An entire body of philosophy according to the principles of the famous Renate Des Cartes in three books, (I) the institution ... (II) the history of nature ... (III) a dissertation of the want of sense and knowledge in brute animals ... / written originally in Latin by the learned Anthony Le Grand ; now carefully translated from the last corrections, alterations, and large additions of the author, never yet published ... by Richard Blome.

CHAP. III. How Human Mind is Ʋnited to the Body.

I. Th••••e Notions which usually present themselves to us. THere are Three principal Notions which commonly offer themselves to us: The No∣tion of Body, which we have maintain'd, consists in Extension, from whence the Idea's of Figure and Motion proceed: The Notion of Mind, whose Essence we place in Cogitation, and to which the perceptions of Intellect, and propensions of Will do tend: The third Notion is of Soul and Body, as they are united; from which Union we understand, that Mind hath the force of moving Body, and on the contrary, the Body hath the power of Acting upon the Mind, as shall here∣after be more clearly made out: For it is not to be imagin'd, that the Soul is only present with the Body, as a Mariner is present in his Ship, or as a Rider is seated upon his Horse; but that it is intimately united to it, so as to make one Com∣pound with it: I say, the Notion of Soul and Body; because the Soul is properly so called, inas∣much as it is destin'd to Inform the Body, or inasmuch as it can be United to a well-disposed Body, as hath been formerly mention'd.

II. Human Mind is to be consi∣der'd, as United to the Body. For the Soul of Man is not to be consider'd as a Spirit in it self, and as it is Absolute and a Sub∣stance which Thinks; but according to the Rela∣tion which a Spirit hath to a Body well dispos'd, and to which it is United. For Experience plainly teacheth us, That all the Functions of the Soul, consider'd in Quality of a Soul, depend absolutely on the Body, to which it is United, and which ren∣ders this Union altogether necessary.

III. It is diffi∣cult to conceive, how the Soul is United to the Body. The only difficulty is to apprehend this sort of Union: For our Intellect can hardly conceive, how Body, which is a thing Extense, moves the Mind; and Mind, which is a thing Immaterial and In∣extense, can impel the Body; and tho' by Expe∣rience we find it is so, yet no Comparison or Dis∣course drawn from other things is sufficient to de∣monstrate and evidence it to us. Those Philoso∣phers who admit Real Accidents, and judge that they are Entities distinct from Substance, produce a Similitude of a Stone tending downward, by the force of Gravity. Now since, according to these Philosophers, this Quality of Grave things tending downwards, is not Substance, but Accident, this may serve for a sufficient Explication, how a thing not Extended, may act upon a Body Ex∣tended.

IV. To this difficulty the Preju∣dices of Infancy, and the Opinions of a School conduce. Yet because we maintain, that there is no such Quality in Nature granted, another way is to be found out; but before we fix upon a Mode, by which the Body is annex'd to the Soul, it will be worth our while to note, that all the difficulty in conceiving that Union, arises chiefly from our selves; who following the Prejudices of our In∣fancy first, and afterwards the trite Opinions of Philosophy in Schools, have thought it impossible for Human Intellect to conceive, how a thing Material and Incorporeal can be United, and how a thing Unextended can be associated to a thing Extense, unless that be taken also for Ex∣tense. This Prejudice hath exercis'd the Wits of many; and because they could find no Mode of Union, by which things so distant in Nature could be United, were compelled to have recourse to certain Virtual parts; and to assert, that the Soul is not indeed really, but only virtually Ex∣tense, and that it hath Virtual parts, by means whereof it may the better be adjoyn'd to the Body, and so compose one Total with it.

V. It cannot be said, that the Soul is virtually Extense. But what they mean by these Virtual parts, I confess I do not in the least understand, nor doth any Notion of them present it self to me. Nor can it be conceived, that there are things Virtually Extense, unless thereby are understood parts without parts, that is, whereof one is placed be∣yond the other. But parts situate one beyond the other, are distinguish'd not virtually, but really, and may separately Exist, and consequently may be said to be really distinguish'd; since in the Con∣ception of them Division is included, and a Sepa∣ration of them one from another, which presuppose Extension.

