Ramon Llull Ars Inventiua Veritatis (1515)

Third Figure.

in respect to its own effect: which (as has already been said) consists in Minority original: "minoritate"; in Lullian logic, "Minority" refers to the state of being lesser in scale, quality, or essence compared to a maximum.. There is, namely, accidental minority, such as quantity or quality, etc., which, being constituted from the minority of substance, follows what was previously said regarding the majority of substance. For instance, from the intense quantity of goodness or magnitude, etc., [follows] the extended quantity of substance; as from the intense quality of goodness, etc., [follows] the extended quality of substance; just as from the intense heat of fire [follows] the extended heat of the thing ignited; and so it is with other things of this kind. This same thing follows in its own way regarding sensory and intellectual power.

Moreover, Minority exists so that certain beings, other than the Supreme Being, are not all supreme beings—which is utterly impossible. It has its existence in beings by descending grade by grade until it is nearly nothingness. And the more it descends, the more it approaches its own nature [of smallness]; and the more it ascends, the more it recedes from its nature toward the opposite, which is Majority.

Yet Minority is a principle that is difficult to attain original: "amingibile," a variant of "attingibile" (attainable/graspable)., because the more it approaches its own nature, the closer it is to non-being. Therefore, it can scarcely be grasped because of its minimal entity. Nevertheless, it is a necessary being, because if it did not exist, an impossibility would follow: namely, that all beings would be supreme (as was said). Wherefore, Minority itself is a very necessary principle in this Art The "Art" refers to the Ars Magna, a system of logical combinations intended to uncover universal truths.. For the knowledge of the conditions of this principle subtilizes the intellect of the Artist The practitioner of this logical system.; however, it sometimes creates a fantasy in the imagination for those who do not know how to guard themselves and who are ignorant of how to deduce the terms of this Art.

By knowing the essence, nature, and conditions of Minority, the Artist knows the "middle" [term] pertaining to it, from that principle to the principle of the question posed. He thus has a way of speculating upon the highest Majority or Equality: since Minority is like an oblique mirror original: "speculum obliquum" where the intellect may contemplate the dissimilarity of Majority or Magnitude. For one of two opposites is known through the other, just as through "concordance" one thing is denoted by another similar thing. Hence, this principle must be deduced through the other principles, and vice versa.

Furthermore, any of the definitions of the general principles of this Art are shared with one another, so that from them a universal perfection may be formed, or a concrete application may follow. Just as goodness is great by reason of magnitude, and thus it is great in a "great good," and in that which "makes good" (the bonifier) and "makes great" (the magnifier), and so with the others. And thus, in this universal, that "participation" which is sought can be found.

¶ Concerning the Third Figure.

Fourth Figure.

The Third Figure is composed of the first and second figures, and of the rules and also the questions, mixed together by a combination of the principles of both. Thus, every principle is deduced into every other principle, so that by knowing the conditions which each of them has by itself, the conditions resulting from one being joined with another may be known.

From such a deduction of the second [figure] regarding each of the principles, 36 chambers camere: "cells" or "compartments" representing the intersection of two principles in a matrix. are implied. We call "chambers" the individual combinations made from principle to principle, just as in the present figure it is described by the addition of a letter to letters.

The Artist should recur to these chambers, seeking the middle terms of this [Art] for that which is sought. And the chambers themselves are to be cited according to how they lie in the second distinction of this Art, which chambers are the essence original: "usia," from the Greek "ousia" (substance/essence). of the Art itself; hence the particular thing being sought must be assigned while preserving the third [part] of this Art. The particular sought is elicited from the universal itself by applying any terms to those terms of this figure which are most proportioned or similar to those terms, and by concluding discursively through their indestructible conditions.

¶ Concerning the Fourth Figure.

A Lullian circular diagram representing the "Quarta Figura." It consists of three concentric circles. The outermost circle is fixed and divided into nine segments, each containing a letter in a Gothic/blackletter script: B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K. Inside are two smaller circles, described in the text as "volubiles" (rotatable), also divided into nine segments, used to generate combinations of the primary principles.

The Fourth Figure is revolving original: "volubilis"; a movable paper mechanism often called a "volvelle.", consisting of three circles, of which the two inner ones are movable, one containing the other. And in each of them are nine letters: b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. k., from which the other figures, rules, and questions of the first part are also described.

This figure, therefore, is constituted from the letters of the Third Figure, and each letter can be taken for four principles. Hence, whatever question is made, or under whatever principle it falls, the aforementioned letters are to be arranged in this figure in the correct order, placing one beneath the other. For example: if a question should fall under Goodness, Magnitude, and Eternity, let it be deduced by placing "C" of the second circle under "B" of the first.