A treatise of morality in two parts / written in French by F. Malbranch, author of The search after truth ; and translated into English, by James Shipton, M.A.

CHAP. X. Of the Occasional Causes of the Sensations and Motions of the Soul which resist the Efficacy of Grace, either of Light or Sense. The Ʋnion of the Soul with God is immediate, not that of the Soul with the Body. An Explication of some general Laws of the Ʋnion of the Soul and Body, necessary for the right understanding the rest of this Treatise.

I. IN the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Chapters, I have spoken at large of the occasional Cause of Light; and in the two last, I have endeavoured to shew what is the occasional Cause of the Grace of Sense, and what we must do to obtain it. And therefore, seeing there is nothing beside Light and Sense which determines the Will, or the tendency which the Soul hath toward Good in general; all that now remains in relation to the Means of acquiring or preserving the habitual and ruling Love of the immutable Order, is to explain the Laws of the Union of the Soul and Body, or the oc∣casional Causes of all those lively and confus'd Sensa∣tions, and those indeliberate Motions which unite us to our Body, and by that to all the Objects which are a∣bout us. For, to make us love Order and to acquire Vertue, it is not sufficient to obtain the Grace of Sense, which alone can stir the Soul and put it in Motion to∣ward the true Good; but we must also manage our selves so, that this Grace may work in our Hearts with its full Efficacy. For this end we must carefully avoid the occasional Causes of those Sensations and Mo∣tions which resist the Operation of Grace, and some∣times render it altogether ineffectual. This is the most general Principle of all that I shall say in the First Part of this Discourse.

II. The Soul of Man hath two essential and natural Relations; one to God, the true Cause of all that pas∣ses within him; the other to his Body, the occasional Cause of all those Thoughts which relate to sensible Objects. When God speaks to the Soul, it is to unite

it to himself; when the Body speaks to it, it is only for the Body to unite the Soul to sensible Good: God speaks to the Soul to enlighten and render it perfect; the Body only to darken and corrupt it, in favour of it self: God by the Light, conducts the Soul to its Happiness; the Body by Pleasure, involves the whole Man in its ruin, and throws him headlong into Mi∣sery. In a word, tho' it is God that doth every thing, and tho' the Body cannot act upon the Soul, no more than the Soul can upon the Body, but as an occa∣sional Cause, in consequence of the Laws of their Union, and for the Punishment of Sin, which without medling with those Laws, hath chang'd the Union in∣to a Dependence; yet we may say, that it is the Bo∣dy which darkens the Mind, and corrupts the Heart; for the Relation which the Soul hath to the Body is the Cause of all our Errors and Disorders.

III. Notwithstanding we should be throughly con∣vinc'd of this, and never forget it, that the Soul can have no immediate Relation but to God alone, and that it cannot be united directly to any thing but to him; for the Soul cannot be united to the Body, but as it is united to God himself. It is certain for very many Reasons, that if I feel, for instance, the pain of a Scratch, it is God that acts in me, tho' in consequence of the Laws of the Union of the Soul and Body; for those Laws derive their force from the Operation of the Divine Will, which alone is capable of acting in me: But the Body by it self cannot be united to the Soul, nor the Soul to the Body. They have no Rela∣tion to one another, nor any one Creature to another: I speak of Relations of Causality, such are those which depend on the Union of the Soul and Body. It is God that doth every thing; his Will is the Union of all Unions; the Modifications of Substances depend on him alone, who gives and preserves their Being. This is an essential Truth, which, I think, I have sufficient∣ly prov'd in another place.

IV. But tho' the Soul cannot be united immediately to any Thing but God, yet it may be united to the Creatures by the Will of God, who communicates his Power to them, in making them occasional Causes for the production of certain Effects. My Soul is united

to my Body, because on one side my Will is made the occasional Cause of some changes which God a∣lone produces on it; and in the other, because the changes which happen in my Body are made occasional Causes of some of those which happen in my Soul.

V. Now God hath establish'd these Laws for many Reasons which are unknown to us. But of those which we do know, one is, that God in following them, acts in a uniform and constant manner, by general Laws, by the most simple and wisest ways; in a word, he Acts in such a manner as admirably bears the Chara∣cter of his Attributes. Another Reason is, because the Body of Man is his proper Sacrifice; for it seems to Sacrifice it self by Pain, and to be Annihilated by Death. The Soul is in a State of Probation in the Bo∣dy; and God who desires in some measure to be me∣rited, and to proportion Rewards to Merits, doth by the Laws of the Union of the Soul and Body, a sim∣ple, general, uniform and constant Method, furnish us with various ways of Sanctifying our selves, and Me∣riting the true Goods. I have explain'd these Truths elsewhere, but it is necessary to remember them here.

VI. This kind of Union of the Soul with God, which hath no Relation to the Creatures, is look'd upon by many People as a groundless Imagination. For the Operation of God not being sensible, we think we an∣swer and reprove our selves, when it is the universal Reason which answers and reproves us in the most se∣cret part of our selves. It is certain, that he who knows not what Truth and Order is, knows not this Union, tho' perhaps it may act in him; as he who doth not love Truth, nor obey Order, breaks the U∣nion, tho' perhaps he knows it.

