There are thofe who make no fcruple to affirm, That the Soul being made for Thinking, has in it felf, I mean by confidering its own Perfections, all that is neceflary to its Perception of Obje&s: For being in Effect more noble than all the things it diftinctly conceives, it may be faid to contain them in fome Eminent fort, as the Schools love to fpeak; that is, in a more noble and fublimated manner than they are in themfelves. They pretend that fiiperiour Beings compre- hend after this manner the Perfections of the inferiour. And hereupon, being the nobleft Crea- tures* that they know, they flatter themfelves with poffefling in a Spiritual manner all that is in the Vifible World, and with being able by diverfly modifying themfelves, to perceive all that the Humane Mind can attain to know. In a word, they would have the Soul to be a fort of an In- telligible World; that comprehends in it felf the Material and Senfible World, and infinitely more.
But methinks'tis a bold Stroke, to offer a Defence of this Opinion: 'Tis, if I miftake not, a Natural Vanity, the love of Independency, and the defire of refembling Him, who comprehends in Himfelf all Beings •, that confounds the Mind, and makes us imagine our felves the Pofleflbrs Die quia of what we have not. Say not, fays St. Auguftin, that ye are a Light to your felves. For 'tis only tu tibi la- GOD that is alight to Himfelf, and who may by confidering Himfelf, fee all that he has promes n°ns duc'd' and a11 tllat he is able to produce.
2'Sj 'Tis moll certain, That there was none but GOD before the Creation of the World, and Domini, that He was not able to produce it without Knowledge, or without Idea: That confequently the Idea's which GOD had, are not different from Himfelf; and fo all the Creatures, even the molt Terreftrial and Material are in GOD, though in a manner altogether Spiritual, and to as incomprehenfible.
GOD fees therefore in Himfelf all Beings, by Reflection made on His own Perfections that reprefent them to Him. He has befides the perfect Knowledge of their Exiftence: For fince they depend upon His Will for their Exiftence, and He cannot be ignorant of His own Wills; it fol- lows that He cannot be ignorant of their Exiftence; and confequently G O D beholds within Him- felf not only the Eflence of things, but their Exiftence alfo.
But 'tis not the fame with Created Spirits, as not being able to fee in themfelves either the EC- fence or the Exiftence of Things. They cannot fee the Eflence of them in themfelves, fince be- ing of a fhort and limited Capacity, they contain not all Beings, as GOD does; who may be ftil'd an Univerfal Being; or fimply He that u, as He calls Himfelf. Seeing then the Humane Mind is capable of knowing all Beings, and Infinite Beings, and yet contains them not in it felf y ■tis an infallible Argument, that it fees not their Eflence in it felf. For the Mind has not only a iucceflive fight of firft one thing, then another, it alfo actually perceives INFINITE; Though 1 Ad0ff "° gC?mPrehend it, as has been faid in the foregoing Chapter. Wherefore being neither actually infinite, nor capable of infinite Modifications at the fame time, it is abfolutely impoflible it fhould fee in it felf what it does not contain; it fees riot then the Eflence of things by confide- ring its own Perfeaions, or by the diverfe modifying of it felf.
Nor does it fee their Exiftence in it felf, becaufe they depend not on its Will for their Exi- ftence; and the Idea's of things may be prefent to the Mind, though they do not exift at all. For every one may have the Idea of a golden Mountain, though there be no fuch thing as a golden Mouataw in Nature: And though we rely on the Teftimonies of the Senfes in our judging of the Exiftence Chap. VI. 'The Search after Truth. He) Exiftence of Obje&s, yet Reafon does not afTure us that we ought always to believe them, fince we manifeftly difcover that they abufe us- When a Man's Blood, for inftance, is well warm'd, or only when he fleeps, he fees fometimes before his Eyes, Fields, Battles, and the like, which yet are not prefent, and which poflibly never were. 'Tis then indubitable, that the Mind neither in it felf, nor by it felf, fees the Exiftence of things, but in that particular depends on foniething elfe CHAP. VI.
That we fee all things In GOD.
