PER 



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both the internal and external surfaces of 

 all the bones in the body, excepting 1 only 

 so much of the teeth as stand above the 

 gums, and the peculiar places on the 

 bones in which the muscles are inserted. 



PERIPATETIC philosophy, that system 

 taught and established by Aristotle, and 

 maintained by his followers, the Peripate- 

 tics, called also Aristotelians. 



The philosophy of Aristotle may be di- 

 vided into three distinct branches ; instru- 

 mental, theoretical, and practical. Under 

 the first head are included his doctrines 

 concerning- logic ; under the second, his 

 principles of physics, pneumatology, onto- 

 logy, and mathematics ; and under the 

 third, his system of ethics and policy. 

 Upon all these we cannot enlarge ; but 

 shall refer to his doctrine concerning the 

 human mind and animal life 



Aristotle, having undertaken to teach a 

 new system of philosophy, was desirous 

 of receding as far as possible from former 

 philosophers, and particularly from Plato ; 

 and in treating upon any subject on 

 which he had no doctrine to otter, he 

 gave old opinions the air of novelty, by 

 clothing them in new language. This 

 latter method he adopted on ihe subject 

 of mind. He asserted with Plato, that 

 there are in men different faculties, which 

 bave respectively a different organ ; but 

 he designedly expressed his doctrine 

 upon this head in obscure terms, which 

 cannot be explained with entire perspi- 

 cuity without supposing, as many writers 

 have done, what Aristotle ought to have 

 taught, instead of endeavouring to disco- 

 ver what he actually did teach. His 

 leading tenets on this subject are these : 

 The soul is the first principle of action in 

 an organised body, possessing life poten- 

 tially. The soul does not move itself; 

 for whatever moves is moved by some 

 other moving power. It is not a rare 

 body, composed of elements ; for then it 

 would not have perception more than 

 the elements which compose it. The 

 soul has three faculties, the nutritive, the 

 sensitive, and the rational ; the superior 

 comprehending the inferior potentially. 

 The nutritive faculty is that by which life 

 is produced and preserved. The sensi- 

 tive faculty is that by which we perceive 

 and feel ; it does not perceive itself nor 

 its organs, but some external objects 

 through the intervention of its organs, 

 which are adapted to produce the sensa- 

 tions of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and 

 Touch. The senses receive sensible 

 species, or forms, without matter, as wax 

 receives the impression of a seal, without 



VOL. V. 



receiving any part of its substance. Tli,e 

 external senses perceive objects ; but it 

 is the common, or internal sense, which 

 observes their difference. The internal 

 sense perceives various objects at the 

 same instant. Perception differs from, 

 intellect ; the former being common to all 

 animals, the latter to a few. Fancy is the 

 perception produced in any animal, by 

 the immediate action of the senses. It is 

 accompanied with different feelings, ac- 

 cording to the nature of the object by 

 which it is produced. Memory is deriv- 

 ed from fancy, and has its seat in the 

 same power of the soul. It is the effect 

 of some image impressed upon the soul 

 by means of the senses. Where this 

 image cannot be retained, through an 

 excess of moisture or dryness in the tem- 

 perature of the brain, memory ceases. 

 Reminiscence is that faculty of the mind 

 by which we search for any thing which 

 we wish to recollect through a series of 

 tilings nearly related to it, till at last we 

 call to mind what we had forgotten. The 

 intellect is that part of the soul by which 

 it understands. It is of two kinds, pas- 

 sive and active. Passive intellect is that 

 faculty by which the understanding- re- 

 ceives the forms of things : it is the seat 

 of species. Active intellect is the effi. 

 cient cause of all knowledge; and is either- 

 simple, when it is employed in the near 

 apprehension of its object ; or complex, 

 when it compounds simple conceptions, 

 in order to produce belief and assent. 

 The latter is either true or false, the former 

 neither. The action of the intellect is 

 either theoretical or practical : theoreti- 

 cal, when it simply considers what is true 

 or false ; and practical, when it judges 

 whether any thing is good or evil, and 

 hereby excites the will to pursue or avoid 

 it. The principle of local motion is thq 

 desire, or aversion, which arises from the 

 practical exercise of the understanding. 

 This desire, or aversion, produces either 

 rational volition or sensitive appetite. 

 The production of animal life arises from 

 the union of the nutritive soul with ani- 

 mal heat. Life is the continuance of this 

 union ; death, its dissolution. 



The nature of the first principle of 

 animal life, and of all perception, intelli- 

 gence, and action, Aristotle, as well as all 

 other philosophers, was at a loss to ex- 

 plain. Having no other way of judging 

 concerning- it than by observing its opera- 

 tions as far as they are subjects of expe- 

 rience, he could only define the mind to 

 be that principle by which we live, per- 

 ceive, and understand, When he at- 



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