## 1. Life and his philosophical and religious project



Ramon Llull (also called Raymond Lully or Raymond Lull; in Latin,
Raimundus or Raymundus Lullus or Lullius) lead an exceptional and
extraordinarily fruitful life, unusually long for a medieval man,
filled with adventures and guided by his philosophical, religious, and
political convictions, which invariably permeated his work. He was
born in Majorca in 1232, possibly in 1233. His parents, Ramon Amat
Llull and Isabel d'Erill, were members of a bourgeois
middle-class family in Barcelona. In 1229 they encouraged and
financed, alongside other Catalan merchants, the efforts of King James
I of Aragon to conquer the island of Majorca, at that time under
Muslim dominion, in exchange for land and privileges. Following the
triumph over the Moors, they received lands and moved to the island.
Ramon, their only son, was born there only a few years later.



Very little is known about his early life. The main source regarding
Llull's life, the anonymous *De vita coaetanea*, is a
text written in 1311 by a friend of his in Paris. Apparently based on
his memories, it states that Llull was a seneschal and major of the
palace of King James II during his youth. However, contemporary
studies by Dominguez Reboiras and Gaya (2008) have established
that the "Llulls of Majorca never held nor were they awarded the
social status of nobles" (2008: 21). Ramon Llull must have
actually spent the early years of his life as a young bourgeois,
having a basic education to meet his needs and dedicating himself to
family business. In 1257 he married Blanca Picany, who belonged to
another Catalan family settled in Majorca, with whom he had two
children, Domenec and Magdalena.


### 1.1 Conversion and formation



The process through which Ramon Llull was converted to Christianity is
narrated in *De vita coaetanea* I-4: Llull was writing "a
song to a lady whom he loved with a foolish love" (and was not
his wife) when he saw an apparition of Christ on the Cross. This
vision would not be enough for him to fully understand and embrace the
calling. Thus, it would be repeated another four times while he
continued to attempt to write the aforementioned love song. Finally,
the voice of



> 
> 
> his conscience told him that they (the apparitions) could only mean
> that he should abandon the world at once and from then on dedicate
> himself totally to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. (*De
> Vita* I-4. Translation Anthony Bonner)
> 
> 
> 



The call to faith was accompanied by a decision to dedicate his life
to the service of God. That moment is recalled in *De vita
coaetanea*, where he reflected on the way in
which he could serve God and conceived an action plan that outlined
three main objectives: in converting unbelievers to Christ, in writing
books against the errors of the infidels, and in funding monasteries
in which the different languages necessary for this mission could be
taught.



The project demonstrates a novel conviction that the
rational dialogue between religions is, as Mayer (2010, 53) pointed
out, "the way to establish a single faith and a sigle universal
religious law based on overcoming the differences between the three
monotheist religions: Chrstianity, Judaism and Islam". But the
project that Ramon Llull resolved to undertake entailed a greater
difficulty that he himself acknowledged: he had none of the knowledge
necessary for such an undertaking. Consequently, a fundamental part of
his project would be his education in two cultures and languages he
did not thoroughly know: Latin and Arabic.



The apparitions and the reflection on his mission are nothing but the
beginning of the process of conversion. For three months, according to
*De vita coaetanea*, Llull did not undertake any of his
projects.



On Saint Francis' feast day, observed on October 4, he listened
to the bishop as he described the conversion of Saint Francis of
Assisi. Impressed by the example set by the saint, Llull decided to
sell most of his material possessions, just keeping the bare minimum
for the support of his wife and children, and set out on a
pilgrimage.



If they ever occurred, the episodes of the apparitions must have taken
place between 1263 and 1265, but no testimonies have been found to
support this claim. On the other hand, there are documents that show
that Llull kept his family life at least another decade, which
coincides with the period spent on his formation. However, this
process separated him from his family. His wife Blanca would request
the legal administration of the family properties due to Llull's
increasingly eremitic life. She was granted her request on May 13,
1276 (Dominguez Reboiras and Gaya 2008: 43)



Little is known about the time following Ramon Llull's
conversion, in which he began a period of intense study and
meditation. According to *De vita coaetanea*, after his
pilgrimage, he had decided to travel to Paris to study. Nevertheless,
his intentions were not supported either by friends or by relatives
and he stayed in Majorca.



The object and means of his studies have been a topic of discussion.
For Johnston (1996) it is possible that he studied Latin with private
tutors, and he might have attended lectures in the colleges of the
mendicant orders established on the island. According to *De vita
coaetanea*, he learned Arabic from a Muslim slave. In any case,
Llull does not seem to have received any formal education.



This process of instruction would end with a retreat to dedicate
himself to contemplation and study on Puig de Randa (a mountain in
Majorca). During this spiritual experience he conceived the method and
work, now known as the *Ars* (*Art*), with which he
would fight "the errors of the infidels" (*De Vita*
I-5). His retirement to Puig de Randa would end with a visit to the
Cistercian Abbey La Real, where he would write a first version of the
*Ars*, known as *Ars compendiosa inveniendi veritatem*.
This learning period would end with a new meditative stay on the
mountain for four months until he received a new divine message
through a strange priest who blessed him.


### 1.2 Montpellier and first trip to Paris



Between 1274 and 1275 Ramon Llull was summoned by Prince James II of
Majorca to Montpellier. During this first trip to Montpellier, Llull
would suggest that James II found a monastery in Miramar, Majorca,
whose main objective would be to teach languages, particularly Arabic,
to missionaries. The project was approved and the Crown granted the
necessary funds to support the monastery, where 13 Franciscan brothers
would reside. The foundation of the monastery was confirmed by Pope
John XXI in a papal bull from October 17, 1276.



Llull would reach Paris at the end of 1287 and would stay there until
the summer of 1289. In spite of the limited information about his
visit to Paris, it is known that he frequently visited the
College de Sorbonne. He established influential friendships
with two prominent members of the Sorbonne: Peter of Limoges and
Thomas Le Myesier, who would become his most important
disciple.



Some references made in *De vita* point out that his stay in
Paris would encourage Llull to revise the structure of this
*Art*, in the light of the difficulties discussed during his
public lectures.


### 1.3 On the way to infidel lands



Llull went back to Montpellier during the summer of 1289. He stayed
there until the autumn of 1290. During this stay he publicly presented
his comments to the *Art* and wrote a new, simpler version of
this work called *Ars inventiva veritatis*. When he finished
his work in Montpellier, Llull left for Genoa, a city that held great
relevance to him, both for his personal relationship with the Spinola
family and the events that would later unfold.



In April 1289, the city of Tripoli, in Syria, was taken by the
Egyptians, who imprisoned the Latin armies in Acre. The Crusades are
nearing their end, and it is a delicate political moment, among
others, for the Genoese who had taken part in the Crusades. Even if
the defense of Tripoli and Acre were not important priorities for the
papacy, Pope Nicholas IV asked the kings of Europe to support the
Crusade, which spawned a series of initiatives to support the
reconquest of the Holy Land.



Ramon Llull arrived in Rome under these circumstances at the end of
1290, where he writes *Liber de passagio*, a text preceded by a
letter called *Quomodo terra sancta recuperari potest*, in
which Llull took advantage of the political situation to show the
relevance of his mission and his *Art*, linking his work for
the first time with the Crusade and the possibility of using military
force against the infidels.



This visit to Rome had no beneficial outcome, and in 1291 Llull was
back in Genoa, and this time he had the firm intention of traveling to
Tunisia to continue his missionary vocation. This trip would be filled
with extreme difficulties, mainly due to a profound personal
crisis.



This crisis, narrated in great detail in *De vita*, must have
started when he was preparing his trip to Tunisia in the spring of
1292 and reached its most critical point in May 1293 during the
celebration of Pentecost.



