But, like many Evolutionists at the present day, they did
not believe in the origin of mind out of matter. In all living things
there existed already what they called 'seminal reasons,' which
accounted for the intelligence displayed by plants as well as by
animals. As there were four cardinal virtues, so there were four
primary passions. These were delight, grief, desire and fear. All of
them were excited by the presence or the prospect of fancied good or
ill. What prompted desire by its prospect caused delight by its
presence, and what prompted fear by its prospect caused grief by its
presence. Thus two of the primary passions had to do with good and
two with evil. All were furies which infested the life of fools,
rendering it bitter and grievous to them; and it was the business of
philosophy to fight against them. Nor was this strife a hopeless one,
since the passions were not grounded in nature, but were due to false
opinion. They originated in voluntary judgements, and owed their
birth to a lack of mental sobriety.
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