Chapter VIII.

Of the Senses, and of Those Things which are Objects of the Senses,

The Stoics¹ give this definition of sense: Sense is the Apprehension² or comprehension of an object by means of an organ of sensation. There are several ways of expressing what sense is; it is either a habit, a faculty³, an operation, or an imagination which apprehends⁵ by means of an organ of sense — and also the eighth principal thing, from whence the senses originate. The instruments of sense are intelligent exhalations, which from the said commanding part extend unto all the organs of the body. Epicurus, that sense is a faculty, and that which is perceived by the sense is the product of it; so that sense hath a double acceptation — sense which is the faculty, and the thing received by the sense, which is the effect. Plato, that sense is that commerce which the soul and body have with those things that are exterior⁶ to them; the power of which is from the soul, the organ by which is from the body; but both of them apprehend⁴ external objects by means of the imagination. Leucippus and Democritus, that sense and intelligence arise from external images; so neither of them can operate without the assistance of image falling upon us.

1 stoics   

禁欲主义者，恬淡寡欲的人，不以苦乐为意的人( stoic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Stoics I can handle this shit. 斯多葛：我能掌握这大便。
• The most famous exercise of meditation is the premeditatio mallorum as practiced by the Stoics. 冥思最著名的练习是禁欲学派所实行的[消灾冥思]。

2 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

3 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

4 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

5 apprehends   

逮捕，拘押( apprehend的第三人称单数 )； 理解

参考例句：

• A guilty man apprehends danger in every sound. 犯了罪的人对每一个声音都感到风声鹤唳。
• The police maintain order in the city, help prevent crime, apprehends lawbreakers and directs traffic. 警察维持城市的秩序，协助防止犯罪，逮捕犯法者及指挥交通。

6 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。