Two significant events must have influenced his mood. Llull had turned
60 years old, and in January 1292 King James II had decided to close
the monastery of Miramar. Llull had already made the necessary
arrangements for his missionary trip, but he started to consider the
possibility of being murdered or incarcerated by the infidels. This
situation caused him to be filled with fear. Consequently, he did not
embark on this trip.



As soon as the ship that would have have taken him to Tunisia set sail
without him, Llull, filled with shame, got sick. This illness would
last until the feast of Pentecost, in which Llull was taken to the
Church of Saint Dominic. While he was at the church, he had a vision
in which he was told that "he would be saved in this
order" (*De vita* IV-20). Consequently, Llull resolved to
join the Dominican Order at that exact moment but was unable to
because the prior was not present at the church. Finally, after a
careful process of deliberation and new visions, and considering that
his *Art* had been favorably received by the Franciscan Order,
Llull decided to join the Franciscans. However, Dominguez
Reboras (2016) suggests that there is no historical evidence
that Llull entered the order of Saint Fracisco. 



With new found enthusiasm, even though he was still ill and feverish,
he embarked on the first available ship to Tunisia, but he was
promptly stopped by his friends. A few days later, fully recovered, he
boarded a new ship and and set sail. Around September 1293 he arrived
in Tunisia and started his mission. His plan was to establish contact
and prompt dialogue with the intellectual circles in the city, using
the method proposed in his *Art* to convince them of the error
of their ways. The endeavor did not last long, and he was
incarcerated. He was expelled from the city and sent to Naples in
October 1293.


### 1.4 Back to Rome and new travels



Ramon Llull left Naples when Pope Celestine V was elected in July
1294, and he traveled to Rome. This was an extraordinary period for
his work. During the two years he would spend in Rome he wrote diverse
texts about his *Art*. However, the two most important works in
this period were *Desconhort*, a poem in which he reflected on
his life, his plans, his failures, and his hopes; and *Arbor
Scientiae*, an encyclopedia in which he classified knowledge,
which would be very appreciated during the Renaissance.



After his stay in Rome, Llull went to Paris, where he would live from
August 1298 until July 1299. He wrote 17 texts addressed to the
scholars in the arts and theologians, which showed his involvement in
the academic and political discussions of the University. After this
prolific period, he returns to Majorca but new events will make travel
him again.



The invasion of Syria by the Mongolian armies lead by Ghazan Khan in
1299 and his subsequent advance on the Holy Land raised new hopes
among the Crusaders. Filled with enthusiasm by this news, Llull
decided to travel to Cyprus during the summer of 1301. On his arrival
he found out that, a year before, the Mongols had retired once again.
His disappointment would not stop him, and he convinced the King of
Cyprus to help him convert the Muslim, Nestorian, and Jacobite
population of the island. His sermons met with little success, and in
1302 he traveled to Port Ayas, in Armenia, where he made another
attempt to preach to the infidels.



Ramon Llull went back to Genoa in May 1303. He would spend the
following years between Genoa and Montpellier, and he would write more
than 18 texts, the majority of which would be directed towards the
application of his *Art* to various disciplines and topics.



After this relatively quiet period, Llull set out on a new trip to
Africa. This time he went to Libya, on his way to Bejaia.
*De vita* narrates this trip in detail. Llull spent most of the
time in prison. Instead of seeking to meet intellectuals, as he did on
his first trip to Tunisia, right after disembarkation, he went to the
main square and harangued passersby and anyone present at the time.
The crowd was infuriated, and Llull was placed under arrest. The
authorities questioned and imprisoned him. He would stay there for six
months, receiving visits from sages who sought to convert him to
Islam. He was later expelled from the city, but his hardships would
not end there. His ship sank on the trip back to Genoa, but Llull and
another passenger managed to survive by reaching the coast. He would
then remain in Pisa, where he would finish texts he had previously
began writing, such as *Ars generalis ultima*.


### 1.5 Philosophical and political success



Ramon Llull traveled again to Paris on November 1309. This was a
different visit, not only due to the increasing acceptance of Llullian
thought at the University, but also for his involvement in political
activities. Clear proof of this situation was the letter of approval
signed by professors in the Faculties of Medicine and Theology after
hearing a lecture on his *Art* on February 1310. In addition,
Llull met King Philip IV and was awarded a letter of recommendation by
the King. The following year, the chancellor of the University of
Paris certified Llullian doctrine to be "in accordance to the
Catholic faith". (Dominguez Reboiras and Gaya 2008:
108)



When Pope Clement V summoned a General Council in Vienna during the
summer of 1311, Llull sent a series of requests that defined his
religious and political program. Some of the petitions included were
the foundation of language schools, the unification of the military
orders, funds for a new Crusade, questions regarding the clothing of
the priests, the eradication of Averroism, and a program to preach
Catholic faith in synagogues and mosques. Some of these petitions were
already part of the topics to be discussed and were addressed during
the Council. The most important of his requests was the decision to
found and promote Hebrew, Arabic, and Chaldean language schools, which
was one of the main objectives of the Llullian project. Regarding the
unification of the military orders, the Council seemed to acknowledge
Llull's proposal and used it to discuss the fate of the
Templars, a Christian military order which would be formally dissolved
after the Council.


### 1.6 The last trip



By 1313 relations between Tunisia and Sicily had radically changed.
Frederick III, King of Sicily, signed a treaty with Tunisia to stop
piracy. Taking advantage of this treaty, he undertook a project to
promote catechesis, naturally joined by Ramon Llull. He traveled to
Sicily during the summer of 1313. Shortly afterwards, he traveled to
Tunisia, with the approval of Frederick III and the support of James
II of Aragon, who translated some of Llull's work from Catalan
to Latin. After this last trip to African lands, Llull went back to
Majorca. He passed away in this island, at the age of 84, after March
1316.


## 2. A universal model to understand reality



Ramon Llull's philosophy is not easily situated in the context
of the 13th century. Some authors such as Libera (1991:
135), conceptualize it as part of a movement whose main objective was
to "unprofessionalize"
(*deprofessionnalisation*) philosophy. While Johnston
(1996) emphasizes the vernacular character of Llull's thought,
aimed at promoting popular instruction and not only debates in
universities, Pereira (2012) highlights that the originality of his
thought lies not in the use of the vernacular, but rather in the way
in which he presents previously disseminated ideas as newly founded,
what ultimately granted the recognition from his peers. In recent
years it has been emphasized that Llull is a lay thinker (Dominguez
2016: 408) who is part of a wide movement of lay people engaged in
faith, such as the Beguins (Ensenyat 2017:37) with whom he has
important similarities regarding how to live according to faith.



However, the general consensus is that his philosophy is separated
from the novelties proposed by scholasticism and Aristotelianism. His
thought is based on the widely spread ideas of philosophers such as
Saint Augustine, Dionysius the Areopagite, Saint Anselm, Hugh of Saint
Victor, and Saint Bonaventure.



But the main feature of Llull's philosophy is its unifying
character. It suggests that philosophy, theology, and mysticism are
not separate or contradictory sources of truth. Rather, they are
different aspects of the same process of knowledge. He believes also
in the unity of Christianity. A unit threatened by the infidels and
the schism. His entire philosophical program, says Trias Mercant
(1989), is aimed at turning the infidels of the truth of faith and
unifying Christians into a dogmatically coherent and morally virtuous
community. 



