07 - Book II Chapters 13-23

Section 7 of The Orthodox Faith by John of Damascus. Translated by S. D. F. Salmon. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Book 2, Chapter 13. Concerning Pleasures. There are pleasures of the soul and pleasures of the body. The pleasures of the soul are those which are the exclusive possession of the soul, such as the pleasures of learning and contemplation. The pleasures of the body, however, are those which are enjoyed by soul and body in fellowship, and hence are called bodily pleasures. And such are the pleasures of food and intercourse and the like. But one could not find any class of pleasures belonging solely to the body. Again, some pleasures are true, others false. And the exclusively intellectual pleasures consist in knowledge and contemplation, while the pleasures of body depend upon sensation. Further, of bodily pleasures, some are both natural and necessary, in the absence of which life is impossible. For example, the pleasures of food, which replenishes waste, and the pleasures of necessary clothing. Others are natural but not necessary, as the pleasures of natural and lawful intercourse. For though the function that these perform is to secure the permanence of the race as a whole, it is still possible to live a virgin life apart from them. Others, however, are neither natural nor necessary, such as drunkenness, lust, and surfeiting to excess. For these contribute neither to the maintenance of our own lives nor to the succession of the race, but, on the contrary, are rather even a hindrance. He, therefore, that would live a life acceptable to God, must follow after those pleasures which are both natural and necessary, and must give a secondary place to those which are natural but not necessary, and enjoy them only in fitting season, and manner, and measure, while the others must be altogether renounced. Those, then, are to be considered moral pleasures which are not bound up with pain and bring no cause for repentance, and result in no harm, and keep within the bounds of moderation, and do not draw us far away from serious occupations, nor make slaves of us. CHAPTER XIV. CONCERNING PAIN THERE ARE FOUR VARIETIES OF PAIN, NAMELY ANGUISH, GRIEF, ENVY, PITY. ANGUISH IS PAIN WITHOUT UTTERANCE. GRIEF IS PAIN THAT IS HEAVY TO BEAR LIKE A BURDEN. ENVY IS PAIN OVER THE GOOD FORTUNE OF OTHERS. PITY IS PAIN OVER THE EVIL FORTUNE OF OTHERS. CHAPTER XV. CONCERNING FEAR FEAR IS DIVIDED INTO SIX VARIETIES, NAMELY SHRINKING, SHAME, DISGRACE, CONSTERNATION, PANIC, ANXIETY. SHRINKING IS FEAR OF SOME ACT ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE. SHAME IS FEAR ARISING FROM THE ANTICIPATION OF BLAME, AND THIS IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF THE AFFECTION. DISGRACE IS FEAR SPRINGING FROM SOME BASE ACT ALREADY DONE, AND EVEN FOR THIS FORM THERE IS SOME HOPE OF SALVATION. CONSTERNATION IS FEAR ORIGINATING IN SOME HUGE PRODUCT OF THE IMAGINATION. PANIC IS FEAR CAUSED BY SOME UNUSUAL PRODUCT OF THE IMAGINATION. ANXIETY IS FEAR OF FAILURE, THAT IS OF MISFORTUNE. FOR WHEN WE FEAR THAT OUR EFFORTS WILL NOT MEET WITH SUCCESS, WE SUFFER ANXIETY. CHAPTER XVI. CONCERNING ANGER ANGER IS THE EVOLUTION OF THE HEART'S BLOOD PRODUCED BY BILIOUS EXHALATION OR TURBIDITY. HENCE IT IS THAT THE WORDS COLEI