in so far as it is related to man, is the essence itself or
nature of the man in so far as it has the power of effecting certain
things which can be understood through the laws of its nature alone.

_Axiom_

There is no individual thing in Nature which is not surpassed in
strength and power by some other thing; but any individual thing being
given, another and a stronger is also given, by which the former can be
destroyed.

_Man's Place in Nature_

The power by which individual things and, consequently, man preserve
their being is the actual power of God or Nature, not in so far as it is
infinite, but in so far as it can be manifested by the actual essence of
man. The power therefore of man, in so far as it is manifested by his
actual essence is part of the infinite power of God or Nature, that is
to say, part of His essence. Again, if it were possible that man could
suffer no changes but those which can be understood through his nature
alone, it would follow that he could not perish, but that he would exist
forever necessarily; and this necessary existence must result from a
cause whose power is either finite or infinite, that is to say, either
from the power of man alone, which would be able to place at a distance
from himself all other changes which could take their origin from
external causes, or it must result from the infinite power of Nature by
which all individual things would be so directed that man could suffer
no changes but those tending to his preservation.

But the first case is absurd. The force by which man perseveres in
existence is limited, and infinitely surpassed by the power of external
causes. This is evident from the Axiom. Therefore if it were possible
for a man to suffer no changes but those which could be understood
through his own nature alone, and consequently (as we have shown) that
he should always necessarily exist, this must follow from the infinite
power of God; and therefore from the necessity of the divine nature, in
so far as it is considered as affected by the idea of any one man, the
whole order of Nature, in so far as it is conceived under the attributes
of thought and extension, would have to be deduced. From this it would
follow that man would be infinite, which (by the first part of this
demonstration) is an absurdity. It is impossible, therefore, that a man
can suffer no changes but those of which he is the adequate cause.

Hence it follows that a man is necessarily a