With this purpose in mind, Llull aims to conceive a universal model to
understand reality. As Bordoy (2012) points out, on the one hand, this
model would allow us to know God in his existence and action, and on
the other hand, it would acknowledge the rest of creation as generated
by the divinity. These ideas would allow the writing of the
*Ars*, a book that would serve as a method to reach truth for
any Jewish, Catholic, or Muslim scholar. Its ultimate purpose, as
Rubio (2008a) argues, would be to convert infidels through the
necessary reasons stated throughout the text and for Christians, as
Trias Mercant (1989) points out, to know and practice the principles
of faith. 


## 3. Metaphysics



For Ramon Llull, God necessarily exists, and he is the beginning of
all existing things. However, under the influence of the negative
theology proposed by Dionysius the Areopagite, Llull considers God to
be incomprehensible due to the limitations of human nature to
understand Him. This inability establishes an initial difficulty with
general knowledge, for there would be no means to access the ultimate
source of existence, truth, and knowledge, according to Llull's
ideas.



The means by which this difficulty is solved, according to Llull, is
to recognize the cognitive value of the predicates that describe the
positive qualities of the things created by God as a reflection of the
divine qualities, thus serving as a way to know God by his
attributes.



When we talk about the goodness or the greatness of something, we
express a quality in things that, for Llull, corresponds to a divine
attribute as well. These attributes are called Dignities, although
they are sometimes referred to as "reasons" or
"virtues". Llull defines "Dignity" in
Gaya's (2008: 466) words as "God's
perfection, or attributes that in God, and only in God, reach their
most perfect realization".



Dignities are varied in number throughout Llull's work. Among
them we find infinity (*infinitas*), eternity
(*aeternitas*), unity (*unitas*), wisdom
(*sapientia*), which are common to the Christian tradition, as
well as others such as magnitude (*magnitudo*), virtue
(*virtus*), mercy (*misericordia*), or simplicity
(*simplicitas*), which correspond to attributes that we
recognize in ourselves (*quoad nos*) or in relation to other
creatures. These attributes are, according to Mayer (2016), the means
through which men can perceive the work of God in creation so that
they can then project it onto divinity.



These "Dignities" designate divine properties and are,
thus, the starting point for Llull's thought, and at the same
time, his ultimate object of reflection. We find them enunciated in
the different versions of the *Ars* in
 "Figure A".


### 3.1 The principles



> 
> 
> Goodness is that whereby good does good.
> 
> 
> 



That is how Ramon Llull defines the first principle in his *Ars
brevis 3-1*. The principles are axioms that Ramon Llull will
formulate based on the Dignities. He defines them as principles of
existence and action (*principia existendi et agendi*). As
principles of existence, they are abstract and allude to the
Dignities. As principles of action, they are used to apply the
*Ars* to the knowledge of particular sciences, such as law,
navigation, and astrology, among others. The principles can be
absolute, if they are taken by themselves, or relative, if they are
applied to a particular subject (e.g., Peter is great). Llull explains
in *Ars Brevis* this quality of the principles as



> 
> 
> a ladder for ascending and descending; as, for instance, descending
> from a completely general principle to one neither completely general
> nor completely particular, and from a principle neither completely
> general nor completely particular to one that is completely
> particular. (*Ars Brevis* 2-I. Translation Yanis Dambergs)
> 
> 
> 


### 3.2 Order, Participation, Influence



During his process of formation, Ramon Llull develops a metaphysics of
similarity, under the probable influence of Saint Bonaventure. This
metaphysics dominates his first texts and his first versions of the
*Ars*. It is based on the idea that creation has a
representative function: it is a mirror (Mayer 2016) or a net of
"traces" (Rubio 2008b: 325) in which divine perfection is
reflected.



In Llull's metaphysics, the existence of things is explained
based on the "similarity" that their nature shares with
other beings, and the way in which this resemblance
"participates" in the nature of other superior beings like
Principles or Dignities. The "similarity" expresses a
relationship of correspondence among beings, which is also designated
"signification" by Llull, as it is a relationship by which
God is manifest in creation. "In the perfection of the created
goodness"--wrote Llull in *Libre dels proverbis de
Ramon* LXXXI--"the perfection of the uncreated goodness
is signified".



Signification does not only describe the relationship between creation
and divinity. In addition, it describes the relationship among the
different degrees of existence. Llull shares the theory--commonly
used in Christian, Jewish, and Arab cultures--of a ladder of
beings. It is organized based on the existence of an order--a
structure that organizes things according to a purpose--which
results in a hierarchy defined by similarity or difference in each
degree of being ascending or descending in the ladder. In
Llull's metaphysics, these degrees are as follows: (1)
Elementative, which corresponds to the four elements; (2) Vegetative,
which encompasses beings capable of nutrition, growth, and
reproduction; (3) Sensitive, which includes beings who are able to
have sensory perception; (4) Imaginative, which includes beings who
are capable of internally reproducing what they have perceived; (5)
Man, as a rational being, and at the same time, participant of both
the spiritual and the material field; (6) Heaven, which includes the
celestial spheres; (7) Angels, pure spirits without a body; and
finally (8) God, the highest step of the ladder.



All beings, except God, are dependent, for the ultimate signification
of creation is given by the divinity, who expresses itself through
creation. An important feature of this organization of creation is
that, according to Llull, regardless of the step in the ladder in
which a being is found, it is possible to ascend or descend through it
due to the similarity that interconnects all the steps. This network
of significations given by the similarities--as shown in the case
of the principles--shows a ladder of knowledge through which both
ascent and descent are possible, through sensory data to the
intellectual understanding of spiritual reality, and inversely.



One of the innovations introduced by Llull in the ladder of beings is
the category he calls instrumentality or artifice, which is introduced
after he begins the reformulation of the *Ars* in 1290. It
encompasses instrumental or artificial beings, which are a result of
the instrumental or artificial power or faculty of man. Within the
ladder, they would be found below the Elementative step.


### 3.3 Theory of the Correlatives



One of the most original aspects of Llull's philosophy is the
theory of the correlatives, which does not follow the analogic logic
found in the first formulations of the *Ars*, but a logic whose
foundations are the ontological principles that explain the
concatenation between beings based on their own nature.



According to the theory of the correlatives, the nature of a being is
something defined by its activity. Therefore, being and activity are
inseparable and identified (*esse* and *agere*).
Consequently, according to the theory of the correlatives, the nature
of a being is defined based on (a) its activity, that which makes it
active and allows it to execute different intrinsic and extrinsic
actions; (b) its passion, that which affects the being either
intrinsically by itself or extrinsically by another; and (c) its
action, that which makes it being in act and being in constant
movement. This structure, which will receive diverse formulations
throughout his work, namely matter/form/conjunction,
beginning/middle/end, or doer/done/means (Gaya 2008; Bonner
2007), is presented in the book *Liber de ascensu et descensu
intellectus* as follows: every being has a natural virtue, which
can be "active", "passive", and
"connective". These virtues are the correlatives that
Llull linguistically distinguishes using suffixes. For the active
nature he uses -tivus (e.g., *bonificativus*), for the passive,
-bilis (*bonificabilis*), and for the connective, -are
(*bonificare*).



The nature of each being is constituted, intrinsically, by its
correlatives, which are, for example, in the case of man,
"*homificativus*",
"*homificabilis*", and
"*homificare*". Through the actions carried out by
these correlatives, man must actualize the potentiality of his act.
However, as every being is formed by certain faculties, the activity,
the passivity, and the connectivity of man's nature must be
exercised through each one of these faculties. Thus, to see, he will
use the vision formed by its correlatives (which will be explained in
the following sections), and so on. When he uses each one of these
correlatives, he must apply the dynamism of the correlatives of the
principles such as "*bonitas*" or
"*magnitudo*", by which he is also constituted, to
reflect the divinity of the dignities in his action.