AND KOLOS ARE BOTH USED IN THE SENSE OF ANGER. ANGER IS SOMETIMES LUST FOR VENGEANCE. FOR WHEN WE ARE WRONGED OR THINK THAT WE ARE WRONGED, WE ARE DISTRESSED, AND THERE ARISES THIS MIXTURE OF DESIRE AND ANGER. THERE ARE THREE FORMS OF ANGER. RAGE, WHICH THE GREEKS ALSO CALL COLEI OR KOLOS, MANUS AND KATAS. WHEN ANGER ARISES AND BEGINS TO BE ROUSED, IT IS CALLED RAGE OR COLEI OR KOLOS. WRATH, AGAIN, IMPLIES THAT THE BILE ENDURES, THAT IS TO SAY, THAT THE MEMORY OF THE WRONG ABIDES, AND INDEED, THE GREEK WORD FOR IT, MANUS, IS DERIVED FROM MENANE, AND MEANS WHAT ABIDES AND IS TRANSFERRED TO MEMORY. RANCOUR, ON THE OTHER HAND, IMPLIES WATCHING FOR A SUITABLE MOMENT FOR REVENGE, AND THE GREEK WORD FOR IT IS KATAS, FROM KESTHAI. ANGER, FURTHER, IS THE SATELLITE OF REASON, THE VINDICATOR OF DESIRE. FOR WHEN WE LONG AFTER ANYTHING AND ARE OPPOSED IN OUR DESIRE BY SOMEONE, WE ARE ANGERED AT THAT PERSON AS THOUGH WE HAD BEEN WRONGED. AND REASON EVIDENTLY DEEMS THAT THERE ARE JUST GROUNDS FOR DISPLEASURE IN WHAT HAS HAPPENED, IN THE CASE OF THOSE WHO, LIKE US, HAVE IN THE NATURAL COURSE OF THINGS TO GUARD THEIR OWN POSITION. CHAPTER 17 CONCERNING IMAGINATION IMAGINATION IS A FACULTY OF THE UNREASONING PART OF THE SOUL. IT IS THROUGH THE ORGANS OF SENSE THAT IT IS BROUGHT INTO ACTION, AND IT IS SPOKEN OF AS SENSATION. AND, FURTHER, WHAT IS IMAGINED AND PERCEIVED IS THAT WHICH COMES WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE FACULTY OF IMAGINATION AND SENSATION. FOR EXAMPLE, THE SENSE OF SIGHT IS THE VISUAL FACULTY ITSELF, BUT THE OBJECT OF SIGHT IS THAT WHICH COMES WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE SENSE OF SIGHT, SUCH AS A STONE OR ANY OTHER SUCH OBJECT. FURTHER, AN IMAGINATION IS AN AFFECTION OF THE UNREASONING PART OF THE SOUL, WHICH IS OCCASIONED BY SOME OBJECT ACTING UPON THE SENSATION. BUT AN APPEARANCE IS AN EMPTY AFFECTION OF THE UNREASONING PART OF THE SOUL, NOT OCCASIONED BY ANY OBJECT ACTING UPON THE SENSATION. MOREOVER, THE ORGAN OF IMAGINATION IS THE ANTERIOR VENTRICLE OF THE BRAIN. CHAPTER 18 CONCERNING SENSATION SENSATION IS THAT FACULTY OF THE SOUL WHEREBY MATERIAL OBJECTS CAN BE APPREHENDED OR DISCRIMINATED, AND THE SENSORIA ARE THE ORGANS OR MEMBERS THROUGH WHICH SENSATIONS ARE CONVEYED, AND THE OBJECTS OF SENSE ARE THE THINGS THAT COME WITHIN THE PROVINCE OF SENSATION, AND LASTLY, THE SUBJECT OF SENSE IS THE LIVING ANIMAL WHICH POSSESSES THE FACULTY OF SENSATION. NOW THERE ARE FIVE SENSES, AND LIKEWISE FIVE ORGANS OF SENSE. THE FIRST SENSE IS SIGHT, AND THE SENSORIA, OR ORGANS OF SIGHT, ARE THE NERVES OF THE BRAIN AND THE EYES. NOW SIGHT IS PRIMARILY PERCEPTION OF COLOR, BUT ALONG WITH THE COLOR IT DISCRIMINATES THE BODY THAT HAS COLOR, AND ITS SIZE AND FORM AND LOCALITY, AND THE INTERVENING SPACE, AND THE NUMBER. ALSO, WHETHER IT IS IN MOTION OR AT REST, ROUGH OR SMOOTH, EVEN OR UNEVEN, SHARP OR BLUNT, AND FINALLY, WHETHER ITS COMPOSITION IS WATERY OR EARTHY, THAT IS, WET OR DRY. THE SECOND SENSE IS HEARING, WHEREBY VOICES AND SOUNDS ARE PERCEIVED, AND IT DISTINGUISHES THESE AS SHARP OR DEEP, OR SMOOTH OR LOUD. ITS ORGANS ARE THE SOFT NERVES OF THE BRAIN AND THE STRUCTURE OF THE EARS. FURTHER, MAN AND THE APE ARE THE ONLY ANIMALS THAT DO NOT MOVE THEIR EARS. THE THIRD SENSE IS SMELL, WHICH IS CAUSED BY THE NOSTRILS