All the prejudices I here undertake to expose depend on this one：that men com-monly suppose that all natural things act，as men do，on account of an end；indeed，they maintain as certain that God himself directs all things to some certain end，for they say that God has made all things for man，and man that he might worship God。I will，therefore，consider this opinion，asking first why it obtains general credence，and why all men are naturally so prone to adopt it？secondly，I will point out its falsity；and，lastly，I will show how it has given rise to prejudices about good and bad，right and wrong，praise and blame，order and confusion，beauty and ugliness，and the like。However，this is not the place to deduce these misconceptions from the nature of the hu-man mind；it will be sufficient here，if I assume as a starting point，what ought to be u-niversally admitted，namely，that all men are born ignorant of the causes of things，that all have the desire to seek for what is useful to them，and that they are conscious of such desire。Herefrom it follows first，that men think themselves free，inasmuch as they are conscious of their volitions and desires，and never even dream，in their ignorance，of the causes which have disposed them to wish and desire。Secondly，that men do all things for an end，namely，for that which is useful to them，and which they seek。Hence they seek to know only the final causes of what has been done，and when they have heard them，they are satisfied，because they have no reason to doubt further。But if they cannot hear them from another，nothing remains for them but to turn toward themselves，and reflect on the ends by which they are usually determined to do such things；so they necessarily judge the temperament of other men from their own tempera-ment。Furthermore，they find-both in themselves and outside themselves-many means that are very helpful in seeking their own advantage，for instance，eyes for see-ing，teeth for chewing，herbs and animals for yielding food，the sun for giving light，the sea for breeding fish，etc。，they come to look on the whole of nature as a means for ob-taining such conveniences。And knowing that they had found these means，not provided them for themselves，they had reason to believe that there was someone else who had prepared those means for their use。As they look upon things as means，they cannot be-lieve them to be self-created；but，judging from the means which they are accustomed to prepare for themselves，they are bound to believe in some ruler or rulers of the universe endowed with human freedom，who have arranged and adapted everything for human use。They are bound to estimate the nature of such rulers（having no information on the subject）in accordance with their own nature，and therefore they assert that the gods or-dained everything for the use of man，in order to bind man to themselves and obtain from him the highest honors。Hence also it follows，that everyone thought out for him-self，according to his abilities，a different way of worshipping God，so that God might love him more than his fellows，and direct the whole course of nature for the satisfaction of his blind cupidity and insatiable avarice。Thus the prejudice developed into supersti-tion，and took deep root in the human mind；and for this reason everyone strove most zealously to understand and explain the final causes of things；but in their endeavor to show that nature does nothing in vain，i。e。，nothing which is useless to man，they only seem to have demonstrated that nature，the gods，and men are all mad together。Con-sider，I pray you，the result：among the many helps of nature they were bound to find some hindrances，such as storms，earthquakes，diseases，etc。，so they declared that such things happen，because the gods are angry at some wrong done them by men，or at some fault committed in their worship。Experience day by day protested and showed by infinite examples，that good and evil fortunes fall to the lot of pious and impious alike；still they would not abandon their inveterate prejudice，for it was more easy for them to class such contradictions among other unknown things of whose use they were ignorant，and thus to retain their actual and innate condition of ignorance，than to destroy the whole fabric of their reasoning and start afresh。They therefore laid down as an axiom，that God s judgments far transcend human understanding。Such a doctrine might well have sufficed to conceal the truth from the human race for all eternity，if mathematics had not furnished another standard of verity in considering solely the essence and proper-ties of figures without regard to their final causes。There are other reasons（which I need not mention here）besides mathematics，which were able to bring it about that man would notice these common prejudices and be led to the true knowledge of things。
I have now sufficiently explained my first point。There is no need to show at length，that nature has no particular goal in view，and that final causes are mere human figments。This，I think，is already evident enough，both from the causes and founda-tions on which I have shown such prejudice to be based，and also from Prop。16.，and the Corollaries of Prop。32.，and，in fact，all those propositions in which I have shown，that everything proceeds by a certain eternal necessity of nature，and with the utmost perfection。However，I will add a few remarks：this doctrine concerning the end turns nature completely upside down。For what is really a cause，it considers as an effect，and conversely。What is by nature prior，it makes posterior。And finally，what is supreme and most perfect，it makes imperfect。Passing over the questions of cause and priority as self-evident，it is plain from Props。21.，22.，23.，that effect，is most perfect which is produced immediately by God；the effect which requires for its production sev-eral intermediate causes is，in that respect，more imperfect。But if those things which were made immediately by God were made to enable him to attain his end，then the things which come after，for the sake of which the first were made，are necessarily the most excellent of all。Further，this doctrine does away with the perfection of God；for，if God acts for an object，he necessarily desires something which he lacks。Certainly，the-ologians and metaphysicians draw a distinction between the object of want and the object of assimilation；still they confess that God made all things for the sake of himself，not for the sake of creation。They are unable to point to anything prior to creation，except God himself，as an object for which God should act。And so they are necessarily com-pelled to confess that God lacked those things for the sake of which he willed to prepare means，and that he desired them。This is clear through itself。