The correlatives form, therefore, a complex structure that is
reproduced throughout the ladder and in each one of the beings, from
God to a stone, to ontologically explain the continuity among all
beings. In each one of them, the chain of the whole of creation is
reproduced.



The correlatives are also distinguished in God because, for Llull,
activity is needed for nature, and there could only be divine nature
if it has an activity. Llull identifies the divine correlatives in
their intrinsic action through the Trinity, namely the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, while their extrinsic action, through the
Dignities, will result in creation.


## 4. Theory of Knowledge



> 
> *Homo est animal homificans* / Man is a manifying animal.
> 



In this definition of man in the *Ars Brevis 9-IV*, Ramon Llull
identifies human nature with its activity, with its dynamic principle
as Lopez Alcaide (2016) explains. *Homificans* is
produced through the realization of the three main activities of the
human soul, which for Llull are knowing, remembering, and loving,
which correspond to the three superior faculties of the soul:
understanding, memory, and will.



In *Liber de homine*, Llull acknowledges that man must know
what man is, and as he is able to know himself, he will be able to
know other men and, naturally, God as well. However, the knowledge
that man can reach is different from the rest of the beings. Animals,
for example, can only know through senses and imagination, whereas
angels can only intellectually know through themselves. As man is
constituted by a soul and a body, he can know through the senses but
is not limited by them. He is capable of going up the ladder and
understanding other beings through the principles; additionally, he
can also go down the ladder and understand the principles through
beings.



The ascent and descent describe the two paths the soul can traverse to
obtain knowledge of the world. They are different but supplementary
ways. The ascent starts with corporeal objects, whose sensible species
(form or similarity) are captured by the external senses and
transformed into internal species by the imagination; then, the higher
faculties of the soul in the intellect transform them into knowledge
of exterior beings. The descent is the opposite path, from the
universal to the particular. It takes the principles as starting
points through which the human soul can recognize these
principles--goodness, truth, etc.--in particular beings.


### 4.1 The Sixth Sense



Llull explains how the senses function perceptually and cognitively
based on the theory of the correlatives. Each one of the five
traditional senses has its three correlatives. Following the example
proposed by Romano and de la Cruz (2008: 380), the eye functions
intrinsically according to "*Visituus*",
"*Visibilis*", and "*Videre*",
whereas "*Visibilitas*" is found in objects, that
is, its visible species. Since the act of seeing is similar to the act
of being seen, they are connected in such a way that the extrinsically
visible species can be perceived and transformed in the intrinsically
visible species through the activity of the mind, by the imagination,
which is the faculty that completes the process of abstraction.



Llull presents an original contribution he designates as
*Affatus*, which operates in the same way as the five
traditional senses. The *Affatus* is defined as the
potentiality by which an animal manifests its conceptions through its
voice to another animal. This is the means, as he writes in the
*Libre dels proverbis de Ramon* CCLXII, through which man
communicates with the rational soul more than with any other sense, by
which the soul produces sound, and, in the case of man, communicates
science. It is the image of understanding, it allows communication
with God, and it is how the mechanical arts are expressed.



All the senses have the same purpose as the *affatus*: to
realize the activity of man, the *homificans*, through the
connection of the internal and external species in order to enable man
to know, remember, love, and live. Consequently, the senses are
necessary for living, but particularly the lowest kind, such as touch,
taste, and smell, are especially important for distinguishing pleasure
from pain. The superior senses, such as hearing, sight, and
*affatus*, not only allow man to live, but they also activate
his highest faculties and they bring man closer to God. Hearing is
necessary to know and remember, especially God's name; sight, to
understand, remember, and love, particularly God; and
*affatus*, to communicate knowledge and to talk to God.


### 4.2 Analogic Knowledge



Taken as a whole, the process of knowledge in Llull includes several
steps that, even if they have a sequence of ascent and descent, form a
circle which can be traversed in both directions. This process would
begin, as was previously stated, with self-knowledge. Initially man
would use his intellect to understand his own dynamism (Petit 2004),
and in that process he will find the principles whose
similarities--goodness, greatness, etc.--he will look for in
the sensible things as he descends.



From this descending move, an ascending one will follow, through which
the *intrinsic species* are deduced from the *extrinsic
species*. The process would end in a final intellectual move that
Lopez Alcaide (2015) describes as horizontal, in which the
intellect, by considering the goodness of the senses, will consider
the goodness of the intellect itself, thus reaching goodness in
itself.



Through this process of concatenating the similarities of external
objects with the internal principles of understanding, man realizes
what the structure of creation is, as well as its order, the mutual
participation and influence among beings, and among the principles and
the dignities.



In this sense, knowledge in Llull consists of perceiving and
understanding the meanings revealed by the objects found in the divine
attributes. As Petit (2004: 219) observes, according to Llull, knowing
"is the result not only of seeing, feeling or touching, but also
contemplating".


### 4.3 Doctrine of the Transcendent Points



During his stay in Paris between 1297 and 1299, Llull participated in
the discussion against Averroism, specifically against "the
theory of double truth". In the context of this dispute, he
developed what is known as the doctrine of the transcendent points,
which tries to solve the problem of the discontinuities in the process
of acquiring knowledge and ultimately show that faith and knowledge do
not differ.



Llull's starting point is to identify that truth is found above
man's own capabilities in two senses. First, the knowledge that
man gets from the world, through his sensitive faculties, is
insufficient to build an accurate truth of the world. Consequently,
man must overcome this initial level. It is then when, according to
Llull, happens the transcendental move that encourages man to look for
the objects that are characteristic of his superior faculties, that
is, the intelligible things, allowing him to reach the knowledge that
science and philosophy can offer. But this knowledge is also limited
and insufficient. Thus, he must leap forward to transcend and surpass
himself. His purpose will be to reach the divine objects, the
dignities, recognizing in them, in a superlative way, what were mere
human concepts before. This is proper theological knowledge.



Even if the main function of the doctrine of the transcendent points
is fundamentally polemical, it is associated with two central elements
in Llull's logic. The first one is the formulation of the
existence of three types of objects of knowledge, sensitive,
intellective, and divine, which correspond to the three degrees of the
adjective in language: positive, comparative, and superlative. In this
way, it would be related to the three ways of logical demonstration
that, according to Rubio (2008a), Llull used in the *Ars*. The
first two are the *propter quid* and *quia* proofs from
Aristotelian logic: (1) when the effect is proven by its cause (e.g.,
When the sun is shining, it must be daytime); (2) when the cause is
proven by its effect (e.g., It is daytime; therefore, the sun must be
shining). The third demonstration is designated by Llull as
*argumentum per aequiparantiam* or by equivalence, according to
which the demonstration is produced when a thing is equal to another.
For example, God cannot sin because his power is equal to his will,
and by his will he does not want to sin.


## 5. The *Ars*



The *Ars*, or to be more precise, the development through
numerous texts of a combining logical system to reveal the truth, is
the most important and original product of Ramon Llull's
philosophy, and the main core of his work.



Its development is divided into two great phases. The first one is
called the Quaternary Phase, for it is organized based on the model of
the four elements which form the base of the majority of the analogies
used by Llull. The Quaternary Phase comprises two main texts: the
*Ars compendiosa inveniendi veritatem*, written by Llull
following the revelation of the *Art* at the Puig de Randa
Mount in 1274, and the *Ars demonstrativa* in 1283, in addition
to other texts that comment or explain the *Ars*. The second
phase is known as Ternary Period, for it follows the structure of a
trinity. It began with the criticism experienced in Paris with the
*Ars inventiva veritatis* (1290), followed by the modification
of the *Tabula generalis* (1293-4), and it concludes with
the *Ars generalis ultima* (1305-8) and its abbreviated
version, which incidentally had the most comments and discussions
during the Renaissance, the *Ars brevis* of 1308.



