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(http://lullianarts.net/Ars-Magna/1-2-3-4.htm#Part_2_-_The_Figures
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God, with your supreme perfection here
begins
The Ultimate General Art
by Blessed Raymond Lull.
Foreword
1. After composing many general arts, I want to explain
them more clearly with this, the Ultimate Art, so named
because we do not intend to make any other art more
general than this one, as we compiled this art from
the other arts and added some new explicit material.
Human minds are more given to opinions than to science,
and as each science has principles different from those
of other sciences, the human intellect requires and
seeks one general science with its own general principles
in which the principles of all other sciences are contained
as particulars of a universal that regulates the principles
of other sciences so that the intellect can repose in
those sciences by really understanding them and banishing
all erroneous opinions. This science helps to establish
the principles of all other sciences by clarifying their
particular principles in the light of the general principles
of this art, to which all particular principles belong
as parts of a whole.
2. Here are the principles of this art:
Goodness, Greatness, Eternity, Power, Wisdom, Will,
Virtue, Truth, Glory, Difference, Concordance, Contrariety,
Beginning, Middle, End, Majority, Equality and Minority.
We call them general inasmuch as the different kinds
of goodness in all other sciences apply to one general
goodness, and likewise their greatness applies to one
general greatness and so with the rest, each in its
own way.
3. Further, this science is general because
of its general questions that are general to all other
questions: all are implied in these ten, namely: Whether?
What? Of What? Why? How much? What Quality? When? Where?
How? With What?
4. Further, this art is general because
its principles and rules are general, as shown below.
Just as the term "proposition", taken in its
general meaning, is common to every kind of proposition,
likewise these principles, when combined with each other
and taken in a general sense, are general to all particular
compound principles. To dispel any doubt about this,
I say that all other principles are particular as compared
to the principles of this art, for instance great goodness,
a compound principle, is common to the goodness of Peter,
of William, of horses and so forth.
5. This art has thirteen parts, namely
the alphabet, figures, definitions, rules, table, evacuating
figure three, multiplying figure four, the mixture of
principles and rules, nine subjects, application, questions,
how to learn this art and how to teach it.
Part 1 - The Alphabet
This is the alphabet of this art
B. stands for goodness, difference, whether? God, justice,
avarice
C. stands for greatness, concordance, what? angels,
prudence, gluttony
D. stands for duration, contrariety, of what? heaven,
fortitude, lust
E. stands for power, beginning, why? man, temperance,
conceit
F. stands for wisdom, middle, how much? imagination,
faith, accidy
G. stands for will, end, what quality? senses, hope,
envy
H. stands for virtue, majority, when? vegetation, charity,
wrath
I. stands for truth, equality, where? elements, patience,
lies
K. stands for glory, minority, how and with what? instruments,
compassion, inconstancy
2. The alphabet must be known by heart,
as without it the artist has no way of putting this
art to practical use. It is included in this art in
order to signify the principles and questions whose
content serves to solve problems at hand with true intellectual
certitude removed from any doubt.
Part 2 - The Figures
Chapter 1: The First Figure
The First Figure
signified by the letter A
1. There are four figures, as shown . The letter
A stands for the first figure which is circular
and divided into nine cameras. B is in the first
camera, C in the second, and so forth. The figure
is called circular because subjects and predicates
are mutually convertible, as when we say "great
goodness, good greatness, eternal greatness, great
eternity, goodness is God, God is good,"
and so on. This circulation allows the artist
to discern between what is convertible and what
is not convertible: for instance God and good
can convert, but not God and angel, nor angels
and goodness, nor the goodness and greatness of
angels; and likewise with the other terms.
2. All things are implied by this figure, for
instance we can say: "God is good, great
and eternal etc. and angels are good, great and
durable, and avarice is not good but evil,"
and so forth.
3. The proper and appropriated
qualities of subjects and predicates are known
through this figure. Proper qualities, for instance:
God is good, great etc. and angels have innate
goodness, greatness etc. Appropriated qualities,
for instance: evil angels have appropriated moral
evil; fire has good and great dryness on account
of earth; man has good, great moral prudence,
justice, etc.
4. The artist must habitually
visualise this figure and apply it as shown to
questions so that the intellect can really and
truly attain the truth with it.
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Chapter 2 - The Second Figure
signified by the letter T
5. The second figure consists
in three triangles, namely difference, concordance,
contrariety etc. as shown. Above the angles of
difference, concordance and contrariety, the terms
"sensual and sensual", "sensual
and intellectual" and "intellectual
and intellectual" are written to signify
the difference that exists between some sensual
beings and others, like one body and another,
and between sensual and intellectual beings like
the body and soul, and between some intellectual
beings and others like God and angels. And the
same applies to concordance and contrariety.
