PREFACE.

The text begins with an ornate decorative initial 'S'. The prince of philosophers referring to Aristotle writes: Man is the best of those things which are in the world. Here, the "world" is taken to mean everything contained within the sphere of active and passive things, namely the elements and the elemental. With this presupposition, the proposition is proven. That is best whose causes of generation are most noble. But this is the case with man; therefore, etc. The major premise is clear, because an effect derives its nobility from its causes. The minor premise is proven regarding the matter of man. Thus, the matter of man, according to physicians, is held to be the menstrual flow of the woman together with the seed of the man, because both enter into the composition of man, just as milk is coagulated into the substance of cheese. But materialist philosophers posit that the woman's menstrual flow is the matter, and the man's seed is the effect, such that the man's seed relates to the woman's menstrual flow as an artisan relates to his craft, as attested by Averroes in the 7th book of the Metaphysics, in the digressions on Ideas. Likewise, in the 5th book of the Physics and the 10th chapter of the Metaphysics, he says that the man's seed is reduced to an efficient cause. And in whichever way it is stated, it is always clear that the matter of man is most excellent, and most noble among all living creatures. Secondly, it is proven that what is best in its parts is assimilated to the most noble body, but man is of this kind; therefore, etc. The major premise...