent and faithful
380 ON DISTINCT FACULTIES OF THE MIND.
friend, whose opinion was always valuable, and car-
ried lasting esteem and respect with it.
Imagination was a well known and universally
recognised faculty of the mind among the ancients.
It stands prominently out from the other faculties,
and enjoys a more striking individuality of charac-
ter. It is the source of many pleasures and pains,
and exercises a powerful influence on the weal or
woe of mankind. This the olden philosophers were
not slow to perceive ; but I think we have no very
decided evidence to show, that they were so fuUy
sensible of the immense power of this faculty, in
contributing to our rational pleasures, as more mo-
dern speculators on the mind have proved them-
selves to be. The cultivation of imaginative excel-
lencies in the last two centuries, has far exceeded
anything which the ancients ever performed, or
had any conception could be achieved.
But perhaps the most common division of the
mental faculties which the ancient metaphysicians
made, was that which placed them under two
classes, — those of the understanding^ and those of
the icill. We meet with this classification every
way, in the history of philosophy. And we cannot
help suspecting that this division must have pre-
sented some obvious advantages, or been considered
as the most natural arrangement, when we find it
so generally adopted. At bottom, the faculties of
the understanding and the icill stand for those
which we in modern times call the intellectual and
actioe powers of man. Our mode of treating and
illustrating these does not differ from that adopted
ON DISTINCT FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 381
by the ancient sages of Greece, nor from that
which all the Fathers of the Church recognised.
And it may be observed, in passing, that there is
notlimg in nature more distinctly marked than the
active and contemplative powers of the mind, There
is no mistake about their respective modes of ac-
tion ; but there is a great variety of human cha-
racter resulting from the irregular manner in which
they are distributed among mankind. The active
and speculative powers are never found in full per-
fection in any single individual. Indeed this is
impossible ; for it falls little short of demanding
that a man should be moving and still, at one and
the same moment. Wherever a mind is naturally
inclined to speculation or contemplation, there is a
corresponding depression of his active energies ;
and, on the other hand, where physical and men-
tal activity is the prominent feature, there the spe-
culative powers become correspondingly inert. And
this is a wise and providential arrangement. It
seems impossible to conceive how the affairs of the
world could be carried on, were this not the case.
The most profound and the most important specu-
lative principles or systems would l^e a dead letter,
if they were not matm^ed and nourished by the
every-day active powers of the mass of mankind.
And again, if action Avere not regulated and guided
by contemplative minds, no beneficial end could
be attained.
In discussing systems of education, the active
and speculative powers of individuals should be
carefully studied. The active greatly preponderate
382 ON DISTINCT FACULTIES OF THE MIND.
over the passive or contemplative powers. Still
they ought both to be provided for in all compre-
hensive schemes of instruction, either public or
private. If this be neglected, or imperfectly at-
tended to, no happy result can possibly follow.
REMARKS ON FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 383
CHAPTER XXXVII.
GENERAL REMARKS ON FACULTIES OF THE MIND,
AND OF WHAT MAY BE URGED AGAINST THEIR
INDIVIDUAL EXISTENCE, NATURE, AND OPERA-
TION.
It must be obvious to every reader of the history
of mental philosophy, that there were, in almost
every age, a small number of persons Avho seemed
inclined to adopt the absolute unity, or singleness
of the mind of man. It is difficult to emT)ody the
general arguments for this opinion, principally
from their extreme subtility, and the imperfections
of language. But the fact is quite clear, that the
usual doctrine of separate faculties, was not very
cordially embraced by some, at least, of the emi-
nent sages of antiquity.
As this abstract question is interesting to all
expounders of metaphysical doctrines, I shall state
what I conceive to be the chief arguments against
distinct faculties or powers of the mind. This
shall be done fully, without confining myself to
what may be considered as the exclusive opinions
384 GENERAL REMARKS ON
of the ancients on this point. Allusions to modern
writers and modern opinions will be made, in order
that the reader may have as full a view of the
arguments on each side, as I am able to furnish.
I beg to state, however, that I do not wish to have
the following observations considered as my own
individual sentiments on this subject ; but simply
as conveying a few thoughts on a mental hypo-
thesis opposite to that which is most commonly
adopted by writers on the human mind.
Judging from a cursory glance, there appears to
be little foundation for the doctrine of distinct or
separate faculties of the mind. Were it composed
or made up of parts or principles independent of
each other, we should instantly be able to recog-
nise them, and point out their specific differences,
as readily as we do between an arm or a leg of our
own bodies. When we attend carefully, however,
to what passes in our own mind, and l)ring the
matter in dispute to the test of consciousness, we
can perceive no real difference between many men-
tal operations which are commonly referred to dis-
tinct faculties. Let us take a case for illustration.
Almost all metaphysicians agree that judgment
and imagination are very different powers from
each other. But in what does that difference con-
sist ? What is it that constitutes them two dis-
tinct faculties ? Can theii* specific differences be
clearly pointed out ? I think not. When a person
proposes, for example, a question to me, that two
and three make five, I readily solve it ; but I can-
not do this without bringing to my recollection
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 385
(by an effort similar to that which is called imagi-
nation) what the terms two and three stand for.
Now what is this effort of the mind which suggests
the ideas we have attached to the words tioo and
three ? Is it not the same mental power as that
which forms other combinations which are usually
referred to imag-ination ? Let any one attend to
what passes in his own mind, when he goes over
again a»y simple proposition in geometry without
having the diagram before him. He will perceive
that he cannot take a single step in the process of
demonstration without employing what is termed
the faculty of imagination. At first he will form a
conception of the diagram ; and then commence to
show the numerous relations which subsist between
the divers parts of it. But the same mental power
which is here employed, may also be perceived,
when a person desires me to furnish him with
an account of an accident which befel a mutual
friend in America, or any other distant part of the
world. The ideas a1)out which the mind is em-
ployed in these two cases are very different ; but
still that faculty of the mind by which I solve the
geometrical problem, and that by whicli I give an
account of the accident which befel my friend,
seem, as far as the testimony of consciousness goes,
to be one and the same. When the request is
made to give a faithful account of the accident in
question, I immediately form a conception of my
friend's person, similar to what I do of the dia-
gram; and then begin to relate the various and
serious circumstances attending the accident, by the
* 2 c
386 GENERAL REMARKS ON
same mental processes, to all appearance, which
were used in solving the proposition in geometry.
Shall we say, then, there is no difference be-
tween imagination and judgment ; two faculties
which have been distinguished by mankind in all
ages ? The true answer to this question, I appre-
hend, is, that though mankind have always made
such a distinction in our mental nomenclature, yet
that distinction arises solely from the circumstance
that the ideas the mind is employed about, are
(if I may be allowed such phraseology) true in the
one case, and false in the other; or in other
words, that real and fictitious representations con-
stitute the onlv difference between these two men-
tal powers. Even philosophers themselves point
out no palpable distinction, save what arises from
the truth or falsehood of the ideas employed in
both cases. A writer, for example, who gives an
account of any transaction just as it happened,
without adding the slightest colourable circum-
stance, (if ever such a T^a^iter did exist), would be
called, in the language of philosophical criticism, a
Avriter without any imagination. Another author,
however, w^ho gives a description of the same trans-
action, but amplifies and distorts every incident
which really took place, would be called a man
of a fine and lively imagination. But what is the
difference between them ? Only this, that the one
gives, or is supposed to give, a real representation
of facts ; and the other, a fictitious one, or at least
a narrative mixed with a goodly portion of fictitious
circumstances.
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 387
It appears, then, that the word imagination is
employed by mankind to denote what has no foun-
dation in truth ; and this is all they mean when
they speak about the faculty of imagination. We
very frequently find, when we A^dsh to convince
individuals of the truth of any proposition in na-
tural or moral philosophy, with which they are
previously unacquainted, and which seems contrary
to their experience, they will immediately charge
you with dealing in fiction, and employing the fa-
culty of imagination instead of that of reasoning.
Why ought the exercise of the imagination to be
so strictly guarded against in philosophical disqui-
sitions ? Why the philosopher will tell you, be-
cause it would lead you from the truth.
The word imagination may also be considered,
in many cases, as only another word for invention,
mien a man sits do^\Ti to A^Tite a novel or a play,
he must be conscious, if he be capable, or in the
habit, of reflectmg on what passes in his mind, that
he employs no other intellectual faculty than if he
were to sit doA\Ti and write a book on metaphysics,
or any other branch of philosophy, in which inven-
tion is said chiefly to be employed. By way of illus-
tration : to say that the one author has invented a
novel or a play, and of the other that he has imagined
a book on metaphysics, would be a departure from
both common and philosophical language, but it
would be no very absurd statement of the fact ;
and the phrase would enable us to form as correct
notions respecting the faculty by which the former
author composed his novel or play, or the latter
2c 2
388 GENERAL REMARKS ON
his treatise on the miiicl, as if we were to use the
common phraseology that the novelist had been
exercising his imagination, and the metaphysician
his invention.
It may be objected to these observations, that
imagination, and what in some systems of men-
tal philosophy is called conception, are here con-
founded together. But I would observe, that their
difference has not been clearly pointed out, even
by those who have so ably and zealously contended
they were distinct faculties. Mr. Dugald Stewart,
in his chapter on Conception,* says, " The business
of conception, according to the account I have
given of it, is to present us with an exact transcript
of what we have felt or perceived. But we have,
moreover, a power of modifjdng our conceptions,
by combining the parts of different ones together
so as to form new wholes of our o^vn creation. I
I shall employ the word imagination to express
this power ; and I apprehend that this is the pro-
per sense of the word, if imagination be the power
which gives birth to the productions of the poet
and the painter. This is not a simple faculty of
the mind. It pre-supposes abstraction, to sej)arate
from each other qualities and circumstances which
have been perceived in conjunction ; and also judg-
ment and taste to direct us in forming the combi-
nations. If they are made wholly at random, they
are proofs of insanity." A little farther on in the
chapter he says, " A talent for lively description,
* Philosophy of the lliimnn Mind. Vol. 1. p. VAb.
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 389
at least in the case of sensible objects, depends
chiefly on the degree in which the describer pos-
sesses the power of conception." — " Nor is it merely
to the accuracy of our descriptions that this power
is subservient ; it contributes more than any thing
else to render them striking and expressive to
others, by guiding us to a selection of such circum-
stances as are most prominent and characteristic ;
insomuch that I think it may reasonably be doubted
if a person would not write a happier description of
an object from the conception, than from the actual
perception of it. It has been remarked, that the per-
fection of description does not consist in a minute
specification of circumstances, but in a judicious
selection of them ; and that the best rule for making
the selection is, to attend to the particulars that
make the deepest impression on our own minds."
Conception, according to the above, is that fa-
culty which presents us with an exact transcript of
what we have felt or perceived ; and the power of
modifying our conceptions is called imagination,
which is not a simple faculty, for it pre-supposes
abstraction, judgment, and taste. Now, if a talent
for lively description arises from possessing the
power of conception in a high degree, and this
power is said to present us with an exact transcript
of what we have felt or perceived, how can we con-
sistently say that, in exercising this faculty, we
make a ^^ judicious selection'' of our feelings ? Does
not ^ ^\judicious selection'"' ^vQ-s\ii\)])0'&Q the exer-
cise of abstraction, judgment, and taste ? Surely.
390 GENERAL REMARKS ON
Then wherein does the difference lie between ima-
gination and conception ?
It is said that tliese faculties of the mind, sucli
as judgment, imagination, memory, and taste, never
exert their power separately, but are always more
or less combined with one another. There is no
reasoning without memory ; and there can be no
taste without imagination, judgment, and memory.
If this be the case, how can we ascertain the exist-
ence of any mental faculties at all ? If these facul-
ties are never perceived in a simple form, we can
never be certain that there are any independent
faculties whatever. Wliat should we think of a
chemist who should strenuously maintain that a
certain substance was composed of a number of
other substances, T^diich he might call primary
ones, when the substance in question had resisted
all the chemical processes hitherto known to de-
compose it ?
Mr. Locke appears to have been fully aware of
the impropriety of talking about the faculties of
the mind, and of the difficulty of proving their
existence. In one place he says,* " But the fault
has been that faculties have been spoken of and
represented as so many distinct agents ; for it being
asked, what it was that digested the meat on our
stomachs, it was a ready and very satisfactory an-
swer to say, that it was the digestive faculty . What
was it that made anything come out of the body ?
* Kssay on the Human Understanding, "^'ol. 1 . book 2. chap. 21 .
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 391
T\iQ expulsive faculty. What moyed ? Hha motive
faculty. And so in the mind, the intellectual fa-
culty, or the understanding understood ; for fa-
culty, ability, and power, I think, are hut different
names for the same things ; which ways of speak-
ing, when put in more intelligihle words, will, I
think, amount to thus much ; — that digestion is
performed by something that is able to digest;
motion, by something able to move ; and under-
standing, by something able to understand."
It may be alleged, that though we can form no
abstract notion of the faculties of the mind, any
more than we can form an abstract notion of the
principle of gravitation, or of the screw or the lever,
yet the hypothesis, which is founded on the exist-
ence of independent mental faculties, may be fa-
vourable to a proper classification of intellectual
phenomena, and may assist us in our researches of
the mind, in the same way as the principle of gra-
vitation, of which we have no conception, has been
instrumental in aiding us in our physical investiga-
tions. To this it may be replied, that it is a very
doubtful proposition that gratuitous principles can
ever be instrumental in the discovery of truth — the
end and object of all pliilosophy. It is an establish-
ed maxim with those philosophers who maintain
the doctrine of mental faculties, that we ought to
be very cautious in reasoning from material pheno-
mena to those of the mind, for we may fancy there
is an analogy in a case where, for any thing we can
tell, there may not be the slightest resemblance.
Therefore, if we have taken a principle for granted
392 GENERAL REMARKS ON
in our physical researches, of which we have no
idea, we are not fully warranted in doing the same
in investigating the human mind ; for such a mode
of proceeding would lead to the grossest ahsurdities.
Why are Hartley's System of Vibrations and Aris-
totle's Ideal System rejected by many modern phi-
losophers ? Because in the one case, we cannot
perceive any vibrations ; and in the other, are not
conscious of any images, or forms, or species of ex-
ternal objects being transmitted by the channel of
the senses to the immediate seat of thought. Upon
the same principle of reasoning, why ought we to
say that there are distinct faculties of the mind,
when these faculties cannot be perceived.
The fact seems to be, that philosophers in gene-
ral have called certain kinds of ideas, and their
various combinations, by the name of faculties, with-
out ascertaining the existence, or informing us of the
nature of those faculties or powers, by which these
ideas are generated, and their combination effected.
A knowledge of the faculties and powers seems evi-
dently above the reach of human sagacity. The
great progress the science of natui*al philosophy
has made, is chiefly ascribed to that mode of reason-
ing which, recommended by Bacon, commences with
an examination of facts, and gradually mounts up
to the more general laws of nature. But the phi-
losophy of the human mind does not seem to be
capable of receiving much aid by a similar mode of
investigation. We can only view the mind in a
naked state. We are beings that are conscious
of ideas, or feelings, or perceptions, and this is all
FACULTIES or THE MIND. 393
we know of our minds ; and whatever may be urged
in favour of general laws or principles of the mind,
the existence of such laws or princijiles must be
always problematical at best ; for we can never be
conscious of their mode of operation; and what we
are not conscious of, we have little grounds to be-
lieve can have any existence.
There is a great difference in prosecuting the
study of natural or experimental pliilosophy, and
the philosophy of the human mind. In the for-
mer, a person may be put in possession of the va-
rious improvements and discoveries that have been
made during many ages, without undergoing a
hundredth part of the bodily and mental toil that
was found necessaiT before the orio^inal inventors
could bring these improvements and discoveries to
light. But in the science of the human mind there
has no method been yet found to facilitate, in an
equal degree, the knowledge of discoveries in this
department of human inquiry. As much time and
attention are frequently necessary to enable us to
form correct notions of intellectual appearances,
treated of by metaphysical writers, as would bring
these appearances to our view by our own individual
and unassisted efforts.
There are many causes of this difference. One
of the principal, however, is, that no one can un-
derstand what another writes on metaphysics un-
less he has pre\dously learned the art of scrutinizing
his own thoughts ; or, as some say, of exercising
his own consciousness. This art bears, in a great
measure, the same relation to the science of the
394 GENERAL REMARKS ON
raind, as experiment does to natural philosophy.
To many it is an art hoth difficult in its attainment
and difficult in its practice. But it is necessary ;
and until a person has learned it, and can practise
it with ease and dexterity, he cannot reasonahly
hope to reap much pleasure or improvement from
perusing treatises on the human mind. Without
this preliminary knowledge, such writings must
necessarily appear almost unintelligihle, and will
speedily disgust the reader with a constant repeti-
tion of words and phrases to which he can attach
no clear or definite notions ; and which cannot
fail to produce disappointment, inasmuch as they
pretend to he descriptive of mental operations, whose
existence, for want of reflecting on his own mind,
he is unahle to perceive.
To those, however, who are in the hahit of exer-
cising their consciousness, I suhmit the few fol-
lowing observations on abstraction. I know they
will differ from the opinions of many eminent phi-
losophers of the present day ; but in inquiries of
this nature, authority considered merely as such,
however great and weighty, must go for nothing,
where not supported by the evidence of conscious-
ness. It is to this power that all appeals must
be made for determinino; the truth or falsehood of
propositions in metaphysics ; for without such a
tribunal, this science would soon relapse into that
state of comparative confusion, from which it has
so lately been rescued.
