Tahafut_al-Tahafut-transl-Engl-van-den-Bergh

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Our opponents may say: ‘We agree with you thateverything possible is in the power of God, and youtheologians agree with us that the impossible cannot bedone and that there are things whose impossibility is knownand things which are known to be possible, and that thereare also things about which the understanding is undecidedand which it does not hold to be either impossible orpossible. Now what according to you is the limit of theimpossible? If the impossible includes nothing but thesimultaneous affirmation and negation of the same thing,then say that of two things the one is not the other, and thatthe existence of the one does not demand the existence ofthe other. And say then that God can create will withoutknowledge of the thing willed, and knowledge without life, ‘and that He can move the hand of a dead man and makehim sit and write volumes with his hand and engage himselfin sciences while he has his eye open and his looks are fixedon his work, although he does not see and there is no life inhim and he has no power, and it is God alone who createsall these ordered actions with the moving of the dead man’shand, and the movement comes from God. But by regardingthis as possible the difference between voluntary action anda reflex action like shivering is destroyed, and a judicious actwill no longer indicate that the agent possesses knowledgeor power It will then be necessary that God should be able tochange genera and transform the substance into an accidentand knowledge into power and black into white and a voiceinto an odour, just as He is able to change the inorganic intoan animal and a stone into gold, and it will then follow thatGod can also bring about other unlimited impossibilities. ‘The answer to this is to say that the impossible cannot bedone by God, and the impossible consists in thesimultaneous affirmation and negation of a thing, or theaffirmation of the more particular with the negation of themore general, or the affirmation of two things with thenegation of one of them, and what does not refer to this isnot impossible and what is not impossible can be done. The428
identification of black and white is impossible, because bythe affirmation of the form of black in the substratum thenegation of the form of white and of the existence of white isimplied; and since the negation of white is implied by theaffirmation of black, the simultaneous affirmation andnegation of white is impossible. ‘ And the existence of aperson in two places at once is only impossible because weimply by his being in the house that he cannot be in anotherplace, and it cannot be understood from the denial that he isin another place that he can be simultaneously both inanother place and in the house. And in the same way by willis implied the seeking of something that can be known, and ifwe assume a seeking without knowledge there cannot be awill and we would then deny what we had implied. And it isimpossible that in the inorganic knowledge should becreated, because we understand by inorganic that whichdoes not perceive, and if in the organic perception wascreated it would become impossible to call it inorganic in thesense in which this word is understood.As to the transformation of one genus into another, sometheologians affirm that it is in the power of Gods but we saythat for one thing to become another is irrational; for, if forinstance, the black could be transformed into power, theblack would either remain or not, and if it does not exist anymore, it is not changed but simply does not exist any moreand something else exists; and if it remains existent togetherwith power, it is not changed, but something else is broughtin relation to it, and if the black remains and power does notexist, then it does not change, but remains as it was before.And when we say that blood changes into sperm, we meanby it that this identical matter is divested of one form andinvested with another; and it amounts to this, that one formbecomes nonexistent and another form comes into existencewhile the matter remains, and that two forms succeed oneanother in it. And when we say that water becomes airthrough being heated, we mean by it that the matter whichhad received the form of the water is deprived of this form429
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TAHAFUT AL-TAHAFUT(The Incoherence
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THE FOURTEENTH DISCUSSION: To refut
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occupies the central place in the u
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commentator of Plato and Aristotle,
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and Physics, have left the religion
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gives the philosophical arguments a
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eternity of the world. Plato himsel
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it is God who is passive; the impel
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of events out of time is like the u
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God everything is possible, a theor
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by the philosophers, of the emanati
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God possesses self-consciousness).
