Part 14

LXXV. It appears by this author, that, not satisfied with considering the women as equal to the men in their intellectual capacities, he inclines to allow them some advantage over the other sex in this particular. In the book before quoted, fol. 73, after reciting, that the general opinion with respect to the women is otherwise; he says, _I am of a different sentiment, and am certain, that many women are exceedingly judicious and sensible, I having seen and conversed with abundance of such, both in Spain and other countries; and it appears to me, that, on account of their having the advantage of us in quickness of perception, and readiness of repartee, it is necessary to use great caution in talking with them_: and a little lower he speaks thus; although it would be unjust to dispute the purity of the metal with which Nature formed their understandings, we may nevertheless take precaution to save and guard them, in situations where they may be led into danger, and ourselves may be injured. The testimony of this author, as I have before said, is of great weight, because to his great experience and discretion, we may add, that in the treatise we have quoted, he is not very favourable to the women; and even at the end of it, he does not scruple, nor is he ashamed to accuse himself of being too severe upon them.

LXXVI. The second evidence, is that most learned Frenchman, the Abbé Bellegarde, a man who was also used to courts, and learned his knowledge of the world in the great theatre of Paris. This author, in a book he published, intitled, _Curious Observations on Literature and Morality_, affirms, that the minds of women, for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of all sorts of sciences and arts, and also every kind of business, are in no manner inferior to those of men. I have not seen this author, but the editors of the Memoirs of Trevoux, in the month of April, 1702, quote him on the subject. The author of the Journies in the Coaches of Madrid and Alcala, who, let him be who he would, was a man of note, maintains the same sentiment (pag. 45); and father Buffier, a celebrated French writer, in a book intitled, _An Examination of vulgar Prejudices_, which he wrote expressly for the purpose of doing it, proves the same thing.

SECT. XII.

LXXVII. Having then answered the arguments alledged to be built upon experience, there only remains, that they prove to us the pretended inequality by some physical reason. But I affirm no such can be assigned, because recourse can only be had in this matter, either to an entative inequality of souls, to a distinct organization, or to a different temperament of the bodies of both sexes.

LXXVIII. From the entative inequality of souls, nothing can be deduced, for it is a generally received opinion among philosophers, that all rational souls, in point of physical perfection, are equal. I well know, that some quote St. Austin as entertaining an opposite sentiment, in his 15th book, chap. 13, on the Trinity; but I can’t find, that St. Austin in that chapter, does even so much as touch upon the matter. I know likewise, that the faculty of Paris condemned a proposition, which affirmed the soul of our Lord Christ was not more perfect than the soul of the treacherous Judas. To this the great Scottish master answered, that, as the condemnation was not confirmed by the holy see, we are not bound to observe it. In strictness this is so; but I think it would be right that such a proposition should be blotted out of every book in which it is found, as dissonant, harsh, and offensive to weak people, who in souls, can’t distinguish the physical from the moral; but this does not in any manner affect the truth of the general opinion, which assents to a total physical equality of souls.

LXXIX. But if we were to admit of an entative inequality of souls, how would they prove to us, or make us believe, that God chose the best for the men, and left the least-perfect for the women? We ought rather to believe in this matter, that the soul of holy Mary was the best which could be possessed by a pure creature; and, in fact, the famous Saurez affirms, that, physically speaking, it was most perfect; so that the women may be firm in asserting, that the soul is neither masculine nor feminine, because such an assertion is well founded.

LXXX. With regard to organization, I am inclined to think, that the variation of it, may greatly vary the operations of the soul; though we don’t to this day know, which organization is best suited to, or conduces most to, distinguishing and reasoning well. Aristotle pretends, that those with small heads are the best reasoners, a conjecture, which before he committed it to writing, he took care should correspond with the measure of his own head. Others give their vote in favour of large heads; these we may conclude, are not of the little-headed race, if they had, we might suppose they would have been on the side of Aristotle. Cardinal S’frondati, in his Curso Philosophico, says, that the reasoning organs of Cardinal Richelieu were double, to which he attributes the signal perspicuity, and intellectual agility of that minister. I apprehend, that he must mean double in magnitude, and not in number, for that would be monstrous; and this corresponds with what many others say, that the larger the brain is in quantity, the better people reason, which they collect from having observed, that the human brain is bigger in proportion than that of any other animal. Martinez and others, in their books of anatomy, excluding the great heads and the little ones, maintain, that those of the middle size are the best adapted for the operations of the understanding. Those who go about taking measure of the members of the body, in order to compute the value of the soul, may say what they please; but experience shews, that among men with large heads, you will find some stupid, and others ingenious, and that the same thing is to be observed among those with small ones. If a difference in the magnitude of the head or the brain, was to induce an inequality in the operations of the understanding, we should find a great difference in point of comprehension, among men of unequal stature, because in proportion as they were larger or smaller, so would their sculls and brains be; but this is contrary to observation.

