so plainly from the mere definitions of love and understanding,
that I have no need to prove them in detail.
PROP. XLVII. Emotions of hope and fear cannot be in themselves
good.
Proof.--Emotions of hope and fear cannot exist without pain.
For fear is pain (Def. of the Emotions, xiii.), and hope (Def. of
the Emotions, Explanation xii. and xiii.) cannot exist without
fear; therefore (IV. xli.) these emotions cannot be good in
themselves, but only in so far as they can restrain excessive
pleasure (IV. xliii.). Q.E.D.
Note.--We may add, that these emotions show defective
knowledge and an absence of power in the mind; for the same
reason confidence, despair, joy, and disappointment are signs of
a want of mental power. For although confidence and joy are
pleasurable emotions, they nevertheless imply a preceding pain,
namely, hope and fear. Wherefore the more we endeavour to be
guided by reason, the less do we depend on hope; we endeavour to
free ourselves from fear, and, as far as we can, to dominate
fortune, directing our actions by the sure counsels of wisdom.
PROP. XLVIII. The emotions of over--esteem and disparagement are
always bad.
Proof.--These emotions (see Def. of the Emotions, xxi. xxii.)
are repugnant to reason; and are therefore (IV. xxvi. xxvii.)
bad. Q.E.D.
PROP. XLIX. Over--esteem is apt to render its object proud.
Proof.--If we see that any one rates us too highly, for love's
sake, we are apt to become elated (III. xli.), or to be
pleasurably affected (Def. of the Emotions, xxx.); the good
which we hear of ourselves we readily believe (III. xxv.); and
therefore, for love's sake, rate ourselves too highly; in other
words, we are apt to become proud. Q.E.D.
PROP. L. Pity, in a man who lives under the guidance of reason,
is in itself bad and useless.
Proof.--Pity (Def. of the Emotions, xviii.) is a pain, and
therefore (IV. xli.) is in itself bad. The good effect which
follows, namely, our endeavour to free the object of our pity
from misery, is an action which we desire to do solely at the
dictation of reason (IV. xxxvii.); only at the dictation of
reason are we able to perform any action, which we know for
certain to be good (IV. xxvii.); thus, in a man who lives under
the guidance of reason, pity in itself is useless and bad.
Q.E.D.
Note.--He who rightly realizes, that all things follow from
the necessity of the divine nature, and come to pass in
accordance with the eternal laws and rules of nature, will not
find anything worthy of hatred, derision, or contempt, nor will
he bestow pity on anything, but to the utmost extent of human
virtue he will endeavour to do well, as the saying is, and to
rejoice. We may add, that he, who is easily touched with
compassion, and is moved by another's sorrow or tears, often does
something which he afterwards regrets; partly because we can
never be sure that an action caused by emotion is good, partly
because we are easily deceived by false tears. I am in this
place expressly speaking of a man living under the guidance of
reason. He who is moved to help others neither by reason nor by
compassion, is rightly styled inhuman, for (III. xxvii.) he seems
unlike a man.
PROP. LI. Approval is not repugnant to reason, but can agree
therewith and arise therefrom.
Proof.--Approval is love towards one who has done good to
another (Def. of the Emotions, xix.); therefore it may be
referred to the mind, in so far as the latter is active (III.
lix.), that is (III. iii.), in so far as it understands;
therefore, it is in agreement with reason, &c. Q.E.D.
Another Proof.--He, who lives under the guidance of reason,
desires for others the good which he seeks for himself (IV.
xxxvii.); wherefore from seeing someone doing good to his fellow
his own endeavour to do good is aided; in other words, he will
feel pleasure (III. xi. note) accompanied by the idea of the
benefactor. Therefore he approves of him. Q.E.D.
Note.--Indignation as we defined it (Def. of the Emotions,
xx.) is necessarily evil (IV. xlv.); we may, however, remark
that, when the sovereign power for the sake of preserving peace
punishes a citizen who has injured another, it should not be said
to be indignant with the criminal, for it is not incited by
hatred to ruin him, it is led by a sense of duty to punish him.
PROP. LII. Self--approval may arise from reason, and that which
arises from reason is the highest possible.
