The elements of intellectual philosophy

Front matter

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Part First. CHAPTER

I. — Matter of Reasoning, 25

II. — or the Different Objects which a Universal Idea may Represent, and of the Different Modes of Representing them, ......... 44

III. — Of the Expression of Ideas or of Terms, ... 54 IV. — Proximate Matter of Reasoning ; and, first, of the Nature of Judgment and Proposition, .... 59

V. — Different Species and Properties of Propositions, . . 65

-VI. — Truth of Judgments and Propositions, .... 74

Part Second. — Form of Reasoning. I. — Of the Essential Structure of Reasoning, ... 78

II. — Different Species of Reasoning, 95

in. — Of the Expression of Reasoning, 102

IV. — Faults of Reasoning, 104

Part Third. — End of Reasoning

I. — Of the Nature and the Necessity of Method, . . . 107

II. — Elements and Means of Method, 113

III. — Division of Method — that is, of Method of Invention and

of Discipline, ........ 120 iv C 071 tents.

CHAPTER PAGE

IV. — Of Science according to its Strictest Acceptation, inasmuch as it is Knowledge, ...... 125

V. — Of Science in its more Enlarged Signification, inasmuch

as it is a System of Truths, 131

ONTOLOGY.

Introduction— Object of Metaphysics — Definition of

Ontology, . . 141

I. — Of Being, considered in Itself and in a most General

II. — Of the Determinations of Being in General — Essence

and Existence, . 152

III. — Of the Manner in which Essence and Existence co-operate to form a Real Being, 161

IV. — Of the Properties of Being, 164

v.— Of the Causes of Beings, 1S5

VI. — Division of Being, 206

VII. — Of the Use of Ontology, 230

ANTHROPOLOGY.

Introduction, 241

I. — On the Nature of Man in General, 242

II. — On the Principles from which the Nature of Man Results — Soul and Body — and, first, of the Soul, . . 252 III. — Of the Human Body, ....... 274

IV. — Of the Manner according to which the Soul and the

Body are united together and conspire to form Man, . 276

Preface

THE author who should attempt to write a book on the elements of intellectual philosophy should in our opinion strictly attend to, and be - guided by, the following principles, which have reference to the language, to the style, and to the matter of the book.

I. The book should be written in English. The matter treated of in philosophy is hard enough to understand, even by the brightest intellect which just comes from the study of belles-lettres, fascinated by the matchless beauties of the ancients clothed in the finest language, to undertake to master hard, dry things, without flesh and blood, but abstract and immaterial. Now, to present such things in a foreign language is to render the difficulty of apprehending them unnecessarily greater, and to heighten the aversion which young minds naturally feel for abstract ideas. It is like covering a beautiful painting with a double veil. For language, after all, is a veil which covers the idea. Now, if you clothe an idea in language foreign to the student, no matter how well he may be supposed to know it, you oblige him, in order to look at the idea, first to uncover

2. Preface.

the veil of the foreign language to make room for the veil of his own native language, and then to catch the idea. In other words, you oblige the student first to translate into his own language, and then to grasp the matter. In the second place, to write a book on the elements of philosophy in the Latin language is to confine the study of this most necessary science only to those who have gone through a classical course ; whereas we know by sad experience how necessary and how important it is for all our young men to be imbued with proper, true philosophical principles, to the absence of which we may attribute all the errors and evils which afflict society.

With regard to the style, of course it must be of a didactic nature — that is, brief and concise, but above all perfectly clear. Nor would we be averse now and then, when the occasion presents itself, from changing the nature of the style for one a little more pleasing and attractive, so as to lighten the difficulty and mix the useful with the sweet.

Finally, with regard to the matter, a book of elementary philosophy should contain nothing but the doctrine received by the best and greatest of Christian schools, the doctrine most received in the Church, that upon Avhich the Holy See has always looked upon with marked and never-ceasing partiality.

These are the principles which have guided us in writing these Elements of Intellectital Philosophy.

Preface, 3

As to the language, not only have we written it in English, but we have been most chary and particular in our choice. Whenever we had two words to choose from, we always preferred that which was the easiest of comprehension and of Anglo-Saxon origin. We have thought proper to discard, whenever it was possible, all words which may remind one too much of the schools, always translating into the best English we could muster, anything of such a nature ; so that in reading our Elements the young student will meet with no hard word which may require the use of the dictionary, or which may stop him in his endeavor to catch the idea.

