The Improvement of Human Reason - Exhibited in the Life of Hai Ebn Yokdhan by Ibn Tufail
page 51 of 141 (36%)
page 51 of 141 (36%)
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whence he concluded, that there must needs be a Plurality in his own
Essence, and not only in his own but in every other also. § 33. Then he enter'd upon another sort of Speculation of the second kind, by which he perceiv'd that tho' the parts of his Body were many, yet they were Conjoyned and Compacted together so as to make one Body, and that what difference there was between them consisted only in the difference of their Actions, which diversity proceeded from that Animal Spirit, the Nature of which he had before search'd into, and found out. Now he knew that his Spirit was One in Essence, and was really the Substance of his Being, and that all the rest of the Members serve that Spirit as Instruments, and in this Respect he perceiv'd his own Essence, to be _One_. §. 34. He proceeded from hence to the consideration of all the Species of Animals and found that every Individual of them was _One_. Next he consider'd them with regard to their different Species, _viz_. as Roes, Horses, Asses and all sorts of Birds according to their kinds, and he perceiv'd that all the Individuals of every Species were exactly like one another, in the shape of their Parts, both within and without, that their Apprehensions, Motions, and Inclinations were alike, and that those little differences which where visible amongst them, were inconsiderable in respect of those many things in which they agreed. From whence he concluded, that the Spirit which actuated any Species was one and the same; only distributed among so many Hearts, as there were Individuals in that Species, so that if it were possible for all that Spirit, which is so divided among so many Hearts, to be Collected into one Receptacle, it would be all the same thing, just as if any one Liquor should be pour'd out into several Dishes and afterwards put all together again in one Vessel; this Liquor would still be the _same_, as |
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