No More Learning

And
certainly if I had that _greater thing_ (viz _being_) from my self, I
should not have _denyed_ my self (not only, those things which may be
easier acquired, but also) All those things, which I perceived are
contain’d in the _Idea_ of a _God_; and the reason is, for that no other
things _seem_ to me to be _more difficultly_ done, and certainly if they
were _Really more difficult_, they would _seem_ more _difficult_ to me
(if whatever _I have_, I _have_ from my self) for in those things I
should find my _Power_ put to a stop.

Neither can I Evade the force of these Arguments by supposing my self to
_have alwaies Been, what now I am_, and that therefore I need not seek
for an _Author_ of my _Being_. For the _Duration_ or _Continuance_ of my
life may be _divided_ into _Innumerable Parts_, each of which does not
at all _depend_ on the _Other Parts_; Therefore it will not follow, that
because _a while ago, I was_, I must of necessity _now Be_. I say, this
will not follow, Unless, I suppose some _Cause_ to _Create me_ (as it
were) _anew_ for _this_ Moment (that is, _Conserve me_). For ’tis evident
to one that Considers the Nature of _Duration_, that the same _Power_
and _Action_ is requisite to the _Conservation_ of a Thing each _Moment_
of its _Being_, as there is to the _Creation_ of that Thing _anew_, if
it did _not exist_. So that ’tis one of those _Principles_ which are
_Evident_ by the _Light_ of _Nature_: that the _Act_ of _Conservation_
differs only _Ratione_ (as the Philosophers term it) from the _Act of
Creation_.

Wherefore I ought to ask my self this Question, whether _I_, who _now_
Am; have any _Power_ to _Cause_ my self to _Be hereafter_? (for had I any
such _power_, I should certainly _know_ of it, seeing I am nothing but
a _Thinking Thing_, or at least at present I onely treat of that part
of me, which is a _Thing_ that _Thinks_) to which, I answer, that I can
discover no such _Power_ in Me; And consequently, I evidently know that
_I depend_ on some _Other being distinct_ from _my self_.

But what if _I_ say that perhaps this _Being_ is not _God_, but that
_I_ am produced either by my _Parents_, or some other _Causes less
perfect_ then _God_? In answer to which let me consider (as _I_ have
said before) that ’tis _manifest_ that whatever is in the _effect, so
much_ at least ought to be in the _cause_; and therefore seeing _I_
am a thing that _thinks_, and have in me an _Idea_ of _God_, it will
confessedly follow, that whatever sort of _cause_ I assign of my _own
Being_, it also must be a _Thinking Thing_, and must have an _Idea_ of
all those _Perfections_, which I attribute to _God_; Of which _Cause_
it may be again Asked, whether it be _from it self_, or from any other
_Cause_? If _from it self_, ’tis evident (from what has been said) that
it must be _God_; For seeing it has the _Power_ of _Existing of it self_,
without doubt it has also the _power_ of _actually Possessing_ all those
_Perfections_ whereof it has an _Idea_ in it self, that is, all those
_Perfections_ which I conceive in _God_. But if it Be from an _other
Cause_, it may again be asked of that _Cause_ whether it be _of it self_,
or from an _other_; Till at length We arrive at the _Last Cause_ of All,
Which will Be _God_. For ’tis evident, that this _Enquiry_ will not admit
of _Progressus in Infinitum_, especially when at Present I treat not
only of that Cause which at _first made_ Me; But chiefly of that which
_conserves_ me in this _Instant_ time.

Neither can it be supposed that many _partial Causes_ have _concurred_
to the making Me, and that I received the _Idea_ of one of _Gods
perfections_ from _One_ of them, and from an _other_ of them the _Idea_
of an _other_; and that therefore all these Perfections are to be
found _scattered_ in the World, but not all of them _Joyn’d_ in any
one which may Be _God_. For on the contrary, _Unity_, _Simplicity_,
or the _inseparability_ of All Gods Attributes is one of the _chief
Perfections_ which I conceive in Him; and certainly the _Idea_ of the
_Unity_ of the _Divine Perfections_ could not be _created_ in me by any
other _cause_, then by _That_, from whence I have received the _Ideas_ of
his other _perfections_; For ’tis Impossible to make me conceive these
_perfections_, _conjunct_ and _inseparable_, unless he should also make
me know what _perfections_ these _are_.

Lastly as touching my _having_ my _Being_ from my _Parents_. Tho whatever
Thoughts I have heretofore harbour’d of Them were _True_, yet certainly
they _contribute_ nothing to my _conservation_, neither proceed I from
them as _I am_ a _Thing_ that _Thinks_, for they have onely _predisposed_
that _material Thing_, wherein _I_, that is, _my mind_ (_which_ only
at present I take for _my self_) _Inhabits_. Wherefore I cannot _now_
Question that I am sprung from them. But I must of necessity conclude
that because _I am_, and because I have an _Idea_ of a _Being most
perfect_, that is, of _God_, it evidently follows that _there is a God_.

* Now it only remains for me to examine, how I have received this _Idea_
of _God_. For I have neither received it by _means_ of _my Senses_,
neither comes it to me _without_ my _Forethought_, as the _Ideas_ of
_sensible_ things use to do, when such things _Work_ on the Organs of my
_Sense_, or at least _seem_ so to work; Neither is this _Idea_ framed
by _my self_, for I can neither _detract from_, nor _add_ any thing
_thereto_. Wherefore I have only to conclude that it is _Innate_, even as
the _Idea_ of me _my self_ is _Natural_ to my self.

And truly ’tis not to be Admired that _God_ in Creating me should
_Imprint_ this _Idea_ in me, that it may there remain as a _stamp
impressed_ by the _Workman God_ on _me_ his _Work_, neither is it
requisite that this _stamp_ should be a Thing _different_ from the _Work_
it self, but ’tis very Credible (from hence only that _God Created_ me)
that I am made as it were according to his _likeness_ and _Image_, and
that the same _likeness_, in which the _Idea_ of God is contain’d, is
_perceived_ by Me with the _same faculty_, with which I _perceive my
Self_; That is to say, whilst _I reflect_ upon my self, _I_ do not only
_perceive_ that I am an _Imperfect_ thing, having my _dependance_ upon
some other thing, and that I am a Thing that Desires _more_ and _better_
things _Indefinitely_; But also at the same time I understand, that _He_
on whom I _depend_ contains in him all those _wish’d for things_ (not
only _Indefinitely_ and _Potentially_, but) _Really_, _Indefinitely_;
and that therefore he is _God_. The whole stress of which * Argument
lies thus, because I know it Impossible for Me to Be of the same Nature
I am, _Viz. _ Having the _Idea_ of a _God_ in me, unless really there
were a _God_, a _God_ (I say) that very _same God_, whose _Idea I_ have
in my _Mind_ (that is, Having all those _perfections_, which I cannot
_comprehend_, but can as it were _think upon them_) and who is not
_subject_ to any _Defects_.

By which ’tis evident that _God_ is no _Deceiver_; for ’tis manifest by
the _Light_ of _Nature_, that all _fraud_ and _deceit_ depends on some
_defect_. But before I prosecute this any farther, or pry into other
_Truthes_ which may be deduced from this, I am willing here to stop, and
dwell upon the Contemplation of this _God_, to Consider with my self
His _Divine Attributes_, to behold, admire, and adore the Loveliness of
this _Immense light_, as much as possibly I am able to accomplish with my
_dark_ Understanding. For as by _Faith_ we _believe_ that the greatest
_happiness_ of the _next Life_ consists alone in the _Contemplation_ of
the _Divine Majesty_, so we _find_ by _Experience_ that now we receive
from thence the greatest _pleasure_, whereof we are capable in _this
Life_; Tho it be much more _Imperfect_ then that in the _Next_.




MEDITAT. IV.

_Of Truth and Falshood. _


Of late it has been so common with me to withdraw _my Mind_ from my
_sences_, and I have so throughly consider’d how few things there are
appertaining to _Bodies_ that are _truly_ perceived, and that there are
more Things touching _Mans mind_, and yet more concerning _God_, which
are _well known_; that now without any difficulty _I_ can turn my
Thoughts from things _sensible_, to those which are only _Intelligible_,
and _Abstracted_ from _Matter_. And truely _I_ have a much more _distinct
Idea_ of a _Mans mind_ (as it is a _Thinking Thing_, having no _Corporeal
Dimensions_ of _Length_, _Breadth_, and _Thickness_, nor having any other
_Corporeal Quality_) then the _Idea_ of any _Corporeal Thing_ can be. And
when I reflect upon my self, and consider how that I _doubt_, that is,
am an _imperfect dependent Being_, I from hence Collect such a _clear_
and _distinct Idea_ of an _Independent perfect Being_, which is _God_,
and from hence only that _I have such an Idea_, that is, because _I_ that
have this _Idea_ do _my self Exist_; I do so _clearly_ conclude that
_God also Exists_, and that on him my _Being depends_ each Minute; That
I am Confident nothing can be known more _Evidently_ and _Certainly_ by
_Humane Understanding_.

And now _I_ seem to perceive a _Method_ by which, (from this
Contemplation of the _true God_, in whom the Treasures of _Knowledge_ and
_Wisdome_ are Hidden) _I_ may attain the _Knowledge_ of other Things.

And first, _I_ know ’tis impossible that this _God_ should _deceive_
me; For in all _cheating_ and _deceipt_ there is something of
_imperfection_; and tho to be _able_ to _deceive_ may seem to be an
Argument of _ingenuity_ and _power_, yet without doubt to _have_ the
_Will_ of _deceiving_ is a sign of _Malice_ and _Weakness_, and therefore
is not _Incident_ to _God_.

I have also found in my self a _Judicative faculty_, which certainly (as
all other things I possess) I have received from _God_; and seeing he
will not _deceive_ me, he has surely given me such a _Judgement_, that
I can _never Err_, whilst I make a _Right Use_ of it. Of which truth I
can make no doubt, unless it seems, that From hence it will follow, That
therefore _I can never Err_; for if whatever I have, I have from _God_,
and if he gave me no _Faculty_ of _Erring_, I may seem not to be _able to
Err_. And truly so it is whilst I think upon _God_, and wholly convert
my self to the _consideration_ of him, I find no occasion of _Error_ or
_Deceit_; but yet when I return to the _Contemplation_ of _my self_, I
find my self liable to _Innumerable Errors_. Enquiring into the _cause_
of which, I find in my self an _Idea_, not only a _real_ and _positive
one_ of a _God_, that is, of a _Being infinitely perfect_, but also
(as I may so speak) a _Negative Idea_ of _Nothing_; that is to say, I
am so constituted between God and Nothing or between a perfect _Being_
and _No-being_, that as I am _Created_ by the _Highest Being_, I have
nothing in Me by which I may be _deceived_ or drawn into _Error_; but as
I pertake in a manner of _Nothing_, or of a _No-Being_, that is, as I my
self am _not_ the _Highest Being_, and as I _want_ many _perfections_,
’tis no Wonder that I should be _Deceived_.

By which I understand that _Error_ * (as it is _Error_) is not any _real
Being_ dependant on _God_, but it is only a _Defect_; And that therefore
to make me _Err_ there is not requisite a _faculty_ of _Erring_ given
me by _God_, but only it so happens that I _Err_ meerly because the
_Judicative faculty_, which he has given me, is not _Infinite_.

But yet this Account is not fully _satisfactory_; for _Error_ is not
only a meer _Negation_, but ’tis a _Privation_, or a _want_ of a certain
_Knowledge_, which _ought_ (as it were) to be in me. And when I consider
the _Nature_ of _God_, it seems impossible that he should give me any
_faculty_ which is not _perfect_ in its _kind_, or which should _want_
any of its _due perfections_; for if by how much the more _skilful_ the
_Workman_ is, by so much the _Perfecter Works_ proceed from him. What can
be made by the _Great Maker_ of all things which is not _fully perfect_?
For I cannot Doubt but _God_ may _Create_ me so that I may _never_ be
_deceived_, neither can I doubt but that he _Wills_ whatever is _Best_;
Is it therefore _better_ for me to be _deceived_, or not to be _deceived? _

These things when I Consider more heedfully, it comes into my Mind,
First, that ’tis no cause of Admiration that _God_ should do Things
whereof I can give no account, nor must I therefore doubt his _Being_,
because there are many things done by him, and I not comprehend _Why_
or _How_ they are done; for seeing I now know that my _Nature_ is very
_Weak_ and _Finite_, and that the _Nature_ of _God_ is _Immense_,
_Incomprehensible_, _Infinite_; from hence I must fully, understand, that
he can do numberless things, the _Causes_ whereof lie _hidden_ to Me.
Upon which account only I esteem all those Causes which are Drawn from
the End (viz. _Final Causes_) as of no use in _Natural Philosophy_, for I
cannot without Rashness Think my self _able_ to Discover _Gods_ Designes.