It appears to me that general principles, which
are said to be formed by the faculty of abstrac-
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 395
tion, are nothing but certain words representing a
number of individual thoughts, perceptions, or, if
you will, observations ; and that it requires no
other faculty to speak or think of such general
principles, than to speak or think of any one of
the individual thoughts or perceptions that com-
pose them. All projected bodies, for example, have
a tendency to fall to earth again. This is a general
principle in natural philosophy, and is formed, it is
commonly said, by abstraction. But when we come
to examine how the mind arrives at this conclusion
or general principle, we shall see there is nothing
that ought to induce us to attribute its formation
to any other operation of the mind than that by
which we perceive and speak about individual ob-
jects. Let us suppose a being possessed of all the
susceptibilities of knowledge which we possess, to
make his appearance on this globe. The first
time he saw a stone thrown up into the air, he
would 2)e)^cewe that after a certain time had elapsed,
it would fall again to the ground. A second time
he would perceive the same result ; and if similar
experiments were made with projected bodies a
thousand times with different substances, and "with
different velocities, he would perceive the same
effect, that all these bodies would ultimately return
to the earth from whence they were thrown. Hence
he would conclude, that all projected bodies would
return to the earth again : which is nothing more
than an expression of a number of individual per-
ceptions.— The first time he saAV the stone fall, it
was, agreeably to the common theory, by the faculty
396 GENERAL ilEMARKS ON
of perception ; and is there not every reason to
believe that the last time, as well as the interme-
diate ones, were perceived by the same power ?
In like manner, it may also be slio^vn, that
general principles in morals and politics are formed
in the same way as the preceding. When we say
that all men are more or less influenced in their
actions by self-love, we only mean that we, as well
as others, have always perceived that the greater
part of the exertions of mankind tend to the grati-
fication of some passion or appetite. Unless the
individual observations, on which general principles
are founded, have come under our view, we cannot
be said to understand them, or give a rational
assent to them. On the contrary, in proportion to
the number of our indi^ddual observations, the
truth of such moral principles will be more uni-
versally acknowledged.
The resemblance and disagreement among the
objects of nature form the foundation on which all
abstract or general reasoning is built. But the
mere circumstance of the mind expressing a re-
semblance or analogy among a number of indi-
vidual objects, cannot warrant us in maintaining
there is any other faculty employed for tliis pur-
pose, than that which enables us to affirm or deny
any thing about any individual object of thought
or perception. Here is certainly a difference of
effect, but if we attend to our consciousness, no
difference of cause is observable. The perception
of reseml)lance of colour, for instance, between two
or more objects, is perceived as quickly, and is
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 397
as much an individual object of thought, as the
figure, density, or any other quality of the objects.
That faculty by which we perceive the figure and
other qualities, and that by which we perceive the
resemblance of colour, must, I think, be considered
as one and the same.
The manner in which general terms are said to
originate, throws no light upon the faculty of
abstraction. The commonly received theory of the
origin of these terms is that mentioned by Locke,
Condillac, and Adam Smith. The last author, in a
Dissertation on Languages, prefixed to his Tlieory
of Moral Sentiments, says; "The assignation of
particular names to denote particular objects — that
is, the institution of nouns substantial, would pro-
bably be one of the first steps towards the forma-
tion of language. The particular cave, whose cover-
ing sheltered the savage from the weather ; the
particular tree, whose fruit relieved his hunger ; the
particular fountain whose water allayed his thirst,
would first be denominated by the words cave,
tree, fountain ; or, by whatever other appellations
he might think proper, in that primitive jargon,
to mark them. Afterwards when the more en-
larged experience of this savage had led him to
observe, and his necessary occasions obliged him to
make mention of, other caves, and other trees, and
other fountains, he would naturally bestow upon
each of those new objects, the same name by which
he had been accustomed to express the similar he
was first acquainted with. And thus these words,
which were originally the proper names of indivi-
398 . GENERAL REMARKS ON
duals, would each of them insensibly become the
common name of a multitude. What constitutes
a species ^^'' he continues, " is merely a number of
objects bearing a certain degree of resemblance to
one another ; and, on that account, denominated
by a single appellation, which may be applied to
express any one of them," Condillac also says,*
" A child calls by the name of tree, the first tree
which we show him. A second tree which he sees
recals to him the same idea, and he designates it
by the same name ; he gives the same name to a
third, the same to a fourth. Thus we find that the
word tree, applied at first to an individual object,
becomes the name of a class or genus, an abstract
idea,t comprehending all trees in general."
There is nothing in these passages respecting the
origin of general names that requires any other fa-
culty than that which treats of individual objects.
What constitutes a species, says Mr. Smith, is
only a single name given to a number of objects
bearing a certain degree of similarity to one an-
other. But why should we suppose that a different
faculty is required to give a name to an individual
* " Un enfant appelle du nom d'Arbre le i^remier arbre que nous lui
montrons. — Un second arbre qu'il voit ensuite lui rappelle la meme idee ;
il lui donne le meme nom ; de meme a un troisieme, a un quatrieme ; et
voilii le mot d'Arbre, donne d'abord a un individu, qui devient pour lui
un nom de classe ou de genre, une idee abstraite qui comprend tons les
arbres en general." See also Locke, Essay on the Human Under-
standing, Book ii. c. ii. sect. 9 ; and Book iii. c iii. sect. 7.
t Abstract idea, or abstract term, for I am doubtful whether " idee"
means, in this passage, precisely what we should understand by idea,
when speaking simply of the act of percention.
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 399
object from that which gives a name to a multi-
tude of objects that bear a certain degree of resem-
blance ? The savage and the child, upon the as-
sumed theory now stated, give the name of tree to
the first tree they perceive, or that is pointed out
to them ; and when a number of trees of various
kinds are exhibited to their view, thev denominate
them by the term tree^ because they resemble, in a
variety of particulars, the tree or trees they al-
ready know. But I see no reason for creating a fa-
culty for the purpose of giving this number of trees
a common name, merely because their resemblance
is not so complete as to amount to identity. To
say that where the resemblance between two or
'more objects is so great as to constitute them of
the same kind, we assign names to them by means
of one faculty of the mind ; and where that resem-
blance is not so evident, we give names to ol)jects
by means of another faculty of the mind ; is, in
my opinion, neither philosophical nor just. Be-
sides, may it not be asked, that as no two objects
in nature are precisely the same in all particulars,
at what point of resemblance does the one faculty
cease to act and the other begin ?
Mr. Locke seems to have employed the word ab-
straction in a more limited sense than modern phi-
losophers have done. He says, " The acts of the
mind, wherein it exerts its power over its simple
ideas, are these : — Pirst, combining several simple
ideas into one compound one. Secondly, bringino*
two ideas together, and setting them by one an-
other; bv which we come at all ideas of relation.
400 GENERAL REMARKS ON
Thirdly, separating' our ideas from other ideas that
accompany them in their real existence." To this
last act of the mind he gives the name of abstrac-
tion ; to the other two acts he gives no names
whatever.* I believe that most metaphysicians
since Mr. Locke's time have referred all these dif-
ferent acts of the mind to abstraction. The dis-
tinctions, however, this philosopher has here point-
ed out, would certainly justify us in referring them
to distinct faculties, as much as manv other dis-
tinctions that are commonly referred to separate
principles. It may be considered as something
curious that he should say in his third and fourth
books that general ideas are fictitious contrivances
of the mind.
Mr. Stewart observes,! "This poAver of consider-
ing certain qualities or attributes of an object apart
from the rest ; or, as I would rather choose to de-
fine it, the power which the understanding has of
separating the combinations which are presented
to it, is distinguished by logicians by the name of
ahstr action.''' Had the celebrated author confined
himseK to the fii'st part of this sentence, as con-
veying what he meant by the faculty of abstrac-
tion, his definition would have been intelligible
enough : but being desirous to define it better, he
has only rendered it more obscure. Eor what is
meant by combinations presented to the mind I am
at a loss to conjecture. If Mr. Stewart means that
* Essay on the Human Understanding, Book 2. c. 12. sect. 1.
t Elements of tlie Philosophy of the Human Mind, Vol. 1.
)). 156.
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 401
certain thoughts are presented to the mind in a
complex or compounded state, and that the mind
has the power of analysing them into their elemen-
tary parts, then I differ from him. The thoughts
of man must be considered as individual objects,
apparently incapable of analysis. If they can be
analysed, they can be subdivided ; and what is ca-
pable of subdivision, may be divided ad infinitum.
Then if thoughts are infinitely divisible, they must
be infinitely extended; and what is infinitely di-
visible and extended, can have no elementary parts ;
consequently thoughts must be nothing at all. —
What a fine doctrine for the Sceptics !
But if the first part of this sentence be a defini-
tion of what Mr. Stewart calls abstraction, viz. the
power of considering certain qualities or attributes
of an object apart from the rest, then I say that
the mind never does anything else but abstract ; —
with this qualification, however, that the mind only
considers one quality or attribute of an object at
the same instant, and not more than one, as Mr.
Stewart here affirms. It is a commonly received
maxim, that the mind can only be occupied with
one idea at the same time. When a tree comes
before my view, I do not in the same instant of
time contemplate its height, its thickness, its figure,
its extension, the colour of its bark and leaves, and
the disposition of its branches. If I attend to one
of these qualities or attributes, the rest must be
excluded from my mind at the moment the other
is under contemplation. These attributes must
come into my mind in succession, and cannot all
* ' 2d
402 GENERAL REMARKS ON
be present to it, so to speak, at the same indiyidual
point of time. This is sufficient, I think, to shew,
that the human mind is always employed about in-
dividual objects, and that what are called complex
or general ideas have really no existence, in the
sense in which they are commonly considered.
Such phrases as compoimding and decompounding
our ideas, seimrating the combinations of sense, and
many others of a like description, have absolutely
no meaning when applied to the mind. When con-
fined to the science of chemistry, they may be very
correctly and very usefully employed ; but there is
not the slightest analogy to justify their application
in mental philosophy. Are we ever conscious of this
composition and decomposition among our ideas ?
Sulphate of iron and nut-galls are two distinct
substances ; but when joined together they make
another substance very different from either, and
which much resembles, in its properties and appear-
ance, the ink I write with. Do we ever see a sim-
ple idea. A, for example, entering into combination
with another simple idea, B, and forming, by their
union, another totally different idea, C ? I think
every one who has paid the slightest attention to his
own mind, must answer this in the negative. Yet,
unless there be appearances of this description ob-
servable in our mind, such phrases, making every
allowance for metaphorical language, ought to be
employed only in a qualified sense ; for instead of
enlightening and guiding our judgment, they are
apt, in such inquiries, to darken and lead it astray.
If we examine the svstem of mental faculties a
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 403
little more narrowly, we shall find, that instead
of its proving conclusive, it is pregnant with dif-
ficulties, which are apparently insurmountable.
There are very few, if any, of the faculties, accord-
ing to the received theory on the subject, which
can be considered as acting simply ; for we find by
appeals to our consciousness, that they seem to
be incapable of being conceived in a single state.
What is called the faculty of attention is defined
to be that by which we simply think of a particular
thing or object. The faculty of reason is also said
to be that by which we are able to draw inferences
from premises. This is considered a simple faculty,
not a compound one. Now, it is utterly incon-
ceivable how a man w^ould draw an inference
from premises, without paying attention to that
inference and those premises ; or, in other words,
T\dthout thinking of them. Again, perception is
defined to be the faculty by which we perceive
things. Now, we cannot draw^ inferences from
premises, unless we perceive these inferences and
premises. Here, then, we have the faculty of reason,
considered a simple faculty, compounded of atten-
tion and perception. How many questions arise
from these considerations, which it w^ould be very
difiicult to solve ? Might we not ask. What is the
nature of this faculty of reason, when influenced by
these faculties of attention and perception ? What
effects would it produce if acting by vii'tue of its
own inherent power ? And by what means shall
we be able to perceive in what respect it differs
from the other powers combined with it ?
2d 2
404 GENEHAL REMARKS ON
Eor the sake of further illustration, we will take
another faculty, memory for instance, and we shall
find that we cannot look upon it as a simple faculty.
It implies perception, attention, and consciousness.
When a past idea is present to the mind, we must
perceive it, and we must also attend to it, otherwise
the words perception and attention have no meaning.
And there appears to he so close a connection he-
tween consciousness and memory, that we might,
without producing an ambiguity, define this latter
faculty, that by wliich we are conscious of a past
idea. This definition would he in unison with th3
established mode of speaking among the generality
of mankind ; for when their memory is taxed to
remember any past event, they say, " I am not
conscious of having said or done such a thing."
A phrase can mean nothing more or less than, " I do
not remember having said or done such a thing."*
It must appear evident, upon the slightest con-
sideration, that distinct mental faculties can in no
way be useful in explaining mental appearances,
until the nature of these faculties themselves is
well understood, and we are able to furnish a satis-
factory explanation of those laws which regulate
the simple powers of which they are said to be
* It may be worth while to remark here in passing, that Mr. Stewart,
in treating of attention as being a distinct faculty of the mind, says,
though several authors have spoken of attention in general terms, he
was not aware that any author, ancient or modem, had spoken of it as
a separate faculty. But if he will look into Condillac's " Precis des
Lemons Prelim inaires, vol. 8 of his works, he will find attention not only
enumerated among the mental facidties, but an attempt is made to re-
solve several other faculties into it.
PACULTIES OF THE MINJJ. 405
compounded. This is absolutely necessary as a
preliminaty step. That wiiich is to serve as an
explanation, ought to be clearer and more evident
than the thing to be explained, otherwise no ex-
planation can be effected. It certainly cannot be
considered as an infallible method of arriving at
truth, to take a principle for granted, and after-
wards prove the truth of the inferences drawn
from it. We should demonstrate the truth of the
principle first, and the truth of the inferences will
consequently be estabKshed. Now, has any meta-
physician ever undertaken to show in what manner
the faculties of abstraction, judgment, and taste,
act upon the faculty of imagination, so as to make
it form imaginary appearances ? Or in what way
the faculties of consciousness, perception, and atten-
jtion act upon memory, by which we are capable of
bringing to our recollection past events ? No one,
as far as my information goes, has ever undertaken
any such thing.
If by mental faculty is simply meant, the power
the mind has to do any particular thing, then no
one will deny that the mind has faculties who does
not deny the active state of the mind. But then
the faculties of the understanding must in conse-
quence be multiplied to an enormous degree, for
every distinct act of the mind. I see a table before
me, which I am said to perceive by the faculty of
perception ; I look out of my room window and see
a man standing in the street ; but can any one pro-
duce a single argument to prove that I perceive
the man in the street by the same faculty by which
406 GENERAL REMARKS OK
I perceived the table ? Again, when I have medi-
tated on the properties of a triangle, and have come
to the conclusion, that the three angles are equal
to two right ones ; how do I know that I come to
this conclusion by the same mental faculty by
which I determined that the square of four is six-
teen ? It may be said there is a difference in the
processes of the mind in the two cases ; but then,
I reply, that these processes are not discoverable
by consciousness, and consequently the only test of
their existence is wanting. The mind can be con-
scious only of its ideas ; and therefore it follows
clearly, that if we were conscious of any such mental
processes, they must necessarily be themselves com-
posed of ideas, othermse they could not be objects
of our consciousness. Here, then, upon this posi-
tion, that we are conscious of these processes, when
we are endeavouring to prove that ideas are the
result of certain distinct and individual powers or
faculties inherent in the mind, we are only all the
time striving to prove, that one set of ideas are the
cause of the existence of another set : a principle
that fact and experience declare we know nothing
about.
The system of faculties appears to have been
established with a view of satisfying one of the
most powerful propensities of the human mind,
viz. a desire to know the true cause of every event
which falls under its notice. But those who have
correct views of mental and material philosophy,
know that philosophers do not set out in their in-
quiries with a view of ascertaining the causes of
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 407
the phenomena which fall under their ohservation,
but to observe those laws which regulate their con-
stant conjunction.
We shall here give a quotation from a very acute
Avriter on mental subjects, relative to distinct facul-
ties of the mind. " If," says he, " the mind pos-
sesses powers, it may be asked, upon what they
are exercised? The answer must be, upon the
objects of mental perception ; which are sensations
and ideas. Now, in what manner are we to under-
stand the action of the intellect, by means of its
powers upon ideas ? Nothing seems more obvious,
though nothing be really less so, than the action
and reaction of bodies ; but when we argue in this
instance analogically from the material to the im-
material world, it must be confessed that we are
utterly forsaken by the light of reason. To suppose
the existence of power at all, may perhaps be
nothing else than the hypothesis of men who admit
the occult assertion of something, wliich is no
object of the understanding, for the purpose of
accounting for events. In attributing powers to
the mind, it would be well to consider Avhat we
mean by the mind; and, before we assert that
this acts by its powers upon ideas, how our souls
can be shown to be different from our thoughts
and feelings. It is yet more embarrassing to con-
ceive what is meant by the action of powers upon
ideas. Bodies are said to impinge upon and to impel
each other, to transmit powers and to communicate
motion ; but, when this mode of reasoning is ap-
plied to our intellectual nature, a very little reflec-
408 GENERAL REMARKS ON
tion may suffice- to convince us that the analogy is
altogether inadmissible."*
To put what may be further urged against the
faculty of abstraction in as small a compass and in
as clear a light as possible, we shall just state the
following. Suppose a certain piece of matter to be
possessed only of four qualities, namely, extension,
hardness, colour, and figure; and that we desig-
nate our ideas corresponding to those qualities by
the letters A, B, C, and D. In former times, and
particularly among the Schoolmen, it was a pre-
vailing opinion, of a numerous party of them at
least, that besides the four simple and individual
ideas denoted by these four letters, which com-
posed all substances, we had another idea (which
we call E) made up of, or comprehending, the
other four simple ideas ; and this idea E was called
substance in general, or an abstract general con-
ception. The faculty of abstraction was confined
almost exclusively to the producing of these general
notions. But it is long since this doctrine of ab-
stract general conceptions began to lose ground in
England, and at the present day its advocates are
few in number. In consequence of this, the pro-
vince of abstraction is considerably curtailed ; and
is now, I believe, generally understood to be that
faculty by which we think of one quality or part
of an object, distinct from the rest of the qualities
or parts which compose it. Now, when we talk
about considering a quality of an object separately
* Academical Questions bv Sir William Drnmmond.
FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 409
from the other qualities which belong to it, we
evidently go upon the principle, that we are able
to think of all the different qualities of an object
at the same moment of time ; a mere gratuitous
assumption, unsupported by one single argument
from an appeal to mere consciousness. But waving
this objection, nay, let us even take it for granted
that we can pay attention to many things at a time,
still this does not by any means go to prove that
the facultv bv which we attend to several thing-s is
different from that by which we attend to an indi-
vidual thing. If we can perceive and attend to
A, B, C, and D at the same moment, there is the
highest possible probability that we perceive and
attend to them by the same faculty by which we
perceive and attend to either A, or B, or C, or D,
separately. There is nothing to lessen this proba-
bility, unless one thing can be shoA\Ta, and that is,
if we are conscious of a difference in the perceiving
faculties in the two cases here mentioned. If when
we perceive and attend to A, B, C, and D, jointly,
we are conscious that the same faculty does not
enable us to perceive and attend to any of them
separately ; then we ought to come to the conclu-
sion, that a number of things are not perceived'
and attended to by the same power by which we
perceive and attend to an individual thing. This
is the only way by which the question can be
settled.
These observations will not, I hope, be considered
out of place, when we remember, that upon this
question of distinct and independent mental facul-
410 GENERAL HEMAEKS.
ties, many important conclusions in philosophy
depend. It must ever vary the complexion of
metaphysical theories. It forms a point of depar-
ture for abstract speculation ; and systems diverge
or approximate to each other, in exact proportion
as we consider the mind as being constituted of a
collection of faculties or powers, or as merely dis-
playing a series of states, operations, or phenomena.
It is contended by some philosophers, that the dis-
pute is only a dispute about words ; but this, I ap-
prehend, is an erroneous opinion. The question lies
deeper than verbal ambiguities. It rests upon the
very nature of things ; and from the first moment
of our being able to contemplate, by consciousness,
the operations of our own minds, and to draw con-
clusions respecting them, we are presented with this
knotty controversy in all its complicated difficulties.
ALFRED THE GREAT. 411
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
ON SAXON METAPHYSICS.
There are but very few writers on mental phi-
losophy, in Saxon literature, of whom we have any
authentic accounts. There are only three of whom
we shall take any notice ; namely, Alfred , Alcui-
mis, and Bede.
Alfred the Great.
On Chance. — " It is nought when men say any
thing happens by chance, because every thing comes
from some other things or causes, therefore it has
not happened from chance ; but if it came not from
any thing, then it would have occurred from chance.
"Then said I, Whence first came the name?
Then quoth he, My darling Aristotle, mentioned
it in the book that is called Phisica. Then said I,
How does he explain it ? He answered, Men
said formerly, when any tiling happened to them
unexpectedly, that this was by chance. As if any
one should dig the earth, and find there a treasure
412 SAXON METAPHYSICS.
of gold, and should then say that this happened by
chance. But yet, I know that if the digger had
not dug into the earth, and no man before had
hidden the gold there, he would by no means have
found it. Therefore it was not found by chance."
On the Preedom of the Will. — " I would ask
thee, whether we have any freedom or any power,
what we should do, or what we should not do ? or
does the divine pre-ordination or fate compel us to
that which we wish ?
" Then said he, We have much power. There
is no rational creature wliicli has not freedom. He
that hath reason may judge and discriminate what
he should will, and what he should shun; and
every man hath this freedom, that he knows what
he should will and what he should not will. Yet
all rational creatures have not a like freedom.
Angels have right judgments and good will, and
all that they desire they obtain very easily, because
they wish nothing wrong. But no creature hath
freedom and reason, except angels and men. Men
have always freedom, and the more of it as they
lead their minds towards divine things. But they
have less freedom when they incline their minds
near to this world's wealth and honours. They
have no freedom, when they themselves subject
their own wills to the vices ; but, so soon as they
turn away their mind from good, they are blinded
with unwiseness."
Why Men have Freedom of AVill. — " I said,
I am sometimes very much disturbed ! Quoth he,
At what ? I answered :
ALFRED THE GREAT. 413
" It is at this which thou savest, that God g-ives
to every one freedom to do e^dl, as well as good,
whichsoever he will: and thou savest also, that
God knoweth every thing before it happens ; and
thou also sayest, that nothing happens, but that
God wills, or consents to it ; and thou sayest that
it shall all go as he has appointed. Now, I wonder
at this : why he should consent that evil men
should have freedom that they may do evil, as well
as good, whichsoever they will, when he knew
before that they would do evil.
"Then quoth he, I may very easily answer
thee this remark. How would it now look to you,
if there were any powerful king, and he had no
freedom in all his kingdom, l)ut that all were
slaves ?
" Then said I, It would not be thought Ijy me
right, nor also reasonable, if servile men only
should attend upon him.
" Then quoth he, It would be more unnatural,
if God, in all his kingdom, had no free creature
under his power. Therefore he made two rational
creatures free; angels and men. He gave them
the great gift of freedom. Hence they could do
evil as well as good, whichsoever they would. He
gave this very fixed gift, and a very fixed law with
that gift, to every man unto his end. The freedom
is, that man may do what he will ; and the law is,
that he will render to every man according to his
works, either in tliis world or the future one ; good
or evil, whichsoever he doeth. Men mav obtain
414 SAXON METAPHYSICS.
through this freedom whatsoever they will; hut
they cannot escape death, though they may by
good conduct hinder it, so that it shall come later,
indeed, they may defer it to old age, if they do
not want good mil for good works.
"Then said I, Thou has well removed that
doubt."
On the Divine Pore-appointment. — " But I
am yet grieved with much more trouble, even to
sadness.
" What is thy grief about ?
" It is about the Divine pre-ordination. Because
we heard it, some while since, said, that all shall
happen as God, at the beginning, had appointed,
and that no man can change it. Now me-thinketh,
that he errs, when he honoui'eth the good, and
also when he punishes the evil ; if it be true, that
it was so shaped by him, that they cannot do
otherwise. We laboiu' unnecessarily when we pray,
and when we fast, or give alms, if we have no more
merit from it, than those that in all things proceed
according to their own ^vill, and run after their
bodily pleasures.
" I tell thee, if this be true, we ought to say,
that it was an unnecessary commandment in the
divine books, that God should order man to forsake
evil and do good ; and, again, the saying which he
expressed, that the more a man laboureth the
greater reward he shall receive. I woncler why
thou hast forgotten all that we spoke about before.
We said before, that the Divine Providence wrought
ALFRED THE GREAT. 415
every good and no evil, nor appointed any to be
made, nor ever made any ; but that indeed we are
directed to good.
"It is thought evil by common people that He
should avenge or punish any one for his evil.
" But did we not also say in this same book,
that God had appointed freedom to be given to
men, and made them free ; and that if they held
this freedom well, he would greatly dignify them
with everlasting power ; and if they misused this
freedom, that he would then punish them with
death ?
" He has appointed that if they sin in any thing
through this freedom, they shall, by penitence, com-
pensate for it, to recover that freedom ; and if any
of them will be so hard-hearted, that he will do no
repentance, that he shall then have a just punish-
ment. He has appointed all creatures to be ser-
vants, except angels and men, and hence they are
the servants of these other creatures. They have
their ministerial duties till doomsday. But men
and angels, they are free. He dispenses with their
servitude.
" What ! can men say, that the divine Providence
has appointed this, that they should not fulfil their
duties, or how ? May they neglect them ; that
they may not do good? Now it is written that
God will render to every man according to his
works. Why then should any man be idle, that he
work not ?'
" Then said I, It is obvious enough to me, that
416 SAXON METAPHYSICS.
G-od knew it all before, both good and evil, before
it happened. But I know not, whether that shall
all happen unchangeably, Avhich he knows and has
appointed.
"Then, quoth he. There is no need that all
should happen uncliaugeahly : though some of it
shall happen unchangeably. This will be that,
which will be best for our necessities ; and that will
be his will. But there are some so directed that
there is no necessity for this ; and though its being
done would neither injure, nor benefit, nor be any
harm, yet it will not be done.
" Think now, by thyself, whether thou hast ap-
pointed anything so firmly, that thou thinkest that
it shall never be changed by thy will, nor that thou
canst be without it ; or whether thou again art so
divided in opinion on any thouglit, whether it shall
happen to help thee, or whether it shall not. Many
are the things which God knows before they hap-
pen, and he knows also whether it vnR hurt his
creatures that they should happen. But he knows
not this for the purpose of willing that they should
happen, but that he may take previous care that
they should not happen. Thus a good ship-steerer
perceives many a stormy wind before it occurs, and
folds his sail, and awhile also lays down his mast,
and then abides the beating, if, before the threaten-
ing of the adverse wind, he can guard himself against
the weather."
On Human Nature and its best interests. —
*' Then said I, Thou hast very well helped me hy this
ALFRED THE GREAT. 417
speech. I wonder why so many wise men shoukl
have laboured so much on the subject, and have
found out so little that was wise.
" Then quoth he, Why wonderest thou so much?
Is it so easy to be understood ? How knowest
thou not, that many things are not understood so
as they exist ; but according to the quality of the un-
derstanding of him that inquires after them. Such
is wisdom. No man from this world can under-
stand it, such as it really is; though every one
strives according to the quality of his understand-
ing, that he may perceive it if he can. Wisdom
may entirely comprehend us, such as we are, though
we may not wholly comprehend that, such as it is
in itself; because wisdom is God. He seetli all
our works, both good and evil, before they are done,
or, for this purpose, thought. But he compels us
not to tliis, that we must necessarily do the good,
nor prevents us from doing evil; because he has
given us freedom. I can teach thee also some
examples, by which thou mayest the easier under-
stand this speech. What ! thou knowest the light,
and the hearing, and the taste : they perceive the
body of man, and yet they perceive it not alike.
The ears perceive so that they hear, but they per-
ceive not yet the body entirely as it is ; our sense
of feeling must touch it, and feel that it is the body.
We cannot feel whether this be black or white,
fak or not fau^; but the light at the beginning
turns to these points ; and as the eyes look on
things, they perceive all the appearance of the body.
But I will give thee some further explanation, that
* 2 E
418 SAXON METAPHYSICS.
thou mayest know that which thou wonderest at.
" Then said I, What is this ?
" He said, It is that man understands only
that which he separately perceives in others. He
perceives separately through his eyes ; separately
through his ears ; separately through his nostrils ;
separately hy his reason ; separately by his wise
comprehension. There are many living things that
are unmoving, such as shell-fish are ; and these
have yet some portion of perception ; or they would
not else live, if they had no grain of perception.
Some can see, some can hear, some taste, some
smell ; but the moving animals are more like man,
because they have all that the unmoving creatures
have, and also more too. This is, that they obey men.
They love what loves them, and hate what hates
them ; and they fly from what they hate, and seek
what they love. But men have all that we have
before mentioned, and also add to them the great
gift of reason. Angels have a still wiser under-
standing.
" Hence are these creatures thus made, that the
unmoving shall not exalt themselves above the
moving ones, nor contend with them ; nor the
moving ones above men ; nor men above angels ;
nor angels strive against God.
" But this is miserable, that the greatest part of
men look not to that which is given to them, that
is, reason; nor seek that which is above them,
which is what angels and wise men have ; this is
a wise understanding. But most men now move
with cattle, in this, that thev desire the lusts of
ALFRED THE GREAT. 419
tlie world like cattle. If we now had any portion
of an unhesitating understanding, such as angels
have, then we might perceive that such an under-
standing would be much better than our reason.
Though we investigate many things, we have little
ready knowledge free from doubt. But to angels
there is no doubt of any of those things which they
know, because theii* ready knowledge is much bet-
ter than our reasoning ; as our reasoning is better
than the perceptions of animals. Any portion of
understanding that is given to them, is either to
those that are prone, or to those that are erect.
But let us now elevate our minds as supremely as
we may towards the high roof of the highest un-
derstanding, that thou mayest most swiftly and
most easily come to thine own kindred, from whence
thou camest before. There mav thv mind and thv
reason see openly that which they now doubt
about ; — every thing, whether of the Divine pre-
science, which we have been discoursing on, or of
our freedom, or of all such things.
On THE Divine Nature. — " I would ask thee
first one thing, Whether thinkest thou that any
thing in this world is so good as that it may give us
full happiness ? I ask this of thee ; I do not wish
that any false likeness should deceive you and me,
instead of the true comfort ; for no man can deny
that some good must be the most superior, just as
there is some great and deep fountain from which
many brooks and rivers run. Hence men say of
some advantages, that they are not entirely with-
2 e 2
420 SAXON mi<:tapiiysics.
out. Yet every thing would go to nought, if it had
not some good in it.
" Erom this you may understand, that from the
greatest good come the less goods ; not the greatest
from the less ; no more than the river can be the
spring and source, though the spring may flow into
a river. As the river may return again to the
spring, so every good cometh from God, and re-
turns to him; and he is the full and the perfect
good ; and there is no deficiency of will in him.
Now you may clearly understand that this is God
himself.
" Then answered I, and said, Thou hast very
rightly and very rationally overcome and convinced
me; I cannot deny this, nor indeed think otherwise,
but that it is all so as thou sayest.
" Then said Wisdom, Now I would that thou
shouldest think carefully till thou understand where
true happiness is. How ! knowest thou not, that
all mankind are \^dth one mind consenting that
God is the beginning of all good things, and the
governor of all creatures ? He is the supreme
good. No man now doubts this, because he knows
nothing better, and indeed nothing equally good.
Hence every reasoning tells us, and all men con-
fess the same, that God is the highest good. Thus
they signify that all good is in him ; for if it were
not, then he would not be that which he is called ;
but something has existed before him or is more
excellent. Then that would be better than he is ;
but nothing Avas ever before him, nor more excel-
ALFRED THE GREAT. 421
lent than lie is, nor more precious than hinisell'.
Hence he is the beginning, and the fountain, and
the roof of all good. Tliis is clear enough. Now
it is openly shown, that the true felicities are in
no other existing tiling but in God,
" Then said I, I am consenting to this.
"Then he answered, I conjure thee that thou
rationally understand this; that God is full of
every perfection, and of every good, and of every
happiness.
" I then replied, I cannot fully understand it.
"Wherefore tell me again, the same that didst men-
tion before.
" He saidj Then I will say it again. I would
not that thou shouldest think this, that God is the
father and the origin of all creatures, and yet that
his supreme goodness, of which he is full, comes to
him from any where from without. I also would
not have thee think that any other can be his good
and happiness but liimself ; because, if thou sup-
posest that the good which he hath comes to him
any where from without, then that thing from
which it comes to him would be better than he, if
there were such. But it is very silly, and a very
great sin, that men should think so of God ; either
to suppose again, that anything were before him,
or better than he is, or like him. But we should
agree that he is the best of all things.
" If thou believest that God exists so as men
are, either he is a man that hath soul and body, or
his goodness is that which gathereth good else-
where, and then holds it together, and rules it. If
422 SAXON METAPHYSICS.
thou then believest that it is so with God, then
shalt thou necessarily believe that some power is
greater than his, which it so unites as that it mak-
eth the course of things. But whatever thing is
divided from others is distinct, — is another thing,
though they may be placed together. If, then, any
thing be divided from the highest good, it will not
be that highest good. Yet it would be a great sin
to think of God, that there could be any good with-
out him, or any separated from him. Hence no-
thing is better than He is, or even as good. What
thing can be better than its creator ? Hence I
say, with juster reason, that He is the supreme
good in his own nature, which is the origin of all
things.
" Then I said. Now thou hast very rightly con-
vinced me. Then quoth he. Did I not before tell
thee that the supreme good and the highest hap-
piness were one ? I answered. So it is. He re-
plied. Shall we then say that this is any thing else
but God ? I said, I cannot deny this ; because I
assented to it before.
" He is the stem and foundation of all blessings.
From him all good cometh, and every thing tends
to Him again. He governs them all. Thus He
is the beginning and the support of all blessings.
They come from Him so as the light and bright-
ness of the planets come from the sun ; some are
brighter, some are less bright. So also the moon :
she enlightens as much as the sun shines on her.
When he shineth all over her, then is she all
bright.
ALFRED THE GREAT. 423
" When I heard these observations I was then
astonished, and much awed, and exclaimed, This
is a wonderful, and delightful, and reasonable obser-
vation, which thou expressest to me.
" He answered. It is not more pleasant nor
wiser than the thing that thy discourse was about.
We will now talk about that ; because me-thinketh
it good that we connect this with the former. Then
replied I, What is that ?
