Simply knowing something brings the soul neither pleasure nor happiness; and if they concede that it does enjoy pleasure and happiness, they have thereby acknowledged that it possesses love. The soul would then have two faculties: first, the faculty of knowledge and perception; second, the faculty of will and love. The soul attains perfection only when both faculties are perfected, so their claim that perfection lies in knowledge alone is groundless—no different from saying that the soul’s perfection lies solely in power or solely in will.

Perfection is achieved only through knowledge, power, and will, whose root is love. Whenever a person delights in knowledge, there must necessarily be love for that which gives him delight.

At times the object of knowledge itself is beloved, and one delights in knowing and remembering it, just as believers take pleasure in knowing God and remembering Him; indeed, they even rejoice in recalling the prophets and the righteous. For this reason it is said, “When the righteous are mentioned, mercy descends,” because such remembrance stirs hearts toward the love of goodness, desire for it, joy in it, and pleasure. The soul likewise loves to know universal principles, for their comprehensiveness leads it to the knowledge of particulars.

At other times, knowledge serves to repel the doubts that challenge what one loves. A person may cherish something yet encounter objections concerning it, which cause him pain and a sickness of heart because he does not know how to dispel those doubts; when he learns what removes them, he experiences immense delight. Alternatively, he may need that knowledge because through it he can secure some benefit or avert harm—this is common and well known.

But if there is no beloved at all, and what is known is actually detested, its very conception pains the soul rather than pleasing it. Thus it cannot be said that every act of knowing yields pleasure. They themselves admit this, declaring that pleasure is the perception of what is congenial; yet they contradict themselves by locating pleasure in the mere cognition of absolute existence.