De Sacrificiis Abelis Et Caini

Accordingly, Jacob, the practiser of contemplation, conceiving this to be an employment most closely akin to virtue, endured "to be the shepherd of the flocks of Laban," [*](Genesis xxx. 36. ) a man wholly devoted to colours and to forms, and, in short, to lifeless substances; and he tended not all of them, but the residue only. Now, what is the interpretation of this? The irrational animal is of a twofold character; one consisting in a misuse of that reason which should direct the choice, and such we call people out of their mind: the other consisting in an absolute privation of reason, which we see to exist in these animals which we call brutes.