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and is found in Thomas Aquinas and
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He himself does not affirm that the
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is immortal when he will see in him
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For the unphilosophical, however, t
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Concerning the Eternity of the Worl
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for both agents, i.e. so far as the
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an agent endowed with a power which
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I say:analogous to our decision, it
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I sayinadmissible and that to admit
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I say:sun performs in twenty-four h
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possible, not necessary, and he wou
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valid so far as it concerns externa
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do not know of any one who makes a
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sophistical arguments is dishonest,
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say that the age of the world is a
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I say:that two blacks in two substr
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I say:inside the world, neither con
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similar things, a will which distin
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whereas the globe of heaven is homo
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constitute the poles. But the diffe
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move itself in space, in a definite
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deeds?’ May God make us perspicac
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seeing are equivalent in the eye. T
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would be no possibility of their av
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through the medium of a being etern
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This argument is sophistical. The t
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and with Him there was the world an
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I say:If we should say, for instanc
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The primitive meaning of the two wo
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of the fact that motion inheres nec
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and then assumes a time which has n
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I say:and places of the world. The
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I say:eternal. So much as far as bo
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I say:which doubles the whole of th
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I say:world smaller than He has cre
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I say:possible that the world might
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I say:and possible at another?’ I
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pronounce for one of these opposite
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I say:existence whether earlier or
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I say:and needs something to which
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I sayThe second proof is that the i
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I say:essence nor matter’ and the
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I sayalthough it is not impressed o
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Ghazali says:I say:As regards their
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I say:He wants to force those who a
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all his books this is most clearly
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extension is nothing but time, and
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concedes the existence of an entity
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I say:connected with another condit
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so only through the corruption and
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that it passes into a relative non-
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I say:the remainder; indeed He can
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This theory of the flux of all exis
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moments is constant, and how can wh
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I say:which has a reasonable sense,
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things are two: matter and form, an
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I say:an imposture where their prin
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I say:says that the lamp makes the
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anterior to it. If God therefore is
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it tends and has an inclination to
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and to exclude the metaphorical sen
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Ghazali says, answering in defence
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I say:connected with Him, since the
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from it, it exists, not when the th
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All this is true. The act of the ag
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of the water, for this happens afte
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existence of the celestial bodies o
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I say:We answer: The consequence of
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one occurred, they gave three answe
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is partly the cause of unity, partl
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I say:is therefore nineteen; and th
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each other is a theory not known am
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defined acts can only arise from be
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and earth that he should be of thos
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I say:another be identical?’ we a
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the universal, the other specific d
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similar follows concerning the nece
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I say:for this it really is. But th
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I say:from His way and deviate from
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We say:The philosophers tried to ac
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bodies prior to them. Thus they wer
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thinks only its own essence, and th
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suppose its agent to act like an ag
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draw this conclusion. For if the pr
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And that one and the same existent
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unique mover . And just as the remo
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a plurality of existents without a
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In this discussion of the intellect
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I say:The meaning of this statement
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I say:is the principle of these dif
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the possible nature cannot become n
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I say:a cause, what makes it imposs
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qualitative, or in whichsoever of t
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But if one should say to us: ‘Cer
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receive a stronger degree of assent
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as the differences depend on differ
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moment from its action, the world w
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And as to Ghazali's words:It is eas
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However, it is not possible that th
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without an initial term; and if you
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I say:The difference between these
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I say:cause, but not of the series