'' What I expressed to thee before was, that God
was happiness ; and that from this true felicity come
all the other goods that we discoursed about be-
fore ; and return to Him. Thus, from the sea the
water cometh into the earth, and there freshens
itself. It proceedeth then up into a spring ; it goeth
then into a brook ; then into a river ; then along
the river till it floweth again into the sea. But I
would now ask thee how thou hast understood this
assertion ? Whether dost thou suppose that the
five goods which we have often mentioned before,
that is, power, dignities, celebrity, abundance, and
bliss : I would know whether you suppose that
those goods were limbs of the true felicity, so as
a man's limbs are those of one person, and belong
all to one body ? Or dost thou think that some one
of the five goods makes the true felicity, and after-
wards that the four others become its goods ; as
now the soul and body compose one man ?
" The one man hath many limbs, and yet to
these two, that is, to the soul and the body, belong
all this man's comforts, both spiritual and corporeal.
It is noAV the good of the body that a man be fair
424 SAXON METAPHYSICS.
and strong', and long and broad, witli many other
excellencies besides these. Yet they are not the
body itself; because, thongh he should lose any of
these good things, he would still be what he was
before. Then the excellencies of the soul are, pru-
dence, moderation, patience, righteousness, and
wisdom, and many such virtues ; and yet, as the
soul is one thing, so the wtues are another.
" I then said, I wish that thou wouldest explain
to me yet more clearly, about the other goods that
belong to the true felicity.
" He answered, Did I not inform thee before,
that the true happiness is God? Yes, I replied.
Thou hast said he was the supreme good. Then
quoth he. Art thou now consenting that power,
and dignities, and fame, and plenty, and joy, and
happiness, and the supreme good, are all one ; and
that this one must be the Deity ?
" I said. How should I now deny this ? Then
he answered. Whether dost thou think that those
things which are the limbs of the true felicity is
that felicity itself ?
" I replied, I know not what thou wouldest say ;
but it will please me better that thou should speak
to me some while about it than ask me. He then
said, How ! couldest thou not reflect that if these
goods were limbs of the true felicity, they would be
somewhat distinct from it as a man's linibs are
from his body ? But the nature of these limbs is, that
they make up one body, and yet are not wholly alike.
" I then remarked. Thou needest no more speak
about it. TliOLi hast explained it to me clearly
ALFRED THE GREAT. 425
enough that these goods are no whit separated
from the true felicity.
" Then quoth he. Thou comprehendest it right
enough. Thou now understandest that all good is
the same that happiness is, and this happiness is
the supreme good, and the supreme good is God,
and God is always inseparably one.
" I said, There is no doubt of it. But I wish
vou now to discourse to me a little on what is
unknown.
" Well ! O men ! Every one of you that be free
tend to this good, and to this felicity ; and he that
is now in bondage with the fruitless love of this
world, let him seek liberty, that he may come to
this felicity. Por this is the only rest of all our
labours. This is the only port always calm after
the storms and billows of our toils. This is the
only station of peace ; the only comforter of grief
after all the sorrows of the present life. The golden
stones and the silvery ones, and jewels of all kinds,
and all the riches before us, will not enlighten the
eyes of the mind, nor improve their acuteness to
perceive the appearance of the true felicity. They
rather blind the mind's eyes than make them
sharper ; because all things that please here, in this
present life, are earthly ; because they are flying.
But the admirable brightness that brightens all
things and governs all; it will not destroy the
soul, but will enlighten it. If, then, any man
could perceive the splendour of the heavenly light
with the pure eyes of his mind, he would then say
42G SAXON METAPHYSICS.
that the radiance of the shining of the sun is not
superior to this; is not to be compared to the
everlasting brightness of God."
Description of the Deity. — " Hence we
should with all power inquire after God, that we
may know what he is. Though it should not be
our lot to know wiiat He is, yet we should, from
the dignity of the understanding which he has
given us, try to explore it.
" Every creature, both rational and irrational, dis-
covers this, that God is eternal. Because so many
creatures, so great and so fair, could never be sub-
ject to less creatures and to less power than they
all are, nor indeed to many equal ones.
" Then said I, What is eternity ?
" He answered. Thou hast asked me a great and
difficult tiling to comprehend. If thou wilt under-
stand it, thou must first have the eyes of thy mind
clean and lucid. I may not conceal from thee what
I know of this.
" Know thou that there are three things in this
world ; one is temporary ; to this there is both a
beginning and an end; and I do not know any
creature that is temporary, but hath his beginning
and his end. Another thing is eternal, which hath
a beginning, but hath not an end : I know not
when it began, but I know that it will never end :
such are angels and the souls of men. The third
thing is eternal, both without end, and without
beginning ; this is God. Between these three there
is a verv great discrimination. If we were to in-
ALFRED THE GREAT. 427
vestigate all this subject, we should come late to
the end of this book, or never.
" But one thing thou must necessarily know of
this previously, Why is God called the Highest
Eternity ?
" Then said I, Why ?
*' Then quoth he. Because we know very little
of that which was before us, except by memory and
by asking; and yet we know less of that which
will be after us. That alone exists rationally to us
which is present ; but to Him all is present, as
well that which was before as that which now is,
and that which after us will be. All of it is pre-
sent to Him.
" His riches increase not, nor do they ever dimi-
nish. He never remembers anything, because he
never forgets aught ; He seeks nothing, nor in-
quires, because He knows it all ; He searches for
nothing, because He loses nothing; He pursues
no creature, because none can fly from Him ; He
dreads nothing, because He knows no one more
powerful than himself, nor even like him. He is
always giving and never wants. He is always Al-
mighty, because he always wishes good, and never
evil. To Him there is no need of anything. He
is always seeing ; He never sleeps ; He is always
alike mild and kind ; He will always be eternal.
Hence there never was a time that He was not,
nor ever will be. He is always free. He is not
compelled to any work. From His divine power
He is every where present. His greatness no man
can measure. He is not to be conceived bodilv,
428 SAXON METAPHYSICS.
but spiritually, so as now wisdom is and reason.
But He is wisdom ; He is reason itself."*
Alctjinus, or Albinus Elaccus.
This was an English prelate, and a disciple, some
say, of Bede's. He went on an embassy from Offa
to the court of Charlemagne, and was the principal
agent in the formation of the public schools esta-
tablished by the Emperor. Alcuinus was considered
one of the most learned men of his time ; though
some historians have maintained that he knew little
of philosophy in general ; and even in theology it-
self he was by no means a proficient. His narrow
views have been ascribed as the reason why these
schools were limited in their scope, and so unpro-
ductive of real knowledge. An Italian historian,
Eather Andrea, makes the following remarks upon
these early seminaries of learning. " They learn
there to read, to sing, and to calculate, and nothing
more. The schools have regularly established mas-
ters, but it is sufficient if they know grammar. If
any of them pretends to a little knowledge of ma-
thematics or astronomy, he is considered an oracle.
Books are given to consult, but they are all eccle-
siastical ones. If in some schools the fine arts
are cultivated, it is only with the view of making
them subservient to the illustration of the sacred
l3ooks."t
The opinions of Alcuinus on the human soul are
* Turner's Anglo-Saxon History, pp. 41 — 51.
t Dcir origiuc, progresso c state att. d'ogni letter, torn. 1. c. 7.
ALCUINUS. 429
well entitled to notice. He divides it into three
parts, the appetites, the rational part, and the
irascible. Two of these appertain to the inferior
creation as well as to ourselves. But reason be-
longs alone to men ; and it is by tliis power that
he judges, counsels, and excels in wisdom. The
faculty of reason is that which directs and governs
the whole moral nature of man ; and all our vir-
tues, as prudence, justice, temperance, and forti-
tude, pre-suppose its active vigilance. Wlien these
virtues are sanctified by a holy and pure benevo-
lence, they bring the soul nearer to the Divine na-
ture,*
Memory, will, and intelligence are all distinct
powers, but are, nevertheless, united into one.
Unity does not destroy their individuality. " I
perceive that I perceive, will, and remember; I
will to remember, perceive, and will; and I re-
member that I have willed, perceived, and recol-
lected, "f
" We may remark the wonderful svsdftness of the
soul in forming things which it has perceived by
the senses. Prom these, as from certain messen-
gers, it forms figures in itself, with inexpressil^le
celerity, of whatever it has perceived of sensible
things ; and it lays up these forms in the treasury
of its memory.
" Thus, he who has seen Rome figures Rome in
his mind, and its form ; and when he shall hear
the name of Eome, or remember it, immediately the
* Opera, pp. 770.. t Ibid. p. 773.
430 SAXON METAPHYSICS,
animus of it will occur to the menioiy, where its
form lies concealed. The soul there recognises it,
where it had hidden it.
" It is yet more wonderful, that if unknown
things be read or heard of by the ears of the soul,
it immediately forms a figure of the unknown
thing; as of Jerusalem. When seen it may be
very different from the figure of our fancy ; but
whatever the soul has been, in other cities that are
known to it, it imagines that it may be in Jerusa-
lem. Prom known species it imagines the un-
known. It does not fancy walls, houses, and streets
in a man ; nor the limbs of a man in a city, but
buildings, as are usual in cities. So in every thing
the mind from the known forms the unknown.
" While I think of Jerusalem, I cannot, at that
moment, think of Home ; or when I think of any
other single thing, I cannot then think of many ;
but that thing only is present to my mind whicli
I deliberate upon, till, sooner or later, this departs
and another occurs.
" This lively and heavenly faculty, which is
called mens, or animus, is of such great mobility
that it does not even rest in sleep. In a moment,
if it chooses, it surveys heaven ; it flies over the
sea, and wanders through regions and cities. It
places in its sight, by thinking, all things that it
likes, however far removed."
"The mind, or soul, is the intellectual spirit,
always in motion, always living, and capable of
willing both good and evil. By the benignity of
its Creator it is ennobled with free will. Created to
ALCUINUS. 431
rule tlie movements of the flesli, it is invisible,
incorporeal, without weight or colour, circum-
scribed, yet entire in every member of its flesh. It
is now afiiicted Avith the cares, and grieved with
the pains of the body ; now it sports with joy ;
now thinks of known things ; and now seeks to
explore those which are unknown. It wills some
things ; it does not will others. Love is natural to
it.
" It is called by various names ; the soul, while
it vivifies ; the spirit, when it contemplates ; sen-
sibility, wliile it feels ; the mind, when it knows ;
the intellect, when it understands ; the reason,
while it discriminates; the will, when it consents;
the memory, when it remembers; but these are
not as distinct in substance as in names ; they are
but one soul. Virtue is its beauty; vice its de-
formity. It is often so affected by some object of
knowledge, that, though its eyes be open, it sees
not the things before it, nor hears a sounding
voice, nor feels a touching body.
"As to what the soul is, nothing better occurs
to us to say than that it is the spirit of life ; but
not of that kind of life which is in cattle, which is
without a rational mind. The beauty and orna-
ment of the human soul is the study of wisdom.
What is more blessed to the soul than to love the
Supreme Good, which is God ? What is happier
to it than to prepare itself to be worthy of ever-
lasting beatitude, knowing itself most truly to be
immortal."
432 SAXON METAPHYSICS.
Bede.
The history of this singular and learned man,
is well known to most readers. We shall here
transcrihe a few remarks upon some of the meta-
physical topics he discusses in his works.
He compares the three inseparable essences of
the Trinity to the circularity, light, and heat of
the Sun. The globular body of the Sun never leaves
the heavens ; but its light, which he compares to
the Pilial Personality, and its heat, which he ap-
plies to the Spii'itual Essence, descend to earth,
and diffuse themselves everywhere, animating the
mind, and pervading and softening the heart. Yet,
although universally present, light seems never to
quit the sun, for there we always behold it ; and
heat is its unceasing companion. As circles have
neither beginning nor end, such is the Deity.
Nothing is above; nothing is below; nothing is
bevond him: no term concludes him; no time
confines him.
He pui'sues the same analogies in other parts of
nature. In water he traces the spring, its flow-
ing river, and terminating lake. They differ in
form, but are one in substance, and are always
inseparable. No river can flow without its spring,
and must issue into some collecting locality.
" His \iew of nature is not unpleasing. " Ob-
serve how all things are made to suit, and are
governed; heat by cold, cold by heat; day by
night ; and winter by summer. See how the
heavens and the earth are respectively adorned :
BEDE. 433
the heavens by the sun, the moon, and stars ; the
earth by its beautiful flowers, and its herbs, trees,
and fruits. From these mankind derive all their
food; their lovely jewels ; the various pictures so
delectably woven in their hangings and valuable
cloths ; their variegated colours ; the sweet melody
of strings and organs ; the splendour of gold and
silver, and the other metals ; the pleasant streams
of water, so necessary to bring sliips, and agitate
our mills ; the fragrant aroma of myrrh ; and,
lastly, the interesting countenance peculiar to the
human form."*
*:,:* The preceding pages have been taken chiefly from Mr. Sharon
Turner's History, and the Literature of the Middle Ages in Lardner's Cy-
clopedia. As the authors of both these works have paid great attention
to every thing connected with the Saxon period of our history, what is
here stated may be fully relied on ; and contains, in fact, every thing
which can be found associated with the names of those ancient worthies,
which bears upon the philosophy of mind.
We have now sketched out the history of the
philosophy of mind, for nearly fifteen centuries,
and traced its ramifications and bearings among
the crash of empires and the mouldering remains'
of mighty kingdoms. We saw it in Greece as a
grain of mustard seed. In the days of Socrates,
and Plato, and Aristotle, it was a plant of gigan-
tic growth, and its shade long formed a philoso-
phical retreat for the ardent and speculative minds
of men. The Grecian metaphysics for some ages
retained their compactness and system ; but as
* Bede de Subst. vol. ii. p. 308.
* 2f
434 HEMARKS.
time rolled on, tliey were spKt into cletached frag-
ments, and gave birth to various and contending
sects, who vied with each other in giving new
colourings to old truths and antiquated doctrines.
The rage for novelty became strong; and men
racked their minds to give old theories in a new
form. Every philosopher was ambitious of forming
a school of his own, which might establish his
present fame, and hand down his name with honour
and applause to future generations. Still, however,
the divergency from the olden system of Grecian
speculation, was not so great among the multitude
of new sects, as what at first sight might lead one
to imasjine. The frame-work of Plato and Aristotle
was never essentially broken or disjointed; nor
were their leading views and doctrines of mind
supplanted by other original systems. The various
sects and parties were merely commentators and
expounders of the two great champions of Grecian
intellect ; and though, on many occasions, they dis-
played consummate genius and skill, they never
could make any considerable inroad upon the phi-
losophical arrangements of these two wonderful ex-
pounders of abstract thought.
Through the influence of political changes and
vicissitudes, we find the Grecian philosophy of in-
tellects transplanted to the Etonian capital, among
minds of a bolder and fiercer stamp. Here it en-
joyed an exotic existence but for a short period. It
then found its wav to Alexandria, where it came in
contact with some novel systems, and was gradually
subjected to many transformations and changes of
REMARKS. 435
character. It became enveloped in the mysterious
cosmogony of the East ; and that regular and con-
solidated system of Grecian thought, which had
common sense and the every-day feelings of man-
kind for its basis, became so corrupted and debased,
as scarcely to present a single feature of its original
grandeur and simplicity. Everything became crude,
unintelKgible, fanatical, and childish.
Christianity, however, came to the rescue ; and
gradually, though slowly, stripped off the myste-
rious allegories of the East, and took the " divine
Plato" and the erudite Stagirite under her guid-
ance and protection. There was an active and
living sympathy between them that no adverse
circumstance could weaken, nor time destroy.
They imparted mutual light and strength to each
other. And as the Christian system became more
firmly rooted in the minds of men, and more widely
extended, in the same proportion do we perceive
the champions of the Church embrace with cordi-
ality all the leading principles of Grecian specula-
tion on human nature. The cause of this is obvious ;
the great truths involved in both bore a striking
affinity or relationship to each other. They both
took man as they found him; they analyzed his
nature and powers ; they laid down rules for liis
government ; and both aimed at the permanent re-
finement and ameKoration of his condition. These
constituted the secret and powerful bond of union
between human and divine knowledge ; between the
sages of Greece and the disciples of the Cross.
2 f2
NOTES
AND
ILLUSTRATIONS.
NOTES AND ILLUSTHATIONS.
NOTE A.— Page 4.
We beg to give here a short Catalogue of Works on the History
of Philosophy, It might have been considerably extended ; but
the list, it is hoped, will be found sufficient for ordinary purposes
of reference. —
Adelung, J. C, Geschichte der philosophie fiir Liebhaber. Leipz.
1786, 1787, 1807.
^^?r«5, Cours de Philosophie. Paris, 1838.
Anderson, Wm., The Philosophy of Ancient Greece Investi-
gated. London, 1794.
Ast, Frid., Grundriss einer Geschichte der Philosophie. Lands-
hut. 1825.
Berchon de Penhoen, (Le Baron), Ilistoire de la Philosophie
Allemande. Paris, 1836.
Berchetti, Filosofia dcgli Antichi Popoli. Perugia, 1818.
Blessig, Joh. Law., Diss, de Origine Philosophic apud Romanes.
Strasburg, 1770.
Born, Fri. Gloh., Institutiones Histori. Philos. Leipsic, 1798.
Boiivier, Histoire Abregee de la Philosophie. Paris, 1844.
Boioen, Francis, Critical Essays on a few Subjects connected
with the History and present Condition of Speculative Philosophy.
Boston (U. S.) 1842.
