Time and Number exist only in our Minds

57. Some attributes exist in things inherently. Other attributes exist only in our thought.

For example, we distinguish time from general duration.

• We use time as the measure of movement.
• Time is nothing but a particular way in which we think about that duration.

We do not conceive that the duration of moving things differs from that of non-moving things.

Assume 2 bodies move for 1 hour:

1. Body A moves quickly
2. Body B moves slowly

They have the same time even if Body B moves faster .

In order to comprehend the duration of all things under a common measure, we rely on the duration of regular movements.

• Examples are days and years.

We call this measure time, after having made the comparison.

But in truth, time is nothing outside the actual duration of things—it is merely a way of thinking.

58. Numbers and universals exists only in our thought

In the same way, the general abstract notion of number, exists only in our thought just like other general ideas called universals in scholastic philosophy.

59. How are universals formed? What are the 5 common universals?

They are formed when we use the same idea to think about multiple things that share a certain relation.

When we group those things under a single name that is represented by the idea, that name also becomes universal.

For example, we see 2 stones.

• Without thinking further about their specific nature, we notice only that there are 2.

We form in ourselves the idea of called 2.

We then see 2 birds or 2 trees, without considering their nature.

We note that there are 2.

We reapply the same idea of 2 and make it universal.

Likewise, we see a shape with 3 sides and form the idea of a triangle.

We then use that idea to represent all shapes that have only 3 sides.

But when we see a triangle with a right angle and others with none, we form in a universal idea of a right triangle, as a species of a triangle.

The right angle universally differentiates it from other triangles.

Finally, if some of these triangles move while others remain still, we consider this a universal accident of those triangles.

This is how we commonly classify five kinds of universals:

1. Genus
2. Species
3. Difference
4. Property
5. Accident

60. 1. Real Distinctions

There are 3 types of distinctions: real, modal, of reason (or what is made by thought).

1. Real

This is properly found between two or more substances.

Two substances are really distinct from each other simply because we can conceive of one clearly and distinctly without thinking of the other.

This is because God can make everything that we have a clear and distinct idea of.

Assume we have an idea of a physical substance with length, width, and height.

• But we are not sure it really exists.
• But still we know that it possibly can exist.
• If it does exist, our idea of it is really distinct from its other parts.

Similarly, each of us perceives that we think.

In thinking, we can exclude from our soul any other substance, whether thinking or non-thinking.

This means that we are really distinct:

• from any other thinking substance and
• from any physical substance.

Assume that God joined a body so closely to a soul to form a compound from these 2 substances.

• We would still conceive that they remain distinct despite this union.

This is because whatever bond God has placed between them, He could still separate them.

• He would still preserve both of them distinctly.

61. 2. Modal Distinctions

There are 2 kinds of modal distinction:

1. The distinction between the mode and the substance which the mode modifies

We can clearly perceive the substance without its mode.

• But we cannot have a distinct idea of such a mode without thinking of its substance.

For example, there is a modal distinction between:

• shape or motion and
• the corporeal substance which has shape or motion

Likewise, there is a modal distinction between:

• affirming or remembering and
• the mind that affirms of remembers

2. The distinction between 2 modes of the same substance.

We can know one of these modes without knowing the other.

Examples are shape without motion, or motion without shape.

However, we cannot conceive of shape or motion distinctly unless we recognize that both depend on the same substance.

There is a distinction where a mode of one substance differs from:

• another substance or
• the mode of another substance

Examples are the motion of one body being different from:

• the motion of another body or
• the thought or the doubt of a thinking being

This type of distinction should be called real rather than modal.

This is because:

• we cannot know these modes without the substances which they depend on.
• substances themselves are really distinct from each other.