VI. Three sorts of Union. But that the Conjunction of Mind and Body, which is commonly call'd Union may be the better understood, we are to premise what Union is, and how many kinds of it there are. Union is a Con∣sociation of things agreeable into One. And since we can have a Conception but of two things, namely Mind and Body, we can thence infer only a Threefold Union: The first, which inter∣cedes between two Bodies; the second, by which two Minds are associated; the third and last, by which Mind and Body are United. But all Union includes some Similitude and Dependency, in which respect 2 different things pass after a cer∣tain manner into one. For in this very respect they are judged to be United, when they can act and suffer dependently upon each other: For 2 Bodies are said to be United, when they are so near, that one may act upon the other; and that again suffer from the former. Not that it is necessary, that both together act and suffer at once; but it is sufficient, if one act and the other suffer. In the same manner 2 Minds are united one with another, when the same Affections are common to them both, and are so dispos'd, that neither of them wills or loves any thing, but for the others sake. In the same manner we say, that a Rational Soul is joyn'd to the Body, when any Operations of the Body depend upon the Cogitati∣ons of the Mind; and on the contrary, that the Body is joyned to the Soul, when any Cogitations arise dependently from these Operations, or rather motions of the said Body.

VII. How Mind and Body are United. Nor do I think, that any one will deny this manner of Conjunction or Union, by which the Mind and Body are conjoyned, since a clearer cannot be made out; in regard the Mind and Body operating dependently upon each other, we may very easily understand the Similitude and Relation, which ought to be among things which are united; and this Similitude and Relation we have formerly affirm'd to consist in Action and Passion: So that as the Union of 2 Minds will continue so long as Love remains between them; so the Union of 2 Bodies will never cease, so long as they are locally present one with another. In like manner the Union of Mind and Body will not be dissolv'd, so long as he who hath joyn'd them together shall suffer the Body to produce its mo∣tions, with a dependency upon the Cogitations of the Mind, and the Mind to Exercise its Co∣gitations dependently upon the motions of the Body.

VIII. The Con∣junction of the Mind with the Body, is twofold. By Two ways most especially may Spirit be joyned with Body; first into one Person; as the Word was made Flesh, S. John 1. Secondly, Into One Nature; as Human Mind is joyned with Body. Of the first, Divines treat in their Theses, con∣cerning the Incarnation of the Word; the second is handled by Philosophers.

IX. Wherein consists the Union of Soul and Body. The Union of Soul and Body consists in an Actual dependency of all the Cogitations of the Soul, upon certain motions of the Body; and of some certain motions of the Body, upon some Cogi∣tations of the Soul; I said in the first place, That this Union consists in an Actual dependence; be∣cause for the Uniting of Body and Soul, it suffices not that their Motions and Cogitations, can mu∣tually depend upon each other; but it is also necessary, that they Actually depend. In the second place, I said; and of some certain motions of the Body, upon some Cogitations of the Mind; because not all the motions of the Body depend upon the Cogitations of the Mind, since many depend upon the Machin of the Body only, and the Universal Laws of Nature.

X. There is not requir'd any Union, as a thing distinct from Mind and Body. Others explicate this Commerce another way; for they will have it, that a certain Mode inter∣cedes between Body and Mind, to which they give the Name of Union, and account it instead of a Ligament or Bond, by which those things that make up the Compound are joyned one with ano∣ther. For they cannot conceive how 2 Things can be joyn'd together, and nothing of New hap∣pen upon this Conjunction. But they have enough to be satisfied: For if by the Name of Union, they understand nothing, but that mutual Commerce of Actions and Passions, which is found in Mind and Body, they agree with us; for we acknowledge that Union is the Mode of the Being of Body and Soul: For all things are after another mode or state when United, than when Separated. But if they mean, that this Union is some real thing di∣stinct from both, and as it were that very thing, by the mediation whereof the parts of a Com∣pound are United, we apprehend not, nor acknow∣ledge any such thing in Philosophy; and should we receive it, we can no way make it out, how such a thing can joyn together two such, as Mind and Body. For this Union should be either Extense, or void of all Extension: If they affirm it Extense, how can it be Co-extended with Mind, which is a Spirit and Immaterial? If it be void of Exten∣sion, how can it be joyn'd to a Body? So that this Mode of Uniting is altogether superfluous, since the difficulty of Conceiving how 2 Substances can be immediately United one with another, by a mutual dependence of their Motions and Cogita∣tions is less, than to comprehend, how they should be united by another thing, which if it be In∣extense, cannot be conjoyn'd to the Body; nor to Mind, if it have Extension, and be divided accord∣ing to parts.