Brandis, Handb. der Gesch. der Griech. und Rom. Philosophie.
Berlin, 1835.
Brueker, Joh. Jah., Kurze Fragen aus der Philosophischen
Historie. Ulm, 1/31. — Idem, Ilistoria Critica Philosophise a
Mundi incunabulis, etc. Lips. 1742.
440 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Buddeus, J. F., Historia Philosophica, Succincta delineatio.
Halle, 1712.
Buhle, Joh. Glieb., Geschichte des Philosophirenden Verstandes.
Lemgo, 1793. — Lehrbuch der Geschichte der Philosophic und
einer Kiit. Literatur derselben. Gotting. 1796, 1804.
Biirigtiy, Histoire de la Philosophic Payenne. La Haye, \724.
Buschiny, Ant. Fr., Vergleichung der Griech. Philos. mit der
Neuern. Berlin, 1785.
Ccqjasso, J. B.., Hist. Phil. Synopsis. Neap. 1728.
Capajigue, Histoire Philosophique des Juifs, depuis la Decadence
des Machabees jusqu'a nos jours. Bruxelles.
Cai'us, F?'. Aug., Ideen zur Geschichte der Philosophic. Lands-
hut, 1808. — Idem, Hauptrnomente der Gesch. der Philos. Mu-
nich, 1829,
Cousin, Cours de I'Histoire de la Philosophic. Paris, 1829.
— Idem. Fragmens Philosophiques. Paris, 1839.
Cro)iiaziano, Agatojnsto, (Ajunaiio Bnonafede,) Delia istoria
e della indole di ogni filosofia. Lucca, 1766, 1771-
Dacier, Bibliotheque des Anciens Philosophcs. Paris, 1796.
Damii'on, Cours de la Philosophic. Paris, 1839.
De Gerando, Histoire Comparee des Systemes de Philosophic.
Paris, 1846. 6 vol.
Deslandes, M. D., Andr. Fr. Boiwemi, Histoire Critique de la
Philosophic, ou Ton traite de son origine, de ses progres, et des
diverses revolutions qui lui sont arrivees jusqu'a notre temps.
Paris, 1730, 1756. Leipz. 1770.
Diderot, Histoire Generale des Dogmes et Opinions Philoso-
phiques. London, 1769.
Dntens, Recherches sur I'Origine des Decouvertes attribuees
aux ISIodcrnes, &c. Paris, 1766.
Eberhard, Joh. Aug., AUgemeine Geschichte der Philosophie.
Halle, 1788. — Idem, Auszug aus der Allgeui. Geschichte. Halle,
1798.
Enfield, Will., History of Philosophy from the earliest Times,
&c. Loud. 1791.
Erdmann, Versuch einer Wiss. Darst. der Gesch. der Neuern,
Philos. Riga, 1834.
Ernesti, Encyklopiidisclies Handbuch einer Allgem. Geschichte
der Philosophie. Lemgo. 1807.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. Ml
Feuerbach, Die Neuern Philos. v. Bacon, Spinoza, &c. Anspach,
1833.
Formey, Abrege de I'histoire de la Philos. Amsterd. 1768.
Fries, Geschichte der Philos. Halle, 1837.
Ftdleborn, Von der Verschiedenheit der Alien und Neuern Phi-
iosophie. — Idetn, Kurze Geschichte der Philos.
F^nelon, Be la Motte, Abrege des Vies des Anciens Philosophes.
Paris, 1795.
Gaudentius, Paganimis, De Philosophiag apud Romanos Origiue
et Progressu. Pisa, 1634. ^
Gaudentius, De la Philosophic Payenne. La Haye, 1724.
Gedike, Frid., Ciceronis Historia Philosophies. Berlin, 1782.
Gentzkenius, F., Hist. Phil, in usum lect. Hamb. 1724, 1734.
Gmeiner, Fr. Xav., Ljiterargesch. des Ursprungs und Fort-
gangs der Philosophic, wie audi aller philos. Secten und Sys-
teme. Griez. 1789.
Goclenius, Lexicon Philosophicum. Franck. 1613.
Goess, Ge. Frid. Dan., Die Erziehungswissenschaft nach den
Grundsiitzen der Griechen und Romer. Anspach, 1808. — Idem,
De Variis, quibus usi sunt Grseci et Romani Philosopliise Defini-
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NOTE B.— Page 12.
" The reason why Anaximander regarded the primary substance
as infinite, finds a natural explanation in the infinite variety of the
evolutions of the world, which have their ground in it. He is re-
presented as arguing that the primary substance must have been
infinite, to be all-sufficient for the limitless variety of produced
things with which we are encompassed. Now although Aristotle
expressly characterises this infinite as a mixture, we must not,
nevertheless, think of it as a mere multiplicity of primary material
elements ; for to the mind of Anaximander it was a unity, im-
mortal and imperishable, an ever-producing energy. This pro-
duction of individual things was derived by Anaximander from an
eternal motion of the infinite ; from which it would appear that he
ascribed to it an inherent vital energy, without, however, employing
the terms life and production in any acceptation except the only
one allowable byjthe character of his philosophy, — in the sense, i. e.
of motion, by which the primary elements of the infinite separate
themselves one from another.
•' According]^to Anaximander, it was not by any continuous trans-
mutation of the primary substance into a variety of secondary states,
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 445
that the sensible qualities of things begin to be ; but by separation,
according to their kind, of opposite elements, which in the infinite
are confusedly and separately combined into unity ; which secretion
is effected by the eternal motion. According to this, the primary
being of Anaximander is undoubtedly a unity ; but it comprises
within itself the multiplicity of elements out of which things are
composed ; and these need only to be divided, in order to their
appearing as separate phenomena of nature. Thus on the decom-
position of the infinite, the kindred elements were attracted to-
gether ; so that what in the All was gold, without, however, appear-
ing to be such, in consequence of being blended with its opposite,
now appears gold ; and what was earth, earth ; for nothing new is
produced, or assumes other qualities different from those it pre-
viously had ; but all was antecedently the same as subsequently it
exhibited itself to be. This is evidently founded on the grand
principle of the mechanical theory of physics, that nothing alters
its qualities, but ever remains identical, and only moves among the
other elements, whereby, in the altered mixture, the same element
appears different at different times. We shall see these same con-
ceptions occurring again in the more detailed explanations of nature
given by Anaximander, and thereby his whole theory placed in
direct opposition to that of the Ionian dynamicists.
"The issuing of individual things from out of the infinite All was
thus explained by Anaximander : The central point in the cosmo-
pceia was the earth ; for, being of cylindrical form with a base in
the ratio 1 : 3 to its altitude, it was retained in the centre by the
air, and by the equality of its distances from all the limits of the
world ; the stars, on the other hand, moved round it at equal dis-
tances from each other, — the planets and fixed stars lowest, then
the moon, and ultimately the sun ; each one of these bodies being
borne on wheel-like ring (its sphere). According to this view
of the system of the world, the motion of the infinite productive
unity, which comprises within itself all opposites, appears to
have suggested first of all the opposition the centre and circum-
ference, and then again to have referred this to a further oppo-
sition between the earth and the heavens, of which the former
indicated to his mind the cold, the latter the warm : so that in the
first place the cold elements separate themselves from the warm,
the former constituting the centre, and the latter the circumference
446 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
of the world. This representation is everywhere paramount with
Anaximander ; all formation, either of the universe or individuali-
ties, must necessarily evolve itself in the contrariety of the inner
and the outer, inasmuch as the outer surrounds and encloses the
inner, as the bark does the tree. The earth, therefore, in its first
formation, was supposed to be a mixture of cold, watery, and earthy
elements, which had been separated out of the infinite from the
warm and fiery, by means of the eternal motion. The heaven, on
the contrary, he considered as a hollow fiery sphere, which con-
tains the atmospheric air. The system of the world, however, after
this first formation, proceeded to evolve itself to a further degree ;
aud whilst the earth was improved by the force of fire, occasioning
the division of the land and the waters, the heavens likewise ex-
perienced a further separation. The revolution by which this was
brought about, is described by Anaximander as a disruption of the
heavenly sphere, by which means several single fiery systems were
formed — the present heavenly bodies — which, being thereupon en-
closed in aerial spheres, are onlj' visible through certain apertures.
Here again we meet with the opposition between the outer and the
inner, the enclosing air and the enclosed fire ; only the fire in the
compass of the world presents itself differently from what it does
in the centre, or rather in the world itself, — for with respect to the
latter, the inner core of the world, in its narrow sense, is the cold ;
and the water, or the heaven, is the warm ; but contrariwise, in the
heavenly bodies the inner is the warm, and the enclosing integu-
ment the cold. It is impossible not to see in all this an intentional
pursuit of contrariety, which again is further evident from the mode
in which, attached to the polytheist conceptions of his country-
men, he designates the universe and the heaven — by which latter
term he understands the stars — as gods. When, however, he
speaks of an infinity of co -existent worlds, he must, consistently
with his entire theory, employ the term world in a subordinate
acceptation, for the oneliness of the world or universe was a staple
point in all his speculations, — since he supposed, on the one hand,
an influential action of the heavenly bodies on the formation of the
earth, and on the other, that the earth and the heavenly bodies,
maintaining certain definite distances, constituted one orderly
system ,
" In all these formations the mode of production is evidently me-
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 447
chanical ; thus it is the eternal motion which separates the contra-
ries, and collects the warm elements in the circumference, and the
cold elements in the centre. Again, the opposition of heavy and
light seems to have played its part in the system of Anaximander,
and to have been looked upon by him as the cause of motion.
And the mathematical laws also, which are so naturally allied
to the mechanical physiology, are employed in his theory to deter-
mine the ratio of the earth's altitude and base, to calculate the
distance of the intervals between the subordinate worlds, and to
compare the size of the earth with that of the sun.
" But there is yet another point which displays still more re-
markably the close affinity of his whole view with the mechanical
tlieory of nature ; which indeed — as we shall see the same point
occur in an exactly similar manner with all the mechanical philoso-
phers of the Ionian school, and nothing similar being to be found
among the dynamicists — affords a test whereby to recognise in the
details the historical connexion of the various expositions of this
theory, which is, however, otherwise sufficiently manifest from the
general view. The greatest difficulty for the mechanical theory of
nature must have been to account for the organical construction of
living beings, since this view does not recognise an original vital
energy really capable of transmuting itself into other changeable
states. Hence we invariably find the mechanicists occupied in
framing hypotheses which might serve to explain on mechanical
laws the phenomena of animal and vegetable life. Those put for-
ward by Anaximander for this purpose have been very inaccurately
reported to us ; sufficiently, however, for us too see that they com-
pletely coincide with his whole notion of a progressive formation of
the world by means of the gradually evolved contrarieties of heat
and cold ; and also bear the greatest resemblance to a very ancient
representation of the origin of men and brutes, which in its general
features has been transmitted by Diodorus Siculus." — Ritter, Hist.
Phil. Yol. l.pp. 163—172.
NOTE B.— Page 66.
** As, however, in the midst of these logical or dialectical disqui-
sitions, we have fallen upon that which from of old, has ever been
448 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
considered at once the centre and the difficulty of the Platonic sys-
tem— his theory of ideas, it is indispensable to ascertain precisely
the true Platonic sense of the term idea. This is the more neces-
sary, the greater the disposition that has been evinced in modern
times to take a very partial view of the subject, and to explain the
ideas either by the general properties of objects, or by the general
notions of genus and species, and even to confine them exclusively
to the ideal conceptions of the good, the beautiful, and the just.
The expressions of Plato, hov^ever, far transcend all these narrow
limitations, and there is no species of being which he does not
comprise within his idea. In order, however, to determine from
his own writings the extent of the term as employed by him, it is
necessary to bear in mind that he speaks in the same sense of his
Vc?eff, and of the permanent essence, unity, or absolute being, which,
to his mind, indicated the objective of the ideas. Now we find
that he comprises therein not merely the highest and most perfect
within his own knowledge, the beautiful and the good, justice and
science, but even their contraries — every species of vice, evil, and in-
justice. Moreover, he speaks of ideas of resemblance and difference,
of the one and the manifold, of magnitude, of health, and strength,
and even of speed and slowness ; so, too, of the unity of man and of
beast, of the sphere, in and by itself, the circle, in and by itself; of a
bed and a stable, even of the name or the noun. And lest, perchance,
this should be misunderstood to refer merely to the general character
of genus and species, the individual soul is represented as an idea ;
and what Socrates is, and what Simmias is, is distinguished from
what is common to both. What, however, is still more calculated
to excite surprise, is the attribution of an essence even to the sen-
sible and the inchoate, so that it is requisite to consider as an idea
that which to all appearance is the most to its nature. Thus an
essence is attributed to a colour and a sound, and prototypes are
given to the different species of life, and a permanence of essence is
ascribed, not merely to things, but also to their actions and activi-
ties. This is, however, perfectly consistent with the comprehensive
and searching character of Plato's mind, which would not allow of
science being limited to any close and narrow domain, or of aught
being excluded from the sphere of right knowledge. This extensive
view of science is exhibited in a manner truly philosophical, in the re-
proof which tlie young Socrates is made to receive from Parmenides,
NOTES AND ILLUSTKATIONS. 449
for evincing a disinclination to recognise, .-is possible, the reality of
the ideas of man, fire, water, nay, even of hair and of clay, and
other equally mean and paltry objects ; for Parmenides observes, it
is unbecoming a true philosopher to defer to the opinion of the
many, and to consider any object as wholly despicable. In another
sense, the Platonic acceptation of Idea is still more extensive ; for
among the ideas after which the sensible world was formed, he even
reckons the tribes of mortal creatures ; which, however, to his mind,
indicate nothing more than different grades in the development of
one and the same living essence ; since the soul, in its migration,
passes from one to the other. Hence we may clearly infer, that
the Ideas may indicate certain natural grades of development — and
not merely the essence of things, which, in every possible relation,
invariably remains identical with itself. "We have, however, from
Plato himself, as general a determination of the province of Ideas
as could be desired ; for he expressly declares, that an Idea may be
attributed to whatever, as a plurality, may be indicated by the same
name. It must be manifest to all, whose notions of the theory are
tolerably clear and precise, that this expression cannot be under-
stood as exclusively referring to species and genera, which, in the
individual, appear as the manifold, but also to such individuals as,
expressed by one common name, exhibit themselves in many phe-
nomena. Furthermore, it could not escape Plato's observation,
that every property, every condition, and every relation of things,
expressed by a term, can be valid by many ; and finally, that even
the variable activities, as also generation or becoming, can be ex-
pressed by a noun, and combined with many verbs ; so that, in
fact, it must be admitted that according to him there is nothing
which does not participate in Ideas, or may not be comprehended
in an Idea."
" Now, that the term Idea should have been used by Plato in
this wide and general sense, will surprise no one who has con-
sidered, however slightly, the basis on which his whole theory rests.
This, indeed, is the Idea of science, for the reality of which that of
the Ideas is indispensable. If, then, Plato maintained that there
must necessarily be Ideas to exhibit the unalterable and eternal
truth of the objects of every science, in order that the science itself
should be possible, he was constrained to find Ideas wherever there
is a true essence, and scientific investigation is possible. But what
* 2 G
450 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
was there to which, in Plato's opinion, scientific inquiry might not
attach itself, or in which some truth might not yet be found ? For
consistently with the comprehensive view he entertained of science,
he must have clearly seen that there is a truth to be discovered,
even in individuals, even in the qualities and properties of things,
and in all that comes into being, and that consequently an idea
must be found for them all. We must, therefore, dismiss all nar-
row views of the Platonic Idece, and understand by them whatever
exhibits an eternal truth, — a persistent something which forms the
basis of the mutability of the sensible. As the ideal theory was
the conjoint result of the controversy against the sensuous presen-
tation interpreted by the Sophists, and against the denial of all dis-
tinction to which the Eleatic theory manifestly tended, there
were two points principally which it is of importance to it to
establish clearly and firmly, — first, that the sensible is not the true,
but that science alone, which teaches that there is an unchangeable
truth, can adequately express the unchangeable essence of things ;
and secondly, that truth, or the real and true being, is not indis-
tinguishably one and identical, but that it comprises a multitude of
separate notions, every one of which expresses, in a manner pecu-
liar to itselfj the eternal essence of things ; and although it consti-
tutes in itself a true unity, nevertheless, in reference to others,
it appears as a multiplicity.
" But there is yet a third point which is immediately implied in
the Ideal theory, viz. that the true and the real are exhibited in
general notions as elements of science, which are so related to each
other that every higher notion embraces and combines under it
several lower ; consequently, that the elements of truth cannot be
so separated from each other as not to be nevertheless held together
by some higher bond. Now, as Plato maintained this coherency
of ideas to be indispensable to science, he naturally proceeded to
show that all those theories are subversive of it, which consider any
special truth to exist absolutely in and of itself. This connexion
of the individual essences he supposed to be similar to that by
which individual ideas are comprehended under the more general ;
which in his mind is a true and a real connexion, and not merely
conceptual. Here, then, we have the reality of the general ex-
pressly asserted, which however is not a mere abstract generality,
but one in which the special and the individual are comprised.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 451
That this must possess a verity, and consequently reahty, needs
not, according to Plato, any other voucher than the truth and
reahty of science, of which the general is the constituent." — Ritter,
Hist. Philos. Vol. ii. p. 1/0—172.
NOTE C— Page 9Q.
