| PREFATORY NOTE |
| PART I |
| PART II |
| PART III |
| PART IV |
| PART V |
| PART VI |
If this Discourse appear too long to be read at once, it may be divided intosix Parts: and, in the first, will be found various considerations touching theSciences; in the second, the principal rules of the Method which the Author hasdiscovered, in the third, certain of the rules of Morals which he has deducedfrom this Method; in the fourth, the reasonings by which he establishes theexistence of God and of the Human Soul, which are the foundations of hisMetaphysic; in the fifth, the order of the Physical questions which he hasinvestigated, and, in particular, the explication of the motion of the heartand of some other difficulties pertaining to Medicine, as also the differencebetween the soul of man and that of the brutes; and, in the last, what theAuthor believes to be required in order to greater advancement in theinvestigation of Nature than has yet been made, with the reasons that haveinduced him to write.
Good sense is, of all things among men, the most equally distributed; for everyone thinks himself so abundantly provided with it, that those even who are themost difficult to satisfy in everything else, do not usually desire a largermeasure of this quality than they already possess. And in this it is not likelythat all are mistaken the conviction is rather to be held as testifying thatthe power of judging aright and of distinguishing truth from error, which isproperly what is called good sense or reason, is by nature equal in all men;and that the diversity of our opinions, consequently, does not arise from somebeing endowed with a larger share of reason than others, but solely from this,that we conduct our thoughts along different ways, and do not fix our attentionon the same objects. For to be possessed of a vigorous mind is not enough; theprime requisite is rightly to apply it. The greatest minds, as they are capableof the highest excellences, are open likewise to the greatest aberrations; andthose who travel very slowly may yet make far greater progress, provided theykeep always to the straight road, than those who, while they run, forsake it.
For myself, I have never fancied my mind to be in any respect more perfect thanthose of the generality; on the contrary, I have often wished that I were equalto some others in promptitude of thought, or in clearness and distinctness ofimagination, or in fullness and readiness of memory. And besides these, I knowof no other qualities that contribute to the perfection of the mind; for as tothe reason or sense, inasmuch as it is that alone which constitutes us men, anddistinguishes us from the brutes, I am disposed to believe that it is to befound complete in each individual; and on this point to adopt the commonopinion of philosophers, who say that the difference of greater and less holdsonly among the accidents, and not among the forms or natures of individuals ofthe same species.
I will not hesitate, however, to avow my be