TRANSMITTING THE VAPORS TO THE BRAIN, AND IT IS BOUNDED BY THE EXTREME LIMITS OF THE ANTERIOR VENTRICLE OF THE BRAIN. IT IS THE FACULTY BY WHICH VAPORS ARE PERCEIVED AND APPREHENDED. NOW THE MOST GENERIC DISTINCTION BETWEEN VAPORS IS WHETHER THEY HAVE A GOOD OR AN EVIL ODOR, OR FORM AN INTERMEDIATE CLASS WITH NEITHER A GOOD NOR AN EVIL ODOR. A good odor is produced by the thorough digestion in the body of the humors. When they are only moderately digested, the intermediate class is formed, and when the digestion is very imperfect or utterly wanting, an evil odor results. THE FOURTH SENSE IS TASTE. IT IS THE FACULTY WHEREBY THE HUMORS ARE APPREHENDED OR PERCEIVED AND ITS ORGANS OF SENSE ARE THE TONGUE AND, MORE ESPECIALLY, THE LIPS AND THE PALATE, WHICH THE GREEKS CALL OORANISKOS. AND IN THESE ARE NERVES THAT COME FROM THE BRAIN AND ARE SPREAD OUT AND CONVEY TO THE DOMINANT PART OF THE SOUL THE PERCEPTION OR SENSATION THEY HAVE ENCOUNTERED. THE SO-CALLED GUSTATORY QUALITIES OF THE HUMORS ARE THESE SWEETNESS, PUNGENCY, BITTERNESS, ASTRINGENCY, ASSERVITY, SOURNESS, SALTNESS, FATTINESS, STICKINESS. FOR TASTE IS CAPABLE OF DISCRIMINATING ALL THESE. BUT WATER HAS NONE OF THESE QUALITIES AND IS THEREFORE DEVOID OF TASTE. MOREOVER, ASTRINGENCY IS ONLY A MORE INTENSE AND EXAGGERATED FORM OF ASSERVITY. THE FIFTH SENSE IS TOUCH, WHICH IS COMMON TO ALL LIVING THINGS. ITS ORGANS ARE NERVES WHICH COME FROM THE BRAIN AND RAMIFY ALL THROUGH THE BODY. HENCE THE BODY AS A WHOLE, INCLUDING EVEN THE OTHER ORGANS OF SENSE, MUST POSSESS THE SENSE OF TOUCH. WITHIN ITS SCOPE COME HEAT AND COLD, SOFTNESS AND HARDNESS, VISCOSITY AND BRITTLENESS, HEAVINESS AND LIGHTNESS. FOR IT IS BY TOUCH ALONE THAT THESE QUALITIES ARE DISCRIMINATED. ON THE OTHER HAND, ROUGHNESS AND SMOOTHNESS, DRYNESS AND WETNESS, THICKNESS AND THINNESS, UP AND DOWN, PLACE AND SIZE, WHENEVER THAT IS SUCH AS TO BE EMBRACED IN A SINGLE APPLICATION OF THE SENSE OF TOUCH, ARE ALL COMMON TO TOUCH AND SIGHT, AS WELL AS DENSENESS AND RARENESS, THAT IS, FEROCITY AND ROTUNDITY IF IT IS SMALL AND SOME OTHER SHAPES. IN LIKE MANNER ALSO, BY THE AID OF MEMORY AND THOUGHT, PERCEPTION OF THE NEARNESS OF A BODY IS POSSIBLE, AND SIMILARLY, PERCEPTION OF NUMBER UP TO TWO OR THREE, AND SUCH SMALL AND EASILY RECKONED FIGURES. BUT IT IS BY SIGHT, RATHER THAN TOUCH, THAT THESE THINGS ARE PERCEIVED. THE CREATOR, IT IS TO BE NOTED, FASHIONED ALL THE OTHER ORGANS OF SENSE IN PAIRS, SO THAT IF ONE WERE DESTROYED, THE OTHER MIGHT FILL ITS PLACE, FOR THERE ARE TWO EYES, TWO EARS, TWO ORIFICES OF THE NOSE, AND TWO TONGUES, WHICH IN SOME ANIMALS, SUCH AS SNAKES, ARE SEPARATE, BUT IN OTHERS, LIKE MAN, ARE UNITED. BUT TOUCH IS SPREAD OVER THE WHOLE BODY, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF BONES, NERVES, NAILS, HORNS, HAIRS, LIGAMENTS, AND OTHER SUCH STRUCTURES. FURTHER, IT IS TO BE OBSERVED THAT SIGHT IS POSSIBLE ONLY IN STRAIGHT LINES, WHEREAS SMELL AND HEARING ARE NOT LIMITED TO STRAIGHT LINES ONLY, BUT ACT IN ALL DIRECTIONS. TOUCH, AGAIN, AND TASTE ACT NEITHER IN STRAIGHT LINES NOR IN EVERY DIRECTION, BUT ONLY WHEN EACH COMES NEAR TO THE SENSIBLE OBJECTS THAT ARE PROPER TO IT. CHAPTER NINETEEN CONCERNING THOUGHT THE FACULTY OF THOUGHT DEALS WITH JUDGEMENTS AND ASCENTS AND IMPULSE TO ACTION AND DISINCLINATIONS AND ESCAPES