Again, when appetite and aversion do with celerity succeed one another, the whole series made by them hath its name sometimes from one, sometimes from the other. For the same deliberation, whilst it inclines sometimes to one, sometimes to the other, is from appetite called hope, and from aversion, fear. For where there is no hope, it is not to be called fear, but hate; and where no fear, not hope, but desire. To conclude, all the passions, called passions of the mind, consist of appetite and aversion, except pure pleasure and pain, which are a certain fruition of good or evil; as anger is aversion from some imminent evil, but such as is joined with appetite of avoiding that evil by force. But because the passions and perturbations of the mind are innumerable, and many of them not to be discerned in any creatures besides men; I will speak of them more at large in that section which is concerning man. As for those objects, if there be any such, which do not at all stir the mind, we are said to contemn them.
And thus much of sense in general. In the next place I shall speak of sensible objects.
CHAPTER XXVI.
OF THE WORLD AND OF THE STARS.
[1.] The magnitude and duration of the world, inscrutable.—[2.] No place in the world empty.—[3.] The arguments of Lucretius for vacuum, invalid.—[4.] Other arguments for the establishing of vacuum, invalid.—[5.] Six suppositions for the salving of the phenomena of nature.—[6.] Possible causes of the motions annual and diurnal; and of the apparent direction, station, and retrogradation of the planets.—[7.] The supposition of simple motion, why likely.—[8.] The cause of the eccentricity of the annual motion of the earth.—[9.] The cause why the moon hath always one and the same face turned towards the earth.—[10.] The cause of the tides of the ocean.—[11.] The cause of the precession of the equinoxes.
The magnitude and duration of the world, inscrutable.
1. Consequent to the contemplation of sense is the contemplation of bodies, which are the efficient causes or objects of sense. Now every object is either a part of the whole world, or an aggregate of parts. The greatest of all bodies, or sensible objects, is the world itself; which we behold when we look round about us from this point of the same which we call the earth. Concerning the world, as it is one aggregate of many parts, the things that fall under inquiry are but few; and those we can determine, none. Of the whole world we may inquire what is its magnitude, what its duration, and how many there be, but nothing else. For as for place and time, that is to say, magnitude and duration, they are only our own fancy of a body simply so called, that is to say, of a body indefinitely taken, as I have shown before in [chapter VII]. All other phantasms are of bodies or objects, as they are distinguished from one another; as colour, the phantasm of coloured bodies; sound, of bodies that move the sense of hearing, &c. The questions concerning the magnitude of the world are whether it be finite or infinite, full or not full; concerning its duration, whether it had a beginning, or be eternal; and concerning the number, whether there be one or many; though as concerning the number, if it were of infinite magnitude, there could be no controversy at all. Also if it had a beginning, then by what cause and of what matter it was made; and again, from whence that cause and that matter had their being, will be new questions; till at last we come to one or many eternal cause or causes. And the determination of all these things belongeth to him that professeth the universal doctrine of philosophy, in case as much could be known as can be sought. But the knowledge of what is infinite can never be attained by a finite inquirer. Whatsoever we know that are men, we learn it from our phantasms; and of infinite, whether magnitude or time, there is no phantasm at all; so that it is impossible either for a man or any other creature to have any conception of infinite. And though a man may from some effect proceed to the immediate cause thereof, and from that to a more remote cause, and so ascend continually by right ratiocination from cause to cause; yet he will not be able to proceed eternally, but wearied will at last give over, without knowing whether it were possible for him to proceed to an end or not. But whether we suppose the world to be finite or infinite, no absurdity will follow. For the same things which now appear, might appear, whether the Creator had pleased it should be finite or infinite. Besides, though from this, that nothing can move itself, it may rightly be inferred that there was some first eternal movent; yet it can never be inferred, though some used to make such inference, that that movent was eternally immoveable, but rather eternally moved. For as it is true, that nothing is moved by itself; so it is true also that nothing is moved but by that which is already moved. The questions therefore about the magnitude and beginning of the world, are not to be determined by philosophers, but by those that are lawfully authorized to order the worship of God. For as Almighty God, when he had