" But, although Aristotle agreed with Plato in thinking that the
essences of things are expressed in the notions, he nevertheless
impugned the Platonic theory of ideas, in so far as it taught that
this essence is to be found in the general ideas. This controversy
is carried on by Aristotle in very different ways. At times he
attacks the manner in which Plato attempts to gain, by means of
ideas, and of the mathematical notion of numbers, a transition from
the becoming, to the eternal verity. In this attack Aristotle con-
fines himself to bringing forward a variety of doubts, which the
vagueness of Plato's views, and those of his disciples, on this sub-
ject, naturally give rise to, and which, although they do not enter
deeply into the spirit of the doctrine, are nevertheless well fitted
to awaken attention to its weakness. This mode of the contro-
versy does not, however, concern us in the present place, where
our first object is that which relates to the notion of essence. In
this respect Aristotle objects to the ideal theory, that it possesses an
essence which has no part in motion or change ; for the ideas are
said to indicate the eternal alone, and that, consequently, it renders
all investigation into nature impossible. This objection was in
some measure connected with his conviction, that the ideal theory
had its origin in logical, as opposed to physical, researches. Simi-
larly, Aristotle urged that ethical investigations also are impossible
in the ideal theory, since these investigations are not concerned
about the good in itself, but the good which is the end and result
of human conduct and actions. From admitting Slich grounds of
science Aristotle was prevented, by his doctrine that we must rise
from the better known to us, or from that which is more nearly
allied to the sensible, to the knowledge of what is better known in
and by itself. On this ground he likewise shews, that if the ideas
are contained, or ought to be, in us, that they must be moveable,
or sensible, since there is in the soul a movement and perception of
2 G 2
452 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
forms. Herein is apparent the endeavour of Aristotle to find such
an essence as would facilitate the explanation of experience, and
the sensuous phenomenon of becoming ; for he regards it as the
great defect of the ideal theory, that it rends the universal from
the material, in order to make the sole ground of the special. It
did not indeed escape Aristotle, that Plato's doctrine does not alto-
gether neglect phenomena, but that, on the contrary, it attempts to
reconcile sensation with the ideal; but he considered that it accom-
plishes this not only very vaguely, but even very strangely. Thus he
says, that what the Platonists call a participation of objects in the
ideas, is a mere vague, idle talk ; and he designates as absurd the
position of the ideal theory, that even general notions indicate an
essence, or entity, since, according to such a view, a single essence
might be composed of several diiferent essences ; a consequence
which would imperil the legitimacy of the principle of contradiction.
At times, indeed, he evidently misinterprets the Platonic doctrine,
and is of opinion that Plato considered the ideas to be altogether
separate from sensible things, to which he may perhaps have been
misled by the fact, that Plato does not assign a place to the ideas,
but evidently looks upon them as existing wholly without the rela-
tions of space. But the principal defect which he imputes to
Plato's theory is, that it confounds the grounds of all things, and,
by a necessary consequence, teaches concerning things, doctrines
which do not coincide with phenomena. In opposition to this view,
Aristotle observes, that it is necessary to assume different grounds
of entity, a sensible for the sensible, a perishable for the perishable,
and an eternal for what is eternal, and generally to admit for every
class of objects a peculiar and correspondent ground. From this
confusion of the grounds of Plato it has necessarily resulted, that he
could not assume any properly supra-sensible grounds of things, but
believed that, by adding to the sensible ground the words "in and
by itself," he could elevate it into the supra-sensible. In this
respect Aristotle compares the ideal theory to humanizing represen-
tations of the Deity ; for, in the same manner that these form at
most but eternal men, the Platonic doctrine makes the sensible
species of things conceived as eternal, to be the ground of things.
The great absurdity of the doctrine is, that it assimilates in species,
things, like the perishable and imperishable, which are generically
different.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 453
" It cannot be denied that, by following out these consequences,
Aristotle did not attack Plato in the true spirit of his theory. This
spirit Aristotle misunderstood, in consequence of following a very
different notion of essence from that which Plato did. While the
latter viewed the essence of things in a very general light, and
without any proximate determination, as that which exhibits itself
in sensible phenomena as the abiding law, which admits of being
apprehended in a scientific notion, Aristotle sought to discover
some ground which, as absolutely subsisting, should furnish the
ground of all things. The principal object of Plato was to discover
and to trace the true and the real in all sensible objects, aud this
he considered to be the essence ; Aristotle, on the contrary, sought
to explain the origin of sensations by the mutual action and passion
of things on their essences. And if Plato looked upon the true
not merely as individual, but also as universal, still Aristotle does
not deviate from him in this respect ; he only objects to Plato's
giving to the universal the term essence. Moreover, he took too
narrow a view of the ideal theory, when he believed that Plato did
not admit ideas of individual objects as well as of the universal.
Here again he was probably deceived by the language of Plato,
who, in truth, does consider every particular idea as a universal,
but at the same time regards every individual entity as universal or
general, since it also comprises under itself a multiplicity of sensuous
determinations. That on this point there subsisted nothing more
than a verbal misunderstanding between Plato and Aristotle is clear
from the fact, that the latter even looked upon the general, although
it may be predicated of many things, as something which, not
merely in name, but also in being, is one and the same, and as
only cognizable by the intellect indeed, but still actually present in
the sensible. Aristotle found it necessary to maintain this, because,
otherwise, any inference from a universal truth would be impos-
sible. He held that science, as Plato had previously shewn, is
dependent on the universal, only this universal is not something
extrinsical to things. We cannot deny that this account still leaves
a difference of view between Aristotle and Plato; which, however, does
not consist in this, that while one denied the existence of the general,
the other denied that of the individual ; but merely in the different
directions they respectively followed in their attempts to explain
phenomena. Plato sought to deduce the individual from the uni-
454 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
versal ; but Aristotle, on the contrary, believed tbat the universal
has its grounding in the individual. Logically, the tendency of
the latter is mainly expressed in his endeavour to find an ultimate
subject of the proposition, an " hypostasis " of which all else may
be predicated j such are individual objects, for ideas are merely
idle words, and the general is not anything subsisting absolutely
in and for itself, but it is invariably predicated of something else." —
{Ritter, Vol. iii. p. 108.)
NOTE D.— Page 1/1.
*' II fut aussi le prince des philosophes romains, ce citoyen
illustre, qui fut le prince des orateurs. Le premier, il cleva sur
cette terre nouvelle un monument a la science de la sagesse ; et
tjuel monument ! C'est un portique majestueux qui introduit h
toutes les branches de la science. Ciceron est historien et peintre
tout ensemble ; il fait revivre les ecoles diverses en meme temps
qu'il en raconte I'origine, S'emparant ensuite de leur heritage, il
eleve la philosophic a la plus haute dignite, lui assigne son veritable
but, lui prete le plus noble langage, I'arrache aux subtilites des
ecoles pour la transporter sur la scene de la socicte, I'anime d'une vie
toute nouvelle. Ce n'est pas a I'intelligence seule qu'il s'adresse, c'est
Tame tout enticre qu'il interesse a ses doctes lecons. Comment les
anciennes preventions qui repoussaient les etudes philosophiques ne se
seraient-elles pas dissipces, lorsque leur cause obtenait un tel apo-
logiste, lorsqu'elles recevaient de la bouche de ce grand homme
les plus magnifiques eloges, lorsqu'on apprenait de lui qu'elles
avaient ete sa lumiere dans les affaires publiques, son delassement
dans ses travaux, sa consolation dans I'adversite ; qu'il avait trouve
en elles et un guide pour son genie, et une source inalte'rable de
bonheur, et le vrai fondement de la vertu ; lorsque Ciceron lui-meme,
si justement fier des services qu'il avait rendus a son pays, placait
au ^premier rang de ces services le bonheur d' avoir pu introduire ces
concitoyens a I'etude de cette science ? II nous apprend qu'avant
lui divers ecrivains s'etaient dej^ exerces sur le meme sujet ; mais
ils etaient restes dans une obscurite dont I'orateur romain croit in-
utile de les tirer. II est cependaut singulier qu'il ne fasse jamais
mention du pocme de Lucrece. Ciceron nous confie lui-meme qu'il
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 455
s'est propose quatre vues principales : faire connaitre aux Ro-
xnains les doctrines des Grecs, y puiser librement ce qui lui parais-
sait digne d'estime, les revetir des ornements du style et de tout
I'eclat qu'elles peuvent emprunter k I'art oratoire, et les rapporter
aux resultats de I'utilitc la i)lus relevce et la plus etendue ; aussi
trouvons-nous dans la philosophie de Ciceron les quatre caracteres
essentiels qui distiuguent les travaux des philosophes remains pen-
dant le cours de cette periode ; una science empruntee aux sages
de la Grece, mais composee d'un choix de matc'riaux fait dans les
diflFcrentes ecoles, una science rendue accessible, attrayante, mise a
la portce de tons les hommes iustruits, une science cminemment
pratique et appliquee aux besoins gcneraux de la socictc, comme a
ceux de la morale privee ; en sorte que Ciceron n'a pas ete le vrai
fondateur de la philosophie h Rome, mais qu'il est en quelque sorta
pour nous comme le representant de tons ceux qui I'ont cultivee
apr^s lui. En tracant rapidement ici le resume de ce qu'il a fait
pour elle, nous expliquerons done mieux que par une froide nomen-
clature bibliographique, le point de vue dans lequel les Romaius se
sent places pour I'etude de cette science, et I'esprit dans lequel ils
I'ont traitee.
" L'ecole d'Epicure est la seule a laquelle Ciceron n'ait voulu payer
aucun tribut, et I'eloignement qu'il montra pour elle est justifie en
partie par Tabus qu'on commencait a en faire, par la pressentiment
de celui qu'on en ferait par la suite. II lone Pythagore, il rand
a Socrate une sorta da culte, il professe pour Platon I'admira-
tion la plus constante ; il associe Aristote aux hommages dont il
environne le fondateur de I'Academie, il se plait a voir dans ces deux
philosophes plutot deux aUie's que deux rivaux ; il s'est pe'netre des
austeres maximes de Ze'non, il s'est range a la suite de Carneade et
de Philon dans les rangs de la moyenne Acade'mie ; mais ca qu'il
y a surtout cherche, c'est I'avantage qu'offre cette ecole de pouvoir
comparer, discuter hbrement toutes les doctrines, les opposer entre
elles, et faire un choix judicieux. II cherche lui-meme comment
on peut composer, de I'enseignement des sages de la Grece depuis
Socrate, un systeme unique ou du moins principal, modifie seule-
ment par les additions ou les corrections de ses sucesseurs ; il va
quelquefois jusqu'a forcer ca rapprochement, et jusqu'a supposer
que la doctrine des Stoiciens ne difFere que dans les termes da cel-
les da Platon et d' Aristote. On est force de reconnaitre toutefois
456 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
que, dans ses vastes recherches, il n'a pas toujours exactement saisi,
fidelement rendu, la veritable pensee des auteurs dont il se rendait
I'interprete.
"En general, Ciceron suit la moyenne Academie dans les ques-
tions speculatives, Platon dans la psychologie ; Aristote et Ze'non
surtout le guident dans la morale ; il s'attache de pre'ference a Avis-
tote dans la politique ; mais c'est Platon qu'il prend constamment
pour modele dans sa methode ; il se plait a imiter la forme de ses
dialogues : s'il ne I'egale pas dans I'extreme delicatesse de ses ana-
lyses, il I'egale souvent en ele'vation, il le surpasse en clarte, et
ofFre lui-meme a 1' eloquence philosophique un modele qui n'a jamais
ete eo-ale jusqu'a ce jour." — De Gerando, Histoire Conipar^e des
Systemes de Philosojihie, Vol.ii. p. 178.)
NOTE E.— Page 197.
We shall here cite a few passages from the writings of some of
the Greek and Roman sages, on the nature of a Deity. Plato, on
Cause and Effect, reasons thus :^-" Whatever is produced, must
be produced by some cause ; for it is impossible that anything should
be produced or made without a cause." (Timseus, p. 28). " The
Universe received its origin, not from any fortuitous concourse of
atoms, but from a prudent potent first cause." (Tim. p. 265.)
" We must take it for granted that nothing can make itself."
(Thetetetus). " God is the primary and principal mover in nature,
(like the soul to the body) who moves himself, and all things that
are, were, or shall b^ in the world." (Leg. x. p. 894). Plato
states the argument for a Deity, drawn from the order, harmony,
and beauty of the world, in the following words : " The admirable
order of the universe, and the regular motion of the stars and other
celestial bodies, ordered by the Divine mind, demonstrate an intel-
ligent cause. For no mortal man who shall look into these
things with a diligent, inquisitive eye, can so far be an Atheist, as
not to acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being." (Leg. xii.
p. 966). Cicero says, " that Nature herself has impressed a notion
of a Deity on the minds of all men." (De Nat. Deor. lib. 1).
" For God is the first Being and Cause of things." (Simplicius in
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 457
Epict. c. 1, p. 9). Seneca, although he speaks of a pluraUty of
gods, asserts the existence of a supreme Deity in language which
cannot be mistaken : " The Framer and Former of the universe ; the
Governor, Disposer, and Keeper thereof; Him upon whom all
things depend ; the Mind and Spirit of the world ; the Artificer
and Lord of this whole mundane fabric ; to whom every name be-
longeth ; from whom all things spring ; by whose Spirit we live ;
who is in all his parts, and sustains himself by his own power ;
by whose counsel the world is provided for, and guided in all its
movements ; by whose decree all things are done ; the Divine
Spirit that is diffused through all things, both great and small ;
the God whose power extendeth to all things ; the greatest and
most powerful God, who supports himself and maintains all things ;
who is present everywhere ; the God of heaven whom we worship
and adore." (Nat. 2, lib. 2.)^
NOTE F.— Page 241.
Exposition of Theology by Proclus.
Prop. 1. All multitude participates in a certain respect of the
ONE.
Prop. 2. Everything which participates of the one, is both one
and not one.
Prop. 3. Everything which becomes one, becomes so through the
participation of the one, and is one, so far as it suffers the partici-
pation of the one.
Prop. 4. Everything which is united is different from the one
itself.
Prop. 5. All multitude is posterior to the 07ie.
Prop. 6. Every multitude consists either of things united, or of
unities.
Prop. 7. Everything productive of another is more excellent
than the nature of the thing produced.
Prop. 8. That which is primarily good, and which is no other
than the good itself, is the leader of all things that in any way
whatever participate of good.
Prop. 9. Everything which is sufficient to itself, either according
458 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
to essence, or according to energy, is more excellent than that
which is not sufficient to itself, but has the cause of its perfection
suspended from another cause.
Prop. 10. Everything which is sufficient to itself is inferior to
that which is simply good.
Prop. 11. All beings proceed from one first cause.
Prop. 12. The principle and first cause of all beings is the
good.
Prop. 13. Every good has the power of uniting its participants,
and every union is good ; and the good is the same with the one.
Prop. 14. Every being is either immoveable or moved. And if
moved, it is either moved by itself or by another. And if indeed
it is moved by itself, it is self-motive ; but if by another, it is alter-
motive. Everything, therefore, is either immoveable, or self-motive,
or alter-motive.
Prop. 15. Everything which is converted to itself is incorporeal.
Prop. 16. Everything which is converted to itself, has an essence
separate from all body.
Prop. 17. Everything which moves itself primarily, isconvertive
to itself.
Prop. 18. Everything which imparts existence to others, is it-
self that primarily which it communicates to the natures that are
supplied by it with existence.
Prop. 19. Everything which is primarily inherent in a certain
nature of beings, is present to all the beings that are arranged ac-
cording to that nature, and this conformably to one reason and
after the same manner.
Prop. 20. The essence of soul is beyond all bodies, the intel-
lectual nature is beyond all souls, and the one is beyond all intel-
lectual hypostases.
Prop. 21. Every order beginning from a monad, proceeds into a
multitude of every order, and is referred to one monad.
Prop. 22. Everything which subsists primarily and principally in
each order is one, and_is neither two, nor more than two, but is only
begotten.
Prop. 23. Every imparticipable gives substance from itself to
things which are participated. And all participated hypostases are
extended to imparticipable hyparxes.
Prop. 24. Every thing which participates is inferior to that
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 459
which is participated ; and that which is participated is inferior to
that which is imparticipable.
Prop. 25. Every thing perfect proceeds to the generation of those
things which it is able to produce, imitating the one principle of all.
Prop. 26. Every cause which is productive of other things, it-
self abiding in itself, produces the natures posterior to itself, and
such as are successive.
Prop. 27. Every producing cause, on accouut of its perfection,
and abundance of power, is productive of secondary natures.
Prop. 28. Every producing cause gives substance to things simi-
lar to itself, prior to such as are dissimilar.
Prop. 29. Every progression is effected through a similitude of
secondary to first natures.
Prop. 30. Everything which is produced from a certain thing
without a medium, abides in its producing cause, and proceeds
from it.
Prop. 31. Everything which proceeds from a certain thing essen-
tially, is converted to that from which it proceeds.
Prop. 32. All conversion is effected through the similitude of
the things converted to that which they are converted.
Prop. 33. Everything which proceeds from a certain thing and
is converted to it, has a circular energy.
Prop. 34. Everything which is converted according to nature,
makes its conversion to that, from which also it had the progression
of its proper hypostasis.
Prop. 35. Everything caused, abides in, proceeds from, and re-
turns or is converted to, its cause.
Prop. 36. Of all things which are multiplied according to pro-
gression, the first are more perfect than the second, the second than
those posterior to them, and after the same manner successively.
Prop. 37. Of all things which subsist according to conversion,
the first are more imperfect than the second, and the second than
those that follow ; but the last are the most perfect.
