Avicenna

“ Also, the motion-promoting power, in animals other than the speaking (or rational) species, is the aim and end; and this is so, because the motion-causing power is not imparted unto them in order that they shall through it direct aright the workings of sensation and imagination so as to adapt these workings to the attainment of their own good, but on the contrary the power of sensation and of imagination are imparted to the non-speaking irrational animals solely in order to direct aright through them the workings of motion, and to adapt these workings to the good of the animals. ”

“ As to unification of the many, it is such as the composition (synthesis) of this one man out of essence, body, animal, speaking (rational) into one notion which is mankind (human being) .
Moreover the mind, although it applies its activity within a duration of time in arranging syllogisms, through using reflection, yet the result itself, which this reflection obtains, and which is the fruit of thought and the end sought after, is not dependant upon time, nor is it obtained save at an instant; nay more than this, the mind itself is wholly above and beyond all time. ”

“ I. Not one of the outward senses unites within itself perception of color, odor, and softness; and yet, we often come upon a body that is yellow, and perceive at once so much about it, namely that it is honey, sweet, nice of smell, and fluid, although we have neither tasted, nor smelt, nor even touched it; whence it is manifest that we possess a power wherein are assembled the perceptions of the four senses, and have thus become summed up in it into one single form ”

“ I say then that body of and through itself does not effect conception of mentally-grasped things, since all bodies have in common that they are body, and differ amongst each other in capacity for conceiving mentally-grasped things. Wherefore living (animal) bodies are qualified to conceive mentally-grasped things only by and through certain powers that are put within them. And if these powers conceive by and through themselves, without the cooperation of the body, it follows that they are in themselves fit and apt to be an abode for mental forms. And what is thus qualified is itself an essence ”

“ We further found the power of impulsion to be more widely embracing than the power of perception, in that we found plants to lack the latter utterly. Hence we knew for certain that the faculty in which the animal agrees with the plant is more general than this perceptive faculty, and than the impelling faculty which is in the animal; and each one of them is more general than the speaking (rational) faculty, which belongs to man. ”

“ Therefore not every judgment we have arrived at, as to things, through our sensuous perception, is applicable to and holds good of all that we have perceived or have not perceived of such things, but it may so be that what we have not perceived differ from what we have perceived. Whereas our conception that a whole is greater than a part is not [formed] because we have sensuously felt every part and every whole that are so related, seeing that even such an experience will not guaranty to us that there will be no whole and no part differently related. ”

“ Therefore this outflow unto which the soul reaches is a mental essence, not a body, not in a body, standing of itself, and one which stands towards the rational soul in the stead of light to sight; yet however with this difference, namely that light supplies unto sight the power of perceiving only, and not the perceived form, whereas this essence supplies, exclusively by and through its sole and single self, unto the rational power, the power of perceiving, and brings about therein the perceived forms also, as we have set forth above. ”

“ And, even as that which is striven after in the process of form-making is solely the bringing about of the [due] form in matter in the shape (kind, design) proposed, and not at all the bringing about of growth or of nutrition,—only that there is need for the two latter for the sake of realizing the desired form, and not the converse—so also the final aim in the [several] powers is the procreating (propagating) power, to the exclusion of the growth-promoting and of the nutritive. Wherefore, the procreating power is given precedence for a teliological reason. ”

“ And in this connection I find the Prince, God prolong his days, to have given to his intrinsically worthy character so much of the polish and lustre imparted by wisdom that he far outstrips his rivals among the princes, and overtops all such as are of his kind. And hence I clearly perceive that of all presents the one he will appreciate most is such as conduces to the most precious of the virtues, to wit wisdom. ”

“ Given then these premisses, we shall further unquestionably say that a mentally-grasped form—in short all knowledge—claims some abode somewhere, which abode is both an essence itself and a part of man’s self, so that such essence will not be devoid of being either a divisible (material) body or a non-corporeal indivisible essence. ”

“ We now start by saying that not a shadow of doubt or perplexity hampers the mind, as to things, that some of them share some one thing in common, and differ in an other; and that that which is shared in common is other than that in which they differ. ”

“ Thus, the eye only perceives that form which has imprinted itself in it of the object felt; so also the remainder of the powers (or senses) . Again, in the case of strong wearying sensibles, such as a loud noise, a strong smell, a shining and a flashing light, if they are repeated upon the organ (instrument) , spoil and dullen it through their overworking it. Again, each one of the five senses perceives, through the means of its own rightful perception and besides the same, five other things, to wit: 1. shape; 2. number; 3. size; 4. motion ”

“ The second kind of motion going against the decree of its element, which decree is either rest in the natural position as soon as it reaches that position, as for example a man’s moving his body along its natural home which is the Earth’s surface; or else a moving away from the natural position when already separated from it, like a flying bird’s motion with its heavy body high up through the sky. ”

“ And whereas one and the same thing excludes the possibility of its being both doer and done, it becomes clear unto us that a body is not able of itself to dress itself in one mentally-grasped form and strip off another. Yet nevertheless we see a man consciously and with forethought conceiving and proceeding from one mentally-grasped form unto another, which operation is not devoid of being either an act peculiar to body, or else an act peculiar to the rational speaking power, or finally an act commonly shared between them [Pg 86] both. ”