6. Above the angle of beginning,
the terms "cause", "quantity"
and "time" are written. "Cause"
stands for substantial principles, namely efficient,
material, formal and final. Quantity and time
signify accidental principles like the nine predicates
and other similar things.
7. Above the angle of the middle
the terms "conjunction", "measure"
and "extremes" are written and they
signify three species of medium, namely the medium
of conjunction, the medium of measure and the
medium between extremes. A medium of conjunction
is, for instance, a nail that joins two boards.
A medium of measure is like the center of a circle,
equally distant from every point of the circumference.
A medium between extremes is like a line between
two points.
8. Above the angle of the end,
the terms "privation", "termination"
and "perfection" (or final cause) are
written to denote three species of end. The end
of privation is like death that puts an end to
life. The end of termination is like the boundary
of a kingdom or a field. The end of perfection
or final cause is like God who is the cause and
end of all things.
9. Above the angles of majority,
equality and minority are written the terms "between
substance and substance", meaning that one
substance is greater than another, like human
substance is greater in goodness, virtue, etc.
than the substance of stones. "Between substance
and accident" means that substance is greater
than accident: for instance, the substance of
man is greater than his quantity etc. And "between
accident and accident" means that some accidents
are greater than others: for instance, understanding
is greater than sensing; and the same can be said
in its own way about minority in opposition to
majority. And there is equality between one substance
and another: for instance, men and stones equally
belong to the genus of substance. And there is
equality between one accident and another, for
instance understanding and loving equally belong
to the genus of accidents. And there is equality
between substance and accident: for instance,
quantity and its substantial subject are equal
in extension and surface.
10. The green triangle consisting
of difference, concordance and contrariety is
general to all things because everything in existence
has some difference, concordance or contrariety.
Whatever exists is implicitly contained in this
triangle. Difference is more general than concordance
and contrariety because more things can be different
than concordant or contrary, like Peter and Martin
who differ numerically and belong to the same
species, but with contrary moral characters, as
one is just and the other is unjust, and so forth.
Difference causes plurality and
concordance causes unity: whereas difference distinguishes
one thing from another, concordance unites several
things into one, and contrariety corrupts and
dissolves things. And as the green triangle is
found in all natural subjects, so the intellect
discourses mentally by discerning and conserving
the three said species of difference, concordance
and contrariety while descending and ascending
through them. The intellect is simply and objectively
general with difference as well as with concordance
and contrariety; but when it focuses on the ladder
formed by the three species, it is neither altogether
general nor altogether specific, as when we say
"between sensual and sensual," etc.
But when it mentally focuses on individuals, it
is altogether particular.
11. The red triangle consisting
of beginning, middle and end is general to all
things because it contains everything, since everything
in existence is in the beginning, middle, or end
so that nothing can exist without these terms.
A beginning, or principle is something followed
by everything else. There is no way that a universal
principle can exist, be it natural or moral, unless
it includes within itself its own intrinsic active
principle, passive principle and functional principle.
Now heat cannot naturally exist without the heater
with its heatable and their heating; and likewise
a principle cannot naturally exist without its
three natural intrinsic principles. The artist
must know that the three intrinsic correlatives
of each universal principle are its essence's
own subjective causal properties, and he must
know how to distinguish these essential correlatives
from the morally acquired accidental ones. Causal
principles are necessary whereas accidental ones
are contingent and meant for well being. In this
way, the artist must ascend and descend from the
universal to the particular and back.
12. The middle, or medium, like
the beginning, is universal: an agent always begins
with the beginning, then mediates through the
medium whereby it joins together distinct entities
into one compound or mixture.
Acts are measured with the medium
of measurement, for instance: the intellect measures
its act of understanding situated in the middle
between the intellective and its intelligible,
in the same way that a seer measures his act of
seeing, or a producer measures his act of production,
or a judge his act of judgment.
The middle of extremes implies
essence and continuity: goodness, for instance,
is a simple essence that stands in the middle
between greatness and duration and contains its
own intrinsic act of bonifying in the middle between
the bonifier and the bonified, where all three
are one undivided goodness, which is not the case
with moral goodness.
These three species of the middle,
or medium are a ladder on which the intellect
ascends and descends as it investigates the middle
in things.
Likewise, with the end, the efficient
cause brings things to repose in the ultimate
terminus, but they can find no consummation at
all in a privative terminus that deprives them.
And in the end of termination, disparate beings
repose in disparate ways. This kind of investigation
is very useful and a light for the intellect to
grasp the final purpose of things.
13. In the saffron triangle we
understand that there is one universal majority
above all particular majorities. With majority,
agents do major things just as they begin things
with the beginning, and the same applies to equality
and minority. Substantial goodness and other substantial
principles are associated with majority, whereas
accidental goodness, etc. are associated with
minority. The intrinsic bonifier (active goodness),
bonified (passive goodness) and bonifying (act
of goodness) in substantial goodness are essentially
equal and the same applies to intellect and will,
and also to igneity (essential fire), etc. as
well as to the equality of causal and moral accidents.