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I say:If it is objected that this m
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or non-eternity of the world, and w
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THE FIFTH DISCUSSIONTO SHOW THEIR I
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I say:colour because of a cause whi
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black must be a colour either by bl
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I say:The answer is that we concede
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I say:composed of genus and species
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necessary existent, and this is imp
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For man before his existence has a
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and it is thus their task to refer
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identical with the knower of the sh
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And when it is said that He is gene
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I say:separate from matter is possi
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exist both an essence and attribute
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by themselves, just as, if their ex
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If it is answered that the absolute
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I say:need a subject, as is the cas
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I say:If it is said: In the same wa
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would have to exist by itself, and
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essence is not true, for every esse
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Composition is not like existence,
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All their proofs where this problem
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consciousness itself is denied. But
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things, and our intellect, therefor
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I say:both, for the plurality and t
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be a knowledge in act and that ther
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It may be said that if it is assert
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And as to the affirmation of the ph
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two existents which differ in an ex
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Ghazali says:It may be said, `This
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I say:beings should exist by themse
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because they found that the acciden
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And as to the term `substance’ wh
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I say:black and white, fourness and
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I say:constitution of the essence o
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principle which is the cause of tha
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Gods would have to be separated by
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distinguished by the fact that one
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one of these natures is superior to
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Ghazali opposes this statement with
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against them about colouredness and
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I say:mediator, participates in thi
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application of the term ‘necessar
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meaning is to ask whether a thing p
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we have rent them . . . ‘and the
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Having assumed that they deny the q
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I say:plurality and duality on the
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assume one thing eternal by itself
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I say:But the body is not a means f
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views, or regarded this as permissi
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wisdom in the product itself, namel
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his attacks on the philosophers in
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I say:not possible, and your statem
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together, and the difference betwee
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I say:universe is known to God, and
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acknowledged in the case of this pr
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all things is attachment to matter
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simply the hot body that accepts co
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this conjunction and disjunction mu
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not imply (as he falsely affirms of
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I say:philosophers do, or abandon t
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consequences which follow from his
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But the knowledge of the Creator op
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I say:‘Well, let the seeing then
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acts which proceed from the arts, a
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the utmost excellence, which is kno
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move in circles and that between th
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This is what we wanted to do first,
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the person who takes up different p
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universals must, by admitting in Hi
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and if you acknowledge an eternal w
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I say:But one may say: Why is this
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existents would be the cause of His
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I say:will, because His will has th
Page 377 and 378: they exclude heaven from this kind
Page 379 and 380: And as to his affirmation ‘that t
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Page 383 and 384: THE FIFTEENTH DISCUSSIONTO REFUTE T
Page 385 and 386: Everything he says here about the p
Page 387 and 388: himself through trying to be in an
Page 389 and 390: For instance, when a man sees that
Page 391 and 392: on sublunary existence, so that, if
Page 393 and 394: I say:any case, has to be proved, s
Page 395 and 396: causes. Sometimes we know part of t
Page 397 and 398: particular perceptions; that is, th
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Page 401 and 402: if, however, reason does riot perce
Page 403 and 404: And if they reverse this against us
Page 405 and 406: the irascible and the concupiscible
Page 407 and 408: study a problem common to theoretic
Page 409 and 410: terms of the conclusion are present
Page 411 and 412: The ancient philosophers did not di
Page 413 and 414: fire; for we regard it as possible
Page 415 and 416: To deny the existence of efficient
Page 417 and 418: is not necessary, the philosophers
Page 419 and 420: I say:notwithstanding the fact that
Page 421 and 422: fire-not, however, absolutely, but
Page 423 and 424: When the theologians admit that the
Page 425 and 426: the angels there should arise a qua
Page 427: serpent, and the scorpion, for thei
Page 431 and 432: objectionable, and contrary to comm
Page 433 and 434: that the judgement of our intellect
Page 435 and 436: from the wolf while it walks behind
Page 437 and 438: I say:it receives from the angels k
Page 439 and 440: about its premisses, for the major
Page 441 and 442: I say:in the doctrine of the philos
Page 443 and 444: a faculty in a body; and it follows
Page 445 and 446: indivisible; if the relation, howev
Page 447 and 448: fainting, drunkenness, and the illn
Page 449 and 450: saying that knowing is the opposite
Page 451 and 452: Such arguments are all arguments of
Page 453 and 454: claimed to be its organ, so that it
Page 455 and 456: I say:his head than to his heels, a
Page 457 and 458: I say:others-yes, it may be that th
Page 459 and 460: I say:anger and the observation of
Page 461 and 462: that Plato was forced to introduce
Page 463 and 464: I say:thing occurs, does not produc
Page 465 and 466: separate substance has no opposite.
Page 467 and 468: The Fourth DiscussionHaving finishe
Page 469 and 470: which are attributed to Solomon. An
Page 471 and 472: And all this, as you see, is confus
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