On the Secrets of Women

Note: The generation of perfect animals is eternal, because such things are of universal perfection, as stated in the 1st book of the Ethics. But a doubt seems to arise, because certain animals are sometimes entirely corrupted, such as certain worms and flies in winter. It must be said that if they are corrupted in one climate, then they are generated in another, according to Albertus and in the commentary on the first book of the Posterior Analytics. Or it must be said that the generation of animals, because they are of universal perfection, is eternal. But standing by the first solution, the doubt remains: are those animals of universal perfection? Because it would be better for many animals not to exist than to exist, namely snakes and animals that intoxicate. It is said that it is good for them to exist, to absorb the impurities of the earth, because if they did not absorb them, they would infect the air, and consequently man. Whence nothing sustains them without a reasonable cause. From that text, it is clear that chastity is a sin against nature, although it is the way of death for men according to the precept of the law, because through chastity an animal does not generate its like. Note: by "divine providence" one cannot understand God, because He does not care for particulars, according to Averroes in the 12th book of the Metaphysics. Therefore, by "divine providence," one understands the celestial body, which by its own nature desires with a natural appetite to conserve these lower things, yet through the guidance of the intelligences. Whence the Commentator on the 12th book of the Metaphysics says: "The work of nature is an intelligence that does not err." Whether the generation of animals could...