WE have examin'd in the preceding Chapters Four different ways for the Mind's per- ceiving External Objects; none of which feems likely to be true. There only remains the Fifth, which alone feems agreeable to Reafon, and the propereft to manifeft the Dependance our Minds have on GOD in all our Thoughts.
'Tisrequifite to our perfed Underftanding it, to call to Mind what has been deliver'd in the foregoing Chapter, viz.. That 'tis absolutely necelTary for GOD to have in Himfelf the Idea's of all the Beings He has created, fince otherwife he could not have produc'd them: And that here- by he fees all thefe Beings by confidering the Perfections he includes, whereunto they are related. We ought to know farther, that GO D is molt ftrictly united to our Souls by His Prefonce^ fo that He may be faid to be the place of Spirits, as Space is the place of Bodies. Thefe two things- being fuppos'd, it is certain that the Mind can fee what there is in G O D, which reprefents Crea- ted Beings; that being molt Spiritual, molt Intelligible, and moft clofely Prefent to the Mind. And fo the Mind may fee in G O D all the Works of G O D, fiippofing GOD willing to difcover to it what He has in Himfelf, that reprefents them. Here then are the Reafons which feem to prove He would rather do this, than create an infinite number of Idea's in every Mind.
In the firft place, though it be not deny'd abfolutely that GOD might have made infinite up- on infinite Numbers of Beings, Reprefentative of Objects with every Mind he has created \ yet it is not to be believ'd that He lias done it. For it is not only moft agreeable to Reafon, but more- over apparent from the Oeconomy of all Nature, that GOD never effe&s by moft Round-about and difficult ways, what can be done in ways moft fimplc and eafie: GOD makes nothing needlefsj and without Reafon. That which ihews His Wifdom and His Power, is not the working little things by great means-, thisisagainft Reafon, and the fign of a limited Underftanding: But on the contrary, the effecting great things by moft fimple and eafie ways. Thus it is that purely with Extenfion He produces all we fee admirable in Nature; even that which gives Life and Mo- tion to Animals. For thofe who would have abfolute Subftantial Forms and Faculties, and Souls in Animals, diftinguifh'd from the Blood and Organs of their Body, for the performance of their functions, will at the fame time have GOD to want Underftanding, or fuppofe him unable to effect thofe admirable things with Extenfion all alone. They rrieafure the Power of G O D and His fupream Wifdom, by the Littlenefs of their own Mind. Since then it is poffible for GOD to to make all things vifible to our Minds, by fimply Willing they fhould fee what is in the midft of themfelves ^ that is, what He has in Himfelf, Relative and Reprefentative of thefe things; it is not likely He fhould have done otherwife; and that He fhould produce for that purpofe infi- nite upon infinite Idea's, with every Mind that He has created.
But 'tis to be well obferv'd, that we cannot conclude that our Minds fee the EfTence of G O Z>, from their feeing all things in G O Dm this Nature: becaufe what they fee is moft imperfeft, whereas GO D is moft perfeft. They fee matter Divifible, Figur'd, &c. and in GOD there is nothing Divifible or Figur'd. For G 0 D is all Being, as being infinite, and comprehending all -7 But He is not any Being in particular •, mean while what we fee, is only one or more Beings in particular, and we comprehend not that perfect Simplicity ot GOD, who concludes all Be- ings within Himfelf. Befides which it may be faid, that we fee not the Idea's of Things, fo much as the Things reprefented by the Idea's-, for in feeing a Square, for inftance, weufenot to fay, we fee the Idea of that Square which is united to the Mind, but only the Square that is without.
without.
The fecond Reafon which obliges me to think that we fee all Beings, becaufe GOD wills the difcovery of what is in Himfelf, reprefenting them; and not becaufe we have fo many Idea's created with us, as there are things to be feen, is, that this inflates created Minds in an abfolute Dependance upon GOD, and in the greateft that poflibly can be. For it being fo, we not only can fee nothing but what GOD will have us fee, but alfo can fee nothing, except what He makes US fee. We are not Sufficient of our [elves, but our. Efficiency is of GOD: Non fumusfuffickmes iCox^.^ coiritare aliquid a. nobis tanquam ex nobis, fed fufficientia nofira ex Deo eft. 'Tis GOD Himfelf that enlightens the Philofophers, in that Science which ungrateful Men call Natural, though it is deriv'd to them from Heaven. GOD hath fhewed it unto them: Dens enim illis manifefiavit. Romaa? He is properly the Light of the Mind, and the Father of Lights: Pater Luminnm. 'Tis He Who gc. 1. 17* teaches Men Knowledge: Qui docet hominem Sciendum. In a word. He is the true Light, that 1 '• 94«to. lighteth every Man that cometh into the World. Lux vera <^u& illuminat omnem hominem venientem Joh- u 9* in hunc mundum.