FROM ACTION, AND MORE ESPECIALLY WITH THOUGHTS CONNECTED WITH WHAT IS THINKABLE AND THE VIRTUES AND THE DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF LEARNING AND THE THEORIES OF THE ARTS AND MATTERS OF COUNSEL AND CHOICE. FURTHER, IT IS THIS FACULTY WHICH PROPHESIES THE FUTURE TO US IN DREAMS, AND THIS IS WHAT THE PYTHAGOREANS, ADOPTING THE HEBREW VIEW, HOLD TO BE THE ONE TRUE FORM OF PROPHECY. THE ORGAN OF THOUGHT, THEN, IS THE MID-VENTRICLE OF THE BRAIN AND THE VITAL SPIRIT IT CONTAINS. THE FACULTY OF MEMORY IS THE CAUSE AND STOREHOUSE OF REMEMBRANCE AND RECOLLECTION. FOR MEMORY IS A FANTASY THAT IS LEFT BEHIND OF SOME SENSATION AND THOUGHT MANIFESTING ITSELF IN ACTION, OR THE PRESERVATION OF A SENSATION AND THOUGHT. FOR THE SOUL COMPREHENDS OBJECTS OF SENSE THROUGH THE ORGANS OF SENSE, THAT IS TO SAY, IT PERCEIVES AND THENCE ARISES A NOTION. AND, SIMILARLY, IT COMPREHENDS THE OBJECTS OF THOUGHT THROUGH THE MIND AND THENCE ARISES A THOUGHT. IT IS THEN THE PRESERVATION OF THE TYPES OF THESE NOTIONS AND THOUGHTS THAT IS SPOKEN OF AS MEMORY. FURTHER, IT IS WORTHY OF REMARK THAT THE APPREHENSION OF MATTERS OF THOUGHT DEPENDS ON LEARNING OR A NATURAL PROCESS OF THOUGHT AND NOT ON SENSATION. FOR THOUGH OBJECTS OF SENSE ARE RETAINED IN THE MEMORY BY THEMSELVES, ONLY SUCH OBJECTS OF THOUGHT ARE REMEMBERED AS WE HAVE LEARNED AND WE HAVE NO MEMORY OF THEIR ESSENCE. RECOLLECTION IS THE NAME GIVEN TO THE RECOVERY OF SOME MEMORY LOST BY FORGETFULNESS FOR FORGETFULNESS IS JUST LOSS OF MEMORY. THE FACULTY OF IMAGINATION, THEN, HAVING APPREHENDED MATERIAL OBJECTS THROUGH THE SENSES, TRANSMITS THIS TO THE FACULTY OF THOUGHT OR REASON FOR THEY ARE BOTH THE SAME AND THIS, AFTER IT HAS RECEIVED AND PASSED JUDGEMENT ON IT, PASSES IT ON TO THE FACULTY OF MEMORY. NOW THE ORGAN OF MEMORY IS THE POSTERIOR VENTRICLE OF THE BRAIN, WHICH THE GREEKS CALL HERAKEPHALES, AND THE VITAL SPIRIT IT CONTAINS. CHAPTER 21 CONCERNING CONCEPTION AND ARTICULATION AGAIN, THE REASONING PART OF THE SOUL IS DIVIDED INTO CONCEPTION AND ARTICULATION. CONCEPTION IS AN ACTIVITY OF THE SOUL ORIGINATING IN THE REASON WITHOUT RESULTING IN UTTERANCE. ACCORDINGLY, OFTEN, EVEN WHEN WE ARE SILENT, WE RUN THROUGH A WHOLE SPEECH IN OUR MINDS AND HOLD DISCUSSIONS IN OUR DREAMS. AND IT IS THIS FACULTY CHIEFLY THAT CONSTITUTES US ALL REASONABLE BEINGS. FOR THOSE WHO ARE DUMB BY BIRTH OR HAVE LOST THEIR VOICE THROUGH SOME DISEASE OR INJURY ARE JUST AS MUCH REASONING BEINGS. BUT ARTICULATION BY VOICE OR IN THE DIFFERENT DIALECTS REQUIRES ENERGY. THAT IS TO SAY, THE WORD IS ARTICULATED BY THE TONGUE AND MOUTH, AND THIS IS WHY IT IS NAMED ARTICULATION. IT IS INDEED THE MESSENGER OF THOUGHT, AND IT IS BECAUSE OF IT THAT WE ARE CALLED SPEAKING BEINGS. CHAPTER 22 CONCERNING PASSION AND ENERGY PASSION IS A WORD WITH VARIOUS MEANINGS. IT IS USED IN REGARD TO THE BODY AND REFERS TO DISEASES AND WOUNDS. AND AGAIN, IT IS USED IN REFERENCE TO THE SOUL AND MEANS DESIRE AND ANGER. BUT TO SPEAK BROADLY AND GENERALLY, PASSION IS AN ANIMAL AFFECTION WHICH IS SUCCEEDED BY PLEASURE AND PAIN. FOR PAIN SUCCEEDS PASSION, BUT IS NOT THE SAME THING AS PASSION. FOR PASSION IS AN AFFECTION OF THINGS WITHOUT SENSE, BUT NOT SO PAIN. PAIN, THEN, IS NOT PASSION, BUT THE SENSATION OF PASSION. AND IT MUST BE CONSIDERABLE, THAT IS TO