With regard to the style, it has been our constant effort to make it as clear as possible, at the same time that we have tried to be brief. There is hardly a theory laid down which is not illustrated by one or more examples. And we venture to assert that owing to this lucidity of style ov^x Elements could be studied, and in great part understood, without a teacher by any young man of parts. We have also, whenever we possibly could, tried to illustrate our theories by quotations from the poets, to loosen the tension of the mind by something pleasing and interesting. At the end of Ontology we have shown by an abstract of all the natural sciences how they are an application of the principles of Ontology.

With regard to the matter, we have followed throughout the philosophy of the " Angel of the Schools," in which we were brought up from our youth,

4 • Preface,

and from which we have never swerved in our manhood, experience and more profound studies having led us to adhere to that philosophy more tenaciously and more ardently. Every one knows that all modern errors have originated in the abandonment of Catholic philosophy as embodied in the Catholic schools, and especially in that of St. Thomas. Consequently the only way to put a barrier to these errors, to refute them, is to turn back to that grand philosophy created by geniuses as great as Plato or Aristotle, and guided by the truth of God, which those heathen geniuses had not.

Of course, these being only elements, we have used a great moderation in the treating of all the questions connected with this science ; yet it will be found that no single important question has been omitted of which it is necessary for the student to know something.

Besides the usual parts, our Elements will close with a book on the external and internal evidences of Christianity as a complement of this science — that is to say, we shall in an elem.entary way, and without going too deeply into the matter, show the philosophical force of the proofs of the divinity of Christian revelation.

All this we have attempted to do. But have we succeeded ? No effort on our part has been or will be spared to make this book come nearer to these principles we laid down for our guidance. As for the rest, it is not for us to pronowice judgment,

Preface. 5

but others, and especially for the learned professors of this study scattered throughout the land, from v/hom we shall thankfully receive any suggestion or correction which they shall see fit to make.

At present only Logic, Ontology, and the first part of Anthropology are published. Next year, if God gives us strength, we shall publish the rest.

ELEMENTS OF

INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY.

Introduction To Philosophy

ARTICLE L

DEFINITION OF PHILOSOPHY.

Q. What is the meaning of the word philosophy?

A. It means love of wisdom, and a philosopher is a lover of wisdom. This word was used for the first time by Pythagoras, who, on being asked wliat art he professed, answered that lie was a philosopher.

Q. What did the ancients mean by the science of philosophy ?

A. They meant the knowledge of everything. This could well be in olden times, when, sciences being in their infancy, all human knowledge could be collected into one science. In this sense philosophy was defined by Cicero tJie science of all Jminan and divine things and of their causes.

Q. Does it embrace the same objects now?

A. Sciences being so much developed in our times, it would be utterly impossible to comprehend them all in one. Hence they have been divided, a particular object being set apart for each one ; therefore the object of philosophy has been also narrowed down.

Q. Explain the object of philosophy.

A. The better to do so we will premise a few remarks.

1st. Science consists in understanding tlie principles from which a thing is derived : Scire res per caiisas — to know things by tlieir causes.

2d. There are two kinds of knowledge, common and scientific. The first is satisfied with merely knowing the existence of a thing; the second goes beyond that, and is not content with merely apprehending the existence of a thing, but wants to find out why the thing is so and not otherwise, and what is the principle which causes it.

For instance, who had not seen, from the time of the first man who made a lamp and suspended it to the wall of his cottage or to the roof, that when first hung in its place it oscillated for some time from side to side until at length it came to a perpendicular? Men before Galileo perceived this fact, and passed on without seeing anything more in it. This is common knowledge. One day Galileo, observing this very fact, and noticing by more accurate observations that the oscillations were regular, perceived in this fact the principles of the law of gravitation and motion, and invented the pendulum. This is scientific knowledge.

3d. We remark that all the sciences, though distinct and different from each other according to their different objects, are yet connected together by the necessary fact of the dependence of one upon the other. For particular sciences depend upon those which are less so, and these in their turn upon those which are more general. Chemistry, for instance, is the science of the elements of bodies and of their properties, but it could not exist without another less particular science which must precede it, called physics. This latter science, which treats of the phenomena of bodies and their causes, could not exist without an-

Introduction to Philosophy. 9

other science more general which treats of the nature and properties of bodies and of all the material world, together with their causes, and which is called cosmology. But the world is a being, an existence, and therefore it could not be properly understood without the science of being in general, its properties and causes, which is called ontology. We conclude, therefore, that, as every particular science depends upon another science less particular and more general, there must be a science which investigates the most common principles of being, and which depends on no other, but on which all others depend. This science is philosophy. The objects, therefore, of philosophy are the most common principles of being.

