An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 11

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The machine reads it as

1. Wo innate Prin
2. iples in the
3. and understandine their Terms; ris fit we first talse notico, Thac this, in
4. Read oF beine a marte thacther are innate, is a prooof the contrarr:
5. Since it suippoles, that sereral, r ho underctand and bnor ocher thins5, arc
6. ignorant oi these Principles, till they are propos deothem; and thatone
7. mas be unacquainted with chese Truths, till he herrs them Trom orhers.
8. For it chey Were innate, Whatnced thes be vroposd, in order to sainine
9. allent; Wrhen, by beins in the Underctandins, by a natural and oris inal
10. Imprestion (il there ere any luchi) ther could nocbut be lnomn betore:
11. Or, doch thepropolins them, prinethem elearer intheMlind than Naturo
12. did: IFso, chen the Consequence will be, Fhac a Ban lenows cheni bet
13. cer, alter he nas been ehus taushe them, than he did belore. Whenco it
14. Will Tollor, Fhat chese Principles may be made more crident to us by
15. othees teachine, chan Nature has made them by imprecsion: Which will
16. illagree rich ehe Opinion ol innate Principles, and sire but licile Authori-
17. Ey co Them; buc on the contrary, malses themunsit to be the tounctations
18. oF all our ocher Rnowlodoe, as they are prerended tobe. This cannotbe
19. deny d, that Nen sroir trst aequainted with mans ol these sel( evi-
20. dent Fruths, uxoncheir beins propoled: But itis clear, that Wholoever
21. does 10, tinds in himselE, That he then besins eo lnor a Propolition.
22. erhichhe lner not betore; and ihrich from thencetorth he never quelti-
23. OnS: not because it as imnate; buc, because the consideration Oi the Na-
24. ture ot thie thinos contained in chose Words, vould nor lulter him toThink
25. Oclierise, hor, or whensoerer he is brouste to restect on chem.
26. 5. 22. IE it be laid, The Vnderstandins hach an implicit Rnowledee ot
27. these Principles, but not an explicit, betore this tirst hearins, (asthes muct.
28. Wrhoill Cay, Thatchey are in the Onderstandins belore chey are KnoWn)
29. it ill be hard to conceire what is meant by a Principle imprinted on the
30. understandine Implicitls; untels it be this, That themtind is capable of
31. understandine and assentins tirmly to such Propolitions. And thus alIMa-
32. thematical Demonstrations, as wellas rst Principles, mult be receiredas
33. native Impressions on the Mind: Wrhich, I sear they Will scarce allor them
34. to be, ulio tind it harder to demonstrate a Proposition, than alsene to il
35. erhen demonstrated: And Teur Mathematicians will beforward to beliere.
36. That all che Diaorams they have drarrn, ivere Due Copies olthole innate
37. Characters, which Nacure had ingraven uxon their MindS.
38. 5. 23. Fhere is Ifear this farthermealnelsin che foresoins Arsument, rhucl
39. Would perlirade us, Thac therelore chose Maxims are ro be chouslit inmate,
40. erhich Men admit at first hearins, because thes aenE LO PFOPOSITIONS,
41. Wrhichther are nor tauslit, nor do receire trom the torce ol any Argu-
42. ment or Demonstration, but a bare Explication or Inderstandins of the
43. Ferms. Onder Which, there scems to me to lic this Callacy; That Men
44. are suppoled nottobe taucht, nor to learn ony chins de novo; wlen in
45. cruch, ches are taustic and do learn somethins they ere ignorant ol be
46. fore. For tirk it is evident, ther have learned the Terms andcheir Sis-
47. nitication: neither of erhichi vas born with them. Buc this is noc aII
48. che acquired Anomledocin che caso: The Idea s chemselres, about which
49. the Propolition is, are not born rith them, no more than their NaES,
50. but sor alterrards. S0, that in all Provoliions that are assented to, at
51. First hearins the Terms oF che Propolition, their Standins tor luch Ideas.
52. and the sdeas chemselres chat thes Rand for, beins neither ot them in-
53. nate, L ould fain lnom What there is remainins in such Propolitionsthat
54. is innate. For Prould slacy have any one name thar Proposition, irhole
55. Termsor Ideas vere cither of them innate. We by deorees Sec Ideas
56. aud NamES, ad lcarM Cheis apPrOPialea connedlion one Wich anothet
57. anC

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An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 11. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0027?run=74