The *Ars* was conceived by Ramon Llull as an instrument for an
intercultural and interreligious dialogue. Thus, it was to be a tool
to aid the missionaries' work. Giles (2020, 4) had pointed out
Llull's openness "to convince religious others of Christian
truth, not through the rhetoric of polemics or by strategically quoting
authorities, but through methods of discussing or debating spiritual
difference and acknowledging shared traditions".



As a result, Llull did not structure this work based on the main
Christian dogmas, the Trinity and the Incarnation, but on the common
principles to the three religions of the book. As Rubio (2008a: 245)
argues, "the secret of the Art consists of its demonstrating
that the accepted world view implies the Christian view of
God".



Studies on the *Ars* (Ruiz Simon 1998; Rubio 2008a;
Jaulent 2010) show that it addresses the criticism made by Llull to
Scholastic logic. This criticism has two great stages: on the one
hand, the insufficiency of the demonstration by syllogisms--the
basis of all Scholastic science--to reveal new truths, because it
only explicitly states the relationship between known facts and
evident principles (Ruiz Simon 1998), thus relegating
dialectics (or *ars inveniendi*), which consists of finding
arguments and counterarguments based on some *loci* or
"places", to the domain of opinion. On the other hand,
this criticism (Jaulent 2010) addresses the fact that demonstration by
syllogisms only works through second intentions, that is, it describes
relationships within logical propositions and not according to objects
in reality, which are conceptualized as first intentions.



Llull's *Ars* would seek to form a logic system different
to the scholastic one, through which novel truths that describe not
only logical relationships, but also metaphysical relationships, can
be discovered. According to Ruiz Simon (1998) and Bonner
(2007), the *Ars* is defined by Llull based on four adjectives:
*compendioso* and *inventivo*, like its first version;
*demostrativo*, as in the second one; and *general*, in
the final phase: (1) c*ompendioso*, for it is from some limited
principles that an unlimited number of arguments can be found; (2)
*inventivo*, because, through its combining mechanism, it makes
it possible to find those arguments; (3) *demostrativo*,
because it allows one to reach necessary conclusions; (4) and
*general*, because it encompasses both real and logical
objects, and it is thus applicable to any topic.



Therefore, the *Ars* is a system to access any logical or
metaphysical truth, a means to find novel arguments, an instrument to
access all general and particular knowledge, a tool for the missionary
that seeks to refute the arguments of the infidels and a way to enact
virtues and suppress vices. 


### 5.1 The structure of the *Ars*



The *Ars* is structured to answer questions, which are
invariably found in the final sections of the different versions of
the *Ars*. These answers are usually a combination of terms
constituted by using the elements that form the *Ars*: terms,
figures, and alphabet.



The terms are the basic concepts of the *Ars*. For example, the
Dignities, such as Goodness, Beauty, Greatness, Eternity; or the
principles, such as Difference, Concordance, Contrariety, etc.



The figures are graphical forms of different types, such as circles,
tables, and triangles, which form the combinations of both the
internal elements and their combinations with other figures.



Finally, the alphabet is used, above all, in the Ternary Period, and
it is formed by nine letters whose meaning is not fixed, as it is
understood according to the use of the figures and their
combinations.


### 5.2 The Figures of the Quaternary Phase and their functioning



![[Almost all the pictures in this article are from manuscripts and the text is not English and not always legible. A large circle divided into 16 parts at the rim, each labeled with a name]](image001.png)

Figure A. *Ars compendiosa inveniendi
veritatem* XV Century. Palma, BP, 1031. Digital version Biblioteca
Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de
Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.




The first figure of the *Ars* is
 Figure A,
 composed by 16 terms that correspond to the Dignities: Goodness,
Wisdom, Glory, Simplicity, Greatness, Will, Perfection, Nobility,
Eternity, Virtue, Justice, Mercy, Power, Truth, Generosity,
Dominion.



Two cases should be noted in this figure: The use of the
alphabet--the letters that surround the figure from
"b" to "r", whose function is to refer to the
terms inside of the figure in a simplified way, although they are not
found in all the versions of the *Ars*--and the network of
lines that join each term within the figure with all the remaining
ones, which are not shown in all the versions either. These lines
illustrate the combinations found within this figure. In this case,
each one of the 16 terms would have 15 combinations with the remaining
terms. This combining possibility is supported by the fact that each
Dignity may be converted into another, by the principle of the unity
of all divine attributes. Moreover, it reflects the principle of the
argument of equivalence, which, as was already explained, is one of
the demonstrative forms of the *Ars*.



Each one of these combinations would form a compartment, and its set,
a table with all the possible combinations (see the
 Second Figure of A).



![[a 15 by 15 table with the upper left half cells containing text]](image002.png)

The Second Figure of A. *Ars
compendiosa inveniendi veritatem* XV Century. Palma, BP, 1031.
Digital version Biblioteca Virtual del Patrimonio
Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y
Deporte.




The second figure of the *Ars* is called
 Figure S,
 where the rational soul is represented, following St. Augustine, as
formed by Memory, Intellect, and Will. The representation is, however,
not according to the faculties, but to their acts and their
combinations.



The acts of the faculties of the soul are found in the compartments of
 Figure S:
 the intellect, understanding and not understanding; the memory,
remembering and forgetting; the will, loving, hating, and loving and
hating. In addition, the compartments contain combinations of letters,
corresponding to the ones found in the internal circle, that refer to
the combined acts of the faculties. Therefore, d. h. m. refers to, for
example, the combined acts of the will that loves, the will that
hates, the will that loves and hates. b. c. d. refers to the combined
acts of the memory that remembers, the intellect that understands, the
will that loves. Llull groups these combinations in four species named
E, I, N, R, which are identified by the letter of the compartment
where the combination of the acts of the faculties is found, and which
forms one of the squares drawn within the circle. Therefore, the
species E identifies the combination b. c. d. The I, the combination
f. g. h.; the N, the combination k. l. m.; and finally, the R, the
combination of these combinations, o. p. q.



![[two concentric circles with the rims divided evenly into 16 sectors. The inner circle's sectors are all labelled. Four squares connect connect the sectors (e.g., 1st, 5th, 9th, 13th and 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th...)]. The points of each square are labelled with a letter](image003.png)

Figure S. *Ars compendiosa inveniendi
veritatem XV* Century. Palma, BP, 1031. Digital version Biblioteca
Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de
Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.




The species not only organize certain acts of the faculties of the
soul. Additionally, they also represent certain conducts. Thus,
species E, for example, which is formed by the intellect that
understands, the memory that remembers, and the will that loves,
corresponds to the attitude of someone who affirms a proposition with
arguments. I, formed by the intellect that understands, the memory
that remembers, and the will that hates, represents the attitude of
someone that denies a proposition with arguments.



Species N, where intellect and memory fail to understand and remember,
thus confirming or denying something, represents supposition, a belief
that is not sustained either by arguments or by reasons.



Finally, R, formed by the combination of all the aforementioned
options, represents doubt.



The use of the letters in this case has a distinctive function. F and
B, for example, have the same meaning: the intellect that understands,
but its sense varies according to the relationships found in the
species E and I. Consequently, the use of this letter allows one to
emphasize this structural sense above the meaning of the words (Bonner
2007.



Figure S
 can be combined with the rest of the figures of the *Ars*. As
a result, it is used to build solutions to the questions that are
formulated in the final sections of the *Ars*.