For 5^0 F. Male br an che Concerning Book III, For 'tis no eafie thing to comprehend diflindly the Dependence our Minds have on GOD, in all their particular Adions; fuppofing they have every thing, we diflindly know to be neceflary to their Ading, or all the Idea's of things prefent to their Mind, And that general and confus'd term Concourfe, whereby they offer to explain the Dependance Creatures have on GOD, raifes no diflind Idea in a confiderate Mind; and yet it is convenient Men fhould moft diflindly know, how altogether impotent they are without GOD.
But the ftrongefl Reafon of all,is the manner of condud the Mind take's in the perceiving every thing: It is manifefl, and known to every one's own experience, that when we would think on any thing in particular, we firft call about our View upon all Beings in general, and afterwards apply our felves to the confideration of the Objed we defire to think on: Now it is undoubtedly certain, that we could not defire the fight of arty particular Objed, but we mull have already feenit, though it were confufedly and in general: So that it being poflible to defire the feeing all Beings, fometimes one, and fometimes another, it is certain that all Beings are prefent to our Mind; and it feems that all Beings can be no otherwife prefent to our Mind, than as G O D is prefent to it •, that is, He that contains all things in the fimplicity of his Effence; .. It feems too that the Mind would not be capable of reprefenting to it felf the univerfal Idea's of Gems, Species, and the like, unlefs it faw all Beings included in one. For every Creature be- ing a particular Being, it can't be faid, we fee any thing created when we fee, for example, a Triangle in general. In fine, I do not believe there is any way of accounting for the manner of the Mind's knowing feveral abftrad and general Truths, but by the prefenceof Him who can enlighten the Mind ten thoufand different ways.
' In Ihort, the fineft, the moft fublime, the moll folid and primary proof (or that which fup- pofes leafl thingsj of the Exiftence of a GOD, is the Idea we have of what is infinite: For it is certain that the Mind perceives infinite, though it does not comprehend it; and that it has a moft diftind Idea of G O D, which can only arrive, through the Union it has with Him. Since** 'tis inconceivable, that the Idea of a Being infinitely perfed, as is that we have of G O'D, fhould be any thing of a# created Nature.
But the Mind has not only the Idea of infinite, but this Idea is precedaneous to that of finite: For we conceive infinite Being, from our conceiving Being only, not confidering whether it be iinite or infinite. But in order to conceive Finite Being, it is neceflary to prefcind fomewhat from that general Notion of Being, which confequently muft precede it. So then the Mind perceives not any thing, except in the Idea it has of Infinite; and fo far is that Idea from being form'd of a confus'd colledion of all the Idea's of particular Beings, as the Ph'ilofophers imagine; that on the contrary, all thefe particular Idea's are only participations of that general Idea of infinite- as GOD derives not his Being from the Creatures, but all the Creatures have their fubfiftence from Him.
The lafl Proof, which poffibly may go for a Demonflration with thofe who are us'd to abftrad Reafonings, is this. 'Tis impoffible for GOD to have any other Principal End of his Adions than Himfelf. This is a common Notion with all Men capable of any Reflection; and Holy Scri- pture will not fuffer us to doubt, that GOD has created all things for Himfelf. It is neceflary then not only that our Natural Love, I mean the Motion he produces in our Mind, fhould tend towards him; but alfo that the Knowledge and the Light he gives it, fhould difcover fomething to us which is in Him: For all that comes from GOD, can have no other End but GOD. If GOD has made a Mind, and given it the Sun for its Idea, or for the immediate Objed of its Knowledge, GOD, we fhould think, had made that Mind and the Idea of that Mind for the Sun, and not for Himfelf.