Q. What do you mean by the most common principles of being ?

A. As St. Thomas has remarked, the most common principles of being are the first and supreme principles, beyond which there can be no other. Thus the last end, being common to all beings, is also the first and supreme end ; the most common cause, being that from which all things are originated, is the first cause, upon which every other cause depends ; the idea of being, as it is the most common idea and the simplest, is also the first idea, on which all others depend and from which all others originate. Therefore by the most common principles are meant the first and supreme principles, from v/hich everything proceeds and draws its existence. And because principles of this kind are not the property of this or that particular being, but of all beings in general, it follows that the objects of philosophy are the supreme principles of everything, and not of this or that particular thing.

O. Give the definition of philosophy according to the preceding remarks.

lo Elements of Intellectual Philosophy.

A. Philosophy is tJiat science ivJiicJi investigates the first and supreme principles of being.

It is called science because it investigates principles and cause, and therefore is a knowledge of an object by its causes.

Of the first and supreme principles, because the other sciences investigate this or that principle and cause ; philosophy only investigates the supreme and highest principles.

Of being, because philosophy does not take as its object any particular thing, but whatever comes under the denomination of being.

ARTICLE II.

DIVISION OF PHILOSOPHY.

Q. How is philosophy divided }

A. The objects of philosophy are the supreme principles of being. Therefore the parts of this science must be as many as there are natural divisions or parts of being. Now, being may be divided into three parts, rational, real, and moral. The rational is that which exists only in the mind as its own work. The real is that which has true existence outside and independent of us. The moral is that which originates in the will of man in its relation with moral law. The rational is called logic, and has for its object the order which our mind puts in its ideas. The moral is the science of ethics, and treats of the free actions of men as directed and guided by moral law. The real is called metaphysics, and is subdivided into three parts, because, as St. Thomas observes, real being may be classified under four heads. It may be either material or separated from matter. If separated from matter, this may proceed from

Introdicdion to Philosophy. 1 1

two causes. It may be separated from matter, not because it is so in reality, but because our mind, in considering a material object, may choose to leave aside the material part of it, and fix its attention only on the interior nature of the thing, which operation of the mind, as we shall see, is called abstraction, and the thing thus obtained an abstract ; or it may be separated from matter because it is so in reality, as spiritual substances, of which there are two, God and the human soul. The objects of metaphysics are, therefore, the material being, the abstract being, the soul, and God. Hence there are four parts of philosophy — cosmology, which treats of the material world ; ontology, which speaks of being in common and in the abstract ; anthropology, which treats of man, and of the human soul especially ; and theology, which treats of God as he can be known from reason.

ARTICLE III.

USE OF PHILOSOPHY ; OR, ITS CONNECTION WITH ALL THE SCIENCES AND ARTS.

Q. What is the use of philosophy ?

A. The use of philosophy cannot be fully pointed out in this introduction, but will be seen at the end of the course. Yet, to excite in the student an ardent desire and love for such a study, we shall briefly point out its use and its connection with all the sciences and arts by developing the following argument. All the sciences and arts depend upon philosophy as to their certainty^ as to their principles, '2Si6i as to their mctJiod. Therefore all the sciences and arts depend upon philosophy and are impossible without it. And, first, as to their certainty. Philosophy has for its object the supreme principles of everything. Consequently its objects are also those supreme principles of certainty and evidence, those criteria of truth, supported by which our mind clings to truth without hesitation or fear of the contrary, and with perfect assurance and satisfaction. In this sense philosophy has a character of universality which subjects to it all the sciences and arts. For instance, physical sciences ' have for their object everything which comes within, the observation of the senses. But is what falls under the observation of the senses a true and exterior reality, or merely a sensation and a modification of our soul ? If what falls under our senses is not an objective reality, but merely an internal modification ; if our souls perceive no more than the image of objects, as some of the ancient philosophers thought ; if odors, colors, figures, and forms are not qualities of real bodies ; if these bodies and these qualities are not the determining causes of taste, of smell, of sight, etc., is it not evident that the base of. all physical sciences crumbles down, and that all those sciences play about mere fictions of our mind, sheer and useless idealities ? The natural philosopher studies the bod3^ But what is a body? Is it an illusion, a sheer appearance, as was pretended by the Indian pantheists, and as was held by Berkeley only a century ago ? And is it not clear that upon the solution of all these questions depends the certainty of all physical sciences ? Again, the natural philosophers seek for the causes of all the operations of bodies. For, by examining a sufficient number of operations and constant facts, they endeavor to explain the causes of such operations and assign laws by which the material world is directed. Now, if, as Hume pretends, the idea of cause is a chimera, the certainty of all physical sciences is shaken, and we must consider as