The intellect ascends and descends through these
three species to grasp the truth about things
generally related to majority, equality and minority
in substance and accident. This ascent and descent
is a powerful artificial technique for acquiring
science.
14. We have described the second
figure as the intellect's instrument for working
with the first figure because it distinguishes
between goodness and greatness etc. with difference
and matches them in concordance and proceeds likewise
with the other principles, each in its own way.
Further, with difference, the intellect distinguishes
between the bonifier, bonified and bonifying in
the essence of goodness and with concordance it
matches them and finds that they are identical
in essence naturally but not morally since moral
difference is not innate, but acquired from contingent
principles.
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Chapter 3: The Third Figure
15. The third figure is composed
of the first and second figures and has thirty-six
cameras as shown. Each camera has two letters,
the first has BC, the second BD and so on. We
say it is composed of two figures because its
letter B stands for the letter B in both the first
and second figure, and its C stands for C in the
first figure and C in the second figure, and so
on.
In this art, this figure is intended
to signify how each principle applies to the others
as we apply C, D, ... K to B in order to learn
about B through C, D, etc. and apply what we learn
here to any question regarding B. We proceed with
C as we did with B and combine C with B, D, and
so on to camera CK. And so on through the rest
of the cameras to camera IK, as we see fit, in
whatever way we want to multiply many reasons
for the same conclusion. All this is done by considering
the meanings of the cameras and applying them
to the issue at hand.
17. This figure shows how to descend
to particulars gradually in four ways.
1 - First, with camera BC we say: "Goodness
has great difference and concordance".
2 - In considering the angle of difference, the
intellect gradually descends to particulars when
it understands the difference and concordance
between one sensual being and another, etc. as
explained in the second figure.
3 - The intellect descends further when it considers
that there is good difference and concordance
between fire and air as they agree in heat.
4 - The intellect descends as it understands the
good difference and concordance between the bonifier,
bonified and bonifying that all belong to one
essence of goodness. And what we said about BC
applies to the other cameras of this figure.
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Chapter 4 - The Fourth Figure
18. The fourth figure has three circles as shown,
it includes the first, second and third figures;
and the principles of the Table are found in it
as camera BCD is used for column BCD of the Table,
camera BCE for column BCE etc.
19. In this art, this figure provides the sequence
of the Table where many reasons and conclusions
are found by applying the said reasons to a single
conclusion in view of what the letters mean when
applied to the issue at hand while avoiding anything
inconsistent with reason or contradictory to the
said meanings.
20. The second circle shows how to find the minor
premise of the conclusion, as C (or some other
letter) stands in the middle between B and D that
both participate in greatness. Likewise, contrariety
in D between B and E does not allow goodness and
power to associate. Thus, a concordant or connecting
minor premise leads to an affirmative conclusion
whereas a contrary or dissociative minor premise
leads to a negative conclusion.
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Part 3 - The Definitions
1. The third part is about defining the principles,
goodness is defined as follows:
Goodness is the being on account of which good does
good and thus it is good to be and evil not to be.
Greatness is the being on account of which goodness,
eternity etc. are great, encompassing all extremes of
being. And by "etc." we mean the other principles
although not absolutely because if we say that in God
there is goodness, greatness, etc. we do not mean that
there is any majority, minority or contrariety in God.
Duration is that on account of which goodness, greatness
etc. are lasting.
Power is that on account of which goodness, greatness
etc. can exist and act.
Wisdom is a property with which the wise understand.
Will is that on account of which goodness, greatness
etc. are desirable, and on account of which good, great
etc. substantial beings are desirable.
Virtue gives rise to the unity of goodness, greatness
etc. in one good, great, etc. substance.
Truth is that which is true about goodness, greatness
etc.
Glory is the delight in which goodness, greatness etc.
rest.
Difference is that whereby goodness, greatness etc.
are clear reasons without any confusion, and whereby
the bonifier and the bonified with their bonifying are
without confusion.
Concordance is that on account of which goodness, greatness
etc. agree in unity and plurality.
Contrariety is mutual resistance caused by divergent
ends.
The beginning is that which is relatively prior to everything
else.
The middle is the subject through which the end influences
the beginning and the beginning reciprocally influences
the end so that it naturally participates in both extremes.
The end is that in which the beginning rests.
Majority is an image of the immensity of greatness,
goodness, eternity and the other divine dignities.
Equality is the subject where the final concordance
of goodness, greatness etc, reposes.
Minority is being close to nothingness.
2. Some principles are substantial and others are accidental,
but contrariety is always an accident. Substantial principles
need substantial definitions and accidental ones require
accidental definitions. For instance, substantial goodness
needs a substantial definition whereby the agent substantially
bonifies what is bonified; and accidental goodness needs
an accidental definition whereby the agent accidentally
bonifies what is bonified.