brought his people into Judæa, allowed the priests the first fruits reserved to himself; so when he had delivered up the world to the disputations of men, it was his pleasure that all opinions concerning the nature of infinite and eternal, known only to himself, should, as the first fruits of wisdom, be judged by those whose ministry he meant to use in the ordering of religion. I cannot therefore commend those that boast they have demonstrated, by reasons drawn from natural things, that the world had a beginning. They are contemned by idiots, because they understand them not; and by the learned, because they understand them; by both deservedly. For who can commend him that demonstrates thus? "If the world be eternal, then an infinite number of days, or other measures of time, preceded the birth of Abraham. But the birth of Abraham preceded the birth of Isaac; and therefore one infinite is greater than another infinite, or one eternal than another eternal; which," he says, "is absurd." This demonstration is like his, who from this, that the number of even numbers is infinite, would conclude that there are as many even numbers as there are numbers simply, that is to say, the even numbers are as many as all the even and odd together. They, which in this manner take away eternity from the world, do they not by the same means take away eternity from the Creator of the world? From this absurdity therefore they run into another, being forced to call eternity nunc stans, a standing still of the present time, or an abiding now; and, which is much more absurd, to give to the infinite number of numbers the name of unity. But why should eternity be called an abiding now, rather than an abiding then? Wherefore there must either be many eternities, or now and then must signify the same. With such demonstrators as these, that speak in another language, it is impossible to enter into disputation. And the men, that reason thus absurdly, are not idiots, but, which makes the absurdity unpardonable, geometricians, and such as take upon them to be judges, impertinent, but severe judges of other men's demonstrations. The reason is this, that as soon as they are entangled in the words infinite and eternal, of which we have in our mind no idea, but that of our own insufficiency to comprehend them, they are forced either to speak something absurd, or, which they love worse, to hold their peace. For geometry hath in it somewhat like wine, which, when new, is windy; but afterwards though less pleasant, yet more wholesome. Whatsoever therefore is true, young geometricians think demonstrable; but elder not. Wherefore I purposely pass over the questions of infinite and eternal; contenting myself with that doctrine concerning the beginning and magnitude of the world, which I have been persuaded to by the holy Scriptures and fame of the miracles which confirm them; and by the custom of my country, and reverence due to the laws. And so I pass on to such things as it is not unlawful to dispute of.
No place in the world empty.
2. Concerning the world it is further questioned, whether the parts thereof be contiguous to one another, in such manner as not to admit of the least empty space between; and the disputation both for and against it is carried on with probability enough. For the taking away of vacuum, I will instance in only one experiment, a common one, but I think unanswerable.
Let A B (in [fig. 1]) represent a vessel, such as gardeners use to water their gardens withal; whose bottom B is full of little holes; and whose mouth A may be stopped with one's finger, when there shall be need. If now this vessel be filled with water, the hole at the top A being stopped, the water will not flow out at any of the holes in the bottom B. But if the finger be removed to let in the air above, it will run out at them all; and as; soon as the finger is applied to it again, the water will suddenly and totally be stayed again from running out. The cause whereof seems to be no other but this, that the water cannot by its natural endeavour to descend drive down the air below it, because there is no place for it to go into, unless either by thrusting away the next contiguous air, it proceed by continual endeavour to the hole A, where it may enter and succeed into the place of the water that floweth out, or else, by resisting the endeavour of the water downwards, penetrate the same and pass up through it. By the first of these ways, while the hole at A remains stopped, there is no possible passage; nor by the second, unless the holes be so great that the water, flowing out at them, can by its own weight force the air at the same time to ascend into the vessel by the same holes: as we see it does in a vessel whose mouth is wide enough, when we turn suddenly the bottom upwards to pour out the water; for then the air being forced by the weight of the water, enters, as is evident by the sobbing and resistance of the water, at the sides or circumference of the orifice. And this I take for a sign that all space is full; for without this, the natural motion of the water, which is a heavy body, downwards, would not be hindered.