Archelogia philosophica nova, or, New principles of philosophy containing philosophy in general, metaphysicks or ontology, dynamilogy or a discourse of power, religio philosophi or natural theology, physicks or natural philosophy / by Gideon Harvey ...

CHAP. XVI. Of the Light and Darknesse of Man's practick understanding.

• 1. That Light and Darknesse are analogal to principles of good and evil.
• 2. Queries concerning Light and Darknesse.
• ...

• 3. The two kinds of Light. What the first Light is, and how it produceth the second Light.
• 4. What the Habit of Light is: That the first man acted without habits. How a habit is acquired.
• 5. That the first man acted through a natural disposition, and not through any habits.

I. WE have sometimes made mention of Good and Evil, Light and Darknesse, which being in this Treadse stated the two principles of mans actions, whether good or evil, it will not be impertinent to unfold the nature of each. By the way you are to take notice, that Light is analogal to the principle of good, and darknesse to the principle of evil, which analogy * 1.1 containing a clear and expresse emblem of good and evil, we shall therefore the rather retaine its Analogata for to ex∣plain.

II. Concerning Light and Darknesse may be inquired, 1. What Light is, or what the habit of Light is. 2. What Darknesse is, and how it is to be taken in this place. 4. How it is otherwise called. 5. How it got its first footing in man. 6. What proportion there is between the remaining Light, and this habit of Darknesse. 7. How two contrary habits can both inhere in the same subject at the same time. 8. Whether the habit of Light is a habitus per se, and the habit of Darknesse a habitus per accidens. 9 How one contrary habit doth act against the other. 10. How the one at last happens to extirpate the other.

III. Light, as you may know further in the second Book, part 2. is either primitive or derivative: The first is called Lux, and through its emanative power is by some said to cause the se∣cond, otherwise named Lumen: or in English the former may be rendred a Light, the latter an Enlightning. The soul her self is the primitive Light, which irradiates or enlighteneth the whole body. This illumination is more splendid and of grea∣ter lustre in the brain and animal spirits, than in any other part, because the Lumen is reflexed through a repercus∣sion against the arterial and membranous parts of the brain.

IV. The habit of Light is nothing else, but the facility or ea∣sinesse of the first Light in actuating the second, which hapneth

through a lesse opposition of the organ, and of the contrary ha∣bit of darknesse. But I shall explain my meaning more amply. The first man in the state of his integrity had no habit in him, whence his acts proceeded, but were effected through a natural disposition and principle of good, which God through his boun∣ty had conferred upon him. This natural disposition produced its first acts as perfect, or with the same facility, as it did the fol∣lowing acts; for otherwise man could not be supposed to have been created perfect.

V. Hence it appears, that man at his first creation had no habit; for a habit according to Philosophers, is (Habitus est qua∣litas adventitia ad operandum cum facilitate) an acquired qua∣lity, through which a substance is inclined to act with ease. Ob∣serve then, 1. It is an acquired quality, that is, not natural. 2. That through a habit we do operate with ease, which suppo∣seth there was a difficulty of working before we had acquired this habit. But wherein lay the difficulty? either in the power of acting, or in the instrument, or in the object upon which it acted. There could be no difficulty in the power, for that inhe∣ring in the substantial form is unalterable. Ergo in the instru∣ment and object. Now then the difficulty in the instrument and object is removed by often fitting the organ to the object, and the object to the organ, and so you see a habit is acquired through many repeated acts. Wherefore the first man in his en∣tire state needed no habit, he acting all things natural∣ly, and with ease: His organs were all perfect, and had no resistance in them against the power, or no unfitnesse to the ob∣ject; so likewise the objects were all fitted to their several organs.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Col. 1. 12, 13.