Proof.--Self--approval is pleasure arising from a man's
contemplation of himself and his own power of action (Def. of the
Emotions, xxv.). But a man's true power of action or virtue is
reason herself (III. iii.), as the said man clearly and
distinctly contemplates her (II. xl. xliii.); therefore
self--approval arises from reason. Again, when a man is
contemplating himself, he only perceived clearly and distinctly
or adequately, such things as follow from his power of action
(III. Def. ii.), that is (III. iii.), from his power of
understanding; therefore in such contemplation alone does the
highest possible self--approval arise. Q.E.D.
Note.--Self--approval is in reality the highest object for
which we can hope. For (as we showed in IV. xxv.) no one
endeavours to preserve his being for the sake of any ulterior
object, and, as this approval is more and more fostered and
strengthened by praise (III. liii. Coroll.), and on the contrary
(III. lv. Coroll.) is more and more disturbed by blame, fame
becomes the most powerful of incitements to action, and life
under disgrace is almost unendurable.
PROP. LIII. Humility is not a virtue, or does not arise from
reason.
Proof.--Humility is pain arising from a man's contemplation of
his own infirmities (Def. of the Emotions, xxvi.). But, in so
far as a man knows himself by true reason, he is assumed to
understand his essence, that is, his power (III. vii.).
Wherefore, if a man in self--contemplation perceives any infirmity
in himself, it is not by virtue of his understanding himself, but
(III. lv.) by virtue of his power of activity being checked.
But, if we assume that a man perceives his own infirmity by
virtue of understanding something stronger than himself, by the
knowledge of which he determines his own power of activity, this
is the same as saying that we conceive that a man understands
himself distinctly (IV. xxvi.), because[14] his power of activity
is aided. Wherefore humility, or the pain which arises from a
man's contemplation of his own infirmity, does not arise from the
contemplation or reason, and is not a virtue but a passion.
Q.E.D.
[14] Land reads: "Quod ipsius agendi potentia juvatur"--which I
have translated above. He suggests as alternative readings to
'quod', 'quo' (= whereby) and 'quodque' (= and that).
PROP. LIV. Repentance is not a virtue, or does not arise from
reason; but he who repents of an action is doubly wretched or
infirm.
Proof.--The first part of this proposition is proved like the
foregoing one. The second part is proved from the mere
definition of the emotion in question (Def. of the Emotions,
xxvii.). For the man allows himself to be overcome, first, by
evil desires; secondly, by pain.
Note.--As men seldom live under the guidance of reason, these
two emotions, namely, Humility and Repentance, as also Hope and
Fear, bring more good than harm; hence, as we must sin, we had
better sin in that direction. For, if all men who are a prey to
emotion were all equally proud, they would shrink from nothing,
and would fear nothing; how then could they be joined and linked
together in bonds of union? The crowd plays the tyrant, when it
is not in fear; hence we need not wonder that the prophets, who
consulted the good, not of a few, but of all, so strenuously
commended Humility, Repentance, and Reverence. Indeed those who
are a prey to these emotions may be led much more easily than
others to live under the guidance of reason, that is, to become
free and to enjoy the life of the blessed.
PROP. LV. Extreme pride or dejection indicates extreme ignorance
of self.
Proof.--This is evident from Def. of the Emotions, xxviii. and
xxix.
PROP. LVI. Extreme pride or dejection indicates extreme
infirmity of spirit.
Proof.--The first foundation of virtue is self--preservation
(IV. xxii. Coroll.) under the guidance of reason (IV. xxiv.).
He, therefore, who is ignorant of himself, is ignorant of the
foundation of all virtues, and consequently of all virtues.
Again, to act virtuously is merely to act under the guidance of
reason (IV. xxiv.): now he, that acts under the guidance of
reason, must necessarily know that he so acts (II. xliii.).
Therefore he who is in extreme ignorance of himself, and
consequently of all virtues, acts least in obedience to virtue;
in other words (IV. Def. viii.), is most infirm of spirit. Thus
extreme pride or dejection indicates extreme infirmity of spirit.
Q.E.D.
Corollary.--Hence it most clearly follows, that the proud and
the dejected specially fall a prey to the emotions.
Note.--Yet dejection can be more easily corrected than pride;
for the latter being a pleasurable emotion, and the former a
painful emotion, the pleasurable is stronger than the painful
(IV. xviii.).
PROP. LVII. The proud man delights in the company of flatterers
and parasites, but hates the company of the high--minded.
Proof.--Pride is pleasure arising from a man's over estimation
of himself (Def. of the Emotions, xxviii. and vi.); this
estimation the proud man will endeavour to foster by all the
means in his power (III. xiii. note); he will therefore delight
in the company of flatterers and parasites (whose character is
too well known to need definition here), and will avoid the
company of high--minded men, who value him according to his
deserts. Q.E.D.
