Divisio philosophiae continentium.
The Three Remedies and Their Purpose
Hugh introduces wisdom, virtue, and necessity as three remedies against ignorance, vice, and weakness, and shows how theoretical, practical, and mechanical philosophy serve them, with logic added later for eloquence.
There are three: wisdom, virtue, necessity. Wisdom is the understanding of things as they are. Virtue is a settled disposition of mind, shaped to the measure of nature and in keeping with reason. Necessity is that without which we can't live, but with which we'd live better. These three remedies are set against the three evils to which human life is subject: wisdom against ignorance, virtue against vice, necessity against weakness. To root out these three evils, these three remedies were sought; and to discover these three remedies, every art and every branch of learning was found. For the sake of wisdom, theoretical philosophy was discovered; for the sake of virtue, practical philosophy; for the sake of necessity, mechanics. These three were first in use from the beginning, but afterward, for the sake of eloquence, logic was discovered.
The Four Principal Sciences
Logic, though last invented, must be taught first, and the four principal sciences from which all others descend are theoretical, practical, mechanical, and logical.
Although logic is the last invention, it ought to come first in teaching. There are therefore four principal sciences from which all the others descend: theoretical, practical, mechanical, and logical.
Theoretical Philosophy and the Quadrivium
Theoretical philosophy divides into theology, physics, and mathematics, and mathematics unfolds into the four mathematical disciplines of arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy.
Theoretical philosophy is divided into theology, physics, and mathematics. Theology deals with invisible substances; physics with the invisible causes of visible things; mathematics with the visible forms of visible things. And this mathematics is divided into four branches of knowledge. The first is arithmetic, which deals with number — that is, with quantity considered on its own, as discrete. The second is music, which deals with proportion — that is, with discrete quantity considered in relation to something else. The third is geometry, which deals with space — that is, with continuous, immobile quantity. The fourth is astronomy, which deals with motion — that is, with continuous, mobile quantity. The basic element of arithmetic is unity.
First Principles of the Mathematical Arts
Each mathematical discipline has its own basic element: the unison in music, the point in geometry, and the instant in astronomy.
The basic element of music is the unison. The basic element of geometry is the point. The basic element of astronomy is the instant.
Practical Philosophy and the Three Levels of Governance
Practical philosophy divides into solitary, private, and public, teaching respectively how individuals, households, and peoples ought to be governed.
Practical philosophy is divided into solitary, private, and public. The solitary teaches how each person should shape their own life through customs and adorn it through the virtues. The private teaches how households should be governed, and those who are related by the affection of the flesh. The public teaches how a whole people and nation ought to be governed by their own rulers. The solitary applies to individuals, the private to fathers of families, the public to the rulers of cities.
The Mechanical Arts and the Divisions of Logic
The mechanical arts are enumerated as seven, and logic is divided into grammar and reasoned discourse, with reasoned discourse further distinguished into dialectic, rhetoric, and the modes of philosophers and sophists.
The mechanical arts deal with human works, and this area is divided into seven. The first is wool-working, the second armor-making, the third navigation, the fourth agriculture, the fifth hunting, the sixth medicine, and the seventh the theatrical arts. Logic is divided into grammar and the art of reasoned discourse. Reasoned discourse is divided into the probable, the necessary, and the sophisticated. The probable is divided into dialectic and rhetoric. The necessary pertains to philosophers, the sophisticated to sophists.
The Order of Teaching the Sciences
Logic should be taught first, ethics second, theoretical philosophy third, and mechanics last, because each depends on the reasoning of the preceding disciplines.
In these four branches of philosophy, a particular order ought to be maintained in teaching: logic should come first, ethics second, the theoretical third, and the mechanical fourth. For the first thing to be acquired is eloquence; then, as Socrates says in the Ethics, through devotion to virtue the eye of the heart must be cleansed, so that afterward, in the theoretical branch, it can become keen for the investigation of truth. Finally there is mechanics, which by itself is completely useless unless it is supported by the reasoning of the preceding arts.
Read the original Latin
Tria sunt: sapientia, virtus, necessitas. sapientia est comprehensio rerum prout sunt. virtus est habitus animi in modum naturae rationi consentaneus. necessitas est sine qua vivere non possumus, sed felicius viveremus. haec tria remedia sunt contra mala tria, quibus subiecta est vita humana: sapientia contra ignorantiam, virtus contra vitium, necessitas contra infirmitatem. propter ista tria mala exstirpanda quaesita sunt ista tria remedia, et propter haec tria remedia invenienda, inventa est omnis ars et omnis disciplina. propter sapientiam inventa est theorica, propter virtutem inventa est practica, propter necessitatem inventa est mechanica. istae tres usu primae fuerunt, sed postea propter eloquentiam inventa est logica.
quae cum sit inventione ultima, prima tamen esse debet in doctrina. quattuor ergo sunt principales scientiae a quibus omnes aliae descendunt: theorica, practica, mechanica, logica.
Theorica dividitur in theologiam, physicam, mathematicam. theologia tractat de invisibilibus substantiis, physica de invisibilibus visibilium causis, mathematica de visibilibus visibilium formis. et haec mathematica dividitur in quattuor scientias. prima est arithmetica, quae tractat de numero, id est, de quantitate discreta per se. secunda est musica, quae tractat de proportione, id est, de quantitate discreta ad aliquid. tertia est geometria, quae tractat de spatio, id est, de quantitate continua immobili. quarta est astronomia, quae tractat de motu, id est, de quantitate continua mobili. elementum arithmeticae est unitas.
elementum musicae est unisonum. elementum geometriae est punctum. elementum asronomiae est instans. practica dividitur in solitariam, privatam, publicam. solitaria docet quomodo unusquisque propriam vitam moribus instituat et virtutibus exornet. privata docet quomodi regendi sint familiares, et qui per carnis affectum sunt affines. publica docet qualiter populus totus et gens a suis rectoribus gubernari debeat. solitaria pertinet ad singulos, privata ad patres familias, publica ad rectores civitatum.
mechanica tractat de operibus humanis, et haec dividitur in septem. prima est lanificium, secunda armatura, tertia navigatio, quarta agricultura, quinta venatio, sexta medicina, septima theatrica. logica dividitur in grammaticam et in rationem disserendi. ratio disserendi dividitur in probabilem, et necessariam, et sophisticam. probabilis dividitur in dialecticam et rhetoricam. necessaria pertinet ad philosophos, sophistica ad sophistas. in his quattuor partibus philosophiae talis ordo in doctrina servari debet, ut prima ponatur logica, secunda ethica, tertia theorica, quarta mechanica. primum enim comparanda est eloquentia; deinde, ut ait Socrates in Ethica, per studium virtutis oculus cordis mundandus est, ut deinde in theorica ad investigationem veritatis perspicax esse possit.
novissime mechanica sequitur, quae per se omni modo inefficax est, nisi ratione praecedentium fulciatur.
Didascalicon de Studio Legendi (On the Study of Reading) companion
Hugh said begin with small daily portions. Start tomorrow.
Chosen Portion serves one short, ordered devotional reading each day — the medieval lectio pattern, free on iOS.
Hugh taught that formation comes from ordered, incremental daily reading, and Chosen Portion is that ordered daily portion delivered to your phone.
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