We must not omit to notice that the followers of this doctrine，anxious to display their talent in assigning final causes，have imported a new method of argument in proof of their theory-namely，a reduction，not to the impossible，but to ignorance；thus showing that they have no other method of exhibiting their doctrine。For example，if a stone falls from a roof on to some one s head and kills him，they will demonstrate by their new method，that the stone fell in order to kill the man；for，if it had not by God s will fallen with that object，how could so many circumstances（and there are often many concurrent circumstances）have all happened together by chance？Perhaps you will an-swer that the event is due to the facts that the wind was blowing，and the man was walk-ing that way。“But why，”they will insist，“was the wind blowing，and why was the man at that very time walking that way？”If you again answer，that the wind had then sprung up because the sea had begun to be agitated the day before，the weather being previously calm，and that the man had been invited by a friend，they will again insist：“But why was the sea agitated，and why was the man invited at that time？”So they will pursue their questions from cause to cause，till at last you take refuge in the will of God-in other words，the sanctuary of ignorance。So，again，when they survey the frame of the human body，they are amazed；and being ignorant of the causes of so great a work of art conclude that it has been fashioned，not mechanically，but by divine and supernatu-ral skill，and has been so put together that one part shall not hurt another。
Hence any one who seeks for the true causes of miracles，and strives to understand natural phenomena as an intelligent being，and not to gaze at them like a fool，is set down and denounced as an impious heretic by those，whom the masses adore as the in-terpreters of nature and the gods。Such persons know that，with the removal of igno-rance，the wonder which forms their only available means for proving and preserving their authority would vanish also。But I now quit this subject，and pass on to my third point。
After men persuaded themselves，that everything which is created is created for their sake，they were bound to consider as the chief quality in everything that which is most useful to themselves，and to account those things the best of all which have the most beneficial effect on mankind。Further，they were bound to form abstract notions for the explanation of the nature of things，such as goodness，badness，order，confusion，warmth，cold，beauty，deformity，and so on；and from the belief that they are free agents arose the further notions praise and blame，sin and merit。
I will speak of these latter hereafter，when I treat of human nature；the former I will briefly explain here。
Everything which conduces to health and the worship of God they have called good，everything which hinders these objects they have styled bad；and inasmuch as those who do not understand the nature of things do not verify phenomena in any way，but merely imagine them after a fashion，and mistake their imagination for understanding，such per-sons firmly believe that there is an order in things，being really ignorant both of things and their own nature。For when things are so disposed that，when they are presented to us through the senses，we can easily imagine them，and so can easily remember them，we say that they are well-ordered；if the contrary，that they are ill-ordered or confused。Further，as things which are easily imagined are more pleasing to us，men prefer order to confusion-as though there were any order in nature，except in relation to our imagi-nation-and say that God has created all things in order；thus，without knowing it，at-tributing imagination to God，unless，indeed，they would have it that God foresaw hu-man imagination，and arranged everything，so that it should be most easily imagined。Nor will it，perhaps，give them pause that infinitely many things are found which far surpass our imagination，and a great many which confuse it on account of its weakness。But enough has been said on this subject。The other abstract notions are nothing but modes of imagining，in which the imagination is differently affected，though they are considered by the ignorant as the chief attributes of things，inasmuch as they believe that everything was created for the sake of themselves；and，according as they are affected by it，style it good or bad，healthy or rotten and corrupt。For instance，if the motion whose objects we see communicate to our nerves be conducive to health，the objects causing it are styled beautiful；if a contrary motion be excited，they are styled ugly。Those which move the sense through the nose，they call pleasant-smelling or stinking；through the tongue，sweet or bitter，tasty or tasteless；through touch，hard or soft，rough or smooth，etc。；and finally，those which move the ears are said to produce noise，sound or harmony。Men have been so mad as to believe that God is pleased by harmony。Indeed there are philosophers who have persuaded themselves that the motions of the heavens produce a harmony。All of these things instances sufficiently show that everyone judges of things according to the disposition of his brain，or rather mistakes for things the forms of his imagination。We need no longer wonder that there have arisen all the controversies we have witnessed and finally skepticism；for although human bodies in many respects agree，yet in very many others they differ；so that what seems good to one seems bad to another；what seems well ordered to one seems confused to another；what is pleasing to one displeases another，and so on。I need not further enumerate，because this is not the place to treat the subject at length，and also because the fact is sufficient-ly well known。It is commonly said：“So many men，so many minds；everyone is wise in his own way；brains differ as completely as palates。”All of which proverbs show，that men judge of things according to their mental disposition，and rather imagine than understand；for，if they understood phenomena，they would，as mathematics attest，be convinced，if not attracted，by what I have urged。
We have now perceived，that all the explanations commonly given of nature are mere modes of imagining，and do not indicate the true nature of anything，but only the constitution of the imagination；and，although they have names，as though they were en-tities，existing externally to the imagination，I call them entities imaginary rather than real；and，therefore，all arguments against us drawn from such abstractions are easily rebutted。
Many argue in this way。If all things follow from a necessity of the absolutely per-fect nature of God，why are there so many imperfections in nature？such，for instance，as things corrupt to the point of putridity，loathsome deformity，confusion，evil，sin，etc。But these reasoners are，as I have said，easily confuted，for the perfection of things is to be reckoned only from their own nature and power；things are not more or less per-fect，according as they delight or offend human senses，or according as they are service-able or repugnant to mankind。To those who ask why God did not so create all men，that they should be governed only by reason，I give no answer but this；because matter was not lacking to him for the creation of every degree of perfection from highest to lowest；or，more strictly，because the laws of his nature are so vast，as to suffice for the produc-tion of everything conceivable by an infinite intelligence，as I have shown in Prop。16.
Such are the misconceptions I have undertaken to note；if there are any more of the same sort，everyone may easily dissipate them for himself with the aid of a little reflec-tion。