36. Mind, Nature, and the Stability of Concepts

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Unlimited Nature of Mind #

• The mind is unlimited because it knows the universal, not just the particular
• Knowledge is determined by activity, activity by acts, and acts by their objects
• When we know what is universal (e.g., “odd number”), we know something about an infinity of things
• The senses are limited: the eye does not know sound, the ear does not know color
• Man’s capacity for language and continual invention demonstrates the infinity of the mind
• The mind can move from confused to distinct knowledge, and can understand analogically and through negation

Nature Revealed Through Effects and Powers #

• All nature is known by its motion and change
• Things are distinguished by how they change: a tree grows and reproduces; a stone does not
• Powers (abilities) of a thing are known by their acts; acts are known by their objects
• Motion does not fall under a single category but spans multiple categories of change: place, quality, quantity, substance
• Quality changes include sensible qualities (e.g., color, temperature)

The Stability of Natural Language vs. Precise Scientific Concepts #

• Modern physics reveals that vague concepts of natural language are more stable and certain than precise scientific terms
• Natural language concepts like “mind,” “soul,” “life,” and “God” have immediate conviction of reality
• 19th-century confidence in precise scientific method created skepticism toward natural-language concepts that don’t fit scientific frameworks
• Modern physics has paradoxically increased skepticism toward the overestimation of precise scientific concepts
• Understanding must be based on natural language because “it is only there that we can be certain to touch reality”
• The human ability to understand is unlimited, but existing scientific concepts cover only a very limited part of reality
• When proceeding from the known into the unknown, we must learn a new meaning of the word “understanding”

The Principle: “That on account of which more so” #

• When the same property belongs to two things, but to one because of the other, it belongs more to that one
• Examples: air is hot because of fire (so fire is hotter); coffee is sweet because of sugar (so sugar is sweeter); dishcloth is wet because of water (so water is wetter)
• Application in logic: premises are more known than conclusions because conclusions are known through premises
• Application in causality: the one who moves the pole is more responsible for the person falling than the pole itself
• Application to good: the end is more desirable than the means because means are desirable for the sake of the end

What Makes Something Better #

• The end is better than the means to the end
• The whole is better than the parts
• More generally, the perfect is better than the imperfect
• Virtue is a habit in accordance with nature; vice is not in accordance with nature
• Nature is the measure of virtue and vice

Key Arguments #

The Universality Argument for Mind’s Capacity #

1. To know the universal is to know something about an infinity of particulars
2. The mind knows universals (e.g., what “man” is, what “number” is)
3. Therefore, the mind has unlimited capacity
4. The senses know only particulars and do not achieve universality
5. Therefore, the mind differs fundamentally from sensation

The Analogy of “One” as Applied to Numbers #

• Numbers are defined as “a multitude composed of ones”
• Yet “one” is not itself a number in the strict sense (not a multitude)
• However, “one” is called a number equivocally by reason (not purely equivocally) because:
  • One appears in the definition of number
  • One can have to a number the same ratio that a number has to a number (1:2 :: 3:6)
• Contrast: a point is never called a line even equivocally because a point has no length and cannot maintain ratios like a line does
• Euclid’s theorems depend on using “one” as quasi-number (e.g., in the theorem about relatively prime numbers)

The Principle That Ends Are Better Than Means (by Induction) #

1. Which is better: to take medicine or to be healthy? Health.
2. Which is better: to study or to know? Knowledge.
3. Which is better: to make a house or to have a house? To have it.
4. Which is better: to make money or to have money? To have it.
5. Therefore, in general, the end is better than the means

The Principle That Ends Are Better Than Means (by Formal Logic) #

1. The same good belongs to both the end and the means
2. But the means are good because of the end
3. Therefore, by the principle “that on account of which more so,” the end is better
4. Application: health and medicine both involve the good of health, but medicine is good because of health; therefore health is more desirable

The Graduated Order of Goods #

• Outside goods are for the sake of inside goods (the goods of the body serve the goods of the soul)
• The goods of the soul are those that involve reason and virtue
• These are closer to man’s proper end (acting with reason well throughout life)
• If man is better than beast, then goods proper to man are better than goods shared with beasts
• If God is better than man, then godlike goods are better than human goods

Important Definitions #

Mind (νοῦς) #

• That which knows the universal
• Characterized by unlimited capacity to understand
• Known by its activity (νοέω/noesis)
• Object of mind is the “what it is” (τί ἐστι) of sensible or imaginable things

Nature (φύσις) #

• Known fundamentally through motion and change
• The principle and cause of motion and rest
• Revealed through the effects and operations of things
• The measure of what is virtuous or vicious

The End (τέλος) #

• That for the sake of which something is done
• Always better and more desirable than the means
• The proper end of man is the act of reason done well throughout life
• God, as the end of the universe, is better than all creation

Virtue (ἀρετή) #

• A habit in accordance with nature
• Known by how it manifests in the age and in individuals
• Determined by reference to nature as the measure

Vice (κακία) #

• A habit not in accordance with nature
• A revolt from true birth/nature
• A stumbling on abuse (using something against its nature)

Natural Language vs. Precise Scientific Language #

• Natural language: vague but stable, yields immediate conviction of reality, touches reality directly
• Precise scientific language: more exact but limited in scope, can idealize away from reality

Examples & Illustrations #

The Mind’s Universality #

• Knowing what an odd number is means knowing (in some sense) that no odd number is ever even—knowledge of an infinity of things
• Knowing what “man” is means knowing something about all men past, present, and future
• Knowing what a number is means knowing that every number is composed of ones