SAY, IT MUST BE GREAT ENOUGH TO COME WITHIN THE SCOPE OF SENSE. AGAIN, THE DEFINITION OF PASSIONS OF THE SOUL IS THIS. PASSION IS A SENSIBLE ACTIVITY OF THE APPETITIVE FACULTY, DEPENDING ON THE PRESENTATION TO THE MIND OF SOMETHING GOOD OR BAD. OR, IN OTHER WORDS, PASSION IS AN IRRATIONAL ACTIVITY OF THE SOUL, RESULTING FROM THE NOTION OF SOMETHING GOOD OR BAD. BUT THE NOTION OF SOMETHING GOOD RESULTS IN DESIRE, AND THE NOTION OF SOMETHING BAD RESULTS IN ANGER. BUT PASSION CONSIDERED AS A CLASS, THAT IS, PASSION IN GENERAL, IS DEFINED AS A MOVEMENT IN ONE THING CAUSED BY ANOTHER. ENERGY, ON THE OTHER HAND, IS A DRASTIC MOVEMENT, AND BY DRASTIC IS MEANT THAT WHICH IS MOVED OF ITSELF. THUS, ANGER IS THE ENERGY MANIFESTED BY THE PART OF THE SOUL WHERE ANGER RESIDES, WHEREAS PASSION INVOLVES THE TWO DIVISIONS OF THE SOUL AND, IN ADDITION, THE WHOLE BODY WHEN IT IS FORCIBLY IMPELLED TO ACTION BY ANGER. FOR THERE HAS BEEN CAUSED MOVEMENT IN ONE THING CAUSED BY ANOTHER, AND THIS IS CALLED PASSION. BUT IN ANOTHER SENSE, ENERGY IS SPOKEN OF AS PASSION. FOR ENERGY IS A MOVEMENT IN HARMONY WITH NATURE, WHEREAS PASSION IS A MOVEMENT AT VARIANCE WITH NATURE. ACCORDING THEN TO THIS VIEW, ENERGY MAY BE SPOKEN OF AS PASSION WHEN IT DOES NOT ACT IN ACCORD WITH NATURE, WHETHER ITS MOVEMENT IS DUE TO ITSELF OR TO SOME OTHER THING. THUS, IN CONNECTION WITH THE HEART, ITS NATURAL PULSATION IS ENERGY, WHEREAS ITS PALPITATION, WHICH IS AN EXCESSIVE AND UNNATURAL MOVEMENT, IS PASSION AND NOT ENERGY. BUT IT IS NOT EVERY ACTIVITY OF THE PASSIONATE PART OF THE SOUL THAT IS CALLED PASSION, BUT ONLY THE MORE VIOLENT ONES, AND SUCH AS ARE CAPABLE OF CAUSING SENSATION. FOR THE MINOR AND UNPERCEIVED MOVEMENTS ARE CERTAINLY NOT PASSIONS. FOR TO CONSTITUTE PASSION, THERE IS NECESSARY A CONSIDERABLE DEGREE OF FORCE, AND THUS IT IS ON THIS ACCOUNT THAT WE ADD TO THE DEFINITION OF PASSION THAT IT IS A SENSIBLE ACTIVITY. FOR THE LESSER ACTIVITIES ESCAPE THE NOTICE OF THE SENSES AND DO NOT CAUSE PASSION. OBSERVE ALSO THAT OUR SOUL POSSESSES TWO-FOLD FACULTIES, THOSE OF KNOWLEDGE AND THOSE OF LIFE. THE FACULTIES OF KNOWLEDGE ARE MIND, THOUGHT, NOTION, PRESENTATION, SENSATION, AND THE VITAL OR APPETITIVE FACULTIES ARE WILL AND CHOICE. NOW, TO MAKE WHAT HAS BEEN SAID CLEARER, LET US CONSIDER THESE THINGS MORE CLOSELY, AND FIRST LET US TAKE THE FACULTIES OF KNOWLEDGE. PRESENTATION AND SENSATION, THEN, HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUFFICIENTLY DISCUSSED ABOVE. IT IS SENSATION THAT CAUSES A PASSION WHICH IS CALLED PRESENTATION TO ARISE IN THE SOUL, AND FROM PRESENTATION COMES NOTION. THEREAFTER, THOUGHT, WEIGHING THE TRUTH OR FALSENESS OF THE NOTION, DETERMINES WHAT IS TRUE, AND THIS EXPLAINS THE GREEK WORD FOR THOUGHT, DIANOIA, WHICH IS DERIVED FROM DIANOEIN, MEANING TO THINK AND DISCRIMINATE. THAT, HOWEVER, WHICH IS JUDGED AND DETERMINED TO BE TRUE IS SPOKEN OF AS MIND. OR, TO PUT IT OTHERWISE, THE PRIMARY ACTIVITY OF THE MIND, OBSERVED, IS INTELLIGENCE, BUT INTELLIGENCE APPLIED TO ANY OBJECT IS CALLED A THOUGHT, AND WHEN THIS PERSISTS AND MAKES ON THE MIND AN IMPRESSION OF THE OBJECT OF THOUGHT, IT IS NAMED REFLECTION, AND WHEN REFLECTION DWELLS ON THE SAME OBJECT AND PUTS ITSELF TO THE TEST AND CLOSELY EXAMINES THE RELATION OF THE THOUGHT TO THE SOUL, IT GETS THE NAME