3. We should note that definitions can be made in several
ways, all of which are included in two modes, and each
mode has four species. The first mode consists in the
efficient, material, formal and final causes. The efficient
cause, for instance: God is our creator and savior.
The formal cause, for instance: form is the being under
which matter is passive. And matter is the being upon
which the agent acts. The end is defined as above.
The second mode is shown in rule C,
in the second chapter of part four.
4. The above definitions belong to these
two modes. A form is defined by its act when we say
"the elemental power is a being that functions
by producing elemented things, the vegetative power
by producing vegetal things, the sensitive power by
sensing, the imaginative power by imagining and the
rational power by reasoning". The same applies
to the efficient cause, as we can say that man is a
man-producing being, and lions are beings that produce
lions, and fire is the being that ignites, and so on.
This way of defining things is very easy and useful.
And the definitions made with rule C are very easy,
useful and clear because the thing defined converts
into its definition and vice versa: like goodness is
a being that functions by doing good, and it is a being
that has its own innate bonifier, bonified and bonifying.
Goodness in a subject is the being that bonifies what
is bonified. Further, goodness is a being that has action
in its subject.
And what we said about goodness also applies to the
other principles.
5. The artist can use the said two modes
to define anything. But apart from the art, there is
another confused and prolific way of defining things,
when definitions are made haphazardly at one's pleasure,
with no regard for the proper and appropriated definitions
of the subject and predicate, as when we say: "Man
is a rational animal, and also the only animal that
rides on horseback, writes and so forth".
6. Further, compound definitions can
be made by defining one principle in combination with
another, as for instance: "Great goodness is the
being on account of which great good does great good".
And if we add eternity, we get "Great eternal goodness
is the being on account of which great eternal good
does great eternal good". In this way the artist
can use primordial, necessarily true principles to make
demonstrations that cannot be made in any other way.
Yet another way to make compound definitions is as follows:
"Goodness is the being on account of which good
does good; greatness is the being on account of which
great beings do great things", and so forth.
7. To further explain the definitions
of the principles, the artist declares their natural
properties. Goodness can have no natural properties
without its innate bonifier, bonified and bonifying,
nor can greatness have any natural properties without
its innate magnifier, magnified and magnifying, nor
can eternity have any natural properties without its
innate eternalizer that eternalizes eternalized being;
and likewise with the other principles. If the principles
had no natural properties, goodness would not be the
being on account of which good naturally does good,
nor would duration be the being on account of which
goodness, greatness etc. are lasting. If the definitions
are destroyed, then there is no principle or universe
left. But this is false, as we know by experience that
the universe exists.
8. Note that the principle of wisdom
refers to intellect in rational substance, but in any
being that is not rational it means instinct, and will
means appetite.
9. Now there are those who dare to attack
our principles with canine fangs and serpentine tongue,
as they disparage and slander our definitions. However,
the art has principles that mutually help each other,
for instance when someone says: "If greatness is
the being on account of which goodness is great, then
all goodness must be equally great;" this can be
refuted with the principles of majority, minority and
contrariety which do not allow every kind of goodness
to be equally great.
Part 4 - The Rules
1. There are ten rules, namely: whether, what, etc.
as previously shown in the alphabet. These rules are
ten general questions applicable to any enquiry. And
when an enquiry is made with them, the subject is clarified,
colored and displayed to the intellect according to
the essence and nature of the rule, like a word declined
in grammar: just like all Latin nouns can be declined
in five all-inclusive declensions, as it were, every
conceivable question is included in these ten and can
be reduced to them and regulated by them on accont of
their general nature. And as the questions are general,
so are their species: just as goodness, for instance,
is entirely general with its general bonifier, bonified
and bonifying without which it cannot be entirely general,
so are the ten questions of this art general on account
of their general species.
Chapter 1 - Rule B
2. Rule B is "whether?" and applies to possibility,
namely to finding out whether the thing inquired about
exists or not. Here, the issue of possibility can be
approached with mere faith or belief, or else by first
supposing that the truth may lie in either the affirmative
or the negative answer.
3. Rule B has three species, namely doubt, affirmation
and negation. With the first species we must suppose
that something may either exist or not exist so that
the intellect is not obstinately bound to an opinion,
but instead seeks to investigate the matter until it
has determined whether the true answer is affirmative
or negative. And this process is always conditional
to adopting the solution which is best remembered, understood
snd desired as the true one, if it is supported by the
principles, their definitions and the rest of the rules.
For instance if we ask whether the intellect exists,
the answer is clearly positive because the intellect's
existence can be remembered, understood and loved more
than its non existence: this can be demonstrated by
investigating the issue with the said principles.
