Chapter I: Front Matter

FUNDAMENTAL

PHILOSOPHY.

BY
REV. JAMES BALMES.

_TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH_

BY
HENRY F. BROWNSON, M.A.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

New York:
D. & J. SADLIER & CO., 164 WILLIAM STREET,
BOSTON:--128 FEDERAL STREET.
MONTREAL:--COR. OF NOTRE DAME AND ST. FRANCIS XAVIER STS.
1856.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856,
By D. & J. SADLIER & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for
the Southern District of New York.

NEW YORK:
BILLIN & BROTHER, PRINTERS, XX NORTH WILLIAM ST.

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

BOOK FOURTH.

ON IDEAS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Cursory View of Sensism 3

II. Condillac's Statue 6

III. Difference between Geometrical Ideas and the
Sensible Representations which accompany them 12

IV. The Idea and the Intellectual Act 15

V. Comparison of Geometrical with Non-Geometrical
Ideas 20

VI. In what the Geometrical Idea consists; and what
are its Relations with Sensible Intuition 25

VII. The Acting Intellect of the Aristotelians 29

VIII. Kant and the Aristotelians 33

IX. Historical View of the Value of Pure Ideas 42

X. Sensible Intuition 50

XI. Two Cognitions: Intuitive and Discursive 54

XII. The Sensism of Kant 57

XIII. Existence of Pure Intellectual Intuition 59

XIV. Value of Intellectual Conceptions.--Abstraction
made from Intellectual Intuition 62

XV. Illustrations of the Value of General
Conceptions 65

XVI. Value of Principles, independently of Sensible
Intuition 68

XVII. Relations of Intuition with the rank of the
Perceptive Being 71

XVIII. Aspirations of the Human Soul 74

XIX. Elements and variety of the characters of
Sensible Representation 76

XX. Intermediate Representations between Sensible
Intuition and the Intellectual Act 81

XXI. Determinate and Indeterminate Ideas 84

XXII. Limits of our Intuition 88

XXIII. Of the Necessity involved in Ideas 92

XXIV. Existence of Universal Reason 96

XXV. In what does Universal Reason consist? 99

XXVI. Remarks on the Real Foundation of Pure
Possibility 102

XXVII. Individual and Intellectual Phenomena
explained by the Universal Subsisting Reason 105

XXVIII. Observations on the Relation of Language to
Ideas 108

XXIX. Origin and Character of the relation between
Language and Ideas 112

XXX. Innate Ideas 115

BOOK FIFTH.

IDEA OF BEING.

I. Idea of Being 125

II. Simplicity and Indeterminateness of the Idea of
Being 127

III. Substantive and Copulative Being 129

IV. Being, the Object of the Understanding, is not
the Possible, Inasmuch as Possible 134

V. A Difficulty Solved 138

VI. In what Sense the Idea of Being is the Form of
the Understanding 141

VII. All Science is founded in the Postulate of
Existence 143

VIII. The foundation of Pure Possibility, and the
Condition of its Existence 147

IX. Idea of Negation 150

X. Identity; Distinction; Unity; Multiplicity 153

XI. Origin of the Idea of Being 155

XII. Distinction between Essence and Existence 161

XIII. Kant's Opinion of Reality and Negation 164

XIV. Recapitulation and Consequences of the Doctrine
concerning the Idea of Being 168

BOOK SIXTH.

UNITY AND NUMBER.

I. Preliminary Considerations on the Idea of Unity 175

II. What is Unity? 176

III. Unity and Simplicity 180

IV. Origin of the Tendency of our Mind to Unity 183

V. Generation of the Idea of Number 187

VI. Connection of the Ideas of Number with their
Signs 191

VII. Analysis of the Idea of Number in Itself and
its Relations with Signs 194

BOOK SEVENTH.

ON TIME.

I. Importance and Difficulty of the Subject 201

II. Is Time the Measure of Movement? 203

III. Similarities and Differences between Time and
Space 206

IV. Definition of Time 211

V. Time is Nothing Absolute 213

VI. Difficulties in the explanation of Velocity 215

VII. Fundamental Explanation of Succession 219

VIII. What is Co-existence? 223

IX. Present, Past, and Future 226

X. Application of the preceding Doctrine to several
important Questions 231

XI. The Analysis of the Idea of Time confirms its
resemblance to the Idea of Space 234

XII. Relations of the Idea of Time to Experience 236

XIII. Kant's Opinion 239

XIV. Fundamental Explanation of the Objective Possibility
and of the Necessity of the Idea of Time 242

XV. Important Corollaries 243

XVI. Pure Ideal Time and Empirical Time 245

XVII. Relations of the Idea of Time and the
Principle of Contradiction 247

XVIII. Summing up 254

XIX. A glance at the Ideas of Space, Number, and
Time 257

BOOK EIGHTH.