Note.--It would be too long a task to enumerate here all the
evil results of pride, inasmuch as the proud are a prey to all
the emotions, though to none of them less than to love and pity.
I cannot, however, pass over in silence the fact, that a man may
be called proud from his underestimation of other people; and,
therefore, pride in this sense may be defined as pleasure arising
from the false opinion, whereby a man may consider himself
superior to his fellows. The dejection, which is the opposite
quality to this sort of pride, may be defined as pain arising
from the false opinion, whereby a man may think himself inferior
to his fellows. Such being the ease, we can easily see that a
proud man is necessarily envious (III. xli. note), and only takes
pleasure in the company, who fool his weak mind to the top of his
bent, and make him insane instead of merely foolish.
Though dejection is the emotion contrary to pride, yet is the
dejected man very near akin to the proud man. For, inasmuch as
his pain arises from a comparison between his own infirmity and
other men's power or virtue, it will be removed, or, in other
words, he will feel pleasure, if his imagination be occupied in
contemplating other men's faults; whence arises the proverb,
"The unhappy are comforted by finding fellow--sufferers."
Contrariwise, he will be the more pained in proportion as he
thinks himself inferior to others; hence none are so prone to
envy as the dejected, they are specially keen in observing men's
actions, with a view to fault--finding rather than correction, in
order to reserve their praises for dejection, and to glory
therein, though all the time with a dejected air. These effects
follow as necessarily from the said emotion, as it follows from
the nature of a triangle, that the three angles are equal to two
right angles. I have already said that I call these and similar
emotions bad, solely in respect to what is useful to man. The
laws of nature have regard to nature's general order, whereof man
is but a part. I mention this, in passing, lest any should think
that I have wished to set forth the faults and irrational deeds
of men rather than the nature and properties of things. For, as
I said in the preface to the third Part, I regard human emotions
and their properties as on the same footing with other natural
phenomena. Assuredly human emotions indicate the power and
ingenuity, of nature, if not of human nature, quite as fully as
other things which we admire, and which we delight to
contemplate. But I pass on to note those qualities in the
emotions, which bring advantage to man, or inflict injury upon
him.
PROP. LVIII. Honour (gloria) is not repugnant to reason, but may
arise therefrom.
Proof.--This is evident from Def. of the Emotions, xxx., and
also from the definition of an honourable man (IV. xxxvii. note.
i.).
Note--Empty honour, as it is styled, is self--approval,
fostered only by the good opinion of the populace; when this
good opinion ceases there ceases also the self--approval, in other
words, the highest object of each man's love (IV. lii. note);
consequently, he whose honour is rooted in popular approval must,
day by day, anxiously strive, act, and scheme in order to retain
his reputation. For the populace is variable and inconstant, so
that, if a reputation be not kept up, it quickly withers away.
Everyone wishes to catch popular applause for himself, and
readily represses the fame of others. The object of the strife
being estimated as the greatest of all goods, each combatant is
seized with a fierce desire to put down his rivals in every
possible way, till he who at last comes out victorious is more
proud of having done harm to others than of having done good to
himself. This sort of honour, then, is really empty, being
nothing.
The points to note concerning shame may easily be inferred
from what was said on the subject of mercy and repentance. I
will only add that shame, like compassion, though not a virtue,
is yet good, in so far as it shows, that the feeler of shame is
really imbued with the desire to live honourably; in the same
way as suffering is good, as showing that the injured part is not
mortified. Therefore, though a man who feels shame is sorrowful,
he is yet more perfect than he, who is shameless, and has no
desire to live honourably.
Such are the points which I undertook to remark upon
concerning the emotions of pleasure and pain; as for the
desires, they are good or bad according as they spring from good
or evil emotions. But all, in so far as they are engendered in
us by emotions wherein the mind is passive, are blind (as is
evident from what was said in IV. xliv. note), and would be
useless, if men could easily, be induced to live by the guidance
of reason only, as I will now briefly, show.
PROP. LIX. To all the actions, whereto we are determined by
emotion wherein the mind is passive; we can be determined
without emotion by reason.
