Fundamental Philosophy, Vol. 1 (of 2)

by Jaime Luciano Balmes

The questions which these words raise are of the highest importance and merit a serious examination.

92. Is there any intrinsical impossibility of an organization different from ours, and an order of sensations different from those which we experience? It seems not; and if this impossibility exists, it is unknown to man.

Whatever opinion we adopt as to the manner in which external objects act upon the soul by means of the organs of the body, there is no necessary relation, nor even analogy, between the object and the effect which it produces in us.

A body receives upon its surface rays of the fluid which we call light, these rays are reflected upon the retina, which is another surface in communication with the brain. So far all is well, and easily understood. There is a fluid which moves, goes from one surface to another, and may cause this or that purely physical effect on the cerebral matter; but what connection is there between this and the impression of a distinct order which we call seeing, an impression which is neither the fluid nor the motion, but an affection of which the living and thinking being, the me is intimately conscious?

If, instead of the luminous fluid and its mechanism, we suppose another, as, for example, the air which vibrates upon the tympanum, what essential reason is there why this should not produce a sensation similar to that of sight? It must be confessed that it is impossible to assign an essential reason. To one who has no idea of our present organization, both phenomena are equally incomprehensible.

93. What has been said of sight and hearing may be applied to the other senses. In all there is a bodily organ affected by a body; we see the surfaces placed one before or under the other, we see motions of one kind or another; but how can we pass over the immense distance which separates these physical phenomena from the phenomenon of sensation? For my part, I see no way to do it; this point is a barrier to the human intellect; all appearances indicate that there is no connection between these two orders of phenomena except what the will of the Creator has freely established; if there is any necessary connection, this necessity is a secret to man. Examine the textures which receive the impression of the objects, the material substance which composes the nervous system which is the organ of sensations, and say what relation you can find between the physical phenomena of this matter and the wonderful harmony of sensible phenomena.

94. Still greater will be the difficulty if you consider that, although protected from any injury, the organs cease to produce sensations from the moment they are deprived of communication with the substance of the brain. The phenomena of light are produced in the cavity of the skull amid the most profound darkness; and all the wonderful magic of sensations by which the magnificent spectacle of the universe is presented to our mind, which plunges the soul into raptures at the sound of music, and which produces such varied and delightful sensations of taste and odors, all arises in the brain, a whitish, rude, and unformed substance, from the appearance of which no one could imagine it destined to such noble functions.

95. Why is it that when the nerve A, in communication with the brain is affected, we experience the sensation which we call seeing, or if the nerve B is affected, the sensation which we call hearing, and so of the other senses? There may be a reason, but, at least, we do not know it; and it is probably no other than the free will of the Creator.

Here, it is true, philosophy confesses its weakness, but, at the same time, it shows its power; for it sees the immense distance which separates these phenomena, between which there can be no point of communication but what is established by the Almighty. When there are second causes, it is the merit of philosophy to discover them; but when there are none, its merit is in rising to the first cause. A confession of its ignorance is sometimes a more sublime act of reason than the impotent effort of an unbounded pride. If the perception of profound truths exalts the intellect, is not the intellect exalted in perceiving its own ignorance, which is sometimes a profound truth?