GOD cannot therefore make a Mind for the Knowledge of his Works, were it not that this Mind fhould in fome fort fee GOD in contemplating his Works. So that it may be faid, that unlefs we faw G O D in fome manner, we fhould fee nothing at all •, juft as we fhould love nothing at all, except we lov'd GOD; that is, except GOD continually imprefs'd on us the love of Good in general. For that Love being our Will, we are unable to love any thing, or will any thing without Him; fince we cannot love particular Goods, but by determining towards thefe Goods the motion of Love that GOD gives us for Himfelf. Thus as we love not any thing, but by means of that neceflary Love we have for GOD; fo we know nothing, but through that ne- celfary Knowledge we have of Him, all the particular Idea's which we have of the Creatures, being only the Reflridions of the Idea of the Creator, as all the Motions of the Will towards the Creatures, are only Determinations of the Motion towards the Creator.
I fuppofe there is no Theologift but will agree with me in this, that the Impious love G O D,with this Natural Love I fpeak of: And St. Augu/Hn, and fome other of the Fathers maintained it as a thing undoubted, that the Wicked fee in G O D the Rules of Morals, and eternal Truths. So Lib. 14.de that the Opinion I am explaining ought not to trouble any body. Ab ilia incommutabili luce Ve- 'iiin.cap.ritatis, etiam impius, dum ab ea avertitur, quodammodo tangitur. Hinc eft quod etiam impii cogitant •3« aternttatem, Cjr mult a reel e reprehendunt rctleque laudant in hominum moribus. Ouibus ea tandem regulis judicant,nifi in quibus vident, quemadmodum quifq; vivere debeat, etiamfi nee ipfi eodem modo vim ant?
Vbi ant em eas vident? Ncque enim infuanatura.Nam cum proculdubio mente ifta vide ant ur,eorumque mentes confiet ejfe mutabiles, has verb regulas immutabiles, videat qmfquis in eis & hoc viderc potuerit Vbinam ergo funt ifia reguU fcripta, nifi in libro lucu illius, qua Veritas dicitur, unde lex omnisjufla. de- fenbitur...in qua videt quid operandum fit etiam qui operatur injnfiitiam, & ipfe est qui ab ea lace avertitftr a qua tamen tangitur.
There Chap VI. The Search after Truth* III There are in St. Augvftin infinite paffages of the like Nature, whereby he' proves that we fee GOD^ even in this Life, through the Knowledge we have of eternal Truths. Truth is uncreated, immutable, immenfe, eternal, and above all things. It is true independently,. and by it felf, and is beholden to-nothing elfe for its Perfection. It renders the Creatures more perfedt, and all Spirits are naturally folicitous to know it; nothing can have all thefe Perfections, except GOD; therefore Truth is GOD. We fee immutable and eternal Truths, therefore we fee G O D. Thefe are the Reafons of St. Anguftin. My own are fomewhat difFerent; and I would not unjuftly ufurp the Authority of fo Great a Man to countenance my Opinion.
'Tis my thoughts then that Truths, even thofe which are eternal, as That twice two are fottr^ are not fo much as abfolute Beings; fo far am I from believing them to be GOD. For 'tis manifeft that this Truth confifts only in the Relation of Equality, which is between twice two and four. We do not fay then with St. Anguftin, That we fee G O D in feeing eternal Truths, but in feeing the Idea's of thefe Truths; for Idea's are real, but the Equality between Idea's, which is the Truth, has nothing real in it. When, for inftance, we fay, the Cloth we meafure is three Ells long. The Cloth and the Ells are real, but the Equality between the three Ells and the Cloth is no real Being, but only a Relation intervening between them. In faying, Twice two arc four, the Idea's of the Numbers are real, but the Equality between them is only a Rela- tion. And thus according to our own Opinion, we fee GOD in feeing eternal Truths-, not that thefe Truths are GOD, but becaufe the Idea's on which thefe Truths depend, exiftinGOD* and perhaps too St. Anguftin understood it fo. We are perfwaded alio that we know changeable and corruptible Truths in G O D, though St. Anguftin fpeaks only of the immutable and incorruptible; fince there is no need of subjecting GOD to any imperfection on this account, no- thing being more requir'd, than that GOD gives us a Manifestation of what He has in Himfelf, which relates to thefe things.