“ This power is called memory, the preserving or keeping faculty.
Again, the imaginative power is called by this name—imagination—if the conjecturing (or surmising) power alone use it: and if the speaking (rational) power use it, it is called the thinking (cogitative) power.
The heart is the source (spring) of all these powers (faculties) , in Aristotle’s opinion; yet the sway over them is in different organs (instruments) . ”

“ As to the seeing power, philosophers have differed on the question of How they perceive. Thus one set among them asserts that they perceive wholly and solely through a ray that shoots out beyond the eye, and so encounters the sensible objects that are seen. This is Plato’s way. [13] Others assert that the perceiving power itself encounters the sensible objects that are seen, and so perceives them. ”

“ And if it engages itself upon overcoming blameworthy powers, that entice unto wrongdoing through their excess, unto folly through their abandonment, unto impetuosity through their agitation, unto cowardice through their indifference or lukewarmness, or unto wickedness through their excitement, or unto degeneration through their smouldering, and leads them over into the paths of wisdom, endurance, chastity—in short unto righteousness, then its activity is called ruling or governing, and it is accordingly called practical mind or reason. ”

“ Therefore, the form which we have described as having taken up its abode in the body has not taken up its abode therein, which is a contradiction, and therefore the diametrically contrary to it is true, namely our assertion that a generic (universal) mental form does not abide in any corporeal body whatsoever; and consequently the essence in which a generic mental form abides is a spiritual essence, not qualified with the qualities of bodies, which is what we call the Rational Speaking Soul. ”

“ Wherefore all the powers of the animal are either perceiving or motion-promoting. The motion-promoting is the yearning (desiderative, longing, craving) power: it is either [Pg 47] urging on to the search after a chosen object of animal good, and then it is the lusting power; or else it is urging on to the warding off of an object of animal dislike, and then it is the hating power (angry power) .
The perceiving power too is either outward (apparent) , such as the five senses; or else inward (internal, hidden) , such as the picturing, the imaginative, the conjecturing, and the remembering power. ”

“ And of perfections, there are such as belong to bodies, and such as belong to incorporeal substances. In this sense the soul is a prime perfection attaching to a body. And among bodies, there are such as are artificial, and such as are natural. Now the soul is not a perfection of an artificial body; hence it is a prime perfection attaching to a natural body. Again, among natural bodies there are such as perform their multifarious workings through organs (tools, instruments) , and such as do not perform their workings through organs (tools) ”

“ I however say, that it is not licit that it be a corporeal body; because a generic mentally-grasped form, if it abide in a body, then it is inevitably possible for divisibility to befall it, as we have shown above. Nor is it licit that its parts be otherwise than resembling the whole from one standpoint, and contrasting with it from another standpoint, in a word each one of the parts contains somewhat of the notion of the whole; whereas there is no generic form whatsoever but of whose parts a compound can be formed that is partly like it and partly unlike it save genera and differentia ”

“ Nay, the very bond which joins the common man to the man of élite would be severed, and the reliance of the flock upon its shepherd would cease; the frail would no longer become powerful through the strength of the mighty, nor the low-born rise through the protection and countenance of the high-born ”

“ And the time will very soon come when each and every one of them, however long may be his life here below, will surely need it, to save him from sinking into the black nothingness of doubt, indifference, and despair. ”

“ Further, so much at least is clear that the corruption of one of two conjoined essences does not entail and enjoin the corruption of the other: wherefore the death of the body does not render obligatory the death of the soul, which is what we wanted to show. ”

“ Again, what reaches unto its Perfector and attaches itself to Him is safe against corruption, all the more so if even during disconnection from Him it has not undergone corruption. Wherefore the soul after death shall ever remain and continue unwavering [and undying] and attached to this noble essence, which is called generic universal mind, and in the language of the lawgivers the Divine Knowledge. ”

“ Now, it is clear that this power conceives mentally-grasped things by and through itself only, and not at all through cooperation of body; for, we contend, concerning whatsoever perceives any thing through cooperation of body, that the oftener wearying perceptibles are repeated upon it the more do they tend towards ruining and spoiling it and producing dullness and exhaustion in it, it being nothing but a frail instrument and organ whose strength has been reduced, owing to the over-tasking imposed upon it on the power’s employing it ”

“ Moreover, the objects of perception belonging in truth and deed to sight are the Colors.
As for the Hearing Power: it hears only sound. And sound is a motion of air that the ear feels on two hard smooth bodies coming [Pg 55] quickly close up one to the other, the escaping of the air from between them, its striking the ear, and its moving the air that is kept ready within the instrument (organ) of hearing. ”

“ Furthermore these theorists (opiners) make a greater blunder still, seeing that they render a thing of Nature’s make and composition wholly idle, useless, and unneeded in the operation of visual perception; inasmuch as in their opinion the imaginative power itself meets immediately sensible objects, and thus spares Nature the task of adapting an instrument (organ) , to wit the complex eye. ”

“ Souled bodies, I mean having souls, if considered from the side of their vegetable powers, are found to have in common the getting of nourishment, and to differ in growth and generation (reproduction of offspring) ; since, among nourishment-taking beings, there are such as do not grow, for example a living individual that has reached full growth and the period of stand still, or that has declined therefrom through withering. Yet every growing thing gets nourishment. ”