THE INFINITE.

I. Transitory View of the Actual State of
Philosophy 263

II. Importance and Anomaly of the Questions on the
Idea of the Infinite 268

III. Have we the Idea of the Infinite? 269

IV. The Limit 272

V. Considerations on the Application of the Idea of
the Infinite to continuous quantities, and to
Discrete Quantities, in so far as these last are
expressed in Series 274

VI. Origin of the Vagueness and Apparent Contradictions
in the Application of the Idea of the Infinite 278

VII. Fundamental Explanation of the Abstract Idea
of the Infinite 281

VIII. The Definition of Infinity confirmed by
Application to Extension 285

IX. Conception of an Infinite Number 289

X. Conception of Infinite Extension 292

XI. Possibility of Infinite Extension 294

XII. Solution of Various Objections against the
Possibility of an Infinite Extension 296

XIII. Existence of Infinite Extension 302

XIV. Possibility of an Actual Infinite Number 304

XV. Idea of Absolutely Infinite Being 311

XVI. All the Reality contained in Indeterminate
Conceptions is affirmed of God 315

XVII. All that is not contradictory in Intuitive
Ideas is affirmed of God 317

XVIII. Intelligence and the Absolutely Infinite
Being 321

XIX. Summing up 324

BOOK NINTH.

ON SUBSTANCE.

I. Name and General Idea of Substance 331

II. Application of the Idea of Substance to
Corporeal Objects 333

III. Definition of Corporeal Substance 338

IV. Relation of Corporeal Substance to its
Accidents 340

V. Considerations on Corporeal Substance in Itself 344

VI. Substantiality of the Human Me 347

VII. Relation of the Proposition, I Think, to the
Substantiality of the Me 349

VIII. Remarks on the Soul's Intuition of Itself 352

IX. Kant's Opinion of the Arguments proving the
Substantiality of the Soul 355

X. Kant's Opinion of the Argument which he calls
Paralogism of Personality 366

XI. Simplicity of the Soul 377

XII. Kant's Opinion of the Argument proving the
Simplicity of the Soul 381

XIII. In what manner the Idea of Substance may be
applied to God 394

XIV. An important Remark, and Summary 397

XV. Pantheism examined in the Order of Ideas 399

XVI. Pantheism examined in the Order of External
Facts 403

XVII. Pantheism examined in the Order of Internal
Facts 406

XVIII. Fichte's Pantheistic System 409

XIX. Relations of Fichte's System to the Doctrines
of Kant 424

XX. Contradiction of Pantheism to the Primary Facts
of the Human Mind 429

XXI. Rapid glances at the Principal Arguments of
Pantheists 434

BOOK TENTH.

NECESSITY AND CAUSALITY.

I. Necessity 439

II. The Unconditioned 442

III. Immutability of Necessary and Unconditioned
Being 445

IV. Ideas of Cause and Effect 448

V. Origin of the Notion of Causality 451

VI. Formula and Demonstration of the Principle of
Causality 454

VII. The Principle of Precedency 457

VIII. Causality in Itself.--Insufficiency and Error
of some Explanations 467

IX. Necessary and sufficient Conditions of true
Absolute Causality 474

X. Secondary Causality 476

XI. Fundamental Explanation of the Origin of the
Obscurity of Ideas in what relates to Causality 479

XII. Causality of Pure Force of the Will 483

XIII. Activity 486

XIV. Possibility of the Activity of Bodies 493

XV. Conjectures as to the Existence of Corporeal
Activity 496

XVI. Internal Causality 500

XVII. Remarks on Spontaneity 508

XVIII. Final Causality;--Morality 513

XIX. Various Explanations of Morality 520

XX. Fundamental Explanation of the Moral Order 527

XXI. A Glance at the Work 543

BOOK FOURTH.

ON IDEAS.

FUNDAMENTAL PHILOSOPHY.