But when I fay, that we fee in G O D material and feniible Things, fpecial Notice mould be taken that I don't fay, We have the Senfations of them in GOD, but only that they proceed from GOD, who acts upon us. For GOD perfectly knows Tenfible things; but not by any Senfation. In perceiving any thing of a fenfible Nature, two things occur in our Perception j Senfation, and Pure Idea. The Senfation is a Modification of our Soul, and 'tis GOD whocau- fesitin us; which he is able to caufe, though He has it not Himfelf; becaufe he fees in the Idea he has. of our Soul, that it is capable of it: As to the Idea, which is found joyn'd to the Senfation; that is in G O D, and we fee it, becaufe he is pleas'd to difcover it to us. And GOD joyns the Senfation to the. Idea when the Objects are prefent, to the intent we may believe them fo, and may enter into the Sentiments and Paffions, that we ought to have with relation to We believe laftly, that all Spirits fee the eternal Laws, no lefs than other things in G OD; but with fome difference. They know the Divine Order, and the Eternal Truths, and even the Beings GOD has made, according to this Order, and thefe Truths, through the Union they ne- ceffarily have with the WORD, or the WISDOM of GOD, who enlightens them, as we have before explain'd. But 'tis through the impreffion they without intermiffion receive from the Will of GOD, which carries them towards Him, and flrives, as I may fo fay, to conform their Will entirely like His own; that they know this Order to be a Law; I mean that they knoiv the Eternal Laws; as that Good ought to be lov'd, and Evil avoided; that Righteoufnefs ought to be lov'd more than Riches; that 'tis better to obey GOD than to command Men, and infinite other Natural Laws. For the knowledge of all thefe Laws is not different from the knowledge of that impreffion which they constantly feel within themfelves, though they do not always follow it by the free choice of their Will; and which they know to be common to all Minds, though it be not equally ftrong and powerful in them all.
'Tis by this Dependance of our Mind, and its Relation, and Union to the W O R D of GOD: and of our Will to his Love, that we are made after the Image and Similitude of GOD. * And though this Image be very much blurr'd and defac'd by Sin, yet it is necelfary for it to fublilt as long as we our felves. But if we bear the Image of the WORD humbled upon Earth, and obey the Motions of the Holy Sprit-, that Primitive Image of our first Creation, that Union of our Mind to the W O R D of the F A T H E R, and to the Love of the F A T H E R, and of the SON, will be repair'd, and be made indelible. We fhall become like GOD, if we be like the Man-God. Laftly, GOD will be wholly in us, and we fhall be wholly in GOD, in a far perfe&er manner, than that whereby it is necelfary to our Subfiftence, that we (hould be in Him, and He in us.
Thefe then are fome of the Reafons that induce us to believe, that our Minds perceive all See theillu- things through the intimate prefence of Him, who comprehends all things in the Simplicity Pmms- of his Effence. Let every one judge of them, according to the internal conviction he fhall receive, after he has ferioufly confider'd them. But for my own part, I can fee no probability, in • any other way of explaining it, and I prefume this last will appear more than probable.
Thus our Souls depend on G O D all manner of ways. For as it is He who makes them feel Pleafure and Pain, and all the other Senfations, by theNaturalUnionHe has inftituted between them and their Bodies, which is no other than His Decree and general Will: So it is He, who by means of the Natural Union He has plac'd between the Will of Man, and the Reprefentation of Idea's, included in the immenfity of the Divine EfTence, gives them to know all that they know: Nor is this Natural Union any thing but his general Will. So that 'tis He only who can enlighten us, Ii by 02 F. Malebranche Concerning Book III.
by reprefenting all things to us, as 'tis He alone that can make us happy, by giving us to tafte all forts of Pleafures.