LXXXI. But with all this, and even admitting what Pliny says to be true, that the material substance of the brain, is larger in men than it is in women, touching which matter, I beg leave to suspend my judgment, till the assertion is affirmed by some able anatomists; but I say, admitting the thing to be true, it proves nothing; for if the comprehending better, was to be governed by this material exceeding in the substance of the brain, it would follow, that an ingenious man, should have forty or fifty times more brain than an ideot, and that men of large bulk should be people of much more perspicuity than those of small stature, as we must suppose their brains to be in proportion to their size; but those, he who writes this can persuade to believe it, should return him thanks, for broaching a doctrine so well suited to their capacities.

LXXXII. I agree however, that the greater or less degree of clearness, or facility of understanding, depends in a great measure upon the difference of organization; though not upon a sensible different organization of the larger parts, but upon the insensible different one of the most minute parts, such as the different texture or firmness of the most subtile fibres, or the freeness from obstruction, or clearness of the delicate passages through which the animal spirits circulate, and also upon the tension and elasticity of the membranes which form those passages; although, we can know nothing about whether these are different in men and women, nor can even the anatomical spectacles, pry into the secret, or assist us with such a discernment or discovery; neither can the Cartesians, with all the microscopes they are capable of inventing, explore, whether the pineal gland, which they assign as the seat of the soul, is of a different texture in women, from what it is in men.

LXXXIII. That a different sensible organization, does not produce a variety in the rational operations, is manifest, at least, if this difference is not very enormous; there being men differently organized, who are of equal abilities; and men organized as nearly alike as possible, who, with respect to the faculties of the soul, are very dissimilar. The frigid Æsop, was in every part of his body, so deformed and ill-shaped, that he scarce appeared a human creature; on which account, his name in succeeding ages, was used to express an extreme degree of deformity; with all this, it is well known, that he was of a delicate and penetrating mind. Socrates, did not differ much from Æsop in the irregularity of his make; notwithstanding which, antiquity knew no man of a clearer or better understanding. But supposing we were to admit, that a distinct sensible organization produced a distinct intellectual ability, what could you in this case infer from it? Why nothing, because women are not formed differently from men in the organs which administer to, or assist the faculty of reasoning, but are distinctly formed in those only, which Nature has appropriated for the propagation of the species.

SECT. XIII.

LXXXIV. Neither in the difference of temperament, can be founded the imagined inferiority of feminine understanding; but I don’t deny, that the temperament has much influence, and conduces greatly to the just or disorderly exercise of the faculties of the soul; so far from it, I am rather persuaded, that a distinct temperature, occasions more variety in the operations of those faculties, than a different organization: for there is no man, who must not have experienced in himself, that, according as his mind is variously disposed, or he is in good or bad spirits, without finding the least bodily alteration, he is more or less fit for all sorts of operations; with all this, there is scarce an intemperance that offends the body, which does not at the same time, more or less disturb the functions of the soul; but what species of temperament or disposition, conduces most to understanding or reasoning well, it is not easy to ascertain.

LXXXV. If this point is to be settled by the doctrine of Aristotle, we might conclude, the feminine temperament is best adapted for the purpose. This philosopher, who subjects all the effects which appear in the extensive field of Nature, to the dominion of his four first qualities, says, in the 24th Sect. of his Problems, quæst. 15, that men of a cold temperament have better intellects, and reason better, than men of a hot temperament; notwithstanding which, he enters upon the same question, with supposing, that in hot climates the men are more ingenious than in cold ones, which I can hardly believe, because it would follow from thence, that the Africans are more ingenious than the English or the Dutch: but pursuing the thread of his discourse, and explaining the efficacy of the qualities by the power of the antiperastis, he affirms, that in the coldest countries the men are most ardent, and in the hot ones most cold. _Etenim, qui sedes frigidas habent, frigore loci obsistente, longe calidiores, quam sua sint natura, redduntur._ He thinks people of warm constitutions, so much inferior to those of cool ones with respect to their reasoning powers, that he makes no scruple to declare, the last compared to the first, are like men whose heads are turned by drinking too much wine. He proceeds immediately after the words before-cited, thus: _Itaque vinolentis admodum similes esse videntur, nec ingenio valent quo prospiciant, rerumque rationes inquirant._ This philosopher, when he classed the hot and stupid together, had quite forgot his disciple Alexander, though he not only forgot, but bore him in mind at the same time: for it is very certain, that he wrote the greatest part of his works, after Alexander, on account of the doubts he entertained of his fidelity, had discarded him; and after he had retired to Athens, where he experienced a fresh disgust, to wit, being witness to Alexander’s sending without taking the least notice of him, thirty talents of gold to his school-fellow Xenocrates as a gratuity; but it is doubtful, whether his resentment carried him so far, as to conspire with Antipater against Alexander’s life, and to consult with him about the best method of carrying their purpose into execution by poison. But let us return to our subject.

