E2P29S
Scholium — Part II
Latin
Dico expresse quod mens nec sui ipsius nec sui corporis nec corporum externorum adæquatam sed confusam tantum et mutilatam cognitionem habeat quoties ex communi naturæ ordine res percipit hoc est quoties externe, ex rerum nempe fortuito occursu, determinatur ad hoc vel illud contemplandum et non quoties interne, ex eo scilicet quod res plures simul contemplatur, determinatur ad earundem convenientias, differentias et oppugnantias intelligendum; quoties enim hoc vel alio modo interne disponitur, tum res clare et distincte contemplatur, ut infra ostendam.
English (Elwes 1883)
I say expressly, that the mind has not an adequate but only a confused knowledge of itself, its own body, and of external bodies, whenever it perceives things after the common order of nature; that is, whenever it is determined from without, namely, by the fortuitous play of circumstance, to regard this or that; not at such times as it is determined from within, that is, by the fact of regarding several things at once, to understand their points of agreement, difference, and contrast. Whenever it is determined in anywise from within, it regards things clearly and distinctly, as I will show below.
Modern English
I say expressly that the mind has not an adequate but only a confused and fragmented knowledge of itself, its own body, and external bodies whenever it perceives things according to the common order of nature, that is, whenever it is determined from without, by the chance encounter of things, to contemplate this or that. Not when it is determined from within, that is, by the fact of contemplating several things at once, to understand their agreements, differences, and oppositions. For whenever it is disposed in this other way from within, it then contemplates things clearly and distinctly, as I will show below.