I perceive this also, that whenever we endeavour to know whether the
_Works_ of _God_ are _perfect_, we must not Respect any _one kind_ of
Creature _singly_, but the _Whole Universe_ of _Beings_; for perhaps what
(if considered _alone_) may Deservedly seem _Imperfect_, yet (as it is a
_part_ of the _World_) is most _perfect_; and tho since I have _doubted_
of all things, I have discover’d nothing _certainly_ to _Exist_, but _my
self_, and _God_, yet since I have Consider’d the _Omnipotency_ of _God_,
I cannot deny, but that many other things _are made_ (or at least, _may
be made_) by him, so that I my self _may be_ a _part_ of this _Universe_.

Furthermore, coming nigher to my self, and enquiring what these _Errors_
of mine, are (which are the Only Arguments of my _Imperfection_) * I
find them to _depend_ on _two concurring Causes_, on my _faculty_ of
_Knowing_, and on my _faculty_ of _Choosing_ or _Freedome_ of my _Will_,
that is to say, from my _Understanding_, and my _Will together_. For
by my _Understanding alone_ I only perceive _Ideas_, whereon I make
_Judgments_, wherein (_precisely_ so taken) there can be no _Error,
properly_ so called; for tho perhaps there may be numberless things,
whose _Ideas_ I have _not_ in Me, yet I am not _properly_ to be said
_Deprived_ of them, but only _negatively wanting_ them; and I cannot
prove that _God ought_ to have given me a _greater faculty_ of _Knowing_.
And tho I understand him to be a _skilful Workman_, yet I cannot Think,
that he _ought_ to have put all those _perfections_ in _each_ Work of his
_singly_, with which he might have _endowed some_ of them.

Neither can I complain that _God_ has not given me a _Will_, or _Freedom_
of _Choise_, _large_ and _perfect_ enough; for I have experienced that
’tis _Circumscribed_ by _no Bounds_.

And ’tis worth our taking notice, that I have no other thing in me so
_perfect_ and so _Great_, but I Understand that there may be _Perfecter_
and _Greater_, for if (for Example) I consider the _Faculty_ of
_Understanding_, I presently perceive that in me ’tis very _small_ and
_Finite_, and also at the same time I form to my self an _Idea_ of an
other _Understanding_ not only _much Greater_, but the _Greatest_ and
_Infinite_, which I perceive to belong to _God_. In the same manner if I
enquire into _memory_ or _imagination_ or any other faculties, I find
them in my self _Weak_ and _Circumscribed_, but in _God_ I Understand
them to be _Infinite_, there is therefore only my _Will_ or _Freedome_
of _Choice_, which I find to be _so Great_, that I cannot frame to my
self an _Idea_ of _One Greater_, so that ’tis by this _chiefly_ by which
I Understand my self to Bear the _likeness_ and _Image_ of _God_. For
tho the _Will_ in _God_ be without comparison _Greater_ then Mine, both
as to the _Knowledge_ and _Power_ which are _Joyn’d_ therewith, which
make it more _strong_ and _Effective_, and also as to the _Object_
thereof, for _God_ can apply himself to _more_ things then I can. Yet
being taken _Formally_ and _Precisely Gods Will_ seems _no greater_ then
Mine. For the _Freedome_ of _Will_ consists only in this, that we can
_Do_, or _not Do_ such a Thing (that is, _affirm_ or _deny_, _prosecute_
or _avoid_) or rather in this Only, that we are _so carried_ to a Thing
which is _proposed_ by Our _Intellect_ to _Affirm_ or _Deny_, _Prosecute_
or _Shun_, that we are _sensible_, that we are _not Determin’d_ to the
_Choice_ or _Aversion_ thereof, by any _outward Force_.

Neither is it Requisite to make one _Free_ that he should have an
_Inclination_ to _both_ sides. For on the contrary, by how much the more
_strongly_ I am inclined to _one_ side (whether it be that I _evidently
perceive_ therein Good or Evil, or Whether it be that _God has so
disposed_ my _Inward Thoughts_) By so much the _more Free_ am I in my
_Choice_.

Neither truly do _Gods Grace_ or _Natural Knowledge_ take away from
my _Liberty_, but rather _encrease_ and _strengthen_ it. For that
_indifference_ which I find in my self, when no Reason inclines me _more_
to _one side_, then to _the other_, is the _meanest_ sort of _Liberty_,
and is so far from being a sign of _perfection_, that it only argues a
_defect_ or _negation_ of _Knowledge_; for if I should always _Clearly
see_ what were _True_ and _Good_ I should never _deliberate_ in my
_Judgement_ or _Choice_, and Consequently, tho I were _perfectly Free_,
yet I should never be _Indifferent_.

From all which, I perceive that neither the _Power_ of _Willing
precisely_ so taken, which I have from _God_, is the _Cause_ of my
_Errors_, it being most _full_ and _perfect_ in its kind; Neither also
the _Power_ of _Understanding_, for whatever I _Understand_ (since ’tis
from God that I _Understand_ it) I _understand aright_, nor can I be
therein _Deceived_.

From _Whence_ therefore proceed all my _Errors_? To which, I answer,
that they proceed from _hence_ only, that seeing the _Will_ expatiates
it self _farther_ then the _Understanding_, I keep it not within the
_same bounds_ with my _Understanding_, but often extend it to those
things which I _Understand not_, to which things it being _Indifferent_,
it easily Declines from what is _True_ and _Good_; and consequently
I am _Deceived_ and _Commit sin_. * Thus, for example, when lately I
felt my self to enquire, Whether any thing doth _Exist_, and found
that from my setting _my self_ to Examine such a thing, it evidently
follows that I _my self Exist_, I could not but _Judge_, what I so
_clearly Understood_, to be _true_, not that I was _forced_ thereto by
any _outward impulse_, but because a _strong Propension_ in my _Will_
did follow this _Great Light_ in my _Understanding_, so that I believed
it so much the more _freely_ and _willingly_, by how much the less
_indifferent_ I was thereto. But now I understand, not only, that I
_Exist_ as I am a _Thing_ that _Thinks_, but I also meet with a certain
_Idea_ of a _Corporeal Nature_, and it so happens that I _doubt_,
whether that _Thinking Nature_ that is in me be _Different_ from that
_Corporeal Nature_, or Whether they are _both the same_: but in this
_I_ suppose that _I_ have found no Argument to _incline_ me _either
ways_, and therefore _I_ am _Indifferent_ to _affirm_ or _deny either_,
or to _Judge nothing_ of _either_; But this _indifferency_ extends it
self not only to those things of which I am _clearly ignorant_, but
generally to all those things which are _not_ so very _evidently known_
to me at the Time when my _Will Deliberates_ of them; for tho never so
probable _Guesses incline_ me to _one_ side, yet the Knowing that they
are only _Conjectures_, and not indubitable _reasons_, is enough to Draw
my _Assent_ to the _Contrary_ Part. Which Lately _I_ have sufficiently
experienced, when _I_ supposed all those things (which formerly _I_
assented to as most _True_) as very _False_, for this _Reason_ only that
_I_ found my self _able_ to doubt of them in some manner.

If I abstain from _passing_ my _Judgment_, when I do _not clearly_ and
_distinctly_ enough perceive what is _Truth_, ’tis evident that I do
_well_, and that I am _not deceived_: But if I _affirm_ or _deny_, then
’tis that I _abuse_ the _freedome_ of my _will_, and if I turn my self
to that part which is _false_, I am _deceived_; but if I _embrace_ the
_contrary_ Part, ’tis but _by chance_ that I light on the _Truth_, yet
I shall not therefore be Blameless, for ’tis Manifest by the _light_
of _Nature_ that the _Perception_ of the _Understanding ought_ to
preceed the _Determination_ of the _Will_. And ’tis in this _abuse_ of
_Free-Will_ that That _Privation_ consists, which Constitutes _Error_;
I say there is a _Privation_ in the _Action_ as it proceeds from Me,
but not in the _Faculty_ which I have received from _God_; nor in the
_Action_ as it _depends_ on _him_.

Neither have I any Reason to Complain that God has not given me a _larger
Intellective Faculty_, or more _Natural Light_, for ’tis a necessary
Incident to a _finite Understanding_ that it should not Understand _All_
things, and ’tis Incident to a _Created Understanding_ to be _Finite_:
and I have more Reason to thank him for what he has _bestowed_ upon me
(tho he _owed_ me nothing) then to think my self _Robbed_ by him of those
things which he _never gave me_.

Nor have I Reason to Complain that he has given me a _Will_ larger then
my _Understanding_: for seeing the _Will_ Consists in _one_ thing only,
and as it were in an _Indivisible_ (viz. to _Will_, or _not to Will_) it
seems contrary to its nature that it should be _less_ then ’tis; and
certainly by how much the _Greater_ it is, so much the more _Thankful_ I
ought to be to _him_; that Gave it me.

Neither can I Complain that God _concurrs_ with me in the Production of
those _Voluntary Actions_ or _Judgements_ in which I am _deceived_: for
those _Acts_ as they _depend_ on _God_ are altogether _True_ and _Good_;
and I am in some measure _more perfect_ in that I can _so Act_, then if
I could _not_: for that _Privation_, in which the _Ratio Formalis_ of
_Falshood_ and _Sin_ consists, wants not the _Concourse_ of _God_; For
it is _not A Thing_, and having respect to him as its _Cause_, ought
not to be called _Privation_, but _Negation_; for certainly ’tis no
_Imperfection_ in _God_, that he has given me a _freedome_ of _Assenting_
or _not Assenting_ to some things, the _clear_ and _distinct_ Knowledge
whereof he has not _Imparted_ to my _Understanding_; but certainly ’tis
an _Imperfection_ in me, that I _abuse_ this _liberty_, and _pass_ my
_Judgement_ on those things which I do _not Rightly_ Understand.

Yet I see that ’tis Possible with _God_ to effect that (tho I should
remain _Free_, and of a _Finite Knowledge_) I should _never Err_, that
is, if he had endowed my _Understanding_ with a _clear_ and _distinct_
Knowledge of all things whereof I should ever have an _Occasion_ of
_deliberating_; or if he had only so firmly fix’d in my Mind, that I
should never forget, this, _That I must never Judge of a thing which I
do not clearly and distinctly Understand_; Either of which things had
_God_ done, I easily perceive that _I_ (as consider’d in my self) should
be _more perfect_ then now I am, yet nevertheless I cannot deny but that
there _may be a greater perfection_ in the _whole Universe_ of Things,
for that some of its parts are Obnoxious to _Errors_, and some not, then
if they were all _alike_. And I have no Reason to Complain, that it has
pleased God, that I should _Act_ on the _Stage_ of this _World_ a _Part_
not the _chief_ and _most perfect_ of all; Or that I should not be able
to abstain from _Error_ in the _first way_ above specifi’d, which depends
upon the _Evident Knowledge_ of those things whereof _I deliberate_; Yet
that I may abstain from _Error_ by the _other means_ abovemention’d,
which depends only on this, _That I Judge not of any Thing, the truth
whereof is not Evident. _ For tho I have experienced in my self this
_Infirmity_, that I cannot _always_ be intent upon _one_ and the _same_
Knowledge, yet _I_ may by a _continued_ and _often repeated_ Meditation
bring this to pass, that as often as _I_ have use of this Rule _I_ may
Remember it, by which means I may Get (as it were) an _habit_ of _not
erring_.