#### 5.2.1 Figure T



Figure T
 is crucial because it is used to build solutions through its
combination with other figures. It is formed by three circles
connected by triangles of different colors. The triangles connect
three concepts (i.e., Difference, Concordance, Contrariety), with
three species in each one of the edges that form the circles (i.e.,
sensual and sensual, sensual and intellectual, intellectual and
intellectual).


* Blue Triangle: God (unity, essence, and dignities); Creature
(sensual, intellectual, and animal); Operation (intellectual, natural,
and artificial)
* Green Triangle: Difference (between sensual and sensual, sensual
and intellectual, intellectual and intellectual); Concordance (between
sensual and sensual, sensual and intellectual, intellectual and
intellectual); Contrariety (between sensual and sensual, sensual and
intellectual, intellectual and intellectual)
* Red Triangle: Beginning (time, quantity, or cause); Middle
(extremities, measurement, or conjunction); End (final cause,
termination, or privation)
* Yellow Triangle: Majority (between substance and substance,
substance and accident, accident and accident); Equality (between
substance and substance, substance and accident, accident and
accident); Minority (between substance and substance, substance and
accident, accident and accident)
* Black Triangle: Affirmation (doubt to being, to non-being, or to
possible and impossible); Doubt (doubt to being, to non-being, or to
possible and impossible); Negation (doubt to being, to non-being, or
to possible and impossible)



![[3 concentric circles with the rims divided into 15 even sectors. 5 equilateral triangles each a different color connect the sectors. Sectors and points of the triangles are labelled.]](image004.png)

Figure T. *Ars compendiosa inveniendi
veritatem* XV Century. Palma, BP, 1031. Digital version Biblioteca
Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de
Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.



#### 5.2.2 Figure V



Figure V is simpler and refers to the virtues and vices, including
seven of each. In some representations, virtues are red and vices are
blue, and both are interconnected with each other by lines.



The figure reflects Llull's ethical ideas. The system is based on
the antithesis between virtues and vices (Rocha 2019). 28 ethical
notions are obtained by combining all of its elements. Together with
the variants in Figure T, it offers morality rich in nuances and
alternatives, since the Art is also a method to encourage virtues and
suppress vices (according to Trias Mercant 1989). 



![[a circle divided on the rim into 14 sectors with the sectors labelled alternatively in red and black ink. The red sectors are all connected by lines as are the black sectors.]](image005.png)

Figure V. *Ars compendiosa inveniendi
veritatem* XV Century. Palma, BP, 1031. Digital version Biblioteca
Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de
Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.



#### 5.2.3 Figures X, Y and Z



Figure X, or "Figure of Opposites" or "Figure of
contraries and concordances", is formed by different
oppositions: Predestination/Free Will; Being/Privation;
Perfection/Defect; Merit/Blame; Supposition/Demonstration; etc. As in
 Figure A,
 the lines join all terms with each other. However, as Llull himself
explains, these connections are at times contradictory and at times in
concordance, for with this figure Llull represents the problem that
certain oppositions--namely predestination and freedom--pose
for man.



![[a circle divided on the rim into 8 labelled sectors. A square the the even sectors and another the odd sectors. The points of the squares are labelled.]](image006.png)

Figure X. *Ars compendiosa inveniendi
veritatem* XV Century. Palma, BP, 1031. Digital version Biblioteca
Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de
Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.




Finally,
 Figures Y and Z
 are formed by only one concept: Truth Y and Falsehood Z. The
*Ars* leads to these two directions, represented by the two
concepts: towards the definition of the truth or falsehood of certain
propositions.



![[two disjoint circles, one labelled Y and veritas and one Z and falsitas(?)]](image007.png)

Figure Y and Figure Z. *Ars
compendiosa inveniendi veritatem* XV Century. Palma, BP, 1031.
Digital version Biblioteca Virtual del Patrimonio
Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y
Deporte.



### 5.3 The Application of the *Ars*



Once the figures and terms within have been defined, Llull proceeds to
show how they are combined. A substantial part of the several versions
of the *Ars* is to show how the relationships between the
figures are useful to build a specific argument or to solve a certain
matter. Llull uses the word enter (*intra)* to express the way
in which a figure is related to another, occasionally using for this
purpose another figure, usually
 figure T.
 Thus, in the *Ars compendiosa inveniendi veritatem*, for
example, he uses figures A S T V to explain which are the species
contrary to the vices. Consequently, he explains that if X (the human
soul), with the species E I N enters T in V (figure of vices and
sins), it is because with species E it understands (b), remembers (c),
and loves (d) abstinence, whereas by I it understands (g), remembers
(f), and hates (h) Gluttony. I forms patience when b c d are in
abstinence, for it is transformed. When the soul enters N (it does not
understand, does not remember, loves and hates) in A (God), Perfection
and Justice (the compartment [Perfection, Justice]) strengthens E I
with a greater concordance through the red triangle (equality).



This example allows us to follow Llull's construction of this
argument, based on the combination of the different figures.
Therefore, it is an example of a possible combination and a valid
philosophical proposition for Llull. If we follow the example, Llull
uses the combination of the figures to build the argument through
which it is explained how the soul transforms the negation of the
vices into virtues, when it assumes perfection and justice in God.



Llull does not exhaust all the possible combinations in the different
versions of the *Ars*. He presents those that are relevant for
the construction of arguments to confront, first and foremost, the
arguments offered by the infidels, by affirming doctrinal principles
of Christianity. Thus, the possibility remains open for the artist,
that is, whoever uses the *Ars*, to find new combinations and
new arguments to be applied in other contexts.


### 5.4 Two Variations of the Quaternary *Ars*



In *Ars demostrativa* (1283), Llull introduces two important
variations. The first is the inclusion of the
 Elemental Figure,
 which in the first version of the *Ars* was just a figure that
supported
 Figure T.
 The function of this figure, as Bonner (2007) explained, is an
analogical substitute of the table of oppositions to emphasize two
aspects: the proper and appropriated qualities, and their concordant
and contrary.



![[four tables of 4 by 4 cells. The tables are labeled Figura Ignis, Figura Aeris, Figura Aquae, and Figura Terrae]](image008.png)

Figura Elementalis. *Ars
demostrativa*. *Beati Raymundi Lulli Opera*, ed. Ivo
Salzinger i Franz Philipp Wolff, III (Maguncia: Haffner,
1722. Digital version Biblioteca Virtual del Patrimonio
Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y
Deporte.




Nevertheless, the introduction of the
 Demonstrative Figure
 in *Ars demostrativa* is particularly meaningful, for it
synthesizes the other figures and makes their relationship dynamic.
The Demonstrative Figure is formed by six circles, and it includes a
mechanism that allows the circles to rotate. At the center, Llull
places a triangle, as those found in
 Figure T.
 The first two circles correspond to the
 Elemental Figure,
 the following two, with seven letters, represent Figures A, S, T, V,
X, Y, Z. The last two circles have the letters B-R that are the
terms of
 Figure S,
 but Figures A, T, V, X as well, and other two figures, the Principles
of Theology and the Principles of Philosophy, which are introduced
when the operation of the Art is extended to both fields.



![[line drawing, 7 concentric circles. The innermost circumscribes an equaliteral triangle. The second is divided on the rim into four sectors labelled: Ignis, Terra, Aqua, and Aer. The third is also divided into 4 with the same labels as the second. The fourth is divided into 7 sectors labelled: A, Z, Y, X, V, T, S. The fifth is also divided into 7 with the same labels as the fourth. The sixth is divided into 16 sectors labelled: F, E, D, C, B, R, Q, P, O, N, M, L, K, I, H, G. The seventh is also divided into 16 with the same labels as the sixth.]](image009.png)

Demonstrative Figure




The importance of the
 Demonstrative Figure
 resides in its being a step towards the universalization of the
*Ars*, for it initiates a process of greater abstraction of the
principles. Even though the terms used in the original figures are
kept, they, as well as the figures themselves, have been substituted
for letters. At the same time, it is a figure that rotates, which
evidently shows the combining character of the *Ars.* Finally,
it opens up the *Ars* beyond its own principles, to be used in
other fields, such as theology, philosophy, and law.


