Now among other things of this kind which he discover'd, it appear'd to him that the Animal Spirit, which is Seal'd in the Heart (as we have mention'd before) must necessarily have some Quality superadded to its Corporeity, which rendred it capable of those wonderful Actions, different Sensations and Ways of apprehending Things, and various sorts of Motions; and that this Quality must be its Form, by which it is distinguish'd from other Bodies (which is the same that the Philosophers call the Sensitive Soul) and so in Plants, that which was in them the same that radical Moisture was in Beasts, was something proper to them, which, was their Form, which the Philosophers call the Vegetative Soul."

— Ockley, Simon (bap. 1679, d. 1720)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed and Sold by Edm. Powell and J. Morphew
Date
1708
Metaphor
Now among other things of this kind which he discover'd, it appear'd to him that the Animal Spirit, which is Seal'd in the Heart (as we have mention'd before) must necessarily have some Quality superadded to its Corporeity, which rendred it capable of those wonderful Actions, different Sensations and Ways of apprehending Things, and various sorts of Motions; and that this Quality must be its Form, by which it is distinguish'd from other Bodies (which is the same that the Philosophers call the Sensitive Soul) and so in Plants, that which was in them the same that radical Moisture was in Beasts, was something proper to them, which, was their Form, which the Philosophers call the Vegetative Soul."
Metaphor in Context
§ 42. In like manner he consider'd either Bodies, both Animate and Inanimate, and found their Essence confined in Corporeity and in some, one thing, or more superadded to it. And thus he attain'd a Notion of the Forms of Bodies, according to their differences. These were the first things he found out, belonging to the Spiritual World; for these Forms are not the objects of Sense, but are apprehended by Intellectual Speculation. Now among other things of this kind which he discover'd, it appear'd to him that the Animal Spirit, which is Seal'd in the Heart (as we have mention'd before) must necessarily have some Quality superadded to its Corporeity, which rendred it capable of those wonderful Actions, different Sensations and Ways of apprehending Things, and various sorts of Motions; and that this Quality must be its Form, by which it is distinguish'd from other Bodies (which is the same that the Philosophers call the Sensitive Soul) and so in Plants, that which was in them the same that radical Moisture was in Beasts, was something proper to them, which, was their Form, which the Philosophers call the Vegetative Soul. And that there was also in inanimate things, (viz. all Bodies, besides Plants and Animals, which are in this sublunary World) something peculiar to them, by the Power of which, every one of them perform'd such Actions as were proper to it; namely, various sorts of Motion, and different kinds of sensible Qualities, and that thing was the Form of every one of them, and this is the same which the Philosophers call Nature.
Provenance
Searching in Project Gutenberg
Citation
At least 3 entries in ESTC (1708, 1711).

Ibn Tufail (Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Tufail al-Qasi), trans. Simon Ockley, The Improvement of Human Reason Exhibited in the Life of Hai Ebn Yokdhan: Written in Arabick above 500 Years ago, by Abu Jaafr Ebn Tophail. In which is demonstrated, By what Methods one may, by meer Light of Nature, attain the Knowledg of things Natural and Supernatural; more particularly the Knowledge of God and the Affairs of another Life. Illustrated with proper Figures. Newly Translated from the Original Arabick, A.M. Vicar of Swavesey in Cambridgeshire. With an Appendix, In which the Possibility of Man's attaining the True Knowledg of God, and Things necessary to Salvation, without Instruction, is briefly consider'd. (London: Printed and Sold by Edm. Powell and J. Morphew, 1708). <Link to Google Books><Link to ECCO>

Text from Project Gutenberg edition: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16831/16831-h/20018-h.htm.
Date of Entry
06/17/2013

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.