278 MELVIN A. GLUTZ 



we treat those mobile beings that are the proper subjects of 

 specific types of change.'' The same process of concretion is 

 used in the special branches of the science, e.g. psychology 

 treats living beings first in general, then in particular. At each 

 stage of concretion we must assign the commensurate prin- 

 ciples, causes, and properties. The further we proceed in con- 

 cretion, the more difficult it becomes to demonstrate facts 

 causally, although quite often the final cause of phenomena 

 will be apparent, and from it we can " trace the links of 

 causation." '^ 



Order to the minds of students 



We have discussed order in natural philosophy from the 

 aspect of distinction and priority. Now we must investigate 

 it from the aspect of relation to the student. 



A science is a body of knowledge that is intended to be 

 communicated to others. It is significant that the word " doc- 

 trine," which, when used substantively, signifies a body of 

 truths, comes from the word " to teach." The exposition of the 

 philosophy of nature can never abstract from this ordination 

 to the minds of other men, and so the internal order of the 

 science must necessarily envision some audience, whether be- 

 giners, graduates, or specialists. We shall confine ourselves to 

 considering natural philosophy in relation to the undergraduate 

 student. 



The most important fact about the undergraduate is that 

 he is a beginner in philosophy. He is struggling through a new 

 and strange terrain. His insights are superficial; his knowledge 



^^ G. J. McMahon, S. J., The Order of Procedure in the Philosophy of Nature 

 (Quebec: La Librairie Philosophique M. Doyon, 1958) Chap. 5-7; C. DeKoninck, 

 " Introduction a I'etude de I'ame " in S. Cantin, Precis de psychologie thoiniste 

 (Laval University, 1948) pp. xlvi-xlvii, and in Laval Theologique et Philosophique, 

 III (1947) 9-65. 



** Aristotle, Parts of Animals, 1, 5, 645al0 The first book of this work gives a 

 summary of the method to be pursued in studying the various types of animal life 

 from the general to the specific. 645bl-646a6 show how demonstrations are to be 

 given in terms of final causes. 