Let us per fill; then in our perfwafion, that GOD is the intelligible World, or the place of Spirits, as the material World is the place of Bodies. That 'tis from His Power they receive all. their Modifications"*, that 'tis in His Wifdom they difcover all their Idea's; and 'tis by His Love they are influenc'd with all their regulated Motions: And becaufe His Power and His Love arc nothing but Himfelf; let us believe with St. Pady that He is not far from every one of us, and A&.Apoft that in Him we live, and move, and have our Being. Non longe esl ab urwquoque noftrum^ in iffo CHAP. VII.
I. Four different manners of Perception. II. How it is that we know GOD. III. How we know Bodies. IV. How we know our own Souls. V. How we know the Souls of other Men^ and Pure Spirits.
I N order to give an extract and illuftration of the Notion I have juft eflablifh'd, concerning the manner of our Minds perceiving all the different Obje&s of its knowledge, it is neceffary 1 fhould diftinguifh in it Four manners or ways of Knowing things.
I. The Firft is that whereby we know things by themfelves.
Tout diffe- The Second is that of knowing them by their Idea's; that is, as I underftand it in this place, rent man- 0y fomething that is different from themfelves.
Teption' Tiie Trarcl ls that °f Confcience-> or by internal Senfation. C_ ' The Fourth is their knowing them by Conjecture.
We know things by themfelves immediately and without Idea's, when being of a njoft intelligi- ble Nature they can penetrate the Mind, or difcover themfelves to it. We know things by their Idea's when they are not intelligible by themfelves, whether becaufe they are Corporeal, or that they cannot penetrate the Mind, or difcover themfelves to it. We know by Confcience whatever is not diftinguifh'd from our felves. Laftly, we know by Conjecture the things which are diffe- rent from our felves, and from thofe we know in themfelves, and by Idea's, when we think that fome things are like fome others that we already know.
Of all the things that come under our Knowledge we know none but GOD by Himfelf. For though there be other Spiritual Beings befides Him *, and fuch as feem intelligible by their own XX. Nature; yet in our prefent State there is none but He that penetrates the Mind, and difcovers Hew we Himfelf to it. 'Tis GOD alone that we fee with an immediate and direct View *, and poffibly know He alone is able to enlighten the Mind by his own Subftance. Finally, in this Life, it is from no- 's ° D> thing but the Union that we have with Him, that we are capable of knowing what we know, as has been explain'd in the foregoing Chapter. For he only is our Matter, whi> prefides over our Mind, according to St. Auftin, without the Deputation or Interpofition of any Humanis Creature. mentibus terpofita It cannot be conceiv'd, that any thing Created can reprefent infinite, that Being without re- natura ftri&ion, the immenfe Being, the univerfal Being, can be perceiv'd by an Idea, that is, by a par- praefidet. ticular Being, and a Being different from the. univerfal and infinite Being. But as to particular AugM.de Beings, there is no difficulty to conceive how they can be repiefented by the infinite Being that ver&ReHg. includes them, and includes them in a raoft Spiritual, and confeqnently moft intelligible manner. Thus it is neceffary to fay that GOD is intelligible by Himfelf, though the knowledge we have. of Him in this Life be very imperfect and confus'd; and that Corporeal things are intelli- gible by their Idea's; that is to fay, inGOD; fince GOD alone contains the intelligible World, wherein are found the Idea's of all things.
But though things are poflible to be feeh in GOD, it does not follow that we do fee all things in Him: We fee only thofe things in Him whereof we have Idea's, and there are things We fee without Idea's.
III. All things in the World, whereof we have any knowledge, are either Bodies or Spirits; pro- How we perties of Bodies, and properties of Spirits. As to Bodies, 'tis not to be doubted bnt we fee iow Bo- thcm together with their Properties by their Idea's, forafmuch as being unintelligible of them- felves, there is no po'ffibility of feeing them, except in that Being which contains them in an in- telligible manner. Bodies then and their Properties are feen in GOD, and by their Idea's •, and for this reafon the knowledge we have of them is moft perfedt. I mean, that the Idea that we have of Extenfion, isfufficientforthedifplaying to us all the Properties Extenfion is capable of; hnow dies.
Chap VII. The Search after Truth. 15 2 and wc cannot defire a more diftincl: and fertil Idea of Extenfion of Figures, and Motions than that which GOD furniflies us withal.