4. We must choose the solution which
is best remembered, understood and loved, in other words
we must choose that which is remembered, understood
and loved more, and not less. Whenever an affirmative
or negative choice is made even though the subject is
less worthy of being remembered, understood and loved,
this choice is neither philosophical nor scientific,
but sooner based on faith and belief. And whenever a
choice is made with greater intelligibility in accordance
with greater remembering and loving, true and necessary
science is produced, where the intellect truly reposes
because it truly attains its object. This sums up the
entire truth about rule B.
Chapter 2 - Rule C
5. Rule C, or the rule of quiddity is a resource for
defining things, as previously mentioned in the definitions
of the principles (Chapter 3 #3). This rule has four
species. The first species defines things so the thing
defined is convertible with its definition - let us
say, for instance: "The intellect is the being
of its essence," or "The intellect is the
being whose proper function is to understand things,"
and likewise with other definitions, each in its own
way.
6. The second species asks what a thing has in itself
essentially and naturally, without which it cannot exist,
for instance: "What does the intellect essentially
and naturally have in itself, without which it cannot
exist?" And the answer is that it has its own innate
knower, knowledge and knowing. Thus, the intellect actively
knows with its own innate knower; it is passive with
its own innate knowledge wherein it knows objects external
to its own essence; its own innate, intrinsic act is
the act of knowing and all three correlatives are one
single intellect in one undivided essence. And the intellect
characterizes its knowing of external objects with its
own intrinsic knowing just as it characterizes external
knowables in its own intrinsic knowable part. And this
is necessary for the proper mutual correspondence of
active and passive acts, both intrinsic and extrinsic.
What I said applies to the intellect in practice but
not in theory, where the intellect is simply what it
is, like a whole that exists on account of its co-essential
parts.
7. What we say about the intellect describes
its universal and particular character. It is universal
because it can understand all kinds of things, its innate
knowable part is universal because it can receive in
sequence all external things knowable to it, and likewise,
its intrinsic knowing is universal in its successive
extrinsic acts. The truth of what we say about the intellect
is sufficiently proved by the definitions of the principles
and by rule B: now if this were not true, the intellect
would not have any great goodness, duration, etc. nor
could it operate naturally in universal and particular
ways, nor would there be any truth at all in rule B,
which would be completely false.
8. The third species asks what something
is in other things, and the answer is that in other
things, a thing takes on different general qualities:
the intellect is active as the knower attaining an object
and it is passive in receiving species; it is great
when it has a great and difficult object, true when
it truly understands, false when its understanding is
false, it is necessarily confined to memory when it
merely believes, and it finds freedom and repose in
true knowledge.
9. The fourth species asks what something
has in other things, for instance: "What does the
intellect have in its object?" And the answer is
that it has action and passion, as shown in the third
species. And it has action in Grammar, Logic and Geometry,
and passion in the positive sciences. And it has goodness
in moral virtue, guilt in sin, and so on with the other
qualities.
10. We have described rule C and its
species. And the above example of the intellect applies
to corporeal subjects in their own way: for instance,
fire functions substantially and per se by igniting,
and accidentally by heating. Fire has its own igniter,
ignitable and igniting wherever it is active in elemented
compounds, for instance when it ignites a lamp or a
pepper corn. And the same applies to the vegetative
power in vegetal bodies, the sensitive power in bodies
endowed with senses, and the imaginative power in bodies
endowed with imagination. But in the heavens this is
not so, as stars do not produce other stars, nor do
angels give birth to other angels because they do not
generate anything substantially since they are incorruptible
and indivisible substances. With regard to God, this
must be understood in yet another way, following the
definitions and nature of divine goodness, infinity
and eternity.
Chapter 3 - Rule D
11. The third rule inquires into material consistency
and has three species. The first inquires into origins,
for instance: "From what does the intellect originate?"
And the answer is that the intellect exists on its own
because it is neither made nor produced from anything
else, but created, as it did not exist before and now
it does.
12. The second species asks what a thing is made of,
or consists of, as for instance: "What is the intellect
made of?" And we answer that it consists of its
own coessential principles, namely its knower, knowable
and knowing. And likewise, man consists of body and
soul, nails are made of iron, and so forth.
13. The third species asks about ownership,
for instance: "To whom does the intellect belong?"
And "To whom does the kingdom belong?" And
the answer is that the intellect belongs to man, and
the kingdom belongs to the king. So this rule serves
to inquire into the origin, consistency and ownership
of things.
14. We applied rule D to the intellect
and we can apply it likewise to other subjects, each
in its own way, for instance: the universe, by the first
species, exists on its own and is not made of any other
pre-existing principle. And the second species says
that it consists of universal and substantial form and
matter: every particular form derives from this form
and all particular matter derives from this matter.
And by the third species, this universe belongs to God
who created it.