VII. But as for that kind of Union of the Soul with God, which relates to the Creatures, we believe it real, but we have a wrong Notion of it. For we im∣agine that we receive from the Objects that which comes from God alone: The Cause of this Mistake is the same with that of the former: The Divine Operation not being visible, we attribute to the Objects which strike our Senses, all that we feel in their Presence; tho' they are no otherwise present to the Soul, than as God, who is more present to us than we are to our

selves, represents them to us in his own Substance, which is the only intellectual Substance, the only Sub∣stance capable of acting on us, and of producing in us all those Sensations which render intellectual Ideas sen∣sible, and make us judge confusedly, not only that there are Bodies, but also that they are those Bodies which operate on us, and make us happy, which is the most general Cause of all our Miscarriages.

VIII. We would always be happy, and never misera∣ble: Actual Pleasure causes actual Happiness, and Pain, Misery. Now we feel Pleasure and Pain in the pre∣sence of corporeal Objects, and believe those Objects to be the true Causes of them. So that there is a ne∣cessity almost that we should fear and love them: Nay, tho' we are convinc'd by Metaphysical and cer∣tain Demonstrations, that God alone is the true Cause; yet this doth not give us Strength enough to slight and disregard them, when we actually enjoy them. For the judgments of the Senses work more powerfully on us than the most solid Reasons; because it is not Light, so much as Pleasure which stirs the Soul and puts it in Motion.

IX. So then it is evident, that to preserve a ruling Love of the immutable Order, we must on the one hand use all our endeavours to strengthen this kind of Union of the Soul with God, which hath no Relation to sensible Objects; and on the other, we must slacken, as much as we can, that kind of Union which relates to Bodies, Substances inferiour to ours, which are so far from being able to make us perfect, that they have no power to act on us, nor corrupt us; but only be∣cause the Sin of our first Parent hath brought in Con∣cupiscence, which consists wholly in the Loss we have sustain'd of the power to stop, or suspend the Laws of the Communication of those Motions, by which the Bodies that are about us act on that Body which we animate, and by that on our Mind, in consequence of the Laws of the Union of the Soul and Body.

X. * 1.1 I think I have sufficiently prov'd already, at least as to some Persons, that since all the Motions of the Soul depend on Light and Sense, to excite in us that Motion which carries us toward God, and keeps us united to him; it is necessary that we should continually

exercise our selves in the Labour of Attention, the oc∣casional Cause of Light; and frequently call upon Je∣sus Christ, the occasional Cause of the Grace of Sense. I shall now examine the Means whereby we may di∣minish the Union that is between Us and the Crea∣tures, and hinder them from having any share with God in our Mind and Heart: For we are so plac'd be∣tween God and corporeal Objects, that we cannot move toward them, without departing from God; and the breaking off our Correspondence with them, is suffici∣ent to unite us to God, through the continual influ∣ence which Christ sheds on his Members.

XI. That which I shall say of this matter is not so necessary for those that have read and consider'd the Prin∣ciples which I have laid down in the Search of Truth: And if all Men were capable of so much Reason as to think methodically, or at least had so much Justice as to believe that an Author hath thought of the Subject he treats of more than they; I should not be oblig'd to repeat in general, what I have already said or prov'd in other places, and in various manners. No body reads Apollonius or Archimedes, that hath not learnt Euclid; because he can understand nothing of Coni∣cal Sections, without knowing the common Elements of Geometry; and in Geometrical matters, when a Man doth not understand a thing, he knows he doth not understand it. But in matters of Morality or Re∣ligion, every one, I know not why, thinks himself suf∣ficiently capable of comprehending whatever he reads: So that everyone takes upon him to judge, without con∣sidering, that Morality, for instance, I mean Morality demonstrated or explain'd by Principles, is to the Know∣ledge of Man, what the Science of curve Lines is to that of strait Lines.

XII. Wherefore I think it requisite in this place, to suppose certain Principles which I have prov'd else∣where, and which are necessary for the sequel of this Discourse. This will perhaps illustrate many Things which I have said, and which I very much fear have not well been understood; but these suppositions are not design'd for those who have consider'd the Principles which I have elsewhere explain'd, or fully comprehend what I have said hitherto. They may go on to the next Chapter, and save themselves a needless Labour.

XIII. First then, I take it for granted, that to have a right Notion of the Union of the Soul and Body, we must not confound the Ideas of these two Substances, as most do, who join them together by extending the Soul to all the parts of the Body, and attribute to the Body all the Sensations which belong to the Soul. The Union of the Soul and Body consists in the mutual and recipro∣cal Action of these two Beings, in consequence of the Operations of the Divine Will, which alone can change the modifications of Substances. The Soul thinks, and is not exended. The Body is extended, and doth not think: Therefore the Soul cannot be united to the Bo∣dy by Extension, but only by Thinking; nor the Bo∣dy to the Soul by Sensation, but only by Situation and local Motion. The Body is wounded, but the Soul feels it. The Soul fears an Evil, and the Body flies from it. The Soul would move the Arm, the Arm im∣mediately moves it self; and the Soul sees and feels it. Thus there is a mutual Correspondence between cer∣tain Thoughts of the Soul, and certain Modifications of the Body, in consequence of those natural Laws which God hath establish'd, and which he condantly ob∣serves. Herein consists the Union of the Soul and Body: The Imagination may raise other Ideas of all this: But this Correspondence is undeniable, and is sufficient for my purpose. So that I neither do, nor ought to build on uncertain Foundations.