In which thing seeing, the _greatest_ and _chief perfection_ of
_Man_ consists, _I_ repute my self to have gain’d much by this days
_Meditation_, for that therein _I_ have discover’d the _Cause_ of
_Error_, _and Falshood_; which certainly can be no other then what _I_
have now Declared; for whenever in Passing my Judgement, _I_ bridle
my _Will_ so that it extend it self _only_ to those things which I
_clearly_ and _distinctly_ perceive, it is impossible that I can _Err_.
For doubtless All _clear_ and _distinct_ Perception is _something_, and
therefore cannot _proceed_ from _Nothing_, but must necessarily have
_God_ for its _Author_ (_God_, I say, Who is _infinitely Perfect_, and
who _cannot Deceive_) and therefore it Must be _True_.

Nor have I this Day learnt only what I must _beware off_ that I be not
_deceived_, but also what I must _Do_ to Discover _Truth_, for _That_ I
shall certainly find, if I fully Apply my self to those things _only_,
which I _perfectly_ understand; and if I distinguish between those and
what I apprehend but _confusedly_ and _obscurely_; Both which hereafter I
shall endeavour.




MEDITAT. V.

_~Of the Essence~ of Things ~Material~. And herein Again of ~God~. And
that he does ~Exist~. _


There are yet remaining many Things concerning _Gods Attributes_, and
many things concerning the _nature_ of _my self_ or of my _Mind_, which
ought to be searched into: but these perhaps I shall set upon at some
other Opportunity. And at Present nothing seems to me more requisite
(feeling I have discover’d what I must _avoid_, and what I must _Do_ for
the _Attaining_ of _Truth_) then that I imploy my Endeavours to free my
self from those doubts into which I have lately fallen, and that I try
whether I can have any certainty of Material Things.

But before I enquire whether there be any such things _Really Existent
without_ Me, I ought to consider the _Ideas_ of those things, as they are
in my Thoughts and try which of them are _Distinct_, which _confused_.

In which search I find that I _distinctly imagine Quantity_, that which
Philosophers commonly call _continued_, that is to say, the _Extension_
of that _Quantity_ or thing _continued_ into _Length_, _Breadth_, and
_Thickness_, I can _count_ in it divers Parts, to which parts I can
assign _Bigness_, _Figure_, _Position_, and _Local Motion_, to which
_Local Motion_ I can assign _Duration_. Neither are only these _Generals_
plainly discover’d and known by Me, but also by attentive Consideration,
I perceive Innumerable _particulars_ concerning the _Shapes_, _Number_,
and _Motion_ of These Bodies; The _Truth_ whereof is so _evident_, and
_agreeable_ to my _Nature_, that when I first discover’d them, I seemed
not so much to have _Learnt_ any thing that is _new_, as to have only
_remembred_ what I have known _before_, or only to have thought on those
things which were in me _before_, tho this be the first time that I have
examin’d them so _diligently_.

One thing there is worthy my Consideration, which is, that I find in my
self innumerable _Ideas_ of certain things, which tho perhaps they _exist
no where without_ Me, yet they cannot Be said to be _Nothing_; and tho
they are _Thought_ upon by me at my _will_ and _pleasure_, yet they are
not _made_ by _Me_, but have their own _True_ and _Immutable Natures_.
As when, for example, * I _Imagine_ a _Triangle_, tho perhaps such a
_Figure Exists no where_ out of my _Thoughts_, nor ever _will Exist_,
yet the _Nature_ thereof is _determinate_, and its _Essence_ or Form is
_Immutable_ and _Eternal_, which is neither _made_ by me, nor _depends_
on my mind, as appears for that many _properties_ may be _demonstrated_
of this Triangle, _viz. _ That its three Angles are equal to two right
ones, that to its Greatest Angle the Greatest side is subtended, and such
like, which I now _clearly_ know whether _I will or not_, tho before _I_
never thought on them, when I _imagine_ a Triangle, and consequently they
could not be invented by Me. And ’tis nothing to the purpose for me to
say, that perhaps this _Idea_ of a Triangle came to me by the Organs of
_sense_, because I have sometimes seen bodies of a _Triangular Shape_;
for I can think of Innumerable other _Figures_, which I cannot suspect
to have come in through my _senses_, and yet I can _Demonstrate_ various
_properties_ of them, as well as of a _Triangle_, which certainly are all
_true_, seeing I know them _clearly_, and therefore they are _something_,
and not a meer _Nothing_, for ’tis Evident that _what is true is
something_.

And now I have sufficiently Demonstrated, that _what I clearly perceive,
is True_; And tho I had _not demonstrated_ it, yet such is the _Nature_
of my _Mind_, that I could not but give my _Assent_ to what I _so_
perceive, at least, as long as I _so_ perceive it; and I remember
(heretofore when I most of all relied on _sensible Objects_) that I held
those _Truths_ for the most _certain_ which I _evidently_ perceived,
such as are concerning _Figures_, _Numbers_, with other parts of
_Arithmetick_, and _Geometry_, as also whatever relates to _pure_ and
_abstracted Mathematicks_.

Now therefore, if from this alone, _That I can frame the Idea of a Thing
in my Mind_, it follows, _That whatever I clearly and distinctly perceive
belonging to a thing_, does _Really belong to it_; Cannot I from hence
draw an Argument to Prove the _Existence_ of a _God_? Certainly I find
the _Idea_ of a _God_, or _infinitely perfect Being_, as _naturally_ in
me, as the _Idea_ of any _Figure_, or _Number_; and I as _clearly_ and
_distinctly_ understand that it appertains to his _Nature Always to Be_,
as I know that what I can _demonstrate_ of a _Mathematical Figure_ or
_Number_ belongs to the _Nature_ of that _Figure_ or _Number_: so that,
tho all things which I have _Meditated_ upon these three or four days
were not _true_, yet I may well be as _certain_ of the _Existence_ of a
_God_, as I have hitherto been of _Mathematical Truths_.

_Doubt. _ Yet this Argument at first sight appears not so _evident_, but
looks rather like a _sophism_; for seeing I am used in all other things
to _Distinguish Existence_ from _Essence_, I can easily perswade my self
that the _Existence_ of _God_ may be _distinguish’d_ from his _Essence_,
so that I may _Imagine God_ not to _Exist_.

_Solution. _ But considering it more strictly, ’tis manifest, that the
_Existence_ of _God_ can no more be _seperated_ from his _Essence_,
then the _Equality_ of the _Three Angles_ to _two right ones_ can be
_seperated_ from the _Essence_ of a _Triangle_, or then the _Idea_ of a
_Mountain_ can be _without_ the _Idea_ of a _valley_; so that ’tis no
less a _Repugnancy_ to think of a _God_ (that is, _A Being infinitely
perfect_) who wants _Existence_ (that is, who wants a _Perfection_) then
to think of a _Mountain_, to which there is _no Valley adjoyning_.

_Doubt. _ But what if I cannot imagine _God_ but as _Existing_, or a
_Mountain without a Vally_? yet supposing me to think of a _Mountain with
a Vally_, it does not from thence follow, that there _Is a Mountain_
in the World; so supposing me to think of a _God_ as _Existing_, yet
does it not follow that _God Really Exists_. For my _Thought imposes_
no _necessity_ on Things, and as I may imagine a _Winged Horse_, tho no
_Horse_ has _Wings_, so I may imagine an _existing God_, tho no _God
exist_.

_Solution. _ ’Tis true the _Sophism_ seems to lie in this, yet tho I
cannot conceive a _Mountain_ but with a _Vally_, it does not from hence
follow, that a _Mountain_ or _Vally_ do _Exist_, but this will follow,
that whether a _Mountain_ or a _Vally do_ or _do not Exist_, yet they
cannot be _seperated_: so from hence that I cannot think of _God_ but
as _Existing_, it follows that _Existence_ is _Inseperable_ from _God_,
and therefore that he _Really Exists_; Not because my _Thought_ does
all this, or _Imposes_ any _necessity_ on any Thing, but contrarily,
because the _necessity_ of the thing it self (_viz. _ of _Gods Existence_)
_Determines_ me to _think_ thus; for ’tis not in my Power to think a
_God_ without _Existence_ (that is, _A Being absolutely perfect_ without
the _Cheif Perfection_) as it is in my Power to imagine a Horse either
_with_ or _without Wings_.

_Doubt. _ And here it cannot be said, that I am forced to suppose _God
Existing_, after I have supposed him _endowed_ with all _Perfections_,
seeing _Existence_ is one of them; but that my _First Position_ (_viz. _
His _Absolute Perfection_) is not _necessary_. Thus, for example, ’tis
not _necessary_ for me to think all _Quadrilateral Figures_ inscribed in
a _Circle_; But supposing that I think _so_, I am then _necessitated_ to
Confess a _Rhombe Inscribed_ therein, and yet this is evidently _False_.

_Solution. _ For tho I am not forced at any time to think of a _God_; yet
as often as I cast my Thoughts on a _First_ and _Cheif Being_, and as
it were bring forth out of the Treasury of my Mind an _Idea_ thereof,
I must of necessity attribute thereto all Manner of _Perfections_, tho
I do not at that time _count_ them over, or _Remark_ each single One;
which _necessity_ is sufficient to make me hereafter (when I come to
consider _Existence_ to be a _Perfection_) conclude _Rightly, That the
First and Chief Being does Exist_. Thus, for example, I am not obliged at
any time to imagine a _Triangle_, yet whenever I please to Consider of a
_Right-lined Figure_ having only _three Angles_, I am then _necessitated_
to allow it all those _Requisites_ from which I may argue rightly, _That
the Three Angles thereof are not Greater then Two Right Ones_, Tho
upon the first consideration this came not into my Thought. But when I
enquire what Figures may be _inscribed_ within a _Circle_, I am not at
all _necessitated_ to think that all _Quadrilateral Figures_ are of that
sort; neither can I possibly imagine this, whilst I admit of nothing,
but what I _clearly_ and _distinctly_ Understand: and therefore there
is a great Difference between these _False suppositions_, and _True
natural Ideas_, the _first_ and _Chief_; whereof is that of a _God_;
For by many wayes I understand _That_ not to be a _Fiction depending_
on my _Thought_, but an _Image_ of a _True_ and _Immutable Nature_;
As first, because I can think of no other thing but _God_ to Whose
_Essence Existence_ belongs. Next because I cannot Imagine _Two_ or _More
Gods_, and supposing that he is _now_ only One, I may plainly perceive
it _necessary_ for _Him_ to _Have been from Eternity_, and _will Be to
Eternity_; And Lastly because I perceive many Other Things in _God_,
Which I cannot _Change_, and from which I cannot _Detract_.

But whatever way of Argumentation I use, it comes All at last to this one
Thing, That I am fully perswaded of the _Truth_ of those things only,
which appear to me _clearly_ and _distinctly_. And tho some of those
things, which I so perceive, are obvious to _every_ Man, and some are
only discover’d by Those that search more _nighly_, and enquire more
_carefully_, yet when such _truths_ are discover’d, they are esteem’d
no less _certain_ than the Others. For Example, Tho it do not so easily
appear, that in a Rightangled Triangle, the square of the Base is equal
to the squares of the sides, as it appears, that the Base is suspended
under its Largest Angle, yet the _first Proposition_ is _no less
certainly_ believed when once ’tis perceived, then this _Last_.

Thus in Reference to _God_; certainly, unless I am overrun with
_Prejudice_, or have my thoughts begirt on all sides with _sensible
Objects_, I should acknowledge nothing _before_ or _easier_ then him;
For what is more _self-evident_ then that there is a _Chief Being_, or
then that a _God_ (to whose _essence alone Existence_ appertains) does
_Exist_? And tho serious Consideration is required to perceive thus
much, yet _Now_, I am not only equally _certain_ of it, as of what seems
most _certain_, but I perceive also that the _Truth_ of other Things so
_depends_ on it, that without it nothing can ever be _perfectly known_.