### 5.5 The Ternary *Ars*



After his first visit to Paris and the criticism that ensued, in 1290
Llull starts to make profound changes that will lead him to
reformulate the *Ars.* The *Ars generalis ultima*,
written between 1305 and 1308, and the *Ars brevis*, from 1308,
establish the most accomplished formulations of this new version of
Llull's tool. The changes he introduced to the *Ars* aim
to simplify its structure and its function through a greater
abstraction of its figures and a reduction of its elements.



A general overview of these changes include the reduction of the seven
basic figures--A, S, T, V, X, Y, Z--in the first version, to
only four. Particularly remarkable is the disappearance of
 Figure S,
 an essential element in the first version, as well as that of figures
V, X, Y and Z. In the case of V, its terms will be found in other
sections of the text. The
 Elemental Figure
 and the
 Demonstrative Figure,
 incorporated in the *Ars demostrandi*, are removed as well.
The name of the figures is changed. Instead of using letters, they are
now designated First, Second, Third, and Fourth. In all of them, the
terms shown in the first versions are substituted by letters, and the
meanings of these letters, in each one of the figures, are found in an
"alphabet". In addition, only 9 out of the 16 terms
contained in them remain, for the new base of the formulation of the
*Ars* is a ternary model, and not a quaternary one.


### 5.6 The Alphabet and the Figures of the Ternary *Ars*



The alphabet is a central element in the ternary formulation of the
*Ars*. It is formed by nine letters, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K,
that using the figures, will be organized to form propositions and
arguments, formulate and solve questions. Each letter has six terms
associated with it:




|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| **Letter** | **stands for** |
| **B.** | goodness | difference | whether? | God | justice | avarice |
| **C.** | greatness | concordance | what? | angels | prudence | gluttony |
| **D.** | duration | contrariety | of what? | heaven | fortitude | lust |
| **E.** | power | beginning | why? | man | temperance | conceit |
| **F.** | wisdom | middle | how much? | imagination | faith | sloth (*acedia*) |
| **G.** | will | end | what quality? | senses | hope | envy |
| **H.** | virtue | majority | when? | vegetation | charity | wrath |
| **I.** | truth | equality | where? | elements | patience | lies |
| **K.** | glory | minority | how and with what? | instruments | compassion | inconstancy |



The first of these terms refers to positive attributes that are
applicable to all the scale of beings. The second corresponds to the
definition of a relationship between entities (it is a reformulation
of the former
 Figure T).
 The third term corresponds to the Rules and the Questions, and it
constitutes the most important tool for research within this model,
for they will be used to formulate problems and their solutions. The
last three terms correspond to (a) the subjects addressed by the
*Ars*, (b) virtues, and (c) vices. The figures will be used to
visually represent the relationships between the different terms in a
similar way to the previous formulation of the *Ars*. They are
54 principles in total, which constitute the basis of the whole system
and whose relationships are established through the figures.


#### 5.6.1 First Figure



The
 First Figure
 is formed by a sole circle of nine elements, whose letters correspond
to the terms of the first meaning of the alphabet.



![[This is a figure from an illustrated manuscript. A circle divided into 9 even sectors each labelled with a letter and word.]](image010.png)

First Figure. *Ars brevis* XVIII
Century. Palma de Mallorca BP MS998. Digital version Biblioteca
Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de
Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.



#### 5.6.2 The Second Figure



The
 Second Figure
 is formed by three concentric circles connected by three triangles,
similarly to the way
 Figure T
 was shown in the first version of the Art. In this case, only one of
the triangles was lost. In the edges of the triangles the terms of the
second meaning of the alphabet are found, each one of them unfolded in
three species. Thus, for example: the first triangle deals with
difference, concordance, and contrariety (B, C, D). Each one of these
concepts has three species: sense and sense, sense and intellect,
intellect and intellect. The second triangle, beginning, middle, end
(E, F, G) has different species in each one of the edges. The species
of beginning are cause, quantity, and time. In *Ars brevis
2-II*, Llull explains the following



> 
> 
> cause means the efficient, material, formal and final causes. Quantity
> and time signify the other predicates and whatever can be reduced to
> them.
> 
> 
> 



Bonner (2007) has argued that in this section Llull introduces the
Aristotelian causes and categories, which entails the adoption of the
terminology and concepts of this logic into his system. The middle
has, at the same time, three species that will be formed by the middle
between subject and predicate (e.g., Man is an animal--the
physical life), the middle between agent and patient (Love, in the
relationship between loved and lover), and the middle between extremes
(e.g., between two points). The edges of the last minor triangle,
minor, equal, major (H, I, K) share the same three species: accident
and accident, substance and accident, substance and substance.



![[A circle divided into 9 with each sector labeled by a letter and three phrases. The sectors are connected by three equilateral triangles, the points of each are also labelled.]](image011.png)

Second Figure. *Ars brevis* XVIII
Century. Palma de Mallorca BP MS998. Digital version Biblioteca
Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de
Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.



#### 5.6.3 The Third and Fourth Figure



The
 Third
 and
 Fourth
 Figure of the new formulation of the Art have a similar function. The
third is a square in which the binary combinations are represented,
whereas the fourth is a representation of the ternary combinations
inside the Art. The latter is formed by three concentric circles, and
Llull explains that it must be rotated to form the different
combinations. That is, if the starting point of an initial combination
is BCB, the one that will follow is CCB, building the first nine
ternary combinations accordingly. The circles are, therefore, rotated
to the next alignment, which is BDB, and the process continues.



![[An 8 by 8 table with the upper left cells labelled. The lower right has running text.]](image012.png)

Third Figure. *Ars brevis* XVIII
Century. Palma de Mallorca BP MS998. Digital version Biblioteca
Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de
Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.





![[Three concentric circles. The innermost one divided into 9 sectors labelled: B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K. The middle also into 9 sectors with the same labels. The outermost also into 9 sectors.]](image013.png)

Fourth Figure. *Ars brevis* XVIII
Century. Palma de Mallorca BP MS998. Digital version Biblioteca
Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliografico. Spain. Ministerio de
Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.





Unlike the two first figures, whose letters refer to the terms of the
first and second signification given in the alphabet, in the Third and
Fourth Figures the letters can be substituted by any of the six
meanings presented in the alphabet. For example, the combination BC
can mean "goodness is great"--the terms are taken
from the first meaning of the alphabet--but it can also mean
"difference is great", when the first term is taken from
the second meaning, and the second term is taken from the first
meaning. Likewise, its sense can be "goodness is
concordant", when the first term is taken from the first
meaning, and the second term is taken from the second meaning. Some
authors use capital letters when the first sense is used and lowercase
letters when the second sense is used to facilitate the understanding
and use of the Art. Thus, the given examples could be expressed as BC,
bC, Bc.



Llull introduces a table, originated from the
 Fourth Figure,
 in which all the combinations of this figure are found.



![[table from a manuscript. not very legible.]](image014.png)

Table of the Fourth Figure (fragment).
*Ars brevis* XVIII Century. Palma de Mallorca BP MS998. Digital
version Biblioteca Virtual del Patrimonio Bibliografico. Spain.
Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte.




In this table, the letter T is introduced with a syntactic function to
state what terms are taken from the first meaning and which are taken
from the second. The rule is that the letters found before letter T
use the first of the meanings of the alphabet, and the ones found
after, the second.