PRUDENCE. FURTHER, PRUDENCE, WHEN IT EXTENDS ITS AREA, FORMS THE POWER OF REASONING AND IS CALLED CONCEPTION, AND THIS IS DEFINED AS THE FULLEST ACTIVITY OF THE SOUL, ARISING IN THAT PART WHERE REASON RESIDES, AND BEING DEVOID OF OUTWARD EXPRESSION, AND FROM IT PROCEEDS THE UTTERED WORD SPOKEN BY THE TONGUE. AND NOW THAT WE HAVE DISCUSSED THE FACULTIES OF KNOWLEDGE, LET US TURN TO THE VITAL OR APPETITIVE FACULTIES. IT SHOULD BE UNDERSTOOD THAT THERE IS IMPLANTED IN THE SOUL BY NATURE A FACULTY OF DESIRING THAT WHICH IS IN HARMONY WITH ITS NATURE, AND OF MAINTAINING IN CLOSE UNION ALL THAT BELONGS ESSENTIALLY TO ITS NATURE. AND THIS POWER IS CALLED WILL OR THALASIS, FOR THE ESSENCE BOTH OF EXISTENCE AND OF LIVING YEARNS AFTER ACTIVITY BOTH AS REGARDS MIND AND SENSE, AND IN THIS IT MERELY LONGS TO REALIZE ITS OWN NATURAL AND PERFECT BEING. AND SO THIS DEFINITION ALSO IS GIVEN OF THE NATURAL WILL. WILL IS AN APPETITE, BOTH RATIONAL AND VITAL, DEPENDING ONLY ON WHAT IS NATURAL, SO THAT WILL IS NOTHING ELSE THAN THE NATURAL AND VITAL AND RATIONAL APPETITE OF ALL THINGS THAT GO TO CONSTITUTE NATURE, THAT IS, JUST THE SIMPLE FACULTY, FOR THE APPETITE OF CREATURES WITHOUT REASON, SINCE IT IS IRRATIONAL, IS NOT CALLED WILL. AGAIN, BOOLASIS, OR WISH, IS A SORT OF NATURAL WILL, THAT IS TO SAY, A NATURAL AND RATIONAL APPETITE FOR SOME DEFINITE THING. FOR THERE IS SEATED IN THE SOUL OF MAN A FACULTY OF RATIONAL DESIRE. WHEN, THEN, THIS RATIONAL DESIRE DIRECTS ITSELF NATURALLY TO SOME DEFINITE OBJECT, IT IS CALLED WISH. FOR WISH IS RATIONAL DESIRE AND LONGING FOR SOME DEFINITE THING. WISH, HOWEVER, IS USED BOTH IN CONNECTION WITH WHAT IS WITHIN OUR POWER AND IN CONNECTION WITH WHAT IS OUTSIDE OUR POWER, THAT IS, BOTH WITH REGARD TO THE POSSIBLE AND THE IMPOSSIBLE. FOR WE WISH OFTEN TO INDULGE LUST OR TO BE TEMPERATE OR TO SLEEP AND THE LIKE, AND THESE ARE WITHIN OUR POWER TO ACCOMPLISH AND POSSIBLE. BUT WE WISH ALSO TO BE KINGS, AND THIS IS NOT WITHIN OUR POWER. OR WE WISH PERCHANCE NEVER TO DIE, AND THIS IS AN IMPOSSIBILITY. THE WISH, THEN, HAS REFERENCE TO THE END ALONE AND NOT TO THE MEANS BY WHICH THE END IS ATTAINED. THE END IS THE OBJECT OF OUR WISH, FOR INSTANCE, TO BE A KING OR TO ENJOY GOOD HEALTH. BUT THE MEANS BY WHICH THE END IS ATTAINED, THAT IS TO SAY, THE MANNER IN WHICH WE OUGHT TO ENJOY GOOD HEALTH OR REACH THE RANK OF KING ARE THE OBJECTS OF DELIBERATION. THEN, AFTER WISH, FOLLOW INQUIRY AND SPECULATION, ZETITIS AND SKEPSIS, AND AFTER THESE, IF THE OBJECT IS ANYTHING WITHIN OUR POWER, COMES COUNSEL OR DELIBERATION, BOULET OR BOULOISIS. COUNSEL IS AN APPETITE FOR INVESTIGATING LINES OF ACTION LYING WITHIN OUR OWN POWER. FOR ONE DELIBERATES WHETHER ONE OUGHT TO PROSECUTE ANY MATTER OR NOT, AND NEXT, ONE DECIDES WHICH IS BETTER, AND THIS IS CALLED JUDGMENT, CRISIS. THEREAFTER, ONE BECOMES DISPOSED TO AND FORMS A LIKING FOR THAT IN FAVOR OF WHICH DELIBERATION GAVE JUDGMENT, AND THIS IS CALLED INCLINATION, NOME. FOR SHOULD ONE FORM A JUDGMENT AND NOT BE DISPOSED TO OR FORM A LIKING FOR THE OBJECT OF THAT JUDGMENT, IT IS NOT CALLED INCLINATION. THEN AGAIN, AFTER ONE HAS BECOME SO DISPOSED, CHOICE OR SELECTION, PROIRICIS AND EPILOGUE COMES INTO PLAY. FOR CHOICE CONSISTS IN THE CHOOSING AND SELECTING OF ONE OF TWO POSSIBILITIES IN PREFERENCE TO THE OTHER. THEN ONE