PREFACE

...corrupted, such as certain worms and flies in winter. It must be said that if they are destroyed in one climate, then they are generated in another, according to Albert Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–1280), a famous medieval scientist and philosopher who sought to reconcile Aristotelian thought with Christianity. and in the commentary on the first book of the Posterior Analytics. Aristotle's work on logic and scientific demonstration. Or it must be said that the generation of animals is everlasting because they belong to the universal perfection [of the world].

But even if the first solution stands, there is a doubt whether those animals truly belong to the universal perfection, because it would be better for many animals not to exist than to exist—namely snakes and animals that are poisonous. It is said that it is good for them to exist so that they may absorb the impurities of the earth; for if they did not absorb them, they would infect the air and, consequently, infect humanity. Therefore, nothing sustains them without a rational cause.

From that text, it is clear that chastity is a "sin of nature" In this biological context, "sin" refers to a failure or error in natural purpose, because nature’s primary "goal" is reproduction.—although for humans it may be the path of death likely referring to the end of a family lineage by the precept of the law—because through chastity, an animal does not produce another like itself.

Note: by "divine care," God himself cannot be understood, because He does not care for particulars original: "particularia"; referring to individual creatures rather than entire species according to the Commentator Averroes, the 12th-century philosopher whose commentaries on Aristotle were foundational for medieval science. in the 12th book of the Metaphysics. Therefore, by "divine care" is understood the celestial body [the stars and planets], which by its own natural appetite desires to preserve these lower things, yet mediated by the governance of the Intelligences. In medieval science, "Intelligences" were thought to be spiritual beings or celestial minds that moved the planetary spheres. Hence the Commentator says in the 12th book of the Metaphysics: "The work of nature is the work of an Intelligence that does not err."

Whether the generation of animals could preserve animals—