15. The same applies to universal and
substantial goodness, greatness, etc. as general and
primordial principles. By the second species of this
rule, goodness consists of the bonifier, bonifiable
and bonifying; greatness consists of its universal magnifier,
magnifiable and magnifying, and likewise with the other
principles each in its own way because they all have
such parts. And we say the same about every particular
goodness, greatness, etc. as all particular goodness,
greatness, etc. derives from the said universal goodness,
greatness, etc. And the same applies, in another way,
to elements and elemented things. However, we cannot
apply the second species in this way to man because
man is composed of body and soul that differ in genus
and nature as corporeal and incorporeal substance. And
likewise with substance and accidents: for instance,
quantity is not of the essence of substance, but it
is the quantifying habit of substance. Likewise, quality
qualifies substance and so with the other accidents.
Now substance and accidents enter into the composition
of all bodies, because nothing can exist as a body without
composition.
16. By the third species of this rule,
accidents belong to substance because they do not exist
per se but only on account of substance; this is because
accidents are not composed of form and matter, whereas
substance can exist per se because it has form and matter.
And accidents are likenesses, figures and instruments
of substance.
17. Further, by the first species, accidents
exist on their own because they are primordial: for
instance, the prime species of quantity exists on its
own as a primordial and general thing from which all
other quantities derive. This primordial quantity is
undivided in itself, but divides into many particular
quantities just like general quality divides into many
particular qualities. This division proceeds accidentally,
as substance is divided and fragmented into the species,
differences and numbers it generates. Now, science deals
with various accidents, for instance: Logic deals with
connecting second intentions to prime intentions. And
so with mechanical accidents, as when shaping wood into
a box, or stones into a tower, and other things in their
own way.
18. The artist uses this rule of the
art to inquire into the prime origins of things with
the first species, their composition with the second
and their domination and possession with the third species.
And this rule applies to all things in general.
19. We have dealt with rule D, and the
truth of what we said is self evident and adequately
proved by all definitions of the principles and by rules
B and C. Now, if substantial goodness, intellect etc.
did not consist of parts by the second species, if there
were no such species, there could be no substantial
goodness as it would have no constituent parts. Consequently,
it would not exist per se, but rather as an accident
that has no second species of D. Nor could goodness
be a substantial reason, nor would good substantially
produce good from the essence of goodness: and thus,
some goodness would not be substantial, but merely accidental.
This would destroy the definitions of greatness, duration,
etc. And the same applies to the other principles.
This would also mean that everything
is accidental, which is an impossibility and contrary
to rules B and C. With this doctrine and method artists
can prove one truth with another by applying the definitions
of the principles as well as rules B and C to what was
said about D.
Chapter 4 - Rule E
20. The fourth question is "why" and has two
species: namely existence and action. Let us ask, for
instance, "Why is there intellect?"
With regard to existence, the answer is that the intellect
exists because it consists of its own intellective,
intelligible and intellection, like a whole is what
it is on account of its own co-essential constituent
parts. With regard to action, the intellect exists in
order to understand things and move to a purposeful
end. And its final purpose is to understand truths about
God and other beings, and enable man to acquire the
habit of science.
21. With this rule we inquire into the reasons why things
exist. And the intellect's formal existence in the first
species of rule E is proved true by the definitions
of goodness, greatness, etc. and by rule B and the second
species of rules C and D, without which the intellect
could not naturally exist or act.
22. Further, the things said about the
intellect can equally be said about substance, as it
exists on account of its causes and occasions. Its causes
are formal, material, efficient and final, and its occasions
are its disposition, habit, contingency, and other accidents.
The rule of "why?" relates to genera, species,
individuals, liberal and mechanical arts, virtues and
vices, etc.
Chapter 5 - Rule F
23. The fifth question is about quantity and has two
species: namely simple and compound quantity. For instance,
we ask: "In what quantity does the intellect exist?"
In its essential simplicity, the answer is that the
intellect exists in the quantity of its essential being.
As for composition, the intellect exists in the quantity
of its existence and action, namely its constituent
innate knower, knowable and knowing.
24. This rule serves to inquire about the measurement
and number of things. The truth of what we said about
the intellect can be sufficiently proved by the definitions
of goodness, greatness, etc. and by the second species
of rules C and D: now goodness as a simple essence and
form has continuous quantity generally and naturally
disparate from that of other essences; but as a reason
for good to produce good, it has discrete nature on
account of its active, passive and functioning correlatives
which are the bonifier, bonifiable and bonifying whose
influx influences foreign and discrete quantities in
composition as they enter into individuated subjects
whose goodness has both continuous and discrete quantity.
25. The things said about goodness can
also be said about other higher forms that cause continuous
and discrete quantities in things below, for instance:
a stone is habituated with one continuous quantity and
with the discrete quantities it has on account of the
elemental essences composing it. Likewise, plants are
composed of elementative and vegetative powers, and
man is composed of the elementative, vegetative, sensitive,
imaginative and rational powers. And likewise with artificial
things like towers or ships, although they are not as
homogeneously continuous as natural subjects, because
quantity is more discrete in the integral parts of artificial
things.
