E4Cap27
Chapter — Part IV
Latin
Utilitas quam ex rebus quæ extra nos sunt, capimus, est præter experientiam et cognitionem quam acquirimus ex eo quod easdem observamus et ex his formis in alias mutamus, præcipua corporis conservatio et hac ratione res illæ imprimis utiles sunt quæ corpus ita alere et nutrire possunt ut ejus omnes partes officio suo recte fungi queant. Nam quo corpus aptius est ut pluribus modis possit affici et corpora externa pluribus modis afficere, eo mens ad cogitandum est aptior (vide propositiones 38 et 39 partis IV). At hujus notæ perpauca in natura esse videntur; quare ad corpus ut requiritur nutriendum necesse est multis naturæ diversæ alimentis uti. Quippe humanum corpus ex plurimis diversæ naturæ partibus componitur quæ continuo alimento indigent et vario ut totum corpus ad omnia quæ ex ipsius natura sequi possunt, æque aptum sit et consequenter ut mens etiam æque apta sit ad plura concipiendum.
English (Elwes 1883)
The advantage which we derive from things external to us, besides the experience and knowledge which we acquire from observing them, and from recombining their elements in different forms, is principally the preservation of the body; from this point of view, those things are most useful which can so feed and nourish the body, that all its parts may rightly fulfil their functions. For, in proportion as the body is capable of being affected in a greater variety of ways, and of affecting external bodies in a great number of ways, so much the more is the mind capable of thinking (IV. xxxviii., xxxix.). But there seem to be very few things of this kind in nature; wherefore for the due nourishment of the body we must use many foods of diverse nature. For the human body is composed of very many parts of different nature, which stand in continual need of varied nourishment, so that the whole body may be equally capable of doing everything that can follow from its own nature, and consequently that the mind also may be equally capable of forming many perceptions.
Modern English
The advantage we draw from external things — besides the experience and knowledge we gain from observing and recombining them — consists chiefly in the preservation of the body. From this it follows that things are most useful that can nourish and sustain the body so that all its parts can properly carry out their functions. For the more capable the body is of being affected in many ways and of affecting external bodies in many ways, the more capable the mind is of thinking (E4P38). Yet very few things in nature seem fit for this. So to nourish the body as it requires, we must draw on many foods of diverse kinds. The human body is composed of very many parts of different natures, and these need continual and varied nourishment, so that the whole body may be equally disposed for everything that can follow from its nature — and consequently that the mind too may be equally disposed to grasp many things.