XI. But a Re∣ciprocation of Action and Passion. And the Truth is, since neither Body can Think, nor Mind be capable of Dimension; there can be no Mode common to Mind and Body, except a mutual Acting of each upon each, from which alone the Proprieties of both can follow.

XII. Whether the Soul and Body be United to each other, before they mutually Act and Suffer. Perhaps it may be said That the Conjunction of Mind and Body cannot consist in the relation which the Actions and Passions of both have to each other; because such a Concourse presupposes, that the Mind is already United to the Body. For the Mind must first be in the Body, before it can draw forth any Operations which depend upon the Body, and consequently Union precedes that mutual dependency.

XIII. The An∣swer. I Answer, That there is no Necessity that the Mind should be first United to the Body, before it operate there, in regard its Existence precedes not Action in Time: So that it does not absolutely require to be joyned to the Body, before such time as it draws forth its Operations. Nay, if the Matter were well Examin'd, when as Spirit is confin'd to no Space, and may only be in a place by its Operations: It cannot therefore be said, to be in the Body, but because it exercises there its Operations or Cogitations dependently on the Body. Which mutual Correspondence constitutes the Reason of the Union, which is between the Mind and Body.

XIV. When the Union be∣tween Mind and Body be∣gins. But if it be ask'd, How comes about this Conjunction of Soul and Body, and when doth it begin?

I Answer again, It is most Consentaneous to Reason, to believe that this Union begins at that very moment in which the Body gives occasion to the Mind, to draw forth some Cogitation, and Contrarily the Soul to the Body, to stir up some motion. For as this Conjunction is plac'd in a mutual Dependency, which is between both, in respect of certain Actions and Passions, it cannot begin sooner: So that it is most probable, that such a Union begins, as soon as the Heart, Brain, Nerves, Muscles, &c. are sufficiently fram'd to bring it about, that the Action of the Objects may be transmitted as far as the Glandula and the Animal Spirits be convey'd into the Muscles. On the contrary, this Union ceaseth, whenever it hap∣pens that the said Commerce cannot be continued, or when any part of the Body is so defective, that the Heart is no longer able to transfuse the Spirits to the Brain; nor the Brain into its Muscles, to agitate some, and conserve others in their proper state: So that the said Confederacy is never broken on the part of the Mind, but of the Body.

XV. This Union is Essen∣tial to Man. From these things we deduce, that the Con∣junction of Soul and Body, though it be call'd an Accident of either part, so far as it may be pre∣sent or absent, without the destruction of either part, is nevertheless so proper to both Parts of Man together, that it may and ought to be allow'd to be Essential to him: For Essence, as it is deriv'd from Esse, to be, is so called, because so long as it is something, it must of necessity be. So that so long as Man is, it follows, that the foresaid Efficacy of Mind upon Body, and of Body upon Mind, must needs be.

XVI. Why GOD may not be said to be joyn'd to his Crea∣tures, or an Angel to an assu∣med Body. But it is also easie to Understand, why GOD, tho' he is present to all Created things, as who Conserves the same by a Continued Creation; yet nevertheless is not said to be conjoyned to them, in regard they cannot act upon GOD, by exciting in him those Cogitations which he had not before. So also an Angel, who according to the Vul∣gar Opinion, is present personally an assumed Body, cannot be said to be joyned to the said Body. For tho' an Angel may act upon such a Body, yet that Body cannot Re-act upon the Angel; So as that when the said Body, for Examples sake, is hurt, the Angel should feel pain, as we find by Experience in our selves.

XVII. Conditions of the Union of Body and Soul. But as there is no Society, which is not founded upon some Conditions, which are Reciprocal be∣tween one and the other party, united or associated together: GOD, in the formation of Man, united Body and Spirit upon these Conditions.