Introdtiction to Philosophy. 1 3

dreams and visions all those pretended laws of the universe of which natural sciences endeavor to demonstrate the reality, generality, and permanence. Then all the relations of causality become simple relations of succession and time, all the operations of nature beco.me isolated ; we have no longer any co-ordination or union among beings, and that magnificent and admirable connection which binds the facts of the sensible world to each other and to their universal principle vanishes from our eyes to make room for a complete chaos. In the second place, all the sciences and arts depend upon philosophy for their principles, because the objects of philosophy are the supreme principles of everything. Thus physical sciences are founded upon the idea of being, of substance, of matter, of quality ; upon the ideas of cause and effect. Without these ideas they could not proceed one step in these investigations. But what is being? What is substance ? What is matter, and what distinguishes it from spirit ? All these ideas must be given by philosophy.

Mathematical sciences depend upon it. Arithmetic is founded upon the idea of member, and consequently upon the ideas of unity and distinction; algebra upon the idea of signs representing known and unknown quantities ; geometry upon the ideas of form and size, and consequently upon the Idea of extension and space ; mechanics upon the Ideas of force, of movement, and of weight. Consequently, all mathematical sciences depend upon philosophy for their principles.

Moral sciences depend upon it, because they depend upon the ideas of the good and the just. Now, to determine what Is really good and just depends absolutely upon a true and correct system of philosophy. For If we hold, with the sensists, that man Is but an ag-

1 4 Elements of Intell&C'hml Philosophy.

gregate of sensations, we shall have the consequence that that only is good which is agreeable or which is useful, and hence the moral of pleasure and of interest.

Political sciences, legislation, civil and social right, the right of nations, social and domestic economy, public and private education — in fact, all the sciences which have more or less connection with the government of nations, of the family, and of the individual, borrow from philosophy their principles and their rules ; because none can govern a man, a family, or a nation without having studied the human soul, its laws and its destiny ; without knowing its nature, its faculties, the motives which can influence the human heart and the human will ; Avithout knowing the objects which one must propose to it for its actions. And are not all these things the essential province of philosophy ?

Medical sciences are closely allied to psychological and moral sciences. Our soul and body are united with a bond too intimate to permit the physiologist to ignore the influence of the organism on the soul and of the soul on the organism. The most perfect knowledge of the organs, and of the physical causes which derange them, would be incomplete and almost useless, if he who practises the art of healing, directing his attention exclusively to physical causes, were to disregard moral causes ; if a deep knowledge of the passions, of habits, of their influence, could not enable him to combat the derangement of the organism by re-establishing order and tranquillity in the thoughts and mental functions of the patient ; because man is not merely passive, and none can determine how far the free development of his activity may modify the power which he has of imagining and of feeling, and

Ijitrodiiction to Philosophy. 15

in a certain way cliange all his different modes of existence.

But does philosophy rule over the aesthetical sciences, over literature as forms of our thoughts, over arts? Certainly, because it furnishes the idea of the beautiful, as well as of truth and goodness. All ideas depend on it, and by the very fact that it seeks truth in all things it is its office to determine what is really beautiful. And, first of all, is not truth eminently beautiful ? What strikes the intellect more than the splendor of evidence, than the light of complete knowledge which illumines objects? What more j^leasant and more keenly delightful than that which arises from the contemplation and possession of truth?

Order also has a secret charm- for us which entices us and causes us to reproduce it in all our works. But what is order? Order in the disposition of objects, order in the distribution of colors, in the reproduction of sounds and forms, is regularitv, fitness, and harmony ; order in the Imagination is the conformity of our fancy images with the realities of nature ; order in our thoughts is their logical concatenation ; order in our actions is the accomplishment of our ,duty, the conformity^ of the same actions with moral law ; order in society is subordination, in the family obedience and love, in the individual is the subjection of his passions to his will, and of the latter to God ; order in the exercise of authority is the general good, in the exercise of the intellect is truth, in the object of our love is perfection. Now, all this is assuredly beautiful and is taught by philosophy ; and this science does not leave it to the individual caprice to determine the notion of the beautiful, but from the constant experience of all that which mankind calls beautiful in i6 , Elements of Intellectual Philosophy.

nature and art, in man and in society, rises to the essential and universal idea of the beautiful and determines its laws. If the idea of the beautiful were something changeable, individual, and relative ; if its essence could be modified according to the difference of sensations, of tastes and temperaments, then all arts would be at an end, because there can be no art where science has not discovered fixed principles and laws. All aesthetic sciences, therefore, depend upon philosophy.