For tho my _nature_ be _such_, that during the time of my _Clear_ and
_Distinct_ Perception, I cannot but believe it _true_; yet my _Nature_
is _such_ also, that I cannot fix the _Intention_ of my _Mind_ upon one
and the same thing alwayes, so as to perceive it _clearly_, and the
Remembrance of what _Judgement_ I have formerly made is often stirred
up, when I cease attending to those reasons for which I passed such a
Judgment, other Reasons may then be produced, which (if I did not _know
God_) may easily _move_ me in my _Opinion_; and by this means I shall
never attain to the _true_ and _certain Knowledge_ of any Thing, but
_Wandring_ and _Unstable opinions_. So, for example, when I consider the
Nature of a Triangle, it plainly appears to me (as understanding the
Principles of Geometry) that its three Angles are equal to two right
ones; And this I must of necessity think _True_ as long as I attend to
the _Demonstration_ thereof; but as soon as ever I withdraw my Mind from
the _Consideration_ of its _Proof_ (altho I remember that I have once
_Clearly_ perceived it) yet perhaps I may _doubt_ of Its _Truth_, being
as yet _Ignorant_ of a _God_; For I may perswade my self, that I am so
framed by _Nature_, as to be _deceived_ in those things which I imagine
my self to perceive most _evidently_, Especially when I recollect, that
heretofore I have often accounted many things _True_ and _Certain_, which
afterward upon other Reasons I have Judged as False. But when I perceive
that there is a _God_; because at the same time I also Understand
that all things _Depend_ on Him, and that he is not a _Deceiver_; and
when from hence I Collect that all those Things which I _clearly_ and
_distinctly_ perceive are _necessarily True_; tho I have no further
Respects to those Reasons which induced me to believe it _True_, yet if
I do but remember, that I have _once clearly_ and _distinctly_ perceived
it, no Argument can be brought on the contrary, that shall make me
_doubt_, but that I have _true_ and _certain_ Knowledge thereof; and not
onely of that, but of all other _Truths_ also which I remember that I
have _once Demonstrated_, such as are _Geometrical Propositions_ and the
like.

What now can be _Objected_ against me? shall I say, that I am so made by
_Nature_, as to be often _deceived_? No; For I now Know that I cannot be
_deceived_ in those Things, which I _clearly_ Understand. Shall I say,
that at other times I have esteem’d many Things _True_ and _Certain_,
which afterwards I found to be _falsities_? No; for I perceived none
of those things _clearly_ and _distinctly_, but being Ignorant of this
_Rule_ of _Truth_, I took them up for Reasons, which Reasons I afterward
found to be _Weak_. What then can be said? Shall, I say, (as lately I
objected) that Perhaps I am _asleep_, and that what I now think of is
no more _True_, then the _Dreams_ of People _asleep_? But this it self
_moves_ not my Opinion; for certainly tho I were _asleep_, if any thing
appear’d _evident_ to my Understanding, ’twould be _True_.

And Thus I Plainly see, that the _Certainty_ and _Truth_ of all _Science_
Depends on the _Knowledge_ of the _True God_, so that before I had _Known
Him_, I did _Know nothing_; But now many things both of _God_ himself,
and of other _Intellectual Things_, as also of _Corporeal nature_, which
is the _Object_ of _Mathematicks_, may be _Plainly Known_ and _Certain_
to me.




MEDITAT. VI.

_~Of Corporeal Beings~, and Their ~Existence~: As Also of the Real
Difference, Between ~Mind~ and ~Body~. _


It now remains that I examine whether any _Corporeal Beings_ do _Exist_;
And already I know that (as they are the _Object_ of _Pure Mathematicks_)
they _May_ (at least) _Exist_, for I _clearly_ and _distinctly_ perceive
them; and doubtless _God_ is _able_ to _make_, whatever I am _able_ to
_perceive_, and I never Judged any thing to be _beyond_ his _Power_, but
what was _Repugnant_ to a _distinct perception_. Moreover, such _Material
Beings seem_ to _Exist_ from the _faculty_ of _Imagination_, which I
find my self make use of, when I am conversant about them: for if I
attentively Consider what _Imagination_ is, ’twill appear to be only _a
certain Application of our Cognoscitive or knowing Faculty to a Body or
Object that is before it_; and if it be _before it_, It must _Exist_.

But that this may be made more _Plain_, I must first examine the
_difference_ between _Imagination_, and _pure Intellection_, or
_Understanding_. So, for example, when I _Imagine_ a Triangle, I do not
only _Understand_ that it is a _figure comprehended_ by _three Lines_,
but I also _behold_ with the _eye_ of my _mind_ those _three lines_ as
it were _before Me_, and this is that which I call _imagination_. But
if I convert my Thoughts to a _Chiliogone_, or _Figure consisting_ of a
_Thousand Angles_, I know as well that this Is a _figure comprehended_ by
a _Thousand sides_, as I know that a _Triangle_ is a _Figure Consisting_
of _three sides_; but I do not in the same Manner _Imagine_, or _behold_
as _present_ those _thousand sides_, as I do the _three sides_ of a
_Triangle_. And tho at the time when I so think of a _Chiliogone_, I may
_confusedly_ represent to my self some _Figure_ (because whenever I Think
of a _Corporeal Object_, I am used to _Imagine_ some _Shape_ or other)
yet ’tis evident that this _Representation_ is not a _Chiliogone_,
because ’tis in nothing _different_ from what I should Represent to my
self if I thought of a _Milion-angled figure_, or any other Figure of
_More sides_; Neither does such a _Confused Representation_ help me in
the least to know those _Properties_, by which a _Chiliogone_ differs
from other _Polygones_ or _Manyangled Figures_. But if a Question be
put concerning a _Pentagone_, I know I may _Understand its Shape_, as
I _Understand_ the _Shape_, of a _Chiliogone_, without the help of
_Imagination_, but I can also _imagine_ it, by applying the _Eye_ of my
_Mind_ to its _Five sides_, and to the _Area_ or _space_ contained by
Them; And herein I manifestly perceive that there is required a _peculiar
sort_ of _Operation_ in the _Mind_ to _imagine_ a Thing, which I require
not to _Understand_ a Thing; which _New Operation_ of the _Mind_ plainly
shews the _difference_ between _imagination_ and _pure Intellection_.

Besides this, I Consider that this _Power_ of _Imagination_ which is in
me (as it differs from the _Power_ of _Understanding_) does not appertain
to the _Essence_ of _Me_, that is, of _my mind_, for tho I _wanted_ it,
yet certainly I should be the _same He, that_ now _I am_: from whence it
seems to follow, that it depends on something _different_ from _my self_;
and I easily perceive that if any _Body_ whatever did _Exist_, to which
my _Mind_ were so _conjoyn’d_, that it may Apply it self when it pleased
to _Consider_, or (as it were) _Look_ into _this Body_; From hence, I
say, I perceive _It may so be_, that by this very _Body_ I may _Imagine
Corporeal Beings_: So that this _Manner_ of _Thinking_ differs from _pure
Intellection_ only in this, that the _Mind_, when it _Understands_, does
as it were turn _it self_, to _it self_, or _Reflect_ on it self, and
_beholds_ some or other of those _Ideas_ which are in it self; But when
it _Imagines_, it _Converts_ it self upon _Body_, and therein _beholds_
something Conformable to that _Idea_, which it hath _understood_, or
_perceived_ by _Sense_.

But ’tis to be remembred, that I said, I easily conceive Imagination
_May be_ so performed, supposing _Body_ to _Exist_. And because no
so convenient manner of Explaining it offers it self, from thence
I _probably_ guess, that _Body_ does _Exist_. But this I only say
_probably_, for tho I should accurately search into all the Arguments
drawn from the _distinct Idea_ of _Body_, which I find in my
_Imagination_, yet I find none of them, from whence I may _necessarily_
conclude, _that Body does Exist_.

But I have been accustomed to _Imagine_ many other things besides that
_Corporeal Nature_ which is the _Object_ of _pure Mathematicks_; such
as are, _Colours_, _Sounds_, _Tasts_, _Pain_, &c. but none of these so
_distinctly_. And because I perceive these better by _Sense_, from Which
by the Help of the _Memory_ they come to the _Imagination_, that I may
with the Greater advantage treat of them, I ought at the same time to
Consider _Sence_, and to try whether from what I perceive by that way of
_Thought_, which I call _Sense_, I can deduce any certain Argument for
the _Existence_ of _Corporeal Beings_.

And first I will here reflect with my self, what those things were,
which being perceived by _Sence_ I have heretofore thought _True_, and
the _Reasons_ why I _so thought_: I will then enquire into the _Reasons_
for which I afterwards _doubted_ those things. And last of all I will
consider what I _ought_ to _think_ of those Things at _Present_.

[Sidenote: _The Reasons why I Trusted my Senses. _]

First therefore I have always thought that I have had an _Head_,
_Hands_, _Feet_, and other _Members_, of which _This Body_ (which I have
look’d upon as a _Part_ of _Me_, or Perhaps as my _Whole self_) Consists;
And I have also thought that this _Body_ of _Mine_ is Conversant or
engaged among many _Other Bodies_, by which it is Liable to be _affected_
with what is _advantagious_ or _hurtful_; What was _Advantagious_
I judged by a certain _sense_ of _Pleasure_, what was _Hurtful_ by
a _sense_ of _Pain_. Furthermore, besides _Pleasure_ and _Pain_, I
perceived in my self _Hunger_, _Thirst_, and other such like _Appetites_,
as also certain _Corporeal Propensions_ to _Mirth_, _Sadness_, _Anger_,
and other like _Passions_.

As to What hapned to me from _Bodies without_, Besides the _Extension_,
_Figure_, and _Motion_ of those _Bodies_, I also perceived in them
_Hardness_, _Heat_, and other _tactile Qualities_, as also _Light_,
_Colours_, _Smells_, _Tasts_, _Sounds_, &c. and by the _Variation_ of
these I _distinguish’d_ the _Heaven_, _Earth_, and _Seas_, and all other
_Bodies_ from each other.

Neither was it wholly without Reason (upon the account of these _Ideas_
of _Qualities_, which offer’d themselves to my Thoughts, and which alone
I _properly_ and _Immediately perceived_) that I thought my self to
Perceive some Things _Different_ from my _Thought, viz. _ The _Bodies_ or
_Objects_ from whence these _Ideas_ might _Proceed_; for I often found
these _Ideas_ come upon me without my _Consent_ or _Will_; so that I can
neither perceive an _Object_ (_tho I had a mind to it_) unless it were
_before_ the Organs of my _Sense_; Neither can I _Hinder_ my self from
perceiving it, when it is _Present_.

And seeing that those _Ideas_ which I take in by sense are much more
_Lively_, _Apparent_ and in their kind more _distinct_, than any of those
which _I knowingly_ and _Willingly_ frame by Meditation, or stir up in
my _Memory_; it seems to me that they cannot proceed from _my self_.
There remains therefore no other way for them to come upon me, but from
some other Things _Without_ Me. Of Which Things seeing _I_ have no other
Knowledge but from these _Ideas_, _I_ cannot Think but that these _Ideas_
are _like_ the Things.

Moreover, Because _I_ remember that _I_ first made use of my _senses_
before my _Reason_; and because _I_ did perceive that those _Ideas_
which _I_ my self did frame were not so _Manifest_ as those which _I_
received by my _senses_, but very often _made up of their parts_, _I_ was
easily perswaded to think that _I_ had no _Idea_ in my _Understanding_,
which I had not _First_ in my _sense_.

Neither was it without Reason that _I_ Judged, _That Body_ (which by a
_peculiar right I_ call my _Own_) to be _more nighly_ appertaining to
_Me_ then any _other Body_. For from It, as from other _Bodies_, _I_
can never be _seperated_, _I_ was _sensible_ of all _Appetites_ and
_Affections in It_ and _for It_, and lastly _I_ perceived _pleasure_ and
_Pain_ in its Parts, and not in any other Without it. But why from the
_sense_ of Pain a certain _Grief_, and from the _sense_ of _pleasure_ a
certain _Joy_ of the _Mind_ should arise, or Why that _Gnawing_ of the
_stomach_, Which _I_ call _Hunger_, should put me in mind of _Eating_, or
the _driness_ of my _Throat_ of _Drinking_, _I_ can give no other Reason
but _that I am taught so by Nature_. For to my thinking there is no
_Affinity_ or _Likeness_ between that _Gnawing_ of the _Stomach_, and the
desire of _Eating_, or between the _sense_ of _Pain_, and the _sorrowful
thought_ from thence arising. But in this as in all other _judgments_
that I made of _sensible objects_, I seem’d to be taught by _Nature_, for
I first perswaded my self that things were _so_ or _so_, before ever I
enquired into a Reason that may prove it.

