12 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book!. 



hy nature ereB. — 'The contrary is noiv found to he the cafe. — The 

 faiis by ivhich this is proved. — fhe -wonderful progrefs of Man^ 

 from a quadruped to fuch an animal as^he now is. — Qf the ivorld' 



cf art nuhich he has created^ — and made all the Powers of Nature 

 fubfervient to him. 



WHAT is Man, is a queftion whicH I believe no perfon can 

 anfwer who has not ftiidied the antient Philofophy. What 

 makes the difficulty of anfwering it, is, that the definition of 

 every animal muft inform us what the animal is by Nature, 

 independent of Art, that is, of any quality he may have acquired 

 by teaching, or by cbfervatioa and experience : For if, by natural 

 inftind, he praclifes any thing which has the appearance of art, be- 

 ing done by rule and meafure, it may very properly be made part 

 of the definition of fuch an animal. For example, the bee may 

 very properly be defined an animal that makes honey, and lays it 

 up in hexagon cells ; but as to man, I believe there is no body who- 

 fuppofes that he pradifes all thofe wonderful arts, which we fee him 

 pradlife, by mere natural inftind, without teaching, obfervalion, or 

 experience, unlefs he believe, as fome men do, that man fpeaks 

 by nature: For if, in that way, he can pradife the art of more dif- 

 ficult invention than any other, and of pradice too fo difficult, that if 

 v>e weie not in the conftant ufe of it from our early infancy, we 

 could have no ufe of it at all, he may pradife e\'ery other art by 

 nature. The queftion then is, What is Man by nature, withou'c 

 any of the arts or fciences which he has invented ? Now this quef- 

 tion Ariftotle, and Ariftotle only, has anfvveied ; for he has defined" 

 man to be X^aov Xoylxov, BiJiror, vov y.xi i-jriaTAui.-ni SeJtTJXoj'. What is 

 meant by ^wor, or animal, which Ariftotle makes the genus erf this 

 definition, is well known to be a being which perceives by fenfes ; 

 but there is moie difficulty to know what he means by the fpecific 



difference 



