_~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,