XIV. Secondly, I suppose it to be known, that the Soul is not join'd immediately to all the parts of the Body, but only to one part, which answers to all the rest, and which I call, without knowing what it is, the Principal Part; so that, notwithstanding the Laws of the Union of the Soul and Body, a Man may have his Arm cut off, and yet have no thought arise in his Soul Correspondent to it; but it is not possible that the least change should happen in the Principal Part of the Brain without causing also some alteration in the Soul. This is verified by Experience; for sometimes parts of the Body are cut off without being felt, because then the Motion of the Amputation doth not communicate it self to the Principal Part. As on the contrary, those that have lost an Arm, often feel a real pain in that very Arm which they have not, because there is the same

Motion in the Principal Part of the Brain, as if the Arm was hurt!

XV. The first Man before his Sin, had an absolute power over his Body; at least he could, when he pleas'd, hinder the Motion or Action of Objects from commu∣nicating it self to the principal part of the Brain, from the Organs of the Senses which might be touch'd by those Objects; and this he did probably by a kind of revulsion, somewhat like that which we make in our selves, when we would fix our Attention on those Thoughts which disappear in the presence of sensible Objects.

XVI. But I suppose in the Third place, that we have not now that power; and therefore to obtain some Li∣berty of Mind, to think on what we will, and love what we ought, it is necessary that the principal part should be calm and without agitation, or at least that we should still be able to stop and turn it which way we please. Our Attention depends on our Will; but it depends much more on our Senses and Passions. It is a very difficult thing not to look upon that which touches, not to love that which pleases; that which touches, I say, and pleases the Heart. The Soul is ne∣ver sooner tir'd, than when it fights against Pleasure, and makes it self actually Miserable.

XVII. Fourthly, I suppose it to be known, that the principal part is never touch'd or shaken in an agreeable or disagreeable manner, but it excites in the animal Spirits some Motion proper to carry the Body toward the Object which acts upon it, or to separate it from it by flight; so that those Motions of the Fibres of the Brain which relate to Good or Evil, are always fol∣low'd by such a course of the Spirits as disposes the Body rightly with relation to the present Object; and at the same time those sensations of the Soul which are correspondent to those agitations of the Brain, are fol∣low'd by such motions of the Soul as answer to this course of the Spirits. For the impressions or motions of the Brain are in respect of the course of the Spirits, what the sensations of the Soul are in respect of the Passions; and these Impressions are to the Sensations, what the motion of the Spirits is to the motion of the Passions.

XVIII. Fifthly, I suppose that Objects never strike the Brain without leaving some marks of their Action, nor the animal Spirits without leaving some Tracks of their Course; that these Tracks or Wounds are not easily clos'd up or effac'd, when the Brain hath been of∣ten or forcibly struck, and when the Course of the Spi∣rits hath been violent, or hath often begun again in the same manner: That Memory and corporeal Habits con∣sist in nothing else but those Tracks or Impressions which cause in the Brain and other parts of the Body, a par∣ticular facility of obeying the Course of the Spirits; and that by this means the Brain is hurt, and the Ima∣gination polluted, when we have had the enjoyment of Pleasures, without apprehending the danger of Familia∣rity with sensible Objects.

XIX. Lastly, I suppose that we conceive distinctly, that when many of these Tracks have been made at the same time, we cannot open any one of them, without opening all the rest in some Measure; whence it comes to pass, that there are always many accessory Ideas which present themselves confusedly to the Mind, ha∣ving a Relation to the principal Ideas to which the Mind particularly applies it self: There are also many confus'd Sensations and indirect Motions that accompa∣ny the principal Passion which moves the Soul, and car∣ries it toward some particular Object. There is no∣thing more certain than this connection of Impressions, with one another, and with the Senses and Passions. Any one that hath but the least Knowledge of the Na∣ture of Man, and will make but the least reflection on the inward Sense he hath of what passes within himself, may discover more of these Truths in an Hour, than I can tell him in a Month; provided he doth not confound the Soul with the Body, in making the Union betwixt them, and carefully distinguishes the Properties of which the thinking Substance is capable, from those which be∣long to the extended Substance. And I think it neces∣sary to Advertise the Reader, That this kind of Truths is of very great importance, not only for the distinct Conception of what I have hitherto said, and shall here∣after say, but generally for all the Sciences that have any Relation to Man. Having handled this Subject at large, in the Search of Truth, particularly in the Se∣cond

Book, I thought not to have said any thing of it here; and if these Suppositions seem obscure to the Reader, and do not give him light enough to compre∣hend clearly what I shall say in the remaining part of this Treatise, I must refer him to that Book; for I can∣not persuade my self to give a long Explication of the same thing over and over.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Christian Meditat, 13, 14, &c.