Milton’s Attitude toward Knowledge in Paradise Lost
Milton’s attitude toward knowledge in Paradise Los is based on St. Augustine’s
and St. Thomas Aquinas’s concepts of knowledge and ethics. In this paper, I will
first point out the relevant Augustinian and Thomist concepts of knowledge and ethics,
and then discuss how Milton fits them into the context of Paradise Lost.
First of all, both St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas recognize two levels of
knowledge. The lower level, referring to knowledge of all contingent, ever-changing
and corporeal things, is said to be attainable by human senses, while the higher level,
referring to knowledge of all eternal, changeless and abstract things, is said to be
supersensible and thus only attainable by means of God’s illumination or analogical
interpretation. St. Augustine designates these two levels as “sense knowledge” and
“contemplation knowledge,” whereas Thomas Aquinas designates them as
“knowledge of the particular” and “knowledge of the universal.”
Next, both St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas approve of the pursuit of
knowledge; that is why they themselves should have spent so much energy in
considering things. However, St. Augustine considers it a sin to try to probe too
deeply into the mysteries of the universe. So he feels himself doomed because of
“intellectual arrogance.” On the other hand, Thomas Aquinas holds that every
human act, including the pursuit of knowledge, should be in accordance with the
order of reason. That is, the immediate end of every human act should be in
harmony with the final end, which is the infinite Good, namely, God. In brief, both
St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas maintain that temperance and God’s divine order
should be observed in the pursuit of knowledge.
Now we come to Milton. In his Paradise Lost we clearly see that all the
above-mentioned Augustinian and Thomist concepts are expressed in two episodes:
Raphael’s coming to Eden to warn Adam, and Satan’s temptation to Eve. In the
former episode, Milton expressed the concepts through the mouth of Raphael; in the
latter, he exemplified them through the act of Eve.
We know there are a series of talks between Raphael and Adam after Raphael’s
arrival at Eden. However, in their talks we notice that when Adam asks about the
earthly things, Raphael will answer easily and happily, but when Adam asks about the
heavenly things, Raphael will answer hesitatingly and with some reserve. This
makes it clear that in Paradise Lost knowledge is also divided into two levels: the
earthly and the heavenly, corresponding respectively to St. Augustine’s “sense
knowledge” and “contemplation knowledge,” and Aquinas’s “knowledge of the
particular” and “knowledge of the universal.”
The earthly things are what Adam already knows; and the heavenly things are
what Adam longs to know. But the heavenly things, being abstract and supersensible,
are beyond his grasp. So he needs a “Diving Interpreter” (BK. Ⅶ, 1. 72) to
illuminate them. Now God has sent Raphael down as the “Divine Interpreter,” who,
as we know, is said to have revealed the heavenly things to Adam on the analogy of
earthly things.
But while St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas stress the importance of
temperance in seeking knowledge, Raphael also perpetually emphasizes the virtue of
modesty in knowledge-seeking. He even points out the bad consequence of
over-curiosity to Adam, and reminds him whenever possible of the divine order.
To verify the points so far suggested, there are plenty of lines we can quote.
For instance, before Raphael, in answer to Adam’s request, starts relating the fall of
Lucifer, he says:
High matter thou injoin’st me, O prime of men,
Sad task and hard, for how shall I relate
To human sense th’ invisible exploits
Of warring Spirits; how without remorse
The ruin of so many glorious once
And perfect while they stood; how last unfold
The secrets of another World, perhaps
Not lawful to reveal? Yet for thy good
This is dispense’d and what surmounts the reach
Of human sense, I shall delineate so,
By lik’ning spiritual to corporal forms,
As may express them best, though ...
(BK. Ⅴ, ll. 563-574)
Here “high matter” naturally refers to heavenly knowledge, and as such is composed
of “invisible exploits,” to relate which to human sense is a “sad task and hard” for
Raphael, for it “surmounts the reach/Of human sense.” So he can only delineate it
by “lik’ning spiritual to corporal forms.” But he cannot delineate it all, for there
may be something “not lawful to reveal.”
The similar ideas are repeated before Raphael continues his recountal of the
happenings after the fall of Lucifer:
This also thy request with caution askt
Obtain: though to recount Almighty works
What words or tongue of Seraph can suffice,
Or heart of man suffice to comprehend?