Prop. 38. Everything which proceeds from certain numerous
causes, is converted through as many causes as those are through
which it proceeds, and all conevrsion is through the same things as
those through which progression is effected.
Prop. 39. Every being is either alone essentially converted,
or vitally, or also gnostically.
460 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Prop. 40. Of all things which proceed, from another cause, those
which exist from themselves, and which are allotted a self-subsis-
tent essence, are the leaders.
Prop. 4 1 . Everything which is in another, is alone produced by
another ; but everything which is in itself is self-subsistent.
Prop. 42. Everything self-subsistent is convertive to itself.
Prop. 43. Everything convertive to itself is self-subsistent.
Prop. 44. Everything which is convertive to itself according to
energy, is also converted to itself essentially.
Prop. 45. Everything self-subsistent is unbegotten.
Prop. 46.
Prop. 47. Everything self-subsistent is incorruptible.
Prop. 48. Everything which is not perpetual, is either a com-
posite, or subsists in another.
Prop. 49. Everything self-subsistent is perpetual.
Prop. 50. Everything which is measured by time, either accord-
ing to essence, or according to energy, is generation, so far as it is
measured, by time.
Prop. 5 1 . Everything self-subsistent is essentially exempt from
the natures which are measured by time.
Prop. 52. Everything eternal is a whole which subsists at once.
And whether it has its essence alone eternal, it will possess the
whole at once present, nor will it have this thing pertaining to itself
now subsisting, but that afterwards which as yet is not ; but as
much as is possible it now possesses the whole without diminution
and. without extension ; or whether it has its energy as well as its
essence at once present, it possesses this also collectively, abiding
in the same measure of perfection, and, as it were, fixed immoveably
and without transition, according to one and the same boundary.
Prop. 53. Eternity subsists prior to all eternal natures, and
time exists prior to everything which subsists according to time.
Prop. 54. Every eternity is the measure of eternal natures, and
every time is the measure of things in time ; and these are the only
two measures of life and motion in beings.
Prop. 55. Everything which subsists according to time, either
subsists through the whole of time, or has its hypostasis once in a
part of time,
Prop. 56. Everything which is produced by secondary natures.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 461 -
is produced in a great degree by prior and more casual natures,
by whom such as are secondary were also produced.
Prop. 57. Every cause both energizes prior to the thing caused,
and gives subsistence to a greater number of effects posterior to it.
Prop. 58. Everything that is produced by many, is more com-
pounded than that which is produced by fewer causes.
Prop. 59. Everything which is essentially simple, is either
better or worse than composite natures.
Prop. 60. Everything which is the cause of a greater number
of effects, is better than that which is allotted a power of producing
a less number, and which produces the parts of those things to the
wholes of which the other gives subsistence.
Prop. 61. Every power which is imparticipable is greater, but
when divided is less.
Prop. 62. Every multitude which is nearer to the one, is less in
quantity than things more remote from it, but is greater in power.
Prop. 63. Everything which is imparticipable gives subsistence
to two-fold orders of participated natures, one indeed in things
which sometimes participate, but the other in things which always
and connascently participate.
Prop. 64. Every monad which ranks as a principle, gives sub-
sistence to a two-fold number ; one indeed of self-perfect hypos-
tasis, but the other of illuminations which possess their hypostasis
in other things.
Prop. 65. Everything which has any subsistence whatever,
either subsists according to cause, so as to have the form of a prin-
ciple, or according to hyparxis, or according to participation, after
the manner of an image.
Prop. 66. All beings, with reference to each other, are either
wholes, or parts, or the same, or different.
Prop. 67. Every wholeness (6\oTr]Q) is either prior to parts, or
consists of parts, or is in a part.
Prop. 68. Every whole which is in a part, is a part of that
whole which consists of parts.
Prop. 69. Every whole which consists of parts, participates of
the wholeness which is prior to parts.
Prop. 70. Everything which is more total among principal,
illuminates participants, prior to partial natures, and when these
fail, still continues to impart its illuminations.
462 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Prop. 71. All things which, among nrincipal causes, possess a
more total and a higher, in their effects, according to the illumina-
tions proceeding from them, become in a certain respect subjects to
the communications of more partial causes. And the illumina-
tions indeed, from higher causes, receive the progressions from se-
condary causes ; but the latter are established in the former. And
thus some participations precede others, and some representations
extend after others, beginning from on high, to the same subject,
more total causes having a prior energy, but such as are more par-
tial, supplying their participants with their communications poste-
rior to the energies of more total causes.
Prop. 72. All things which in their participants have the rela-
tion of a subject, proceed from more perfect and total causes.
Prop. 73. Every whole is at the same time a certain being, and
participates of being, but not every being is a whole.
Prop. 74. Every form is a certain whole, for it consists of many
things, each of which gives completion to the form ; but not every
whole is a form.
Prop. 75. Every cause which is properly so called, is exempt
from its effect.
Prop. 76. Every thing which is generated from an immoveable
cause has an immutable hyparxis ; but every thing which is gene-
rated from a moveable cause has a mutable hyparxis.
Prop. 77. Every thing which is in capacity proceeds from that
which is in energy. And that which is in capacity proceeds into
energy. That also which is in a certain respect in a capacity, so
far as it is in capacity, is the offspring of that which is in a certain
respect in energy. But that which is all things in capacity, pro-
ceeds from that which is all things in energy.
Prop. 78. Every power is either perfect or imperfect.
Prop. 79. Every thing which is generated, is generated from a
two-fold power.
Prop. 80. Every body is naturally adapted of itself to suflFer ;
but every thing incorporeal to act. And the former indeed is es-
sentially efficacious, but the latter is impassive. That which is in-
corporeal, however, suffers through its communion with body j
just as bodies are able to act through the participation of incor-
poreals.
Prop. 81. Every thing which is participated in a separable
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 463
manner, is present with its participants by a certain inseparable
power which it inserts in it.
Prop. 82. Every thing incorporeal, which is converted to itself,
when it is participated by other things, is participated in a sepa-
rable manner.
Prop. 83. Every thing which has a knowledge of itself, is en-
tirely converted to itself.
Prop. 84. Every thing which always is, possesses an infinite
power.
Prop. 85. Every thing which is always becoming to be, or ris-
ing into existence, (aei yivofxevov,) possesses an infinite power of
becoming to be.
Prop. 86. Every thing which is truly being, (ojtwc ov,) is infi-
nite, neither according to multitude nor according to magnitude,
but according to power alone.
Prop. 87. Every thing eternal indeed is being, but not every
being is eternal.
Prop. 88. Every thing which is truly being, is either prior to
eternity, or in eternity, or participates of eternity.
Prop. 89. Every thing which is primarily being consists of
bound and infinity.
Prop. 90. The first bound and the first infinity subsist by
themselves, prior to every thing which consists of bound and the
infinite.
Prop. 91. Every power is either finite or infinite. But every
finite power indeed derives its substance from infinite power. And
infinite power subsists from the first infinity.
Prop. 92. Every multitude of infinite powers is suspended from
one first infinity, which does not subsist as a participated power,
nor in things which are endued with power, but subsists by itself,
not being the power of a certain participant, but the cause of all
beings.
Prop. 93. Every infinite which is in (true) beings, is neither
infinite to the natures that are above beings, nor is it infinite
to itself.
Prop. 94. Every perpetuity is indeed a certain infinity, but not
every infinity is perpetuity.
Prop. 9.5. Every power which is more single, is more infinite
than that which is multiplied.
464 NOTES AND ILLrSTRATTONS.
Prop. 96. The power which is infinite of every finite body, is
incorporeal.
Prop. 97. In each series of things, every cause which has the
relation of a leader, imparts to the whole series the peculiarity of
itself ; and that which the cause is primarily, the series is accord-
ing to diminution.
Prop. 98. Every separate cause is at one and the same time
every where and no where.
Prop. 99. Every imparticipable, so far as it is imparticipable,
does not derive its existence from another cause : but it is itself
the principle and cause of all its participants. And thus every
principle in each series is unbegotten.
Prop. 100. Every series of wholes is extended to an impartici-
pable cause and principle. But all imparticipables are suspended
from the one principle of all things.
Prop. 101. Imparticipable intellect is the leader of all things
that participate of intellect, imparticipable life of all things that
participate of life, and imparticipable being of all things that parti-
cipate of being. But of these, being is prior to life, but life is
prior to intellect.
Prop. 102. All beings which exist in any manner whatever,
consist of bound, and the infinite through that which is primarily
being. But all living beings are motive of themselves through the
first life. And all gnostic beings participate of knowledge, through
the first intellect.
Prop. 103. All things are in all, but appropriately in each.
Prop. 104. Every thing which is primarily eternal, has both its
essence and its energy eternal.
Prop. 105. Every thing immortal is perpetual; but not every
thing perpetual is immortal.
Prop. 106. The medium of every thing which is entirely eter-
nal, both in essence and energy, and of every thing which has its
essence in time, is that which is partly indeed eternal, and partly
is measured by time.
Prop. 107. Every thing which is partly eternal, and partly
temporal, is, at one and the same time, being and generation.
Prop. 108. Every thing which is partial in each order, is able
to participate in a two-fold respect of the monad which is in the
proximately superior order, viz., either through its own wholeness.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. tL65
or through that which is partial in the superior order, and co-ordi-
nate with the thing according to an analogy to the whole series.
Prop. 109. Every partial intellect participates of the unity
which is above intellect and the first, both through the intellect
which ranks as a whole, and through the partial unity which is
co-ordinate with this partial intellect. Every partial soul, likewise,
participates of the intellect which is a whole, through the soul
which ranks as a whole, and through a partial intellect. And every
partial nature of body participates of the soul, which is a whole
through the wholeness of nature, and a partial soul.
Prop. 110. Of all things that are arranged in each series, such
as are first, and are conjoined with their monad, are able to parti-
cipate of the natures which are proximately established in the supe-
rior series, through analogy. But such as are more imperfect and
remote from their proper principle, are not naturally adapted to
enjoy these natures.
Prop. 111. Of every intellectual series, some things are divine
intellects, receiving the participations of the Gods ; but others are
intellects alone. And of every physical series, some things are
intellectual souls, suspended from their proper intellects ; but others
are souls alone. Of all corporeal natures, likewise, some have
souls supernally presiding over them, but others are natures alone,
destitute of the presence of souls.
Prop. 112. Of every order, those things that, are first have the
form of the natures prior to them.
Prop. 113. Every divine number is unical.
Prop. 114. Every God is a self-perfect unity, and every self-
perfect unity is a God.
Prop. 115. Every God is super-essential, super-vital, and
super-intellectu;)l.
Prop. 116. Every deity except the one is participable.
Prop. 117. Every God is the measure of beings.
Prop. 118. Everything which is in the Gods pre-exists in
them according to their peculiarities. And the peculiarity of the
Gods is unical and super-essential. Hence, all things are con-
tained in them unically and super-essentially.
Prop. 119. Every God subsists according to super-essential
goodness, and is good neither according to participation nor accord-
* 2 H
4>GG NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
ing to essence, but super-essentially ; since habits and essences are
allotted secondary and manifold orders from the Gods.
Prop. 120. Every God possesses in his own hyparxis a provi-
dential inspection of the vrhole of things. And a providential
energy is primarily in the Gods.
Prop. 121. Every divine nature has indeed for its hyparxis
goodness, but possesses a power which is unsubdued, and at once
incomprehensible by all secondary natures.
Prop. 122. Every thing divine provides for secondary natures,
and is exempt from the subjects of his providential care, providence
neither relaxing the unmingled and unical transcendency of that
which is divine, nor a separate union abolishing providence.
Prop. 123. Every thing divine is itself indeed, on account of
its super-essential union, ineffable and unknown to all secondary
natures ; but it is comprehended and known by its participants.
Hence, that which is first is alone perfectly unknown, as being im-
participable.
Prop. 1 24. Every God knows participable natures imparticipably,
temporal natures without time, things which are not necessary ne-
cessarily, mutable natures immutably ; and, in short, all things in a
manner more excellent than the order of the things known.
Prop. 125. Every God, from that order from which he began
tc unfold himself into light, proceeds through all secondary natures ;
always, indeed, multiplying and dividing the communications of
himself, but preserving the peculiarity of his own hypostasis.
Prop. 126. Every God who is nearer to the one is more total,
but the God who is more remote from it is more partial.
Prop. 127. Everything divine is especially primarily simple,
and on this account most sufficient to itself.
Prop. 128. Every God, when participated by natures nearer
to himself, is participated without a medium; but when partici-
pated by natures more remote from himself, the participation is
through a less or greater number of media.
Prop. 123. Every divine body is divine through a deified soul.
But every soul is divine through a divine intellect. And every
intellect is divine through the participation of a divine unity. And
unity indeed is of itself a God ; intellect is most divine ; soul is
divine ; but body is deiform.
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 467
Prop, 130. In every divine order, such things as are first are
in a greater degree exempt from the natures proximately arranged
under them, than these latter are from beings subsequent. And
secondary natures in a greater degree adhere to their proximate
superiors, than follovs'ing natures to those.
Prop, 131, Every God begins his own energy from himself.
Prop, 132, All the orders of the Gods are bound in union by
a medium.
Prop. 133. Every God is a benificent unity, or a unific (kuo-
TTOLoc) goodness ; and each, so far as a God possesses this hyparxis.
The first God, however, is simply good, and simply one. But each
posterior to the first, is a certain goodness, and a certain unity.
Prop. 134. Every divine intellect intellectually perceives in-
deed as intellect, but energizes providentially as God.
Prop. 135. Every divine unity is participated by some being
immediately, or without a medium ; and every deified nature is
extended to one divine unity. As many also as are the partici-
pated unities, so many are the participating genera of beings.
Prop. 136. Every God who is more total, and arranged nearer
to the first, is participated by a more total genus of beings. But
the God who is more partial, and more remote from the first, is
participated by a more partial genus of beings. And as being is to
being, so is one divine unity to another.
Prop. 137. Every unity in conjunction with the one gives sub-
sistence to the being which participates of it.
Prop. 138. Of all the deified natures which participate of the
divine peculiarity, the first and highest is beinff itself.
Prop. 139, All things which participate of the divine unities,
originate indeed from being, but end in a corporeal nature.
Prop. 140. All the powers of divine natures, having a supernal
origin, and proceeding through an appropriate medium, extend as
far as to the last of things, and to places about the earth.
Prop. 141. Every providence of the Gods is twofold, one indeed
being exempt from the natures for which it provides, but the other
being co-arranged with them.
Prop. 142. The Gods are present with all things after the same
manner, but all things are not after the same manner present with
the Gods. But everything participates of their presence according
to its own order and power. And this is accomplished by some
2 11 2
468 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
things uniformly, but by others manifoldly; by some things eter-
nally, but by others according to time ; and by some things incor-
poreally, but by others corporeally.
Prop. 143. All inferior natures fail before the presence of the
Gods, though that which participates of them may be adapted to
participation. Everything foreign indeed from divine light becomes
far removed from it. But all things are illuminated at once by
the Gods.
Prop. 144. All beings, and all the distributions of beings, ex-
tend as far in their progressions as the orders of the Gods.
Prop. 145. The peculiarity of every divine order pervades
all secondary natures, and imparts itself to all the subordinate ge-
nera of beings.
Prop, 146. The ends of all the divine progressions are assimi-
lated to their principles, preserving a circle without a beginning
and without an end, through conversion to their principles.
Prop. 147. The summits of all the divine orders are assimi-
lated to the ends of the natures (proximately) situated above
them.
Prop. 148. Every divine order is united to itself in a threefold
manner, from the summit which is in it, from its middle, and from
its end.
Prop. 149. Every multitude of the divine unities is bounded
according to number.
Prop. 150. Everything which proceeds in the divine orders, is
not naturally adapted to receive all the powers of its producing
cause. Nor, in short, are secondary natures able to receive all the
powers of the natures prior to themselves, but the latter have
certain powers exempt from things in an inferior order, and incom-
prehensible by the beings themselves.
Prop. 151. Everything paternal in the Gods is of a primary
nature, and is pre-established in the rank of the good, according to
all divine orders.
Prop. 152. Everything which is generative in the Gods, pro-
ceeds according to the infinity of divine power, multiplying itself,
proceeding through all things, and transcendently exhibiting the
never-failing indications in the progressions of secondary natures.
Prop. 153. Everything which is perfect in the Gods, is the
cause of divine perfection.
NOTES AND ILLUSTUATIONS. 469
Prop. 154. Everything which is of a guardian nature in the
Gods, preserves everything in its proper order, and is uniformly
exempt from secondary, and estabhshed in primary nature.
Prop. 155. Everything vivific in the Gods, is a generative
cause, but every generative cause is not vivific.
Prop. 156. Every cause of purity is comprehended in the guar-
dian order. But, on the contrary, not everything of a guardian
order is the same with the purifying genus;
Prop. 157. Every paternal cause is the supplier of being to
things, and gives subsistence to the hyparxes of beings. But every
thing which is fabricative of the production of form, exists prior to
composite natures, and precedes their order and division according
to number, and is also of the same co-ordination with the paternal
cause, in the more partial genera of things.
Prop. 158, Every elevating cause in the Gods, differs both from
a purifying cause, and from the convertive genera.
Prop. 159. Every order of the Gods consists of the first prin-
ciples, bound and infinity. But one order is in a greater degree
derived from bound, another from infinity.