Proof.--To act rationally, is nothing else (III. iii. and Def.
ii.) but to perform those actions, which follow from the
necessity, of our nature considered in itself alone. But pain is
bad, in so far as it diminishes or checks the power of action
(IV. xli.); wherefore we cannot by pain be determined to any
action, which we should be unable to perform under the guidance
of reason. Again, pleasure is bad only in so far as it hinders a
man's capability for action (IV. xli. xliii.); therefore to this
extent we could not be determined by it to any action, which we
could not perform under the guidance of reason. Lastly,
pleasure, in so far as it is good, is in harmony with reason (for
it consists in the fact that a man's capability for action is
increased or aided); nor is the mind passive therein, except in
so far as a man's power of action is not increased to the extent
of affording him an adequate conception of himself and his
actions (III. iii., and note).
Wherefore, if a man who is pleasurably affected be brought to
such a state of perfection, that he gains an adequate conception
of himself and his own actions, he will be equally, nay more,
capable of those actions, to which he is determined by emotion
wherein the mind is passive. But all emotions are attributable
to pleasure, to pain, or to desire (Def. of the Emotions, iv.
explanation); and desire (Def. of the Emotions, i.) is nothing
else but the attempt to act; therefore, to all actions, &c.
Q.E.D.
Another Proof.--A given action is called bad, in so far as it
arises from one being affected by hatred or any evil emotion.
But no action, considered in itself alone, is either good or bad
(as we pointed out in the preface to Pt. IV.), one and the same
action being sometimes good, sometimes bad; wherefore to the
action which is sometimes bad, or arises from some evil emotion,
we may be led by reason (IV. xix.). Q.E.D.
Note.--An example will put this point in a clearer light. The
action of striking, in so far as it is considered physically, and
in so far as we merely look to the fact that a man raises his
arm, clenches his fist, and moves his whole arm violently
downwards, is a virtue or excellence which is conceived as proper
to the structure of the human body. If, then, a man, moved by
anger or hatred, is led to clench his fist or to move his arm,
this result takes place (as we showed in Pt. II.), because one
and the same action can be associated with various mental images
of things; therefore we may be determined to the performance of
one and the same action by confused ideas, or by clear and
distinct ideas. Hence it is evident that every desire which
springs from emotion, wherein the mind is passive, would become
useless, if men could be guided by reason. Let us now see why
desire which arises from emotion, wherein the mind is passive, is
called by us blind.
PROP. LX. Desire arising from a pleasure or pain, that is not
attributable to the whole body, but only to one or certain parts
thereof, is without utility in respect to a man as a whole.
Proof.--Let it be assumed, for instance, that A, a part of a
body, is so strengthened by some external cause, that it prevails
over the remaining parts (IV. vi.). This part will not endeavour
to do away with its own powers, in order that the other parts of
the body may perform its office; for this it would be necessary
for it to have a force or power of doing away with its own
powers, which (III. vi.) is absurd. The said part, and,
consequently, the mind also, will endeavour to preserve its
condition. Wherefore desire arising from a pleasure of the kind
aforesaid has no utility in reference to a man as a whole. If it
be assumed, on the other hand, that the part, A, be checked so
that the remaining parts prevail, it may be proved in the same
manner that desire arising from pain has no utility in respect to
a man as a whole. Q.E.D.
Note.--As pleasure is generally (IV. xliv. note) attributed to
one part of the body, we generally desire to preserve our being
with out taking into consideration our health as a whole: to
which it may be added, that the desires which have most hold over
us (IV. ix.) take account of the present and not of the future.
PROP. LXI. Desire which springs from reason cannot be excessive.
Proof.--Desire (Def. of the Emotions, i.) considered
absolutely is the actual essence of man, in so far as it is
conceived as in any way determined to a particular activity by
some given modification of itself. Hence desire, which arises
from reason, that is (III. iii.), which is engendered in us in so
far as we act, is the actual essence or nature of man, in so far
as it is conceived as determined to such activities as are
adequately conceived through man's essence only (III. Def. ii.).
Now, if such desire could be excessive, human nature considered
in itself alone would be able to exceed itself, or would be able
to do more than it can, a manifest contradiction. Therefore,
such desire cannot be excessive. Q.E.D.
PROP. LXII. In so far as the mind conceives a thing under the
dictates of reason, it is affected equally, whether the idea be
of a thing future, past, or present.