[Sidenote: _The Reasons why I doubted my senses. _]

[Sidenote: _Medit. I. _]

But afterwards I discover’d many experiments, wherein my _senses_ so
grosly deceived me, that I would never trust them again; for Towers
which seem’d _Round_ a far off, nigh at hand appear’d _square_, and
_large_ Statues on their tops seem’d _small_ to those that stood on the
ground; and in numberless other things, I perceived the _judgements_
of my _outward senses_ were _deceived_: and not of my _outward_ only,
but of my _inward senses_ also; for what is more _intimate_ or _inward_
than _Pain_? And yet I have heard from those, whose Arm or Leg was cut
off, that they have felt _pain_ in that part which they _wanted_, and
therefore I am not _absolutely certain_ that any part of me is affected
with _pain_, tho I _feel pain_ therein. To these I have lately added
two very _general Reasons_ of _doubt_; The first was, that while I was
_awake_, I could not believe my self to perceive any thing, which I could
not think my self sometimes to perceive, tho I were _a sleep_; And seeing
I cannot believe, that what I seem to perceive in my _sleep_ proceeds
from _outward Objects_, what greater Reason have I to think so of what I
perceive whilst I am _awake_? The other Cause of Doubt was, that seeing
I know not the _Author_ of my _Being_ (or at least I then _supposed_ my
self not to know him) what reason is there but that I may be so ordered
by _Nature_ as to be _deceived_ even in those things which appear’d to me
most _true_. And as to the _Reasons_, which induced me to give _credit_
to _sensible_ Things, ’twas easie to return an answer thereto, for
finding by experience, that I was impelled by _Nature_ to many Things,
which _Reason_ disswaded me from, I thought I should not far trust what I
was taught by _Nature_. And tho the perceptions of my _senses_ depended
not on my _Will_, I thought _I_ should not therefore conclude, that they
proceeded from _Objects different_ from my self; for perhaps there may
be some other _Faculty_ in me (tho as yet _unknown_ to me) which might
frame those _perceptions_.

[Sidenote: _How far the senses are now to be trusted. _]

But now that I begin better to know _my self_ and the Author of my
_Original_, I do not think, that all things, which I seem to have from my
_senses_ are _rashly_ to be _admitted_, neither are all things so _had_,
to be _doubted_. And first because I know that whatever I _clearly_
and _distinctly_ perceive, _may be_ so made by _God_ as I perceive
them; the _Power_ of _understanding clearly_ and _distinctly_ one Thing
_without_ the other is sufficient to make Me _certain_ that One Thing is
_different_ from the Other; because it _may_ at least be placed apart by
_God_, and that it may be esteem’d _different_, it matters not by what
_Power_ it _may_ be so _sever’d_. And therefore from the knowledge I
have, that _I my self exist_, and because at the same time I understand
that nothing else appertains to my _Nature_ or _Essence_, but that I am a
_thinking Being_, I rightly conclude, that my _Essence_ consists in this
alone, that I am a _thinking Thing_. And tho _perhaps_ (or, as I shall
shew presently, ’tis _certain_) I have a _Body_ which is very _nighly_
conjoyned to me, yet because on this side I have a clear and _distinct
Idea_ of my self, as I am only a _thinking Thing, not extended_; and on
the other side because I have a _distinct Idea_ of my _Body_, as it is
onely an _extended_ thing, _not thinking_, ’tis from hence _certain_,
that I _am really distinct from my Body_, and that I can _exist without_
it.

Moreover I find in my self some _Faculties_ endow’d with _certain_
peculiar waies of _thinking_, such as the _Faculty_ of _Imagination_,
the _Faculty_ of _Perception_ or _sense_; without which _I_ can conceive
my _whole self clearly_ and _distinctly_, but (changing the phrase) _I_
cannot _conceive_ those _Faculties_ without _conceiving My self_, that
is, an _understanding substance_ in which they are; for none of them
in their _formal Conception_ includes _understanding_; from whence I
perceive they are as _different_ from _me_, as the _modus_ or _manner_ of
a Thing is _different_ from the _Thing it self_.

I acknowledge also, that I have several other _Faculties_, such as
_changing_ of _place_, _putting on various shapes_, &c. Which can
no more be understood without a _substance_ in which they are, then
the foremention’d _Faculties_, and consequently they can no more be
understood to _Exist_ without that _substance_: But yet ’tis Manifest,
that this sort of _Faculties_, to the End they may exist, ought to be
in a _Corporeal_, _Extended_, and not in an _Understanding substance_,
because _Extension_, and not _Intellection_ or _Understanding_ is
included in the _Clear_ and _Distinct conception_ of them.

But there is also in me a certain _Passive Faculty_ of _sense_, or of
_Receiving_ and _Knowing_ the _Ideas_ of _sensible Things_; of which
_Faculty_ I can make no use, unless there were in my self, or in
something else, a certain _Active Faculty_ of _Producing_ and _Effecting_
those _Ideas_. But this cannot be in my self, for it Pre-supposes no
_Understanding_, and those _Ideas_ are Produced in me, tho I help not,
and often against my _Will_. There remains therefore no Place for this
_Active Faculty_, but that it should be in some _substance different_
from me. In which because all the _Reallity_, which is contain’d
_Objectively_ in the _Ideas_ Produced by that _Faculty_, ought to be
contain’d _Formally_ or _Eminently_ (as I have Formerly taken notice)
this _substance_ must be either _a Body_ (in which what is in the
_Ideas Objectively_ is contain’d _Formally_) or it Must Be _God_, or
some _Creature_ more _excellent_ then a _Body_ (In which what is in the
_Ideas Objectively_ is contain’d _Eminently_). But seeing that _God_ is
not a _Deceivour_, ’tis altogether Manifest, that _he_ does not Place
these _Ideas_ in me either _Immediately_ from himself, or _Mediately_
from any other Creature, wherein their _Objective Reallity_ is not *
contain’d _Formally_, but only _Eminently_. And seeing _God_ has given
me no _Faculty_ to discern Whether these Ideas proceed from _Corporeal_
or _Incorporeal Beings_, but rather a _strong Inclination_ to believe
that they are sent from _Corporeal Beings_, there is no Reason Why God
should not be counted a _Deceiver_, if these _Ideas_ came from any Where,
but from _Corporeal Things_. Therefore we must conclude that there are
_Corporeal Beings_. Which perhaps are not all the same as I comprehend
them by _my sense_ (for Perception by sense is in many Things very
_Obscure_ and _Confused_) but those things at least, which I _clearly_
and _distinctly_ Understand, that is to say, all those things which are
comprehended under the _Object_ of _Pure Mathematicks_; those things I
say at least are _True_.

As to What Remains, They are either some _Particulars_, as that the
Sun is of such a _Bigness_ or _Shape_, _&c. _ or they are Things less
_Clearly_ Understood, as _Light_, _Sound_, _Pain_, &c. And tho these and
such like Things may be very _Doubtful_ and _Uncertain_, yet because
_God_ is not a _Deceiver_, and because that (Therefore) none of my
Opinions can be _false_ unless God has Given me some _Faculty_ or other
to _Correct_ my _Error_, hence ’tis that I am incouraged with the Hopes
of attaining _Truth_ even in these very Things.

And certainly it cannot be doubted but whatever _I_ am taught by _Nature_
has something therein of _Truth_. By _Nature_ in General I understand
either _God_ himself, or the _Coordination_ of Creatures Made by God.
By my _Own Nature_ in _Particular_ I understand the _Complexion_ or
_Association_ of all those things which are given me by God.
Now there is nothing that this _my Nature_ teaches me more _expresly_
then that I have a _Body_, Which is not _Well_ when I _feel Pain_, that
this _Body_ wants _Meat_ or _Drink_ When I am _Hungry_ or _Dry_, _&c. _
And therefore I ought not to Doubt but that these things are _True_. And
by this _sense_ of _Pain_, _Hunger_, _Thirst_, &c. My _Nature_ tells me
that _I_ am not in my _Body_, as a _Mariner_ is in his _Ship_, but that I
am most _nighly conjoyn’d_ thereto, and as it were _Blended therewith_;
so that _I_ with _It_ make up _one_ thing; For Otherwise, when the _Body_
were hurt, _I_, who am only a _Thinking Thing_, should not therefore
_feel_ Pain, but should only _perceive_ the Hurt with the _Eye_ of my
_Understanding_ (as a _Mariner perceives_ by his _sight_ whatever is
broken in his Ship) and when the _Body_ wants either Meat or Drink, I
should only _Understand_ this want, but should not have the _Confused
sense_ of _Hunger_ or _Thirst_; I call them _Confused_, for certainly
the _Sense_ of _Thirst_, _Hunger_, _Pain_, &c. are only _Confused Modes_
or _Manners_ of _Thought_ arising from the _Union_ and (as it were)
_mixture_ of the _Mind_ and _Body_.

I am taught also by _Nature_, that there are many other _Bodies Without_
and _About_ my _Body_, some whereof are to be _desired_, others are to
be _Avoided_. And because that I Perceive very Different _Colours_,
_Sounds_, _Smells_, _Tasts_, _Heat_, _Hardness_, and the Like, from
thence I Rightly conclude that there are _Correspondent Differences_ in
_Bodies_, from which these _different perceptions_ of _sense_ proceed,
tho perhaps not _Alike_. And because that some of these _perceptions_
are _Pleasant_, others _Unpleasant_, ’tis evidently _certain_, that my
_Body_, or rather my _Whole self_ (as _I_ am compounded of a _Mind_ and
_Body_) am liable to be _Affected_ by these _Bodies_ which encompass me
about.

There are many Other Things Also which _Nature_ seems to teach Me, but
_Really_ I am not taught by It, but have gotten them by an _ill use_ of
Passing my Judgement _Inconsiderately_, and from hence it is that these
things happen often to be _false_; as that all _space_ is _Empty_, in
which I find _nothing_ that _works_ upon my _Senses_; That in a _hot
Body_ there is something _like_ the _Idea_ of _Heat_ which is in me; That
in a _White_ or _Green_ Body there is the same _Whiteness_ or _Greenness_
which I _perceive_; And the same _Taste_ in a _bitter_ or _sweet_ Thing,
_&c. _ That _Stars_, _Castles_, and Other _Remote_ Bodies are of the same
_Bigness_ and _Shape_, as they are _Represented_ to my _senses_: and
such like. But that I may not admit of any Thing in this very matter,
which I cannot _Distinctly_ perceive, it behoves me here to determine
more _Accurately_ What I mean when I say, _That I am taught a Thing by
Nature_.

Here I take _Nature_ more _strictly_, then for the _Complication_ of all
those Things which are Given me by _God_; For in this _Complication_
there are many things contain’d which relate to the _Mind alone_, as,
That I perceive What is _done_ cannot be _not Done_, and all Other things
which are known by the _Light_ of _Nature_, but of these I speak not at
present. There are also many Other Things which belong _only_ to the
_Body_, as, That it _tends Downwards_ and such like, of these also I
treat not at Present. But I speak of those Things only which _God_ hath
bestowed upon me as I am _Compounded_ of a _Mind_ and _Body together_,
and not _differently Consider’d_. ’Tis _Nature_ therefore thus taken that
teaches me to _avoid troublesome Objects_, and _seek_ after _pleasing
Ones_; but it appears not that this _Nature_ teaches us to conclude any
thing of these Perceptions of our _senses_, before that we make by our
_Understanding_ a diligent examination of _outward Objects_; for to
Enquire into the _Truth_ of Things belongs not to the _Whole Compositum_
of a Man as he Consists of _Mind_ and _Body_, but to the _Mind alone_.

So that tho a _star affect_ my eye no _more_ then a _small spark_ of
Fire, yet there is in my Eye no _Real_ or _Positive Inclination_ to
_believe_ One no bigger then the Other, but thus I have been used to
Judge from my Childhood without any Reason: and tho coming nigh the Fire
I feel Heat, and Coming too nigh I feel Pain, yet there is no Reason to
perswade me, That in the Fire there is any thing _like_ either that Heat
or that Pain, but only that there is something therein, Whatever it be,
that excites in us those _sensations_ of Heat or Pain: and so tho in some
space there may be nothing that Works on my _senses_, it does not from
thence follow, that there is no _Body_ there; for I see that in these
and many other things I am used to overturn the Order of Nature, because
I use these _perceptions_ of _sense_ (which properly are given me by
Nature to make known to the mind what is _advantagious_ or _hurtful_ to
the _Compositum_, whereof the _mind_ is part, and _so far_ only they are
_Clear_ and _Distinct_ enough) as _certain Rules_ immediately to discover
the _Essence_ of _External Bodies_, of Which they make known nothing but
very _Obscurely_ and _Confusedly_.