Chapter 6 - Rule G
26. The sixth question is about quality and has two
species: namely proper and appropriated quality. For
instance, with the first species we can ask: "What
qualities does the intellect have?" And the answer
is that the intellect has the same qualities as those
of its own intellectivity, intelligibility and intellection.
And with the second species we answer that the intellect
has the qualities of its habit, which are those of its
appropriated intelligibility in the action it exercises
in its own intelligibility through which it attains
other intelligible beings. And likewise if we ask what
quality fire has on account of its proper quality of
heat, the answer is that it has a heating quality. And
on account of its dryness, a quality that fire appropriates
from earth, fire is passively dried; but in air, fire
is an actively drying element with its dryness; and
likewise with the other elements.
27. This rule serves to inquire about proper and appropriated
qualities. Proper qualities are higher causes and appropriated
qualities are lower causes: for instance, the heat of
fire is a higher quality and its dryness is lower. With
this rule, the artist inquires to find out which, of
the subject and object, is higher or lower. And I call
proper qualities proper passions, and appropriated qualities
I call appropriated passions.
Chapter 7 - Rule H
28. The seventh rule or question asks about time and
has as many species as the second, third, ninth and
tenth rules. And we made this rule because the essence
of time is very difficult to understand. First, let
us apply rule H to rule C and ask with the first species
of rule C: "When does the intellect exist?"
And the answer is that the intellect exists when the
being of its essence exists. And with the second species
we answer that it exists when it has its coessential
parts. And with the third species we say that the intellect
exists in other things whenever it acts in them, like
the practical intellect in its subjects. The fourth
species asks: "When does the intellect have something
in other things?" The answer is that in other things,
the intellect has its understanding of their likenesses.
And we have said enough about the intellect with rule
C.
29. With the first species of rule D we answer that
time is a primordial essence, neither produced nor engendered
by any other essence. Just as prime matter is not derived
from any other matter, prime form does not come from
any other form. Time as a primordial entity is a prime
form that causes its own particular forms: days, hours,
etc. By the second species of rule D, time consists
of the temporificative, temporificable and temporification
by means of motion containing its own innate motificative,
motificable and motification. This does not mean that
time and motion are essentially identical, but it means
that they are two habits with which subjects are habituated
and subjected to passions. With the third species of
rule D we say that time is subjected to the doer in
the doable and the doing as substance assumes the habit
of time naturally and/or morally.
30. By the modal rule we understand
that time consists in a habit the mover has with its
movable (or moved) object and the act of moving, where
time exists as one part of substance within another.
And the likeness, or figure of time consists of past,
present and future; just as the habit of heat consists
in the heater with the heatable - or heated - and the
act of heating, while motion consists in the mover with
the movable - or moved - and the act of moving.
31. By the second, or instrumental rule
K, time is an instrument of substance in motion that
enables it to act in subjects configured in time and
motion. In this definition the intellect really and
truly grasps the essence of time, and the definitions
of principles and rules B C D E F G attest to it. Here
the intellect must reach a very lofty and clear understanding,
far removed from confusion and doubt once its subject
matter has been prepared both subjectively and objectively.
Chapter 8 - Rule I
32. With the eighth rule, we will investigate the nature
of locus by asking where the intellect is. This question
or rule has fifteen species taken from the second, third,
ninth and tenth rules. First, by the first species of
rule C, the intellect is in its coessential and co-natural
locus, namely its own being and essence just as man
is man in his humanity and being. And by the second
species, the intellect is a being in itself because
its intrinsic parts constitute a whole. By the third
species, the intellect resides in the soul, in man,
and wherever man is. By the fourth species, the intellect
is present in its virtuous habit of practical knowledge
in the subjects it deals with, and so forth.
33. This rule asks about things located in space and
things that simply exist without occupying any locus
in space: for instance, the intellect exists locally
by the third and fourth species of rule C, but occupies
no locus in space by the first and second species of
the same rule. As we just used rule C to locate the
intellect, let us use it to find out what locus is:
now, locus is a being whose proper function is to locate
things with its innate locative, located and locating,
and locus exists in located subjects as a habit, as
in heat located in fire, action in the agent and so
forth.
34. Further, let us inquire into locus
with the first species of rule D: just as the intellect
is primordial and not derived from any pre-existing
thing, so is locus a primordial and general part of
the universe. By the first species, locus cannot be
sensed or imagined, but only understood. However, the
figure of locus (not its essence) can be sensed and
imagined with the second species. By the third species,
locus belongs to whatever is located in it, just like
heat belongs to whatever is heated and habituated with
it.