All industrial sciences depend upon it for its principles, because all these sciences have for their object that which is useful, and that which is useful is inseparable from the true, the good, and the beautiful. Run over all the arts which are destined to provide for the wants of men, to increase the sum of their enjoyments, and you will not find one which can be considered truly useful if it is in opposition with the immutable ideas of the true, the just, and the beautiful. Let human industry create and multiply wants unnatural and fictitious, contrary to man's true nature, and it will be highly injurious to man ; let human industry create and multiply wants contrary to his intelligence, to his morality, to the physical laws of his body, and their usefulness disappears, and they become dangerous, and sap the very foundation of man's happiness.

History depends upon philosophy ; for devoid of it, it would be a catalogue of facts and events without any connection, without cause, without any warrant of authenticity, if it confined itself to gather up indifferently whatever is transmitted to it by the memory, too frequently fallacious, of men and peoples. But history becomes science when one seeks the laws and the moral causes of events, when a sound criticism discusses

Introduction to Philosophy. ' ly

with severity tlie proofs and motives of credibility — in one word, vvlien one studies to reconcile in all the annals of nations human liberty with the providential action of God, and thus creates a philosophy of history.

Finally, all the sciences depend upon philosophy for their method. Man, in all his investigations, must use certain rules to discover truth, to prove it when found, to illustrate, to defend it from the attacks of its enemies, to explain it to others. All this is called by the general name of method. And where shall we find the proper rules to discover truth, to prove it, to defend it, and to explain it to others, if not in philosophy — in that part which teaches the laws for directing and guiding human thought in its researches ? And, last of all, our faith, without which we cannot attain our eternal destiny, depends in a certain sense upon philosophy. 1st. Philosophy must enable us to find out the true Church, by examining the motives of credibility upon which it rests and recommends itself to our minds, and by proving the necessity of an infallible guide for the solution of problems which it cannot solve, and which it is absolutely important for it to know. When this infallible guide is found and accepted, it is true that philosophy must bow then in silent submission to the dogmas which the Church proposes as the object of its acceptance as solution of philosophy's own problems, and of others far greater, because the Church teaches the philosophy of God, who, being infinite, has truths to tell far above the ken of human philosophy ; but even after accepting this philosophy of the infinite, this supreme science of man is eminently useful in putting these supernatural and superintelligible truths in scientific order, in illustrating them by means of created images and similitudes which may bear a faint impression of those

1 8 Elemeji ts of In tellectua I PIi ilosophy.

truths, and which may serve to recommend their acceptance to man, and in defending them from the attacks of their enemies.

These are in a few words the use of philosophy, so neglected and despised by the ignorant crowd. We will conclude these remarks with the words of the poet :

"With thee, serene Philosophy, vvith thee And thy bright garland let me crown my song. Effusive source of evidence and truth ! A lustre shedding over the ennobled mind. Stronger than summer noon, and pure as that Whose mild vibrations soothe the parted soul New to the dawn of celestial day.

Hence through her nourished powers, enlarged by thee, She springs aloft with elevated pride Above the tangling mass of low desires That bind the fluttering crowd, and, angel-winged, The height of science and of virtue gains. Without thee what were unenlightened man ? A savage running through the woods and wilds In quest of prey, and with the unfashioned fur Rough clad ; devoid of ever}^ finer art And elegance of life. Nor happiness Domestic mixed of tenderness and care, Nor moral excellence, nor social bliss. Nor guardian law were his ; nor various skill To turn the furrow or to guide the tool Mechanic ; nor the heaven-conducted prow Of navigation bold that fearless braves The burning line or dares the wintery pole, Mother severe of infinite delights ! Nothing save rapine, indolence, and guile. And woes on woes, a still revolving train, Whose horrid circle had made human life Than non-existence worse ; but, taught by thee. Ours are the plans of policy and peace •, To live like brothers, and conjunctive all Embellish life. While thus laborious crowds Ply the tough car, Philosophy directs The ruling helm ; or, like the liberal breath Of potent heaven, invisible, the sail Swells out and bears th' inferior world along."

— Thomson, Stimmef,-

LOGIC

*' He that is of reason'' s skill bereft,

And wants the staff of wisdom him to stay, Is like a ship in the midst of tempest left, Without an helm or pilot her to sway."

— Spenser. 19

LOGIC.

IN TROD UCTION.

Q. Give a general idea of logic.