(3) He,
therefore, who conceives that the object of his love is destroyed will
feel pain, &c. Q.E.D.
Prop. [XX] He who conceives that the object of his hate is
destroyed will feel pleasure.
Proof.- (20:1) The mind ([xiii] ) endeavours to conceive those
things, which exclude the existence of things whereby the body's power
of activity is diminished or constrained; that is ([xiii] note),
it endeavours to conceive such things as exclude the existence of what
it hates; therefore the image of a thing, which excludes the existence
mental effort, in other words ([xi] note), affects the mind
pleasurably. (2) Thus he who conceives that the object of his hate is
destroyed will feel pleasure. Q.E.D.
Prop. [XXI] He who conceives, that the object of his love is
affected pleasurably or painfully, will himself be
affected pleasurably or painfully; and the one or
the other emotion will be greater or less in the
lover according as it is greater or less in the
thing loved.
Proof.- (21:1) The images of things (as we showed in [xix] ) which
postulate the existence of the object of love, help the mind's endeavour
to conceive the said object. (2) But pleasure postulates the existence
of something feeling pleasure, so much the more in proportion as the
emotion of pleasure is greater; for it is ([xi] note) a transition
to a greater perfection; therefore the image of pleasure in the object of
love helps the mental endeavour of the lover; that is, it affects the
lover pleasurably, and so much the more, in proportion as this emotion
may have been greater in the object of love.
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