Yet what thou canst attain, which best may serve
To glorify the Maker, and infer
Thee also happier, shall not be withheld
Thy hearing, such Commission from above
I have receiv’d, to answer thy desire
Of knowledge within bounds; beyond abstain
To ask, nor let thine own inventions hope
Things not reveal’d, which th’ invisible King,
Only Omniscient, hath supprest in Night,
To none communicable in Earth or Heaven
Enough is left besides to search and know.
But knowledge is as food, and needs no less
Her temperance over appetite, to know
In measure what the mind may well contain,
Oppresses else with Surfeit, and soon turns
Wisdom to Folly, as Nourishment to Wind.
(BK. Ⅶ, ll. 111-130)
Here “Almighty works” is used instead of “high matter” to suggest heavenly
knowledge. The difficulty in attaining such knowledge is suggested in the
“What...?” rhetorical question. The bounds within which knowledge can be revealed
to and reached by man are suggested in the next long sentence. And the bad result of
intemperance in seeking knowledge is suggested in the “food” simile of the final
sentence.
The importance of temperance in knowledge-seeking is indeed what Raphael
most intently tries to emphasize. So in every case possible, he will either directly or
indirectly speak about it. After finishing his story of Creation, he says to Adam, “if
else thou seek’st Aught, not surpassing human measure, say” (Bk. Ⅶ, ll. 639-640).
When Adam inquires concerning celestial motions, he replies:
To ask or search I blame thee not, for Heav’n
Is as the Book of God before thee set,
Wherein to read his wond’rous Works, and learn
His seasons, Hours, or Days, or Months, or Years:
This to attain, whether Heav’n move or Earth,
Imports not, if thou reck’n right; the rest
From Man or Angel the great Architect
Did wisely to conceal, and not divulge
His secrets to be scann’d by them who ought
Rather admire ...
(Bk. Ⅷ, ll. 66-75)
He even thus exhorts Adam:
Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid,
Leave them to God above, him serve and fear;
Of other Creatures, as him pleases best,
Wherever plac’d, let him dispose: joy thou
In what he gives to thee, this Paradise
And thy fair Eve: Heav’n is for thee too high
To know what passes there; be lowly wise:
Think only what concerns thee and thy being;
Dream not of other Worlds, what Creatures there
Live, in what state, condition or degree,
Contented that thus far hath been reveal’d
Not of earth only but of highest Heav’n.
(Bk. Ⅷ, ll. 167-178)
And Adam seems to have been impressed by his exhortation, for he replies that
... not to know at large of things remote
From use, obscure and subtle, but to know
That which before us lies in daily life,
Is the prime Wisdom; what is more, is fume,
Or emptiness, or fond impertinence,
And renders us in things that most concern
Unpractic’d, unprepar’d, and still to seek.
Therefore from this high pitch let us descend
A lower flight, and speak of things at hand
Useful ...
(Bk. Ⅷ, ll. 191-200)
But as we know, although Adam has been so impressed, Eve has committed the
very sin of intemperance in knowledge-seeking for succumbing to Satan’s temptation
to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. We know Satan’s temptation is full of
wileful arguments. He tells Eve that knowledge of good and evil can make her know
how to approach good and shun evil, can thus lead her to a happier life, and can make
her Gods’ equal. And Eve’s reasoning with herself, in compliance with his
temptation, is that “good unknown, sure is not had, or had/And yet unknown, is as not
had at all” (Bk. Ⅸ, ll. 756-757), that the eating of that fruit will not result in death
since the serpent has eaten that and has not died, and that the fruit can “feed at once
both Body and Mind” (Bk. Ⅸ, l. 779). In effect, Satan’s arguments only suggest
some immediate ends of knowledge, to use the Thomist terms, while Eve’s reasoning
is the consequence of forgetting the final end, which is the infinite Good, or God
Himself. Hence, by violating the order of reason (that is, by observing the
immediate ends and neglecting the final end), Eve has made sure the loss of Eden, has
turned wisdom to folly.
So far I have only given a few examples to illustrate my points. But I think
they are more than enough to prove that in Paradise Lost Milton has indeed fully
developed and clearly exemplified all my aforesaid Augustinian and Thomist concepts
of knowledge and ethics through the mouth of Raphael and the conduct of Eve.
Works Consulted
Copleston, Frederick S. J. A History of Philosophy. Taipei: Maling Publishing Co.,
1972.
Jones, W. T. A History of Western Philosophy. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co.
1952.
Russell, Bertrand. History of Western Philosophy. London: George Allen & Unwin
Ltd., 1946.