LXXXVI. The same Aristotle teaches, and in this, all the naturalists and medical people agree with him, that the dissimilarity of temperament in the two sexes, consists, in the men being hot and dry, and in the women being cold and moist: _Est autem vir calidus, & siccus, mulier frigida, humidaque._ Sect. 5. Quest. 26. The cold temperament, in the opinion of Aristotle, being then the best adapted for reasoning, and the hot the opposite, the women being cold, and the men hot, it follows, that the feminine temperament is better suited to comprehend and reason well, than the masculine.

LXXXVII. This proof is conclusive, to those who believe every thing Aristotle has said; but I protest for myself, that it has not the least weight with me; for I neither believe that the geniuses are better in hot countries than in cold ones, nor that men of cold temperaments are more ingenious than those of hot ones; and much less do I believe, that those of fiery dispositions are in a manner insensible; and as to the pretended power of the antiperastis, let it for the present remain in the state of doubt, which is annexed to, and inseparable from it.

LXXXVIII. Moisture and dryness, are the other two distinct qualities of the two compositions or temperaments; and by attending to them, it may also be inferred from the doctrine of Aristotle, that the women are more perspicuous than the men. Those who maintain, that the larger the quantity of the brain, the better the faculty of the understanding, found their opinion, upon having been taught, that a man has a larger brain in proportion than any other animal: and they argue thus, Aristotle says, that man is of a more humid temperament than any other animal. _Homo omnium animantium maxime humidus natura est._ Sect. 5, Quæst. 7. From hence, if it may be inferred, that from a man’s having a larger brain than brutes, is to be imputed his having more understanding; in the same manner it may be inferred, from his being more moist than them, as humidity is productive of knowledge, that he knows more. A woman then is of a more humid composition than a man, and consequently must be more intelligent than him.

LXXXIX. Although this argument proves nothing, and ought only to be used by way of retortion on those who maintain opposite opinions; for the principles on which such conclusions are founded, to speak liberally, are uncertain and doubtful. Who told Pliny, that the brain of a man was larger than that of any other animal? Has any one, think you, undertaken the prolix labour of breaking the skulls of the whole sensitive species, in order afterwards to weigh their brains? Or who told Aristotle, that man is more humid than any of the brute creation? Can it be supposed, that this philosopher had squeezed them all in a press, in order to ascertain the quantity of moisture contained in each? There seems more probability in supposing, that certain domestic brutes, the greatest part of insects, and almost every species of fish, are more humid than men. Nor even admitting it to be true, that the human brain is larger in proportion than that of any other animal, could it be inferred from thence, that a great share of understanding in the human species is the effect of a larger portion of brain. A man in many other parts of the body, differs greatly in the proportion of his make from brutes, but an excess of those parts in some individuals, does not argue a greater degree of excellence. It would be necessary, in order to make this inference, to have observed, that, among the brutes themselves, those which had the largest brains, had the strongest or best instinct; but I believe this is not the case, for if it was, a total want of perception would be the consequence of a total lack of brain, which is not so; for, according to Pliny, there are many sensitive beings, without blood and without brains, notwithstanding which, they preserve their instinct.

SECT. XIV.

XC. But waiving these proofs, which proceed upon Aristotelic doctrines, which are either false or uncertain, and which on this account, can only be serviceable to the cause of the women, by way of retorting upon those rigid partizans of Aristotle, who approve of all their master has said: I say, waiving these proofs, let us proceed to enquire, if, from the cause of the humidity in which a woman exceeds a man, there can be deduced any objection to her intellectual aptitude. On this ground, those commonly take their stand, who are desirous of proving by physical arguments, the inferiority of feminine understanding; and their reasoning seems to have an air of probability, because an excess of humour, either of itself, or by means of the vapour it attracts, is apt to retard the course of the animal spirits, by occupying in part, the narrow passages through which these exceeding fine substances flow.