Numerical Analogy with One #

• In the ratio 1:2 :: 3:6, the number 1 relates to 2 as 3 relates to 6, showing that 1 functions like a number
• In Euclid’s theorem about relatively prime numbers (e.g., 2 and 3), we must treat 1 as a unit in the definition to find “the least numbers” in a ratio—we cannot use 2 and 3 without going back to 1:2
• We would never call a point a “line” because a point has no length and cannot maintain the ratio that lines do

Distinction Between Things by Their Operations #

• A tree differs from a stone: the tree grows and absorbs nutrients and reproduces; the stone does not
• This observable difference in motion/change reveals the difference in nature

The Cliff Example #

• You stand on a cliff; a pole is placed against your back; I push the pole, and you fall
• Who pushed you off? I did, not the pole, because the pole moved you only insofar as it was moved by me
• Therefore, I am more responsible because the pole’s movement derives from my movement
• This illustrates the principle that what is the cause of a cause is more truly the cause

Shakespeare on Nature and Vice #

• Romeo and Juliet: “Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast” — emphasis on careful thought
• Romeo and Juliet: “Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse” — things go wrong when they depart from their true nature
• Hamlet’s advice to the players: the play should “hold a mirror up to nature,” showing virtue her own face and scorn (her own image of vice)
• Macbeth: reference to “natural deeds” and “unnatural troubles,” showing that natural action produces natural results, while unnatural action produces disorder
• The reason the mirror-to-nature advice works is that nature is the measure of virtue and vice
• Virtue is a habit in accordance with nature; vice is contrary to nature
• We judge ages by the virtues or vices that predominate in them

The Alcoholic Example #

• Someone who abuses alcohol is not true to himself because they are using a thing against its nature
• This is an example of “revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse”

Examples of Better vs. Worse #

• Health is better than medicine (end better than means)
• Knowledge is better than studying (end better than means)
• Having a house is better than building one (end better than means)
• Having money is better than earning money (if earning is not pleasant in itself)
• Inside goods (goods of soul) are better than outside goods (goods of body)
• Goods involving reason are better than goods shared with beasts
• Godlike goods are better than human goods

Notable Quotes #

“The concepts of natural language, vaguely defined as they are, seem to be more stable in the expansion of knowledge than the precise terms of scientific language.” — Werner Heisenberg (cited as expressing a key insight from modern physics)

“Keeping in mind the intrinsic stability of the concepts of natural language in the process of scientific development, one sees that after the experience of modern physics, our attitude toward concepts like mind or the human soul or life or God will be different from the other 19th century because these concepts belong to the natural language and have therefore immediate conviction of reality.” — Heisenberg (cited to show how modern physics has vindicated natural-language concepts against 19th-century scientism)

“It is only there [in natural language] that we can be certain to touch reality.” — Heisenberg (cited to emphasize the unique reliability of natural language concepts)

“Wisely and slow, they stumble that run fast.” — William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (used to illustrate the importance of careful philosophical reasoning)

“Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse.” — William Shakespeare (used to illustrate how things go wrong when departing from their nature)

“Hold a mirror up to nature.” — William Shakespeare, Hamlet (cited as expressing the proper aim of art: to reflect nature faithfully)

“Show virtue of her own face. Scorn her own image.” — William Shakespeare, Hamlet (interpreted as: show virtue directly, and show vice [scorn] as its contrary)

“The end is better than the means.” — Aristotle (cited as a foundational principle in practical reasoning)

“That on account of which more so.” — Aristotle and Thomas (cited as a foundational principle of logic and metaphysics)

Questions Addressed #

How can we understand that the end is better than the means? #

• First, through induction from many examples (medicine vs. health, study vs. knowledge, earning vs. having)
• Second, through formal logic using the principle “that on account of which more so”: if both the means and end have a property, but the means has it because of the end, then the end has it more
• This principle works because the cause of a property is more properly said to have that property

Why are natural language concepts more reliable than precise scientific ones? #

• Natural language is vague, which makes it more stable across expansions of knowledge
• Precise scientific language relies on idealization and abstraction that depart from direct contact with reality
• Natural language concepts have “immediate conviction of reality” because they are grounded in direct experience
• We must base all understanding on natural language because “it is only there that we can be certain to touch reality”

How is “one” called a number when strictly it is not a multitude? #

• One is called a number “equivocally by reason,” not purely equivocally
• This is because: (1) one appears in the definition of number (“multitude composed of ones”), and (2) one can have to a number the ratio that a number has to a number
• A point, by contrast, is never called a line, even equivocally, because a point cannot maintain such a ratio

How do we know nature? #

• Through its motion and change, which reveal its powers
• By observing what things do and how they operate
• By distinguishing things by their different modes of activity (e.g., growth, reproduction, nutrition)

What is the proper end of man? #

• The act of reason done well throughout life
• This determines which goods are truly good for man (goods of the soul and reason)

How can we convince someone that the end is better than the means? #

• Use induction with clear examples that appeal to common sense
• Use formal logic with the principle of causality
• Show that no one would seek the means if the end were not better

Pedagogical Notes #

• Berquist emphasizes moving from the confused to the distinct: we implicitly know that the mind is unlimited; philosophy makes this explicit
• He uses concrete examples (cliff, pole, medicine, study, money) to make abstract principles clear
• He draws on Shakespeare to show that great writers implicitly understand philosophical truths about nature, virtue, and human action
• He notes that great physicists like Heisenberg, despite not being believers, recognize that natural language gives us access to reality in ways that precise scientific language cannot
• He contrasts different approaches (induction vs. deduction, example vs. formal principle) to show that truth can be approached from multiple angles
• He acknowledges intellectual humility: even great minds like Einstein found relativity difficult to fully grasp