XVIII. The First Condition▪ The First is, That as long as the Soul shall remain United to the Body, there will be an Idea of Extension, that is to say, of Body, consider'd in it self; and that it shall have this Idea from the motion of the Brain, excited by the general Course of the Animal Spirits; according to which con∣dition, the Soul hath always present the Idea of Extension, as Experience teacheth us.

XIX. The Second, The Second is, That the whole motion of the Brain, which is excited by the Nerves, will pro∣duce within the Soul a certain Sensation, which will always accompany this motion, and the Soul not be able to separate it. By means of this Con∣dition, we fee, for Example, the Light, when the Sun moves the Optick Nerves: We hear Noise, when resounding Bodies shake the Auditive Nerves.

XX. The Third. The Third, That the Spirit, so long as it re∣mains United to the Body, will have the Idea of some particular Body, from the motion which this Body shall excite in the Brain, by the means of the Organs of Sense. By this Condition, the Soul hath the Idea of all Bodies, which smite the Senses.

XXI. The Fourth. The Fourth, That the whole motion of the Brain, which shall be excited by the determinate Course of the Animal Spirits, resembling another motion, caused by the Nerves, will produce in the Soul the Idea of some particular Body, which the Soul hath already perceiv'd. By this Condition it is, that there are represented to us things absent, which we have formerly seen.

XXII. The Fifth. The Fifth is, That by the Sense of Touching we feel pleasure or pain, according as the movents, which cause these Sensations, shall be conformable or in opposition to the Natural Constitution of the Body. By this Condition, the motion of a Feather drawn over the Hand, as it were for Titillation, will cause a Sentiment of pain in Sick People, in regard the said motion is not agreeable to the present state of the Body. On the contrary, it excites a Sentiment of pleasure to those that are in health, because in that Estate it is conformable to the pre∣sent Constitution of the Body.

XXIII. The Sixth. The Sixth is, That when we have received the Idea of an Object, it will be attended by an In∣clination of the Soul, which will carry it either to fly or to pursue the said Object, according as it shall appear good or bad. By this Condition it is that we are sensible of Love, Hatred, and gene∣rally all Passions that attend the Soul.

XXIV. The Se∣venth. The Seventh is, That all the Thoughts of the Soul, which regard the preservation of the Body, as they create Sentiments and Passions, must be accompanied with that motion of the Animal Spirits, which shall be most proper for the Exe∣cution of the Desires of the Soul. And it is upon this Condition that Fear, for Example, is accompanied with a Course of Animal Spirits, which induceth us to shun what we fear; and that on the contrary, Desire is accompanied with a Course of Spirits, which carries us to the pursuit of that which we desire.

XXV. The Eighth. The Eighth is, That the Spirit, inasmuch as it is united with the Body, never Thinks, but by the motions of the Body, to which it is united. And it is by this Condition, that all the Idea's which we

have of particular Bodies, depend mediately or immediately, upon some motion of the Brain. I say, All the Idea's we have of particular Bodies: And hereby we are to Note, that the Idea's which the Spirit hath of GOD, and of it self, depend not at all upon its being United with the Body; but simply upon its being a Spirit, whose whole Nature is to Think, and by consequence to think of GOD and of it self.

XXVI. The Ninth. The Ninth is, that when the Animal Spirits are more abounding than usual, they excite in the Soul, Goodness and Liberality; when their Parts are more strong and gross, they excite Confidence and Hardiness; when they are equal in force, in grossness and in figure, they procure Constancy; when they are more agitated, they produce promp∣titude, diligence, and desire. In fine, when they have a temperate agitation, they cause tranquility of Spirit. On the contrary, when these Qualities fail in the Animal Spirits, or when there is an opposite Temper in them, the effects that are produc'd in the Soul, are Malignity, Timidity, or Fearfulness; Inconstancy, Tardiness, Inquietude, &c.

XXVII. The Tenth. The Tenth and last Condition is, That the Union of Spirit and Body will continue so long as the Heart shall be in a condition to send Blood towards the Brain, and from thence to send the Animal Spirits through the Nerves into the Muscles, which are subservient to those motions that are necessary for Life. By this Condition it is, that the Soul never gives occasion to the Body to break the Union, it being sufficiently evident that the default always proceeds from the Body, as Expe∣rience teaches us.