XCI. But with all this, the argument is evidently fallacious; for if it was not, it would prove, not that the minds of women were less discerning than those of men, but that they were more slow and dull of comprehension than them, which is false; for most men allow, that in point of quickness they have the advantage.

XCII. Further; many men, who are keen, ready, and profound, abound with habitual defluxions and catarrhs, which are caused by a quantity of excrementitious moisture collected in the most remote recesses of the head, and within the very substance of the brain, as may be seen in Riberius, where he treats of catarrhs. The excessive humidity of the brain then, does not obstruct the ready or right use of the understanding; and if an excrementitious moisture does not obstruct it, much less can a natural one have that effect.

XCIII. And as a reason why a natural one does not hinder it, we may add, that, according to the doctrine of Pliny, the brain of a man is more humid than that of every other living creature: _Sed homo portione maximum & humidissimum._ Lib. 11, Cap. 37. Nor is it credible, that Nature should place in an organ destined for our most perfect knowledge, a temperament, capable of obstructing, or making the operations of our reason slow and defective. If I should be told, that, notwithstanding this native humidity, in which the brain of man exceeds that of a brute, it remains tempered in the exact proportion which is best suited to the operations of reason, and that the humidity of the brain of a woman exceeds that proportion; I answer, even supposing that humidity, by means of its natural quality, does not obstruct, nobody knows in what proportion, or to what degree, the brain, for the best exercising its functions should be moist; and therefore it is vague to say, there is a greater proportion of it in women than in men, or in men than in women.

XCIV. There may be opposed however, to this doctrine of humidity, the opinion of many, who affirm, that the humid and cloudy countries produce heavy dull spirits; and, on the contrary, that in the bright and clear countries, are born ingenious and sprightly ones. But be those few or many who say this, they say it without more foundation, than having imagined, the clouds of the horizon are translated to the sphere of the brain; as if in rainy countries, the opacity of the atmosphere was a dark shade, which obscured the soul, and that in countries which are blessed with a serene sky, the greater splendor of the day, would communicate greater clearness to the understanding. They might, with more aptness and propriety, say, that in the regions which are most bright and clear, the objects being more visible, they, through the windows of the eyes, enter in such numbers, that they distract the soul, and render it less fit for reflection and reasoning; and hence it is, that, in the obscurity of the night, we find the thread of our reason the least interrupted, and that we deduce our conclusions with more firmness than in clear day-light.

XCV. Let those, who maintain humid regions to be ill-suited to the production of subtile men, cast their eyes on the Venetians and the Hollanders, who are some of the most able men in Europe: the first of these, stole part of their territories from the fish; and the last may be said to live in lakes and bogs. Even here in Spain, we have an example of this sort in the Asturians, who, notwithstanding they inhabit a province, the most beset with clouds, and the most subject to rain, of any in the whole peninsula, are generally reputed for subtile, ready, and expert people. But our wonder at this will lessen, if we consider the beavers, who live almost continually in the water, notwithstanding which, Nature has produced no brutes of so noble an instinct, nor who approach so near to men, both in their love for them, and in the imitation of their customs: for you may read in Conradus Gesnero, that they take particular care of their aged parents, and they have been seen to direct men in their navigation, and to assist them in fishing; and there has such an attention been observed in them to the dead, that they withdraw and conceal the carcasses of their defunct species, at the hazard of their being devoured by other aquatic beasts.

XCVI. On the contrary, those birds, who the greatest part of their time, breathe the most subtile pure air, and the most divested of vapours, one while fleeting on the winds, and at other times placing themselves on the tops of mountains, ought to be more sagacious than terrestrial brutes; which is not the case.

XCVII. By the same mode of reasoning, the Egyptians should be the keenest people in the world, because they dwell under the brightest and most serene sky that is to be found in all the globe. There is scarce a cloud passes over Egypt in the course of a year, and the land would be totally barren, if it was not refreshed and fertilized by the waters of the Nile; and although for some ages, antiquity venerated that region as the seat of the sciences, which is manifest from Pythagoras, Homer, Plato, and other Greek philosophers, having traveled thither to improve themselves in philosophy and the mathematics; this does not prove, that they were more subtile and ingenious than other mortals, but rather, that the sciences had gone wandering about the earth, and that sometimes they took their stations in one country, and at others in another. The same thing may be said of the valley of Lima, the inhabitants of which country do not know what rain is, the land being fertilized by a light dew, assisted by a happy temperament of air, which is neither hot nor cold; notwithstanding which, the natives are not people of a delicate ingenuity, but rather the contrary, for the Pizarras found them more easy to be subdued by a few stratagems, than Cortez found the Mexicans, with all the arts he could employ, assisted by the whole power of his arms.