[Sidenote: Medit. 4. ]

I have * formerly shewn how my _Judgement_ happens to be false
notwithstanding _Gods Goodness_. But now there arises a new _Difficulty_
concerning those very things which _Nature_ tells me I am to _prosecute_
or _avoid_, concerning my _Internal senses_, Wherein I find many
_Errors_, as when a Man being deceived by the Pleasant Taste of some sort
of Meat, devours therein some hidden Poyson. But in this very Instance
it cannot be said, that the Man is impelled by Nature to desire the
_Poyson_, for of that he is wholly Ignorant; but he is said to Desire
the _Meat_ only as being of a grateful Taste; and from hence nothing can
be concluded but, That _Mans-Nature_ is not _All-knowing_; which is no
Wonder seeing Man is a _Finite Being_, and therefore nothing but _Finite
Perfections_ belong to him.

But We often err even in those things to Which we are _Impelled_ by
_Nature_, as when sick men desire that _Meat_ or _Drink_, which will
certainly prove Hurtful to them. To this it may perhaps be reply’d, That
they _Err_ in this because their _Nature_ is _Corrupt_. But this Answers
not the Difficulty, For a sick man is no less _Gods Creature_ then a Man
in Health, and therefore ’tis as Absurd to Imagine a _Deceitful Nature_
imposed by _God_ on the One as on the Other; And as a Clock that is made
up of Wheels and Weights does no less strictly observe the _Laws_ of its
_Nature_, when it is _ill_ contrived, and tells the hours _falsly_, as
when it answers the Desire of the Artificer in all performances; so if
I consider the body of a Man as a meer _Machine_ or _Movement_, made up
and compounded of _Bones_, _Nerves_, _Muscles_, _Veins_, _Blood_, and
_Skin_; so that, tho there were no _mind_ in It, yet It would perform all
those Motions which now are in it (those only excepted which Proceed from
the _Will_, and consequently from the _Mind_) I do easily acknowledge,
that it would be as _natural_ for him (if for example sake he were sick
of a _Dropsie_) to suffer that _Driness_ of his _Throat_ which uses to
bring into his mind the _sense_ of _Thirst_, & that thereby his Nerves
and other Parts would be so disposed as to take Drink, by Which his
disease would be encreased; As (supposing him to be troubled with no
such Distemper) by the like Driness of Throat he would be disposed to
Drink, when ’tis Requisite. And tho, if I respect the Intended use of a
Clock I may say that it _Errs_ from its _Nature_, when it tells the Hours
_wrong_, and so considering the _Movement_ of a _Mans Body_ as contrived
for such _Motions_ as are used to be performed thereby, I may think That
also to _Err_ from its _Nature_, if its _Throat_ is _Dry_, when it has
no want of Drink for its _Preservation_. Yet I Plainly discover, that
this last _Acceptation_ of _Nature_ differs much from that whereof we
have been speaking all this While, for this is only a _Denomination
extrinsick_ to the Things whereof ’tis spoken, and _depending_ on my
_Thought_, while it _Compares_ a _sick_ man, and a _disorderly_ Clock
with the _Idea_ of an _healthy_ man and a _Rectified_ Clock. But by
_Nature_ in its former _Acceptation_ I Understand something that is
_Really_ in the _Things_ themselves, which therefore has something of
_Truth_ in it.

But tho Respecting only a _Body sick_ of a Dropsie it be an _Extrinsick
Denomination_ to say, that its _Nature_ is _Corrupt_, because it has
a _Dry Throat_, and stands in _no need_ of Drink; yet respecting the
_Whole Compound_ or _Mind joyn’d_ to such a _Body_, ’tis not a _meer
Denomination_, but a _real Error_ of _Nature_ for it to _thirst_ when
_drink_ is _hurtful_ to it. It remains therefore here to be inquired, how
the _Goodness_ of _God_ suffers _Nature so taken_ to be _deceivable_.

First therefore I understand that a _chief difference_ between my _Mind_
and _Body_ consists in this, That my _Body_ is of its _Nature divisible_,
but my _Mind indivisible_; for while I consider my _Mind_ or _my self_,
as I am only a _thinking Thing_, I can distinguish _no parts_ in Me,
but I perceive my self to be but _one entire_ Thing; and tho the _whole
Mind_ seems to be _united_ to the _whole Body_, yet a Foot, an Arm, or
any other part of the Body being cut off, I do not therefore conceive
any _part_ of my _Mind_ taken away; Neither can its _Faculties_ of
_desiring_, _perceiving_, _understanding_, &c. be called its _Parts_, for
’tis one and the _same_, _mind_, that _desires_, that _perceives_, that
_understands_; Contrarily, I cannot think of any _Corporeal_ or _extended
Being_, which I cannot easily _divide_ into _Parts_ by my thought, and by
this I understand it to be _divisible_. And this alone (if I had known it
from no other Argument) is sufficient to inform me, that my _mind_ is
_really distinct_ from my _Body_.

Nextly I find, that my _mind_ is not _immediately affected_ by all parts
of my _body_, but only by the _Brain_, and perhaps only by one small part
of it, That, to wit, wherein the _common sense_ is said to reside; Which
part, as often as it is disposed in the _same manner_, will represent to
the _mind_ the _same thing_, tho at the same time the other parts of the
_body_ may be _differently_ order’d. And this is proved by numberless
Experiments, which need not here be related.

Moreover I discover that the _nature_ of my _body_ is such, that no part
of it can be _moved_ by an other _remote_ part thereof, but it may also
be _moved_ in the _same manner_ by some of the _interjacent_ parts, tho
the more _remote_ part lay still and acted not; As for example in the
Rope,

A⸺B⸺C⸺D

if its end D. were drawn, the end A. would be moved no otherwise, than
if one of the intermediate parts B. or C. were drawn, and the end D.
rest quiet. So when I feel _pain_ in my _Foot_, the consideration of
Physicks instructs me, that this is performed by the help of _Nerves_
dispersed through the Foot, which from thence being _continued_ like
Ropes to the very Brain, whilst they are _drawn_ in the Foot, they also
_draw_ the inward parts of the Brain to which they reach, and therein
excite a certain _motion_, which is ordain’d by _Nature_ to affect the
_mind_ with a _sense_ of _Pain_, as being in the _Foot_. But because
these Nerves must pass through the _Shin_, the _Thighs_, the _Loins_, the
_Back_, the _Neck_, before they can reach the _Brain_ from the _Foot_, it
may so happen, that tho _that part_ of them, which is in the Foot were
not touch’d, but only some of their _intermediate parts_, yet the same
_motion_, would be caused in the _Brain_, as when the _Foot_ it self is
_ill affected_, from whence ’twill necessarily follow, that the _mind_
should _perceive_ the same _Pain_. And thus may we think of any other
_Sense_.

I understand lastly, that seeing each single motion perform’d in that
part of the _Brain_, which _immediately affects_ the _mind_, excites
therein only one sort of _sense_, nothing could be contrived more
conveniently in this case, than that, of all those _Senses_ which it
can cause, it should cause that which _cheifly_, and most _frequently_
conduces to the _conservation_ of an _healthful Man_; And experience
witnesses, that to this very _end_ all our _senses_ are given us by
_Nature_; and therefore nothing can be found therein, which does not
abundantly testifie the _Power_ and _Goodness_ of _God_. Thus for
Example, when the Nerves of the Feet are violently and more than
ordinarily moved, that motion of them being propagated through the
_Medulla Spinalis_ of the Back to the inward parts of the Brain, there it
signifies to the mind, that something or other is to be felt, and what is
this but Pain, as if it were in the Foot, by which the Mind is excited
to use its indeavours for removing the Cause, as being hurtful to the
Foot. But the _Nature_ of _Man_ might have been so _order’d_ by _God_,
that That same motion in the Brain should represent to the mind any other
thing, _viz. _ either it self as ’tis in the Brain, or it self as it is
in the Foot, or in any of the other forementioned intermediate parts, or
lastly any other thing whatsoever; but none of these would have so much
conduced to the _Conservation_ of the _Body_. In the like manner when we
want drink, from thence arises a certain _dryness_ in the _Throat_, which
moves the Nerves thereof, and by their means the inward parts of the
Brain, and this motion _affects_ the _mind_ with the _sense_ of _thirst_;
because that in this case nothing is more requisite for us to know, then
that we _want drink_ for the _Preservation_ of our _Health_. So of the
Rest.

From all which ’tis manifest, that (notwithstanding the _infinite
Goodness_ of God) ’tis impossible but the _Nature_ of _Man_ as he
consists of a _mind_ and _body_ should be _deceivable_. For if any cause
should excite (not in the Foot but) in the Brain it self, or in any
other part through which the Nerves are continued from the Foot to the
Brain, that _self same_ motion, which uses to arise from the Foot being
troubled, the _Pain_ would be felt _as in the Foot_, and the _sense_
would be _naturally_ deceived; for ’tis consonant to Reason (seeing that
That same motion of the Brain alwayes represents to the mind that same
sense, and it oftner proceeds from a cause _hurtful_ to the _Foot_, than
from any other) I say ’tis reasonable, that it should make known to the
_mind_ the Pain of the _Foot_, rather than of any other _part_. And so
if a _dryness_ of _Throat_ arises (not as ’tis used from the _necessity_
of _drink_ for the _conservation_ of the _Body_, but) from an _unusual
Cause_, as it happens in a _Dropsie_, ’tis far better that it should
_then deceive us_; then that it should _alwayes deceive_ us when the
_Body_ is in _Health_, and so of the Rest.

And this consideration helps me very much, not only to _understand_ the
_Errors_ to which my _Nature_ is subject, but also to _correct_ and
_avoid_ them. For seeing I know that all my _Senses_ do oftener inform
me _falsly_ than _truely_ in those things which conduce to the _Bodies
advantage_; and seeing I can use (almost alwayes) more of them than one
to _Examine_ the same thing, as also I can use _memory_, which joyns
present and past things together, and my _understanding_ also, which
hath already discovered to me all the _causes_ of my _Errors_, I ought
no longer to fear, that what my _Senses_ daily represent to me should be
false. But especially those _extravagant Doubts_ of my First Meditation
are to be turn’d off as ridiculous; and perticularly the _chief_ of
them, _viz_. That * of not _distinguishing Sleep_ from _Waking_, for now
I plainly discover a great _difference_, between them, for my _Dreams_
are never _conjoyned_ by my _memory_ with the other _actions_ of _my
life_, as whatever happens to me _awake_ is; and certainly if (while
I were awake) any person should suddenly appear to me, and presently
disappear (as in _Dreams_) so that I could not tell _from whence_ he
came or _where_ he went, I should rather esteem it a _Spectre_ or
_Apparition feign’d_ in my Brain, then a _true Man_; but when such
things occur, as I distinctly know from _whence_, _where_, and _when_
they come, and I _conjoyn_ the _perception_ of them by my _memory_ with
the other _Accidents_ of my _life_, I am _certain_ they are represented
to me _waking_ and not _asleep_, neither ought I in the least to doubt
of their _Truth_, if after I have called up all my _senses_, _memory_,
and _understanding_ to their _Examination_ I find nothing in any of
them, that clashes with other truths; For _God_ not being a _Deceiver_,
it follows, that In such things I am not _deceived_. But because the
_urgency_ of _Action_ in the common _occurrences_ of _Affairs_ will not
alwayes allow time for such an _accurate examination_, I must confess
that _Mans life_ is _subject_ to many _Errors_ about _perticulars_, so
that the _infirmity_ of our _Nature_ must be _acknowledged_ by Us.


_FINIS. _




ADVERTISEMENT CONCERNING THE OBJECTIONS.


