ssity
alone of His own nature He is and acts; that He is, and in what way He
is, the free cause of all things; that all things are in Him, and so
depend upon Him that without Him they can neither be nor can be
conceived; and, finally, that all things have been predetermined by Him,
not indeed from freedom of will or from absolute good pleasure, but from
His absolute nature or infinite power.

Moreover, wherever an opportunity was afforded, I have endeavored to
remove prejudices which might hinder the perception of the truth of what
I have demonstrated; but because not a few still remain which have been
and are now sufficient to prove a very great hindrance to the
comprehension of the connection of things in the manner in which I have
explained it, I have thought it worth while to call them up to be
examined by reason. But all these prejudices which I here undertake to
point out depend upon this solely: that it is commonly supposed that all
things in Nature, like men, work to some end; and indeed it is thought
to be certain that God Himself directs all things to some sure end, for
it is said that God has made all things for man, and man that he may
worship God.

This, therefore, I will first investigate by inquiring, firstly, why so
many rest in this prejudice, and why all are so naturally inclined to
embrace it? I shall then show its falsity, and, finally, the manner in
which there have arisen from it prejudices concerning _good_ and _evil_,
_merit_ and _sin_, _praise_ and _blame_, _order_ and _disorder_,
_beauty_ and _deformity_, and so forth. This, however, is not the place
to deduce these things from the nature of the human mind. It will be
sufficient if I here take as an axiom that which no one ought to
dispute, namely, that man is born ignorant of the causes of things, and
that he has a desire, of which he is conscious, to seek that which is
profitable to him. From this it follows, firstly, that he thinks himself
free because he is conscious of his wishes and appetites, whilst at the
same time he is ignorant of the causes by which he is led to wish and
desire, not dreaming what they are; and, secondly, it follows that man
does everything for an end, namely, for that which is profitable to him,
which is what he seeks. Hence it happens that he attempts to discover
merely the final causes of that which has happened; and when he has
heard them he is satisfied, because there is no longer any cause for
further uncertai