Prop. 160. Every divine intellect is uniform, or has the form
of the one, and is perfect. And the first intellect subsists from it-
self, and produces other intellects.
Prop. 161. Everything which is truly being, and is suspended
from the Gods, is divine and imparticipable.
Prop. 162. Every multitude of unities which illuminates truly
existing being, is occult and intelligible ; occult indeed, as being
conjoined with unity ; but intelligible, as participated by being.
Prop. 163. Every multitude of unities which is participated by
imparticipable intellect, is intellectual.
Prop. 164. Every multitude of unities which is participated by
every imparticipable soul, is supermundane.
Prop. 165. Every multitude of unities which is participated by
a certain sensible body is mundane.
Prop. 166. Every intellect is either imparticipable or participable.
And if participable, it is either participated by supermundane, or by
mundane souls.
Prop. 167. Every intellect intellectually perceives it. But the
first intellect indeed perceives itself alone ; and in this, intellect and
the intelligible are one in number. But each of the subsequent in-
470 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
tellects perceives itself, and the natures prior to itself. And the
intelHgible to each of these is partly that which it is, and partly
that from which it is derived.
Prop. 168. Every intellect knows in energy that which it intel-
lectually perceives, and it is not the peculiarity of one part of it to
perceive^ and of another to perceive that it perceives.
Prop. 169. Every intellect has its essence, power, and energy.
Prop. 170. Every intellect at once intellectually perceives all
things. But imparticipable intellect indeed simply perceives all
things. And each of the intellects posterior to it perceives all
things, according to order.
Prop. 171. Every intellect is an imparticipable essence.
Prop. 1/2. Every intellect is proximately the producing cause,
being perpetual and immutable according to essence.
Prop. 173. Every intellect is intellectually both the things
which are prior and posterior to itself.
Prop. 174. Every intellect gives subsistence to things posterior
to itself, by intellection ; and its fabrication consists in intellection,
and its intellection or intelligence in fabrication.
Prop. 175. Every intellect is primarily participated by those
natures which are intellectual, both according to essence and ac-
cording to energy.
Prop. 176. All intellectual forms are in each other, and each
is at the same time separate and distinct from the rest.
Prop. 177. Every intellect being a plenitude of forms, one in-
deed is comprehensive of more total, but another of more partial
forms. And the superior intellects contain in a more total manner
such things as those posterior to them contain more partially.
But the inferior intellects contain more partially such things as
those that are prior to them contain more totally.
Prop. 178. Every intellectual form gives subsistence to eternal
natures.
Prop. 179. Every intellectual number is bounded.
Prop. 180. Every intellect is a whole, so far as each consists of
parts and is united to other things, and at the same time separated
from them. But imparticipable intellect indeed is simply a whole,
as containing all parts in itself totally. But each partial intellect
possesses the whole as in a part, and thus in all things partially.
NOTES AND ILLUSTllATIONS. 471
Prop. 181. Every participated intellect is either divine, as be-
ing suspended from the Gods, or is intellectual only.
Prop. 182. Every (divine) participated intellect is participated
by divine souls.
Prop. 183. Every intellect which is participated indeed, but
is intellectual alone, is participated by souls which are neither di-
vine nor subsisting in a mutation from intellect into a privation of
intellect.
Prop. 184, Every soul is either divine or is changed from in-
tellect, or always remains as a medium between these, but is in-
ferior to divine souls.
Prop. 185. All (divine) souls are indeed Gods psychically. But
all those that participate of an intellectual intellect, are the perpetual
attendants of the Gods. And all those that are the recipients of
mutation, are sometimes only the attendants of the Gods.
Prop. 186. Every soul is both an incorporeal essence, and se-
parate from body.
Prop. 187. Every soul is indestructible, and incorruptible.
Prop. 188. Every soul is both life and vital.
Prop. 189. Every soul is self-vital.
Prop. 190. Every soul is a medium between imparticipable na-
tures, and the natures which are divisible about bodies.
Prop. 191. Every participate soul has indeed an eternal essence,
but its energy accompanies by time.
Prop. 192. Every participable soul ranks among the number of
(truly existing) beings, and is the first of generated natures.
Prop. 193. Every soul subsists proximately from intellect.
Prop. 194. Every soul contains all the forms which intellect
primarily possesses.
Prop. 1 95. Every soul is all things, containing indeed sensibles
paradigmatically, and after the manner of an exemplar ; but intelli-
gibles iconically, or after the manner of an image.
Prop. 196. Every participable soul primarily uses a perpetual
body which possesses an unbegotten and incorruptible hypostasis.
Prop. 197. Every soul is an essence vital and gnostic, and a
life essential and gnostic, and is knowledge, essence, and life. All
things likewise subsist in, at once, the essential, the vital, and the
gnostic ; and all things are in all, and each is separate from the
rest.
472 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
Prop. 198. Everything which participates of time and is always
moved, is measured by periods.
Prop. 199. Every mmidane soul uses periods of its proper life,
and restitutions to its former state.
Prop. 200. Every period of soul is measured by time. The
period of other souls indeed by a certain time ; but that of the first
soul, since it is measured by time, is measured by the whole of
time.
Prop. 201. All divine souls have triple energies ; some indeed
as souls ; but others as receiving a divine intellect ; and others are
suspended from the Gods. And they provide indeed for the whole
of things as Gods; but they know all things through an intellectual
life, and they move bodies through a self-moved hyparxis.
Prop. 202. All souls attending upon, and always following the
Gods, are inferior to divine, but more eminent than particular souls.
Prop. 203. Of every psychical multitude, divine souls indeed
being greater in power than other souls, are contracted according
to number. But those that always follow divine souls have a
middle order among all souls, both in power and quantity. And
partial souls indeed are inferior in power to the others, but proceed
into a greater number.
Prop. 204. Every divine soul is the leader of many souls that
always follow the Gods ; and of a still greater number of such as
sometimes receive this order.
Prop, 205. Every partial soul has the same ratio to the soul
under which it is essentially arranged, as the vehicle of the one to
the vehicle of the other.
Prop. 206. Every partial soul is able to descend infinitely into
generation, and to ascend from generation to real being.
Prop^ 207. The vehicle of every partial soul is fabricated by an
immoveable cause.
Prop. 208. The vehicle of every partial soul is immaterial, essen-
tially indivisible, and impassive.
Prop. 209. The vehicle of every partial soul descends indeed
with the addition of more material vestments, but becomes united
to the soul by an abolition of everything material, and a recurrence
to its proper form, analogous to the soul that uses it.
Prop. 210. Every connascent vehicle to the soul, always pos-
sesses both the same figure and magnitude. But it is seen to be
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 473
greater and less, and of dissimilar figure, through the additions and
abolitions of other bodies.
Prop, 211. Every partial soul descending into generation, de-
scends wholly, nor does one part of it remain on high, and another
part descend.
NOTE G.— Page 339.
The controversy between the Calvinists and Arminians,
grounded on a particular view of the doctrines of necessary con-
nexion and free will, seems, at the present day, to be as far re-
moved from a settlement as ever. Indeed, an agreement on the
point is almost hopeless. This arises not from sectarian or party
feelings, but solely from some leading metaphysical ideas, of oppo-
sing character and influence, which lie at the bottom of the dispute.
We shall hazard, however, a few general observations on the sub-
ject, chiefly with the view of directing the attention of the reader
to the leading principles and difficulties involved in this interesting,
though perplexing, theological question.
It is common with Calvinistic writers to maintain, that their
theory is altogether different from the principle of necessary con-
nexion, advocated by many philosophers. Let us see how this is.
The Calvinists aflfirm, that the Deity must have foreseen all events,
and by virtue of His Omniscience^^ nothing could have happened
otherwise than it has done, or will do in future. The doctrine
which is called philosophical necessity may be defined to be that
which asserts that all the phenomena of the moral world, like that
of the physical, are regulated by fixed and immutable laws ; or, in
other words, the human mind is first excited to action, and conti-
nually influenced by motives ; that these motives originate from,
and depend upon, the circumstances in which man is placed, and
over which circumstances he has not the least absolute control.
Now then, taking these two doctrines as thus explained, may it
not be asked, what diff'erence is there between every thing being
done by the immediate agency of the Almighty, and every thing
being done by necessary and fixed laws which He has created and
ordained ? In both cases the freedom of the human will is com-
j)letely excluded ; so that, as far as it is concerned, these two doc-
474 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
trines are one and the same. Yet it does seem somewhat strange
that Calvinists should look upon the first doctrine, that every thing
is regulated by the immediate interposition of Almighty power, as
the very foundation of Christian orthodoxy ; and that the other
doctrine, that God governs the world by fixed laws, is to be con-
sidered as atheistical and dangerous to the interests of morals and
religion. There is a great apparent inconsistency in this. It is
not in the power of the most subtile theological disputant to point
out any difference between Calvinism and necessity, {so far as both
relate to the human will, which is the only point which can render
them interesting,) that seems not purely arbitrary and absurd. The
only perceptible difference is, that the two doctrines in question
are designated by different names.
Calvinists would, we conceive, stand upon firmer ground, if they
would take their main principle in all its sweeping fulness and
integrity, and not fritter it away, with useless illogical qualifica-
tions. They complain that Arminians reason disingenuously with
them, by drawing inferences from their doctrines, which they are
not warranted to do. But then the Calvinists do the very same
thing with their antagonists, the philosophical necessarians ; and
even with the Arminians too. The doctrine of predestination is
this, that certain individuals will be doomed to everlasting punish-
ment, and a certain nvimber to everlasting life. So far there is no
ambiguity nor inconsistency in the principle laid down. But when
iVrminians or others draw inferences from this maxim of theology,
that such a view of the Divine procedure, appears inimical to cor-
rect notions of the attributes of the Deity, such as justice and
mercy, the Calvinistic complains that the proceedings are un-
fair and illogical. Now the only way in which Calvinists have
argued against both philosophical necessarians, and Arminians is,
by urging the force of inferences against the truth of a principle.
This has been the invariable practice followed in every stage of this
keenly contested point, for many hundreds of years.
Most Calvinistic writers meet their opponents with such qualifi-
cations of Divine decrees as the following : " So far as the Divine
government is concerned, the rational mind is in all its delibera-
tions and decisions voluntary , and even free, in the more common
and less accurate sense of the words. The secret purposes of the
Divinity have no influence in determining the human will, and of
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 475
consequence can never destroy a responsibility to the Divine law.
" That the soul always chooses that which, all things considered, is
the most agreeable, is an identical truth." " The will is ulti-
mately governed by the understanding." " The activity of mind
implies a general capacity of volition." " The mind is chiefly
regulated by its own innate predilections."*
These admissions, which are merely a repetition of what has
been over and over again said, show how difficult a matter it is, to
get rid of the freedom of the human will ; and how impossible it is
for Calvinists to carry out their main principle to all its logical con-
sequences.
On the Arminian side of the dispute we again meet with the
same difficulty viewed under another aspect. To make the human
will independent of the Divine omnipotence and government, is
another stumbling-block. The advocates of this theory, like their
antagonists, shrink from the inferences of their own principle, and
take shelter in qualifications and compromises. The only course,
therefore, which is left to both parties, is to agree to differ.
NOTE H.— Page 349
&"•
It has been noticed by some historians, that there are some parts
of the writings of Avicenna which would seem to countenance a
recent theory, maintained by Drs. Gall and Spurzheim. We shall
here quote a few sentences from the fifth volume of Avicenna's
works, which may be considered to bear such an interpretation.
" Virium autem apprehendentium, occultarum, vitalium, prima
est fantasia, quae est sensus communis, quse est vis ordinata in
prima concavitate cerebri, recipiens per seipsam formas omnes, quae
imprimmitur quinque sensibus et redduntur ei. Post banc, et
imaginatio, vel quae est etiam formans, quae est vis ordinata in ex-
tremo anterioris concavitatis cerebri, retinens quod recipit sensus
communis a quinque sensibus, et remanet in ea post remotionem
illorum sensibilium. Post banc, est vis quae vocatur imaginativa,
comparatione animae humanae, quae est vis ordinata in media con-
cavitate cerebri, ubi est nervus, et solet componere aliquid de eo
quod est in imaginatione cum alio, et deinde aliquid ab alio, secun-
dum quod vult. Deinde est vis estimativa, quae est vis ordinata in
* Sermons on Election. London, 1822.
476 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
summa media concavitate cerebri, apprehendens intentiones, non
sensatus, quse sunt in singulis sensibilibus, sicut vis quae est in ove
dijudicans quod a lupo fugiendum est ; videtur etiam hsec vis op-
erari in imaginationis compositionem et divisionem. Deindeestvis
memorialis et remiriiscibilis, quae est vis ordinata in posteriore con-
cavitate cerebri, retinens quod apprehendit vis sestimationis, de in-
tentionibus non sensatis singulorum sensibilium." — De Anima.
NOTE I.— Page 357.
Mr. Hallam observes that the general doctrine held by AveiToes
was, " that there is one common intelligence, active, immortal, in-
divisible, unconnected with matter, the soul of the human kind ;
which is not in any one man, because it has no material form, but
which yet assists in the rational operations of each man's personal
soul, and from those operations which are all conversant with par-
ticulars, derives its own knowledge of universals. Thus, if I un-
derstand what is meant, which is rather subtile, it might be said,
that as in the common theory particular sensations furnish means
to the soul of forming general ideas, so, in that of Averroes, the
ideas and judgments of separate human souls furnish collectively
the means of that knowledge of universals, which the one great
soul of mankind alone can embrace. This was a theory built, as
some have said, on the bad Arabic version of Aristotle which Aver-
roes used. But, whatever might have first suggested it to the
philosopher of Cordova, it seems little else than an expansion of
the Realist hypothesis, urged to a degree of apparent paradox.
For if the human soul, as an universal, possesses an objective
reality, it must surely be intelligent ; and, being such, it may seem
no extravagant hypothesis ; though incapable of that demonstra-
tion, we now require in philosophy to suppose that it acts upon the
subordinate intelligences of the same species, and receives impres-
sions from them. By this also they would reconcile the knowledge
we were supposed to possess of the reality of universals, with the
acknowledged impossibility, at least in many cases, of representing
them to the mind." {Lit. Middle Ages, Vol. 1, p. 196.)
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 477
NOTE J.— Page 363.
4
Le Livre des Conseils, par Ferideddin Attar, quoique essentielle-
ment destine a offrir uii recueil de Preceptes moraux et de Conseils
pratiques, renferme aussi quelques vues sur la connaissance de
Dieu, suivant le langage des Arabes, sur la vie spirituelle et con-
templative. C'est en effet par la contemplation que cette connais-
sance s'acquiert. Celui qui connait veritablement Dieu par la
contemplation, est convaincu que la veritable existence consiste
dans I'aneantissement. Si tu connais bien ton ^me sujette aux
passions, tu connaitras le Dieu Trcs-Haut et veritable dans ses dons.
Celui-la seul possede la science qui connait Dieu. La contempla-
tion consiste a disparaitre et a s'aneantir devant Dieu. La con-
templation ne s'occupe ni de ce monde, ni de la vie future ; toutes
ses facultes sont absorbees dans le desir de son union avec Dieu.
Ce monde est semblable a un fantome que voit un homme durant
son sommeil ; lorsqu'il est eveille, il ne lui reste aucun profit de ces
douces illusions."
"Quoi que cette theosopbie mystique se soit particulierement,
nous la voyons se produire aussi parmi les Maures d'Espagne ; elle
trouve, au milieu du douzieme siecle, un sectateur dans Iban
Baiiah, que S. Thomas a appele Avenpace, et qui est plus connu
sous ce dernier nom. Avenpace, disciple du philosophe et medeciu
Avenzoar, avait ecrit des lettres philosophiques et theologiques, au
nombre desquelles il en est une sur le detachement des choses hu-
tnaines et I'union de V amour avec Dieu. Ses opinions lui attirerent,
de la part des docteurs musulraans, une accusation d'here'sie. II
avait cultive les sciences mathematiques ; car il avait commente
Euclide. 11 avait egalement travaille sur Aristote ; Averrhoes le
cite souvent, et c'est par ces citations seules que nous connaissons
aujourd'hui ses idees philosophiques, Avenpace, dit Averrhoes,
s'occupa beaucoup de I'entendement, et particulierement dans la
lettre qu'il intitula : De la Conjonction de V entendenient avec
Vhomme, et dans son Traite de I'Ame. Voici le fondemeut qu'il
etablit: d'abord il supposa que les intelligibles sont produits ou
crees ; que tout ce qui est produit a une quidditi (une qualite essen-
tielle ;) que I'entendement est capable par sa nature de de'tacher
cette quiddite ; qu'il en abstrait ainsi les formes des intelligibles,
en quoi il Concorde avec Alfarabi. II ajouta que les intelligibles ne
478 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
comportent point la pluralite, si ce n'est a raison de la reunion des
formes spirihielles par lesquelles elles subsistent dans chaque in-
dividu ; d'ou il suit que I'intelligible depouille de ces formes, est un
pour tous les hommes. La quiddite, I'intelligible, et la forme,
n'ont point elles-memes de forme spirituelle ; elles ne subsistent
dans aucun individu ; elles ne sont point la quiddity d'un individu
particulier, d'ovi il conclut encore que I'entendement est unique
cbez tous les hommes, et qu'il constitue une substance separee et
distincte." — Histoire Compar^e par De Gerando. Tom. 4, p. 286.
PKINTEn BV C. F. HODGSON, 1, UOUOU SQUAIiE, FI.EBT STKKKT, LONIlO.V.
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