Among seven Parcels of Objections made by Divers Learned Persons against
these Meditations, I have made choise of the Third in the Latine Copy,
as being Penn’d by _Thomas Hobbs_ of _Malmesbury_, a Man famously known
to the World abroad, but especially to his own the English Nation; and
therefore ’tis likely that what comes from Him may be more acceptable to
his Countrymen, then what proceeds from a Stranger; and as the strength
of a Fortification is never better known then by a Forcible Resistance,
so fares it with these _Meditations_ which stand unshaken by the
Violent Opposition of so Potent an Enemy. And yet it must be Confess’d
that the Force of these Objections and Cogency of the Arguments cannot
be well apprehended by those who are not versed in other Pieces of Mr.
_Hobbs_’s Philosophy, especially His Book _De Corpore_ and _De Homine_,
The former whereof I am sure is Translated into English, and therefore
not Impertinently refer’d to Here in a Discourse to English Readers. And
this is the Reason that makes the Great _Des-Cartes_ pass over many of
these Objections so slightly, Who certainly would have Undermined the
whole Fabrick of the _Hobbian Philosophy_ had he but known upon What
Foundations it was Built.




OBJECTIONS

Made against the Foregoing

MEDITATIONS,

BY THE FAMOUS

_THOMAS HOBBS_

Of MALMESBURY,

WITH

_DES-CARTES’S_

ANSWERS.




OBJECT. I.

_Against the First Meditation: Of things Doubtful. _


’Tis evident enough from What has been said in this Meditation, that
there is no _sign_ by Which we may Distinguish our _Dreams_ from _True
Sense_ and _Waking_, and therefore that those _Phantasmes_ which we
have waking and from our Senses are not accidents inhering in Outward
Objects, neither do they Prove that such outward Objects do Exist; and
therefore if we trust our Senses without any other Ground, we may well
doubt whether any Thing _Be_ or _Not_. We therefore acknowledge the Truth
of this Meditation. But Because _Plato_ and other Antient Philosophers
argued for the same _incertainty_ in sensible Things, and because ’tis
commonly Observed by the Vulgar that ’tis hard to Distinguish Sleep from
Waking, I would not have the most excellent Author of such new Thoughts
put forth so antique Notions.


ANSWER.

Those Reasons of Doubt which by this Philosopher are admitted as _true_,
were proposed by Me only as _Probable_, and I made use of them not that
I may vend them as _new_, but partly that I may prepare the Minds of my
Readers for the Consideration of Intellectual Things, wherein they seem’d
to me very necessary; And partly that thereby I may shew how firm those
Truths are, which hereafter I lay down, seeing they cannot be Weaken’d by
these Metaphysical Doubts: So, that I never designed to gain any Honor by
repeating them, but I think I could no more omit them, then a Writer in
Physick can pass over the Description of a Disease, Whose Cure he intends
to Teach.




OBJECT. II.

_Against the Second Meditation: Of the Nature of Mans Mind. _


I _am a Thinking Thing_. ’Tis True; for because I _think_ or have a
_Phantasme_ (whether I am _awake_ or _asleep_) it follows that _I am
Thinking_, for _I Think_ and _I am Thinking_ signifie the same Thing.
Because _I Think_, it follows That _I am_, for whatever _Thinks_ cannot
be _Nothing_. But when he Adds, _That is_, _a Mind_, _a Soul_, _an
Understanding_, _Reason_, I question his Argumentation; for it does not
seem a Right Consequence to say, _I am a Thinking Thing_, therefore _I am
a Thought_, neither, _I am an Understanding Thing_, therefore _I am the
Understanding_. For in the same manner I may Conclude, _I am a Walking
Thing_, therefore _I am the Walking it self_.

Wherefore _D. Cartes_ Concludes that an _Understanding Thing_ and
_Intellection_ (which is the _Act_ of an Understanding Thing) are the
same; or at least that an _Understanding Thing_ and the _Intellect_
(which is the _Power_ of an Understanding Thing) are the same; And yet
all Philosophers distinguish the _subject_ from its _Faculties_ and
_Acts_, that is, from its _Properties_ and _Essence_, for the _Thing it
self_ is one thing, and its _Essence_ is an other. It may be therefore
that a _Thinking Thing_ is the _Subject_ of a _Mind_, _Reason_, or
_Understanding_, and therefor it may be a _Corporeal Thing_, the Contrary
Whereof is here _Assumed_ and not _Proved_; and yet this _Inference_ is
the _Foundation_ of that Conclusion which _D. Cartes_ would Establish.

[Sidenote: * _Places noted with this Asterick are the Passages of the
foregoing Meditations here Objected against. _]

In the same Meditation, on, * _I know that I am, I ask, What I am Whom I
Thus Know, Certainly the Knowledge of Me precisely so taken depends not
on those Things of whose Existence I am yet Ignorant_.

’Tis Certain the Knowledge of this Proposition _I am_, depends on this,
_I think_ as he hath rightly inform’d us; but from whence have we the
knowledge of this Proposition, _I think_? certainly from hence only,
that we cannot conceive any _Act_ without its _subject_, as _dancing_
without a _Dancer_, _knowledge_, without a _Knower_, _thought_ without a
_thinker_.

And from hence it seems to follow, that a _thinking Thing_ is a
_Corporeal Thing_; for the _Subjects_ of all _Acts_ are understood only
in a _Corporeal way_, or after the manner of _matter_, as he himself
shews hereafter by the example of a piece of Wax, which changing its
_colour_, _consistence_, _shape_, and other _Acts_ is yet known to
continue the _same thing_, that is, the _same matter subject_ to so many
_changes_. But I cannot conclude from another _thought_ that _I now
think_; for tho a Man may _think_ that he _hath thought_ (which consists
only in _memory_) yet ’tis altogether impossible for him to _think_ that
he _now thinks_, or to _know_, that _he knows_, for the question may be
put _infinitely_, how do you _know_ that you _know_, that you _know_,
that you _know_? &c.

Wherefore seeing the Knowledge of this Proposition _I am_, depends on
the knowledge of this _I think_, and the knowledge of this is from hence
only, that we cannot separate _thought_ from _thinking matter_, it seems
rather to follow, that a _thinking thing_ is _material_, than that ’tis
_immaterial_.


ANSWER.

When I said, _That is a Mind_, _a Soul_, _an Understanding_, _Reason_,
&c. I did not mean by these _names_ the _Faculties_ only, but the
_things_ indow’d with those _Faculties_; and so ’tis alwayes understood
by the two first names (_mind_ and _soul_) and very often so understood
by the two last Names (_understanding_ and _Reason_) and this I have
explain’d so often, and in so many places of these Meditations, that
there is not the least occasion of questioning my meaning.

Neither is there any parity between _Walking_ and _Thought_, for
_walking_ is used only for the _Act_ it self, but _thought_ is sometimes
used for the _Act_, sometimes for the _Faculty_, and sometimes for the
_thing_ it self, wherein the _Faculty_ resides.

Neither do I say, that the _understanding thing_ and _intellection_ are
the same, or that the _understanding thing_ and the _intellect_ are the
same, if the _intellect_ be taken for the _Faculty_, but only when ’tis
taken for the _thing it self that understands_. Yet I willingly confess,
that I have (as much as in me lay) made use of _abstracted words_ to
signifie that _thing_ or _substance_, which I would have devested of all
those things that belong not to it. Whereas contrarily this Philosopher
uses the most _concrete Words_ to signifie this _thinking thing_, such
as _subject_, _matter_, _Body_, &c. that he may not suffer it to be
separated from _Body_.

Neither am I concern’d that His manner of joyning many things together
may seem to some fitter for the discovery of Truth, than mine, wherein I
separate as much as possibly each particular. But let us omit words and
speak of things.

_It may be_ (sayes he) _that a Thinking thing is a corporeal thing,
the contrary whereof is here assumed and not proved. _ But herein he is
mistaken, for I never _assumed_ the _contrary_, neither have I used it as
a _Foundation_, for the rest of _my Superstructure_, but left it wholly
_undetermin’d_ till the _sixth Meditation_, and in that ’tis proved.

Then he tells us rightly, _that we cannot conceive any Act without its
subject_, as _thought_ without a _thinking thing_, for what _thinks_
cannot be _nothing_; but then he subjoyns without any Reason, and against
the usual manner of speaking, and contrary to all Logick, _that hence it
seem to follow, that a thinking thing is a corporeal Being_. Truly the
_subjects_ of all _Acts_ are understood under the notion of _substance_,
or if you please under the notion of _matter_ (that is to say of
_metaphysical matter_) but not therefore under the notion of _Bodies_.

But Logicians and Commonly all Men are used to say, that there are some
_Spiritual_, some _Corporeal_ substances. And by the Instance of Wax I
only proved that _Colour_, _Consistence_, _Shape_, &c. appertain not to
the _Ratio Formalis_ of the Wax; For in that Place I treated neither of
the _Ratio Formalis_ of the _Mind_, neither of _Body_.

Neither is it pertinent to the business, that the Philosopher asserts,
_That one Thought cannot be the subject of an other thought_, for Who
besides Himself ever Imagin’d This? But that I may explain the matter in
a few words, ’Tis certain that _Thought_ cannot be without a _Thinking
Thing_, neither any _Act_ or any _Accident_ without a _substance_ wherein
it resides. But seeing that we know not a _substance immediately by it
self_, but by this alone, that ’tis the _subject_ of several _Acts_, it
is very consonant to the commands of Reason and Custome, that we should
call by _different names_ those _substances_, which we perceive are the
_subjects_ of very _different Acts_ or _Accidents_, and that afterwards
we should examine, whether those _different names_ signifie _different_
or _one_ and the _same_ thing. Now there are some _Acts_ which we call
_corporeal_, as _magnitude_, _figure_, _motion_, and what ever else
cannot be thought on without _local extension_, and the _substance_
wherein these reside we call _Body_; neither can it be imagin’d that
’tis one _substance_ which is the _subject_ of _Figure_, and another
_substance_ which is the _subject_ of _local motion_, &c. Because all
these _Acts_ agree under one common notion of _Extension_. Besides
there are other _Acts_, which we call _cogitative_ or _thinking_, as
_understanding_, _will_, _imagination_, _sense_, &c. All which agree
under the common notion of _thought_, _perception_, or _Conscience_;
And the _substance_ wherein they are, we say, is a _thinking thing_,
or _mind_, or call it by whatever other name we please, so we do not
confound it with _corporeal substance_, because _cogitative Acts_ have
no affinity with _corporeal Acts_, and _thought_, which is the common
_Ratio_ of _those_ is wholly different from _Extension_, which is the
common _Ratio_ of _These_. But after we have formed two _distinct
conceptions_ of these two _substances_, from what is said in the sixth
Meditation, ’tis easie to know, whether they be _one_ and the _same_ or
_different_.




OBJECT. III.


* _Which of them is it, that is distinct from my thought? which of them
is it that can be separated from me? _

Some perhaps will answer this Question thus, I my self, who _think_ am
distinct from my _thought_, and my _thought_ is _different_ from me
(tho’ not _seperated_) as _dancing_ is _distinguished_ from the _Dancer_
(as before is noted. ) But if _Des-Cartes_ will prove, that _he_ who
_understands_ is the same with his _understanding_, we shall fall into
the Scholastick expressions, the _understanding understands_, the _sight
sees_, the _Will wills_, and then by an exact analogy, the Walking (or
at least the _Faculty_ of walking) shall walk. All which are obscure,
improper, and unworthy that perspicuity which is usual with the noble
_Des-Cartes_.


ANSWER.

I do not deny, that _I_ who _think_ am _distinct_ from my _thought_,
as a _thing_ is _distinguish’d_ from its _modus_ or _manner_; But when
I ask, _which of them is it that is distinct from my thought_? this I
understand of those various _modes_ of _thought_ there mention’d, and
not of _substance_; and when I subjoyn, _which of them is it that can be
separated from me_? I only signifie that all those _modes_ or _manners_
of _thinking_ reside in me, neither do I herein perceive what occasion of
_doubt_ or _obscurity_ can be imagined.




OBJECT. IV.


* _It remains therefore for me to Confess that I cannot Imagine what this
Wax is, but that I conceive in my mind What it is. _

There is a great Difference between _Imagination_ (that is) having
an _Idea_ of a Thing, and the _Conception of the Mind_ (that is) a
_Concluding_ from _Reasoning_ that a thing _Is_ or _Exists_. But
_Des-Cartes_ has not Declared to us in what they Differ. Besides,
the Ancient Aristotelians have clearly deliver’d as a Doctrine, that
_substance_ is not _perceived_ by _sense_ but is _Collected_ by
_Ratiocination_.

