The Improvement of Human Reason: Exhibited in the Life of Hai Ebn Yokdhan — John Shaqi
The Improvement of Human Reason: Exhibited in the Life of Hai Ebn YokdhanIbn Tufayl, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik
Islamic
The Improvement of Human Reason: Exhibited in the Life of Hai Ebn Yokdhan
Ibn Tufayl, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Malik
Islamic philosophy -- Early works to 1800
Sec. 44. Now by following up this Notion, and comprehending it in his Mind,
he perceiv'd that all Bodies had one _Form_ in common, from whence one
or more Actions did proceed. And that there were some of these, which
tho' they agreed with all the rest in that one common Form, had another
Form besides superadded to it, from whence some Actions proceeded. And
further, that there was another sort, which agreeing with the rest in
those two Forms which they had, was still distinguish'd from them by a
third Form, superadded to those other two, from whence also proceeded
some Actions. For instance, all Terrestrial Bodies, as Earth, Stones,
Minerals, Plants, Animals, and all other heavy Bodies, do make up one in
Number, which agree in the same _Form_, from whence flows the Property
of_descending_ continually, whilst there is nothing to hinder their
Descent: And whensoever they are forc'd to move upwards, if they are
left to themselves, they immediately, by the Power of their _Form_, tend
downwards again. Now, some part of this Number, _viz_. Plants and
Animals, tho' they do agree with all that Multitude before mention'd, in
that _Form_; yet still have another _Form_ superadded to it, from whence
flow _Nutrition_ and _Accretion._ Now the meaning of _Nutrition_ is,
when the Body that is nourish'd, substitutes in the room of that which
is consum'd and wasted from it self, something of the like kind, which
it draws to it self, and then converts into its own Substance.
_Accretion_, or Growing, is a Motion according to the three Dimensions,
_viz. Length, Breadth,_ and _Thickness_, in a due Proportion. And these
two Actions are common to Plants and Animals, and do without doubt
spring from that Form which is common to them both, which is what we
call the _Vegetative Soul_. Now part of this Multitude, _viz._ Animals,
tho' they have the first and second Forms in common with the rest, have
still a third Form superadded, from which arise Sensation and Local
Motion, Besides, he perceiv'd that every particular _Species_ of
Animals, had some Property which, distinguish'd it, and made it quite
different from the rest, and he knew that this Difference must arise
from some Form peculiar to that _Species_, which was superadded to the
Notion of that Form which it had in common with the rest of Animals. And
the like he saw happen'd to the several kinds of Plants.
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