Pecham notes that some of our concepts seem to be so immediate that we grasp them with no prompting from sense perception. The transcendentals would be such primary concepts. They therefore constitute an exception to the general rule that sensation is needed as a second source for knowledge alongside the divine exemplars.8 Pecham and Matthew of Aquasparta are also somewhat more careful in distinguishing between the grasp of simple concepts and whole propositions, the difference between understanding plain old giraffe and understanding a complex truth like “Giraffes are ruminants.” It seems
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