IS IMPELLED TO ACTION, AND THIS IS CALLED IMPULSE, OR MAY. AND THEREAFTER IT IS BROUGHT INTO EMPLOYMENT, AND THIS IS CALLED USE, CRISIS. THE LAST STAGE AFTER WE HAVE ENJOYED THE USE IS CESSATION FROM DESIRE. IN THE CASE, HOWEVER, OF CREATURES WITHOUT REASON, AS SOON AS APPETITE IS ROUSED FOR ANYTHING, STRAIGHTWAY ARISES IMPULSE TO ACTION. FOR THE APPETITE OF CREATURES WITHOUT REASON IS IRRATIONAL, AND THEY ARE RULED BY THEIR NATURAL APPETITE. HENCE, NEITHER THE NAMES OF WILL OR WISH ARE APPLICABLE TO THE APPETITE OF CREATURES WITHOUT REASON. FOR WILL IS RATIONAL, FREE, AND NATURAL DESIRE. AND IN THE CASE OF MAN, ENDOWED WITH REASON AS HE IS, THE NATURAL APPETITE IS RULED RATHER THAN RULES. FOR HIS ACTIONS ARE FREE AND DEPEND UPON REASON, SINCE THE FACULTIES OF KNOWLEDGE AND LIFE ARE BOUND UP TOGETHER IN MAN. HE IS FREE IN DESIRE, FREE IN WISH, FREE IN EXAMINATION AND INVESTIGATION, FREE IN DELIBERATION, FREE IN JUDGMENT, FREE IN INCLINATION, FREE IN CHOICE, FREE IN IMPULSE, AND FREE IN ACTION, WHERE THAT IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH NATURE. BUT IN THE CASE OF GOD IT IS TO BE REMEMBERED WE SPEAK OF WISH, BUT IT IS NOT CORRECT TO SPEAK OF CHOICE. FOR GOD DOES NOT DELIBERATE, SINCE THAT IS A MARK OF IGNORANCE, AND NO ONE DELIBERATES ABOUT WHAT HE KNOWS. BUT IF COUNSEL IS A MARK OF IGNORANCE, SURELY CHOICE MUST ALSO BE SO. GOD THEN, SINCE HE HAS ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE OF EVERYTHING, DOES NOT DELIBERATE. NOR IN THE CASE OF THE SOUL OF THE LORD DO WE SPEAK OF COUNSEL OR CHOICE, SEEING THAT HE HAD NO PART IN IGNORANCE. FOR ALTHOUGH HE WAS OF A NATURE THAT IS NOT COGNIZANT OF THE FUTURE, YET BECAUSE OF HIS ONENESS IN SUBSISTANCE WITH GOD THE WORD, HE HAD KNOWLEDGE OF ALL THINGS, AND THAT NOT BY GRACE, BUT AS WE SAID, BECAUSE HE WAS ONE IN SUBSISTANCE. FOR HE HIMSELF WAS BOTH GOD AND MAN, AND HENCE HE DID NOT POSSESS THE WILL THAT ACTS BY OPINION OR DISPOSITION. WHILE HE DID POSSESS THE NATURAL AND SIMPLE WILL WHICH IS TO BE OBSERVED EQUALLY IN ALL THE PERSONALITIES OF MEN, HIS HOLY SOUL HAD NOT OPINION OR DISPOSITION, THAT IS TO SAY NO INCLINATION OPPOSED TO HIS DIVINE WILL, NOR ANYTHING ELSE CONTRARY TO HIS DIVINE WILL. FOR OPINION OR DISPOSITION DIFFERS AS PERSONS DIFFER, EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF THE HOLY AND SIMPLE AND UNCOMPOUND AND INDIVISIBLE GODHEAD. THERE INDEED, SINCE THE SUBSISTANCES ARE IN NO WISE DIVIDED OR SEPARATED, NEITHER IS THE OBJECT OF THE WILL DIVIDED. AND THERE, SINCE THERE IS BUT ONE NATURE, THERE IS ALSO BUT ONE NATURAL WILL. AND AGAIN, SINCE THE SUBSISTANCES ARE UNSEPARATED, THE THREE SUBSISTANCES HAVE ALSO ONE OBJECT OF WILL AND ONE ACTIVITY. IN THE CASE OF MEN, HOWEVER, SEEING THAT THEIR NATURE IS ONE, THEIR NATURAL WILL IS ALSO ONE. BUT SINCE THEIR SUBSISTANCES ARE SEPARATED AND DIVIDED FROM EACH OTHER, ALIKE IN PLACE AND TIME AND DISPOSITION TO THINGS AND IN MANY OTHER RESPECTS, FOR THIS REASON THEIR ACTS OF WILL AND THEIR OPINIONS ARE DIFFERENT. BUT IN THE CASE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, SINCE HE POSSESSES DIFFERENT NATURES, HIS NATURAL WILLS, THAT IS HIS VOLITIONAL FACULTIES, BELONGING TO HIM AS GOD AND AS MAN ARE ALSO DIFFERENT. BUT SINCE THE SUBSISTANCE IS ONE AND HE WHO EXERCISES THE WILL IS ONE, THE OBJECT OF THE