### 5.7 Practicing the Ars



Both in *Ars generalis ultima* and *Ars brevis*, Llull
explains the operation of the *Ars* in two sections called
"Evacuating the
 Third Figure"
 and "Multiplying the
 Fourth Figure".



Llull uses the term "evacuate" to illustrate how all the
senses of each one of the combinations are extracted, using the
intellect as agent. The evacuation starts "by making statements,
then we interchange subjects with predicates, and then put
questions" (*The Ars generalis ultima* 6-1.
Translation Yanis Dambergs) That is, statements are formed using a
term from the first meaning of the alphabet (e.g., B, C: goodness is
great); then another one is formed by using the first and second
meaning of the alphabet (e.g., b, B: difference is good), and then the
subject and the predicate are inverted (e.g., B, b: goodness is
different). There are 12 meanings in total for each combination of
letters. The example for BC is:





|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| B | C | goodness is great |  | b | B | difference is good |
| B | b | goodness is different |  | b | C | difference is great |
| B | c | goodness is concordant |  | b | c | difference is concordant |
| C | B | greatness is good |  | c | B | concordance is good |
| C | b | greatness is different |  | c | C | concordance is great |
| C | c | greatness is concordant |  | c | b | concordance is different |




Afterwards, the corresponding questions to the third meaning of the
letters according to the alphabet are introduced. In the case of B and
C, it would be whether and what. Thus, based on the affirmations, the
example would be: "Goodness is great", "Whether
goodness is great?", and "What is great goodness?"
This process is applied to the 12 affirmations, thus obtaining a total
of 36 possible meanings for the combination BC. This procedure must be
followed with all the combinations found in the
 Third Figure.


#### 5.7.1 The Definitions and the Rules



The definitions and rules offered by Llull as part of the *Ars*
must be used to complete the evacuation and make sense of all 36
possible combinations. There are 18 definitions: nine of them
correspond to the first meaning of the alphabet, and the other nine,
to the second meaning. The first five, for example, state that:





|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| B. | Goodness is that whereby good does good. |
| C. | Greatness is that through which goodness, duration etc. are
great. |
| D. | Duration is that through which goodness, greatness etc. are
lasting. |
| E. | Power is that through which goodness, greatness etc. can exist
and act. |
| F. | Wisdom is a property by which the wise understand. |




Bonner (2007) has noted that a distinctive feature of the definitions
proposed by Llull is that they do not follow the Aristotelian model.
On the contrary, they define the subject based on his activity, which
allows the application of the definition of greatness, for example, to
any of the beings in the ladder and not exclusively to God. That is
precisely what he would do to complete the evacuation of the
 Third Figure,
 as will be explained later.



The rules correspond to the third of the meanings given to the
alphabet. Each one of these questions has, at the same time, species
that will be useful to establish the type of answer that is sought or
the nature of the question that wishes to be formulated. For example,
the first, "Whether?", has three species, namely doubt,
affirmation, and negation. The second, "What?", has four
species: the first defines the subject, the second defines the
correlatives, the third asks what a certain thing is in another thing
(e.g., "What is the intellect in other things?"), and the
fourth asks what a certain thing does or has in another thing (e.g.,
"What does the intellect have in other things?").



To finalize the evacuation of the
 third figure,
 the intellect has to build the meanings with these tools, following
the guide offered by the definitions and the rules. For example, in
the case of the first combination BC, "goodness is great",
following rule C, the question is formulated as "Is goodness
great?" Its evacuation would follow the application of the first
species of Rule C, to define the predicate: "Greatness is a
being on account of which goodness is great." Then, the second
species of Rule C, by which the subject is defined by its correlative,
would be: "Goodness is great because it has its essential
bonifier, bonifiable, and bonifying". Consequently, following
the fourth species in Rule C (What does goodness have in greatness?),
goodness would have in greatness its "natural repose".
Finally, the third species of Rule C (What is goodness in
greatness?),



> 
> 
> it is in difference and concordance by definition as it differentiates
> and merges its coessential correlatives within its genus and essence
> from which great moral goodness arises. (*The Ars generalis
> ultima* 6-1. Translation Yanis Dambergs)
> 
> 
> 


#### 5.7.2 Multiplication of the Fourth Figure



For the
 fourth figure,
 Llull follows a similar procedure to the one found in the
 third figure.
 First, ternary combinations can be made based on the initial
combination. For example, based on B C D, B C E would follow, then B C
F, and so on. Consequently, for each triple combination of letters,
for example, B C D, it is possible to formulate 20 questions based on
the first, the second, and the third meaning of the alphabet to obtain
the form of a question. There are 20 questions in total for each
column in the table. For example:





|  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| B | C | D | Whether goodness is so great that it is eternal? |
| B | C | b | Whether there is some goodness so great that it contains within
itself different things coessential with itself? |
| C | D | b | What is great difference of eternity? |
| C | D | c | What is great and eternal concordance? |
| D | b | c | Of what does the difference of concordance and eternity
consist? |
| D | b | d | Of what does the difference of eternity and contrariety
consist? |




The way to solve these questions follows the same procedure as in the
case of the
 third figure,
 combining definitions and rules, according to the involved letters,
their meaning in the alphabet, and the species of the rules used in
each one of them.


#### 5.7.3 Combination of the Principles, the Rules, the Subjects, the Virtues, and the Vices



In the ternary form of the *Ars*, Llull extensively uses the
combining structure. Thus, the principles of the
*Ars*--the first and the second meaning of the
alphabet--are combined among themselves and the rules to obtain
an exhaustive relationship of all that can be affirmed from the
combination of the principles and the rules. This is a fundamental
tool for the user of the *Ars*, for it is following this
"mixture", as designated by Llull, of the principles, that
the identification of the appropriate principle to solve the questions
will be easier. The same combining procedure must be applied to the
nine subjects or beings with which Llull has formed a hierarchy of
reality--the fourth meaning of the alphabet: God, Angel, Heaven,
Man, imaginative, sensitive, vegetative, elementative, instrumentality
or artifice. Each one of these must be combined with the principles
and the rules to exhaustively obtain what can be said of each one, in
order to answer concrete questions. This procedure is also applied to
the fifth and sixth meaning of the alphabet, that is, the virtues and
vices.


#### 5.7.4 Questions and Use of the *Ars*



Both *Ars Generalis Ultima* and *Ars Brevis* conclude
with a sequence of questions that can be formulated, and it is
normally illustrated how they are answered using the combining
mechanisms of the *Ars*. However, these are not the only
questions that the *Ars* can answer. Llull himself explains in
both texts that, above all, the *Ars* is an instrument to solve
problems and develop arguments. Consequently, the majority of the
resolved questions show the exemplary character of the use of the
*Ars*. In the section dedicated to the teaching of the
*Ars*, Llull notes two things. The first highlights the
intention of creating an instrument to reason without appealing to
authority. He writes in *Ars Generalis Ultima 13-2:*



> 
> 
> Second, he shall clearly explain the text to the students through
> reasoning, without any appeal to authority, and the students shall
> read through the text, and put any questions they have about it to the
> teacher. (Translation Yanis Dambergs)
> 
> 
> 



But the ultimate sense of the teaching and use of the Art is
illustrated in this recommendation in the *Ars generalis
ultima* 13-3:



> 
> 
> The teacher shall propose questions to the students and solve them by
> providing reasons according to the process of this art, for without
> reasoning, the artist cannot make it work. Here we should note that
> the art has three friends, namely intellectual subtlety, skill in
> reasoning, and good intentions, for without these, no one can learn
> it. (Translation Yanis Dambergs)
> 
> 
>