The Sequel to the Count of Gabalis, or New Discourses on the Secret Sciences

# On the Secret Sciences

...cannot understand except by assuming two or three times what must be proven.

    "It is true, my child," Jean le Brun replied, "but that is not the worst of it. It would not be a very dangerous evil to have made a false demonstration of the existence of God. By revealing this falsehood to someone who was convinced his demonstration was sound, one would actually strengthen him in the faith. He would remain convinced of the futility of reasoning about more difficult truths, since this one—which is so plausible and appears so likely to Pagans as well as Christians—cannot be proved through logic alone."

"But the great evil caused by the 'visions' original: "visions" — here meaning delusions or fanciful, unfounded ideas rather than divine revelations. with which Descartes has muddled the Physics of my great-great-grandfather The speaker is likely claiming a lineage from an earlier tradition of natural philosophy, possibly Hermetic or Paracelsian, which Descartes' mechanical philosophy sought to replace., is that he first instills in the mind of his disciple the most dangerous disposition a Christian spirit can have. He does this through that ridiculous supposition that everything the senses, other men, and even reason itself may have taught him is false or doubtful."

"Is this not resurrecting the dangerous sect of the PyrrhonistsFollowers of Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360–270 BC), the ancient Greek school of skepticism that argued for the suspension of judgment on all matters because certain knowledge is impossible.? Is it not accustoming the mind to doubt everything, or to cease doubting only by its own 'light'? A reference to the "natural light" of reason championed by Descartes. Is it not, finally, making oneself the sole arbiter of truth?"