But what shall we now say, if perhaps _Ratiocination_ be nothing Else but
a _Copulation_ or _Concatenation_ of _Names_ or _Appellations_ by this
Word _Is_? From whence ’twill follow that we _Collect_ by _Reasoning_
nothing _of_ or _concerning_ the _Nature_ of _Things_, but of the _names_
of _Things_, that is to say, we only discover whether or no we _joyn_ the
_Names_ of _Things_ according to the _Agreements_ which at Pleasure we
have made concerning their _significations_; if it be so (as so it may
be) _Ratiocination_ will depend on _Words_, _Words_ on _Imagination_,
and perhaps _Imagination_ as _also Sense_ on the _Motion_ of _Corporeal
Parts_; and so the _Mind_ shall be nothing but _Motions_ in some Parts of
an _Organical Body_.


ANSWER.

I have here Explain’d the Difference between _Imagination_, and the Meer
_Conception_ of the _Mind_, by reckoning up in my Example of the Wax,
what it is therein which we _Imagine_, and what it is that we _conceive_
in our _Mind_ only: but besides this, I have explained in an other Place
How we _understand_ one way, and _Imagine_ an other way One and the same
Thing, suppose a Pentagone or Five sided Figure.

There is in _Ratiocination_ a _Conjunction_ not of _Words_, but of
_Things signified_ by _Words_; And I much admire that the _Contrary_
could Possibly enter any Mans Thoughts; For Who ever doubted but that
a _Frenchman_ and a _German_ may argue about the _same Things_, tho
they use very _Differing Words_? and does not the Philosopher Disprove
himself when he speaks of the _Agreements which at pleasure we have made
about the significations of Words_? for if he grants that _something_ is
_Signified_ by _Words_, Why will he not admit that our Ratiocinations are
rather about this _something_, then about _Words_ only? and by the same
Right that he concludes the _Mind_ to be a _Motion_, he may Conclude Also
that the Earth is Heaven, or What else he Pleases.




OBJECT. V.

_Against the Third Meditation of God. _


* _Some of These (viz. ~Humane Thoughts~) are as it were the Images of
Things, and to these alone belongs properly the Name of an Idea, as when
I Think on a Man, a Chimera, Heaven, an Angel, or God. _

When I Think on a _Man_ I perceive an _Idea_ made up of _Figure_ and
_Colour_, whereof I may _doubt_ whether it be the _Likeness_ of a _Man_
or not; and so when I think on _Heaven_. But when I think on a Chimera, I
perceive an _Image_ or _Idea_, of which I may _doubt_ whether it be the
_Likeness_ of any _Animal_ not only at present Existing, but possible to
Exist, or that ever will Exist hereafter or not.

But thinking on an _Angel_, there is offer’d to my Mind sometimes the
_Image_ of a _Flame_, sometimes the _Image_ of a _Pretty Little Boy_
with _Wings_, which I am certain has no _Likeness_ to an _Angel_, and
therefore that it is not the _Idea_ of an _Angel_; But beleiving that
there are some Creatures, Who do (as it were) wait upon God, and are
Invisible, and Immaterial, upon the _Thing Believed_ or _supposed_ we
Impose the _Name_ of _Angel_; Whereas the _Idea_, under which I Imagine
an Angel, is compounded of the Ideas of sensible Things.

In the like manner at the Venerable Name of _God_, we have _no Image_ or
_Idea_ of God, and therefore we are forbidden to _Worship God_ under any
_Image_, least we should seem to _Conceive_ Him that is inconceivable.

Whereby it appears that we have no _Idea_ of _God_; but like one _born
blind_, who being brought to the _Fire_, and perceiving himself to be
_Warmed_, knows there is _something_ by which he is _warmed_ and Hearing
it called _Fire_, he Concludes that _Fire Exists_, but yet knows not of
what _shape_ or _Colour_ the Fire is, neither has he any _Image_ or
_Idea_ thereof in his _Mind_.

So Man knowing that there must be some _Cause_ of his _Imaginations_
or _Ideas_, as also an other _cause before That_, and so _onwards_, he
is brought at last to an _End_, or to a _supposal_ of some _Eternal
Cause_, Which because it never _began_ to _Be_ cannot have any other
_Cause before it_, and thence he Concludes that ’tis _necessary_ that
some _Eternal Thing Exist_: and yet he has no _Idea_ which He can call
the _Idea_ of this _Eternal Thing_, but he names this _Thing_, which he
believes and acknowledges by the Name _God_.

But now _Des-Cartes_ proceeds from this Position, _That we have an Idea
of God in our Mind_, to prove this Theoreme, _That God (that if an
Almighty, Wise, Creatour of the World) Exists_, whereas he ought to have
explain’d this _Idea_ of _God_ better, and he should have thence deduced
not only his _Existence_, but also the _Creation_ of the World.


ANSWER.

Here the Philosopher will have the Word _Idea_ be only Understood
for the _Images_ of _Material_ Things represented in a _Corporeal_
Phantasie, by which Position he may Easily Prove, that there can be no
Proper _Idea_ of an _Angel_ or _God_. Whereas as I declare every Where,
but especially in this Place, that I take the Name _Idea_ for whatever is
immediately _perceived_ by the _Mind_, so that when I _Will_, or _Fear_,
because at the same time I _perceive_ that I _Will_ or _Fear_, this
very _Will_ or _Fear_ are reckon’d by me among the number of _Ideas_;
And I have purposely made use of that Word, because It was usual with
the Antient Philosophers to signifie the Manner of _Perceptions_ in the
_Divine Mind_, altho neither we nor they acknowledge a Phantasie in
_God_: and besides I had no fitter Word to express it by.

And I think I have sufficiently explain’d the _Idea_ of _God_ for those
that will attend my meaning, but I can never do it fully enough for those
that will Understand my Words otherwise then I intend them.

Lastly, what is here added concerning the _Creation_ of the World is
wholly beside the Question in hand.




OBJECT. VI.


* _But there are Other (~Thoughts~) That have Superadded Forms to them,
as when I Will, when I Fear, when I Affirm, when I Deny; I know I have
alwayes (whenever I think) some certain thing as the Subject or Object
of my Thought, but in this last sort of Thoughts there is something
More which I think upon then Barely the Likeness of the Thing; and of
these Thoughts some are called Wills and Affections, and others of them
Judgements. _

When any one _Fears_ or _Wills_, he has certainly the _Image_ of the
_Thing Fear’d_, or _Action Will’d_, but what more a _Willing_ or
_Fearing_ Man has in his Thoughts is not explain’d; and tho _Fear_ be a
_Thought_, yet I see not how it can be any other then the _Thought_ of
the _Thing Fear’d_; For what is the _Fear_ of a _Lion rushing on me_, but
the _Idea_ of a Lion Rushing on me, and the _Effect_ (which that _Idea_
produces in the _Heart_) whereby the Man _Fearing_ is excited to that
Animal Motion which is called Flight? but now this Motion of _Flying_
is not _Thought_, it remains therefore that in _Fear_ there is no other
_Thought_, but that which consists in the _likeness_ of the thing. And
the same may be said of _Will_.

Moreover _Affirmation_ and _Negation_ are not without a _voice_ and
_words_, and hence ’tis that Brutes can neither _affirme_ or _deny_ not
so much as in their Thought, and consequently neither can they judge.
But yet the same thought may be in a beast as in a Man; for when we
_affirme_ that a Man runs, we have not a _thought_ different from what
a Dog has when he sees his Master running; _Affirmation_ therefore or
_Negation_ superadds nothing to _meer thoughts_, unless perhaps it adds
this thought, that the _names_ of which an _Affirmation_ consists are (to
the Person _affirming_) the _Names_ of the _same thing_; and this is not
to comprehend in the _thought_ more then the _likeness_ of the _thing_,
but it is only comprehending the same _likeness twice_.


ANSWER.

’Tis self evident, That ’tis one thing to _see_ a Lion and at the same
time to _fear_ him, and an other thing _only_ to _see_ him. So ’tis one
thing to _see_ a Man Running, and an other thing to _Affirme_ within my
self (which may be done without a voice) That I _see_ him.

But in all this objection I find nothing that requires an Answer.




OBJECT. VII.


* _Now it remains for me to examine, how I have received this Idea of
God, for I have neither received it by means of my senses, neither comes
it to me without my forethought, as the Ideas of sensible things use to
do, when those things work on the Organs of my sense, or at least seem so
to work; Neither is this Idea framed by my self, for I can neither add
to, nor detract from it. Wherefore I have only to conclude, that it is
innate, even as the Idea of me my self is Natural to my self. _

If there be no _Idea_ of _God_, as it seems there is _not_ (and here ’tis
not proved that there is) this whole discourse falls to the ground. And
as to the _Idea_ of _my self_ (if I respect the _Body_) it proceeds from
_Sight_, but (if the _Soul_) there is no _Idea_ of a _Soul_, but we
collect by Ratiocination, that there is some inward thing in a Mans Body,
that imparts to it _Animal Motion_, by which it _perceives_ and _moves_,
and this (whatever it be) without any _Idea_ we call a _Soul_.


ANSWER.

If there be an _Idea_ of _God_ (as ’tis manifest that there is) this
whole _Objection_ falls to the ground; and then he subjoyns, _That we
have no Idea of the Soul, but collect it by Ratiocination_, ’Tis the same
as if he should say, that there is no _Image_ thereof represented in the
_Phantasie_, but yet, that there is such a Thing, as I call an _Idea_.




OBJECT. VIII.


* _An other Idea of the Sun as taken from the Arguments of Astronomers,
that is consequentially collected by me from certain natural notions. _

At the same time we can certainly have but one _Idea_ of the Sun, whether
it be look’d at by our eyes, or collected by _Ratiocination_ to be much
bigger than it seems; for this last is not an _Idea_ of the Sun, but a
proof by Arguments, that the _Idea_ of the _Sun_ would be much larger, if
it were look’d at nigher. But at different or several times the _Ideas_
of the Sun may be diverse, as if at one time we look at it with our bare
eye, at an other time through a Teloscope; but Astronomical arguments do
not make the _Idea_ of the Sun greater or less, but they rather tell us
that the _sensible Idea_ thereof is _false_.


ANSWER.

Here also (as before) what he says is not the _Idea_ of the Sun, and yet
is described, is that very thing which I call the _Idea_.




OBJECT. IX.


* _For without doubt those Ideas which Represent substances are something
more, or (as I may say) have more of objective Reality in them, then
those that represent only accidents or modes; and again, that by which
I understand a mighty God, Eternal, Infinite, Omniscient, Omnipotent,
Creatour of all things besides himself, has certainly in it more
objective reality, then those by which Finite substances are exhibited. _

I have before often noted that there can be no _Idea_ of _God_ or
the _Mind_: I will now superadd, That neither can there be an _Idea_
of _Substance_. For _Substance_ (Which is only _Matter Subject_ to
_Accidents_ and _Changes_) is _Collected_ only by _Reasoning_, but
it is not at all _Conceived_, neither does it _represent_ to us any
_Idea_. And if this be true, How can it be said, _That those Ideas
which represent to us Substances have in them something More, or More
Objective Reality, then those which represent to us Accidents_? Besides,
Let _Des-Cartes_ again Consider what he means by ~More Reality~? Can
_Reality_ be increas’d or diminish’d? Or does he think that One _Thing_
can be _More A Thing_ then an other Thing? let him Consider how this can
be Explain’d to our Understandings with that _Perspicuity_ or Clearness
which is requisite in all _Demonstrations_, and Which He Himself is used
to present us with upon other Occasions.


ANSWER.

I have often noted before, That that very Thing which is _evidenc’d_
by _Reason_, as also whatever else is perceived by any other Means, is
Called by Me an _Idea_. And I have sufficiently explain’d How _Reality_
may be _Encreas’d_ or _Diminish’d_, in the same manner (to wit) as
_Substance_ is _More_ a _Thing_, then A _Mode_; and if there be any such
things as _Real Qualities_, or _Incomplete Substances_, these are _More
Things_ then _Modes_, and _Less Things_ then _Complete Substances_:
and Lastly if there be an _Infinite Independent Substance_ this is
_More_ a _Thing_, then a _Finite, Dependent Substance_. And all this is
self-evident.




OBJECT.