The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 04 (of 11) — John Shaqi
The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 04 (of 11)Hobbes, Thomas
Philosophy
The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 04 (of 11)
Hobbes, Thomas
Philosophy, English -- 17th century
4. As _appetite_ is the beginning of _animal_ motion towards
something that pleaseth us; so is the _attaining_ thereof, the _end_
of that motion, which we also call the _scope_, and aim, and final
cause of the same: and when we attain that end, the delight we have
thereby is called the _fruition_: so that _bonum_ and _finis_ are
different names, but for different considerations of the same thing.
[Sidenote: Profitable, use, vain.]
5. And of _ends_, some of them are called _propinqui_, that is, near
at hand; others _remoti_, far off: but when the ends that be nearer
attaining, be compared with those that be further off, they are
called not ends, but _means_, and the _way_ to those. But for an
_utmost_ end, in which the ancient _philosophers_ have placed
_felicity_, and disputed much concerning the way thereto, there is
no such thing in this world, nor way to it, more than to Utopia: for
while we live, we have desires, and desire presupposeth a further
end. Those things which please us, as the way or _means_ to a
further end, we call _profitable_; and the _fruition_ of them,
_use_; and those things that profit not, _vain_.
[Sidenote: Felicity.]
6. Seeing all _delight_ is _appetite_, and presupposeth a _further_
end, there can be _no contentment_ but in _proceeding_: and
therefore we are not to marvel, when we see, that as men attain to
more riches, honour, or other power; so their appetite continually
groweth more and more; and when they are come to the utmost degree
of some kind of power, they pursue some other, as long as in any
kind they think themselves behind any other: of those therefore that
have attained to the highest degree of honour and riches, some have
affected mastery in some art; as Nero in music and poetry, Commodus
in the art of a gladiator; and such as affect not some such thing,
must find diversion and recreation of their thoughts in the
contention either of play or business: and men justly complain of a
great grief, that they know not what to do. _Felicity_, therefore,
by which we mean continual delight, consisteth _not_ in _having_
prospered, but in _prospering_.
[Sidenote: Good and evil mixed.]
7. There are few things in this world, but _either_ have _mixture_
of good and evil, _or_ there is a chain of them so necessarily
linked together, that the one cannot be taken without the other: as
for example, the pleasures of sin, and the bitterness of punishment,
are inseparable; as is also labour and honour, for the most part.
Now when in the _whole chain_, the _greater part_ is good, the
_whole_ is called _good_; and when the _evil_ over-weigheth, the
_whole_ is called _evil_.
[Sidenote: Sensual delight, and pain; joy and grief.]
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