The parts composing the human body pertain to the essence of the body
itself only in so far as they communicate their motions to one another
by some certain method, and not in so far as they can be considered as
individuals without relation to the human body. For the parts of the
human body are individuals, composite to a high degree, parts of which
can be separated from the human body and communicate their motions to
other bodies in another way, although the nature and form of the human
body itself is closely preserved. Therefore the idea or knowledge of
each part will be in God in so far as He is considered as affected by
another idea of an individual thing, which individual thing is prior to
the part itself in the order of Nature. The same thing may be said of
each part of the individual itself composing the human body, and
therefore the knowledge of each part composing the human body exists in
God in so far as He is affected by a number of ideas of things, and not
in so far as He has the idea of the human body only; that is to say, the
idea which constitutes the nature of the human mind; and therefore the
human mind does not involve an adequate knowledge of the parts composing
the human body.
We have shown that the idea of a modification of the human body involves
the nature of an external body so far as the external body determines
the human body in some certain manner. But in so far as the external
body is an individual which is not related to the human body, its idea
or knowledge is in God, in so far as He is considered as affected by the
idea of another thing, which idea is prior by nature to the external
body itself. Therefore the adequate knowledge of an external body is not
in God in so far as He has the idea of the modification of the human
body, or, in other words, the idea of the modification of the human body
does not involve an adequate knowledge of an external body.
When the human mind through the ideas of the modifications of its body
contemplates external bodies, we say that it then imagines, nor can the
mind in any other way imagine external bodies as actually existing.
Therefore in so far as the mind imagines external bodies it does not
possess an adequate knowledge of them.
II
The idea of a modification of the human body does not involve an
adequate knowledge of the body itself, or, in other words, does not
adequately express its nature, that is to say, it does not correspond
adequately with the nature of the human mind, and therefore the idea of
this idea does not adequately express the nature of the human mind, nor
involve an adequate knowledge of it.