35. With these three species, the intellect
attains the essence of locus in a purely intellectual
way as all particular loci sustained in particular subjects
are deployed and derived from the universal locus sustained
in the universal subject where the universal locus collocates
all located things just like universal heat makes all
hot things hot and universal motion moves all moving
things.
36. Now let us investigate locus with
the rule of modality: we observe that in elemented things
one part exists in another part, like fire in air and
vice-versa, and form in matter and conversely, and every
part in the whole and conversely, and as the whole expresses
its likeness or figure outwardly, likewise, one locus
is accidentally in another locus and all particular
loci are in the universal locus. Locus shows its figure
in the container, the act of containing and the content.
37. We can find out more about locus
with the second rule of K: now locus is an instrument
of substance with which substance collocates parts in
one another like habituated subjects in their habits,
for instance good things in goodness, white things in
whiteness, great things in greatness and so forth. And
the figure of locus as an instrument can be seen and
imagined where flour is located in water and water in
flour, and in other things like this. We have dealt
with locus and identified it by discoursing with rules
C D K. The definitions of the principles and rules B
C D E F G H bear out our conclusions.
Chapter 9 - The first rule of K, or
modality
38. The ninth question is about modality, or the way
in which things exist, and it has four species. The
first asks how a thing exists in itself. And I say the
intellect is a thing that exists per se, as it has a
way of existing per se so as to be distinct from every
other essence.
39. The second species asks how the intellect exists
in other things, and other things in it. And the answer
is that the intellect has a way of existing in the will,
and the will in the intellect, as together with memory
they constitute the rational soul.
40. The third species asks how the intellect
exists in its parts, and its parts in it. And the answer
is that the intellect exists in its parts, and its parts
in it, through the same natural property whereby it
consists of its own intellective, intelligible and intellection,
and whereby these three correlatives exist as parts
of the intellect.
41. The fourth species asks how the
intellect transmits its likeness externally. And the
answer is that the intellect can transmit its likeness
externally through the habit of science whereby it understands
the many things it makes intelligible in its own innate
intelligible part. With this rule we inquire into the
way things exist in themselves, and in one another as
said above.
42. Further, note that difference causes
differences, and as such, it has a way of distinguishing
things; and concordance makes many things agree together
in one composite, and so it has a way of joining things
together. And hence follows the mode whereby parts exist
in each other and the whole is in its parts : like in
a coin, where gold is in silver, and silver is in gold
while each metal remains in its own essence and being.
This modality is a general thing that includes all particular
modalities, and all subjects are its likenesses just
as shape is a likeness of substance, colors are likenesses
of colored things, and so forth. And moral modality
is a likeness of natural modality. The things said here
about modality can be proved and verified with the definitions
of the principles and with rules B C D E F G H I, as
any artist can see if he diligently applies this art.
Chapter 10 - The second rule K, or instrumentality
41. The tenth rule deals with instrumentality, it asks:
"What do things exist with and with what do they
act?" It has four species similar to those in the
rule of modality. The first species asks "With
what is the intellect a part of the soul?" And
the answer is that the intellect is a part of the soul
with difference, concordance, power and all the other
principles except contrariety.
44. With the second species we ask: "With what
does the intellect understand things other than itself?"
And the answer is that in order to understand things,
the intellect uses the species it acquires and combines
together and places in its own innate intelligible part:
like an eye looking at its own likeness in a mirror.
45. With the third species we ask "With
what is the intellect universal and particular?"
And the answer is that it is universal inasmuch as it
has one active formal intellective power with which
it can view many images. And it is particular when it
descends to practical specifics and understands the
specified species it has acquired and stored in memory.
46. With the fourth species we ask:
"With what does the intellect transmit its likeness
externally?" And the answer is that the intellect
transmits its own likeness externally with its own intellective,
intelligible and intellection, with which it makes species
which it understands, the memory remembers and the will
chooses to love or hate. This rule serves to inquire
about spiritual and corporeal instruments.
47. Further, some instruments are substantial,
like the instrument of procreation with which breeders
generate offspring: others are accidental, like fire
that heats heatable things with its heat, and like man
who justifies himself with justice.
Universal instruments are used, for
instance, when the intellect uses its own intelligible
part to make various foreign things intelligible, or
when a breeder generates many offspring with one and
the same instrument, just as fire heats many heatable
things with its heat, or a blacksmith makes many nails
with the same hammer.
Particular instruments are, for instance:
the various articles with which a builder builds a house;
and two propositions that lead to a conclusion; and
so on with other similar things in their own way.
And there are intrinsic instruments,
like the intelligible part of the intellect which is
of its own essence; and there are other, extrinsic instruments
external to the intellect that teachers use to teach
science, like blacksmiths use hammers to make nails.
All the definitions of the principles
of this art and all the rules attest and prove the truth
of what we said about instrumentality. And the same
applies to what we said about the ten rules, which are
like vessels disposed to receive whatever the human
intellect can understand in a way proportioned to it.
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