Proof.--Whatsoever the mind conceives under the guidance of
reason, it conceives under the form of eternity or necessity (II.
xliv. Coroll. ii.), and is therefore affected with the same
certitude (II. xliii. and note). Wherefore, whether the thing be
present, past, or future, the mind conceives it under the same
necessity and is affected with the same certitude; and whether
the idea be of something present, past, or future, it will in all
cases be equally true (II. xli.); that is, it will always
possess the same properties of an adequate idea (II. Def. iv.);
therefore, in so far as the mind conceives things under the
dictates of reason, it is affected in the same manner, whether
the idea be of a thing future, past, or present. Q.E.D.
Note.--If we could possess an adequate knowledge of the
duration of things, and could determine by reason their periods
of existence, we should contemplate things future with the same
emotion as things present; and the mind would desire as though
it were present the good which it conceived as future;
consequently it would necessarily neglect a lesser good in the
present for the sake of a greater good in the future, and would
in no wise desire that which is good in the present but a source
of evil in the future, as we shall presently show. However, we
can have but a very inadequate knowledge of the duration of
things (II. xxxi.); and the periods of their existence (II.
xliv. note.) we can only determine by imagination, which is not
so powerfully affected by the future as by the present. Hence
such true knowledge of good and evil as we possess is merely
abstract or general, and the judgment which we pass on the order
of things and the connection of causes, with a view to
determining what is good or bad for us in the present, is rather
imaginary than real. Therefore it is nothing wonderful, if the
desire arising from such knowledge of good and evil, in so far as
it looks on into the future, be more readily checked than the
desire of things which are agreeable at the present time. (Cf.
IV. xvi.)
PROP. LXIII. He who is led by fear, and does good in order to
escape evil, is not led by reason.
Proof.--All the emotions which are attributable to the mind as
active, or in other words to reason, are emotions of pleasure and
desire (III. lix.); therefore, he who is led by fear, and does
good in order to escape evil, is not led by reason.
Note.--Superstitions persons, who know better how to rail at
vice than how to teach virtue, and who strive not to guide men by
reason, but so to restrain them that they would rather escape
evil than love virtue, have no other aim but to make others as
wretched as themselves; wherefore it is nothing wonderful, if
they be generally troublesome and odious to their fellow--men.
Corollary.--Under desire which springs from reason, we seek
good directly, and shun evil indirectly.
Proof.--Desire which springs from reason can only spring from
a pleasurable emotion, wherein the mind is not passive (III.
lix.), in other words, from a pleasure which cannot be excessive
(IV. lxi.), and not from pain; wherefore this desire springs
from the knowledge of good, not of evil (IV. viii.); hence under
the guidance of reason we seek good directly and only by
implication shun evil. Q.E.D.
Note.--This Corollary may be illustrated by the example of a
sick and a healthy man. The sick man through fear of death eats
what he naturally shrinks from, but the healthy man takes
pleasure in his food, and thus gets a better enjoyment out of
life, than if he were in fear of death, and desired directly to
avoid it. So a judge, who condemns a criminal to death, not from
hatred or anger but from love of the public well--being, is guided
solely by reason.
PROP. LXIV. The knowledge of evil is an inadequate knowledge.
Proof.--The knowledge of evil (IV. viii.) is pain, in so far
as we are conscious thereof. Now pain is the transition to a
lesser perfection (Def. of the Emotions, iii.) and therefore
cannot be understood through man's nature (III. vi., and vii.);
therefore it is a passive state (III. Def. ii.) which (III. iii.)
depends on inadequate ideas; consequently the knowledge thereof
(II. xxix.), namely, the knowledge of evil, is inadequate.
Q.E.D.
Corollary.--Hence it follows that, if the human mind possessed
only adequate ideas, it would form no conception of evil.
PROP. LXV. Under the guidance of reason we should pursue the
greater of two goods and the lesser of two evils.
Proof.--A good which prevents our enjoyment of a greater good
is in reality an evil; for we apply the terms good and bad to
things, in so far as we compare them one with another (see
preface to this Part); therefore, evil is in reality a lesser
good; hence under the guidance of reason we seek or pursue only
the greater good and the lesser evil. Q.E.D.
Corollary.--We may, under the guidance of reason, pursue the
lesser evil as though it were the greater good, and we may shun
the lesser good, which would be the cause of the greater evil.
For the evil, which is here called the lesser, is really good,
and the lesser good is really evil, wherefore we may seek the
former and shun the latter. Q.E.D.
PROP. LXVI. We may, under the guidance of reason, seek a greater
good in the future in preference to a lesser good in the present,
and we may seek a lesser evil in the present in preference to a
greater evil in the future.[15]
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