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An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 90

Machine transcription. Not an edition. Errors are expected: about 8% character error rate on Latin and French lines, higher on German. Mean line confidence on this page: 0.91.

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The machine reads it as

  1. Duration, and its simple Modes.
  2. ralcen into the Computation, by any one who will estimate or measure
  3. Motion, (0 as to judse ristr oFit. Nor, indced, docs Motion ans other.
  4. vise conduce tothe mealurins of Duration, than as it constantly brinss
  5. about thCreturn oF certain sensible Ldeas, in sceimine equidistant Periods.
  6. For il the Motion ot the sun, trere as unequal as of a Strip driven by un-
  7. Ready Winds, Sometimes very NOW, and at OrHers, irregularly very swift;
  8. or it beins constantr equally TvisE, it Yet as nor circular, and produced not
  9. the Paire Appearances, it Wrould nor at aII help us to measure timc, any
  10. more than the scemino unequal otion ot a COmet dOcs.
  11. 5. 23. Minutes, FCours, Days, and Lears, are then no mOre necessary to
  12. Time or Duration, than Inches, Feet, Vards, and Miles, marked out in
  13. aHY Matter, are to Extentior. For thiouoh ve in this pare ot the Uni-
  14. verle, by che constant ule ofthem, as Periods set out by the Rerolutions
  15. OFEhO SuH, Ox LCHOWN PaxES OF TheMI, have Axed the Ideas OF (UCM L enGTHS
  16. ot Duration in. our Ninds, erhich we applY to all parts ot Time, whose
  17. Lenschs me vould consider; vet there mas be other ports oF the Uni-
  18. verle, Wvtiere ther no more ule those measures ot ours, than in Japan they
  19. do our Tnches, Fcet, or Miles: but yet somethins Analasous to them,
  20. there must Be. For wittrout lome regular periodical returris, we couldnot
  21. measure our selres, or signitie to others the lensth oF any Duration, thougn
  22. at the same time the Norid rere g5 FuII oF MOtion, a5 it is no; but no
  23. Part of it dispoled into regular and apparent equidistant Revolutions. But
  24. the different meatures chat maz be made use ot Por the accoune of Fime,
  25. do noc at alt alter the notion of Duration, vrhichis thethins to be meatu:
  26. red, no more than the different Candards of a Loor and a Cubit alter the
  27. norion ot Extension, to thole, who malse ule of thole disterent Mcatures.
  28. 5. 2.5. The Mind havins once sor such a mealure of Time, as the an-
  29. Dual Revolution of the Sun, can apply that meature to Duration, Where.
  30. in that meature it selF did not exist, and with erhich in the realitr ol its
  31. Deins, ic hac nothins todo: For ould onc (ay, That Abraham WaS BOrH
  32. in ElC 27F2 Vear OF thC Fulian Period, it is altosether as incellisible as
  33. rectonine from the besinnins ot the World, though there vere 10 far
  34. Backno notion of the Sun, nor any other motion at alI. For thougt
  35. the Fulian Period be supposed to begin several hundred rears betore there
  36. verereally cither DayS, NigHES, Or VCarS, marked out by any Revolu-
  37. tions ofthe Sun, ret we reckon asright, and therebs mealure Durations
  38. a5 WelI, as if realsy at thactime the sun hrad existed, and Kope the lame
  39. ordinary morion it doth nO. THC Idea of Duration equal t0 un an-
  40. nual Revolution of the Sunisas calily applicable in our FhougtEs +0 Dura-
  41. tion, wvhere no Sun nor MTotion vas, as the Idea OF a FOOt or Vard takcen
  42. trom Bodies here, can be applicc in our ThougHES to Distances, berond
  43. the Contines oF the Worid, Wrhereare no Bodiesat aII.
  44. 5. 26. For suppolins it vere 5639 miles, or millions ofMiles, trom this
  45. place tothe remorest Body ofthe Oniverse, (For Deins finite, it must bc at
  46. a certain diltance,) as re suppose it tobe 5639 ycars, From this time to
  47. thehirst existence ofary Bods in the besinmins of the World, ne can, in
  48. Oux ThougHES, apply this measure of a Tear to Duration before the Crea-
  49. tion, or berond the Duration of Bodies or Motion, 25 e can this mea-
  50. fure ot a Mile to Space Derond the utmolt Bodies; and by theone mea-
  51. ture Duration, wtiere there as noMorion, as rellas by the other mea-
  52. sure Space in our Thouohs, Where there is no Body.
  53. 5. 27. TF it be objected to me here, That in this ay ot explaining of
  54. Time, Ihave becd wtrat I Bould not, viz. That the World is neither
  55. eternal, nor intinite; Lansiver, Thar to my present purpose, iL iS nOL
  56. necd.
  57. BC

Cite

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 90. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0106?run=74