Anima Magica Abscondita

But this definition is common to beasts and plants, and therefore he has stumbled onto another: The Soul is the principle by which we live, feel, move, and understand. original: "Anima est Principium quo vivimus, sentimus, movemur, & Intelligimus." Now both of these descriptions concern only the operations and faculties which the soul exercises in the body, but they do not discover her nature or origin at all. It was honestly done of Galen A famous Greek physician and philosopher (129–c. 216 AD) whose views dominated Western medical science for centuries., who confessed his ignorance concerning the substance of the soul.

But this fellow Referring to Aristotle, whom the author views as an inadequate authority., who did not have as much honesty, is proclaimed the Prince of Philosophers, and the positions of more glorious authors are examined by his dictates as if by a touchstone. Indeed, the Scripture itself is often wrested and forced by his disciples to vote its approval original: "Placet," a formal expression of assent. to his conclusions. It is a miserable task to dwell on this pagan original: "Ethnick," meaning a non-Christian or heathen philosopher., gathering his straw and stubble for most of our days, only to end up no better acquainted with ourselves than to know that the soul is the cause of life, sense, motion, and understanding.

I pity our customary follies, that we bind ourselves to an apprenticeship of expense and study only to encompass a few superficial truths which every plowman knows by heart. Truly, Nature is such a tutor that no one can be ignorant of these things; for who is so stupid as not to know the difference between life and death, or the absence and presence of his soul? Yet these very definitions,