WILL, THAT IS THE GNOMIC WILL, IS ALSO ONE, HIS HUMAN WILL EVIDENTLY FOLLOWING HIS DIVINE WILL AND WILLING THAT WHICH THE DIVINE WILL WILLED IT TO WILL. FURTHER NOTE THAT WILL, FELESIS, AND WISH, BULESIS, ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. ALSO THE OBJECT OF WILL, TOFELETON, AND THE CAPACITY FOR WILL, FELETIKON, AND THE SUBJECT THAT EXERCISES WILL, HOFELON, ARE ALL DIFFERENT. FOR WILL IS JUST THE SIMPLE FACULTY OF WILLING, WHEREAS WISH IS WILL DIRECTED TO SOME DEFINITE OBJECT. AGAIN, THE OBJECT OF WILL IS THE MATTER UNDERLYING THE WILL, THAT IS TO SAY, THE THING THAT WE WILL, FOR INSTANCE, WHEN APPETITE IS ROUSED FOR FOOD. THE APPETITE, CURE AND SIMPLE, HOWEVER, IS IRRATIONAL WILL. THE CAPACITY FOR WILL, MOREOVER, MEANS THAT WHICH POSSESSES THE VOLITIONAL FACULTY, FOR EXAMPLE, MAN. FURTHER, THE SUBJECT THAT EXERCISES WILL IS THE ACTUAL PERSON WHO MAKES USE OF WILL. THE WORD TOFELEMA, IT IS WELL TO NOTE, SOMETIMES DENOTES THE WILL, THAT IS, THE VOLITIONAL FACULTY, AND IN THIS SENSE WE SPEAK OF NATURAL WILL, AND SOMETIMES IT DENOTES THE OBJECT OF WILL, AND WE SPEAK OF WILL, THELEMA NOMICON, DEPENDING ON INCLINATION. CHAPTER 23 CONCERNING ENERGY ALL THE FACULTIES WE HAVE ALREADY DISCUSSED, BOTH THOSE OF KNOWLEDGE AND THOSE OF LIFE, BOTH THE NATURAL AND THE ARTIFICIAL, ARE, IT IS TO BE NOTED, CALLED ENERGIES, FOR ENERGY IS THE NATURAL FORCE AND ACTIVITY OF EACH ESSENCE, OR AGAIN, NATURAL ENERGY IS THE ACTIVITY INNATE IN EVERY ESSENCE, AND SO CLEARLY THINGS THAT HAVE THE SAME ESSENCE HAVE ALSO THE SAME ENERGY, AND THINGS THAT HAVE DIFFERENT NATURES HAVE ALSO DIFFERENT ENERGIES, FOR NO ESSENCE CAN BE DEVOID OF NATURAL ENERGY. NATURAL ENERGY, AGAIN, IS THE FORCE IN EACH ESSENCE BY WHICH ITS NATURE IS MADE MANIFEST, AND AGAIN, NATURAL ENERGY IS THE PRIMAL, ETERNALLY MOVING FORCE OF THE INTELLIGENT SOUL, THAT IS, THE ETERNALLY MOVING WORD OF THE SOUL, WHICHEVER SPRINGS NATURALLY FROM IT, AND YET AGAIN, NATURAL ENERGY IS THE FORCE AND ACTIVITY OF EACH ESSENCE, WHICH ONLY THAT WHICH IS NOT LACKS. BUT ACTIONS ARE ALSO CALLED ENERGIES, FOR INSTANCE, SPEAKING, EATING, DRINKING, AND SUCH LIKE, THAT NATURAL AFFECTIONS ALSO ARE OFTEN CALLED ENERGIES, FOR INSTANCE, HUNGER, THIRST, AND SO FORTH, AND YET AGAIN, THE RESULT OF THE FORCE IS OFTEN CALLED ENERGY. THINGS ARE SPOKEN OF IN A TWO-FOLD WAY AS BEING POTENTIAL AND ACTUAL. FOR WE SAY THAT THE CHILD AT THE BREAST IS A POTENTIAL SCHOLAR, FOR HE IS SO EQUIPPED THAT IF TAUGHT, HE WILL BECOME A SCHOLAR. FURTHER, WE SPEAK OF A POTENTIAL AND AN ACTUAL SCHOLAR, MEANING THAT THE LATTER IS VERSED IN LETTERS, WHILE THE FORMER HAS THE POWER OF INTERPRETING LETTERS BUT DOES NOT PUT IT INTO ACTUAL USE. AGAIN, WHEN WE SPEAK OF AN ACTUAL SCHOLAR, WE MEAN THAT HE PUTS HIS POWER INTO ACTUAL USE, THAT IS TO SAY, THAT HE REALLY INTERPRETS WRITINGS. IT IS THEREFORE TO BE OBSERVED THAT IN THE SECOND SENSE, POTENTIALITY AND ACTUALITY GO TOGETHER, FOR THE SCHOLAR IS IN THE ONE CASE POTENTIAL AND IN THE OTHER ACTUAL. THE PRIMAL AND ONLY TRUE ENERGY OF NATURE IS THE VOLUNTARY OR RATIONAL AND INDEPENDENT LIFE WHICH CONSTITUTES OUR HUMANITY. I KNOW NOT HOW THOSE WHO ROB THE LORD OF THIS CAN SAY THAT HE BECAME MAN. ENERGY IS DRASTIC ACTIVITY OF NATURE, AND BY DRASTIC ACTIVITY IS MEANT THAT WHICH IS MOVED OF ITSELF. END OF SECTION 7