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An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 122

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: 0.92.

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The machine reads it as

  1. Action to its absence, is the willins oF it: and re can lcarce telt hoW 10
  2. imasine any Beine treer, than to De able to do whrat lc will: 50 chat in
  3. respeet ot Actions, ichin the reach ot such a pover in him, a Man lcems
  4. 25 tree, as ris possible for Frcedom to matre him.
  5. 5. 22. Buc ehe inquisirive Mind oF Nan, illino eo Mist ofF trom him-
  6. TelF, as Far as he can, all thoughes of guilt, though it be by puttins him-
  7. selF into a Worse Ctate than chat of tatal Necestutr, is nor content with this;
  8. Will have this to be no Freedom, unlels it reaches tarther: but is ready to
  9. Tar, a Man is nottrec at all, it he benor as Frec to rill, as heis toact, whathe
  10. Wills. Concernins a MansLiberty chere vet cheretore is railed this Far-
  11. ther Ouection, Whether a Man be frec to will; wtrich, I chinte, is thac
  12. meant, When ir is disputed, Whether the will be lree: And aS to that, L
  13. imaxine,
  14. 5. 23. 2. Thar Willins. or Choosns beins an Action, and Frcedom
  15. consictins in a pover ot actins, or not actins, a Man in respect of willins
  16. any Action in his pover once proposed to his Thouches, cannot be free. The
  17. reason Wrhereofis very manisest: For it beins unaroidable that the Action
  18. dependins on his Will, Thould exist, or noc exilt; and its existence, or not
  19. existence, follomins pertectir the determination, and preterence ot his
  20. WilI, he cannot avoid illins the existence, or nor existence, ot that
  21. Action; it is absolutelr necellary that he will the one, or theotter, i e prefer
  22. theonc tothe other: linco one of them must necellarily Follo; and that
  23. Wrhich docstollor, ollors by che choice and determination of his Mind;
  24. that is, by his willine it: For iE he did notwil it, it vould nor bc. Sothar
  25. in respeet ofche aet ol millins, a Man is noc srec: Liberes consiltins in a
  26. Dover to act, or not to ac, Which, in recard oF Volition, a Man haS nOF:
  27. it beins necessarr, and unaroidable (any Action in his porver being once
  28. choustit on) to preler cither its doins. Or Forbearance, upon which pre-
  29. Ference, the ACtion, or its Forbearance certainty Follos, and is truly volun.
  30. tarY. Sothat to makcea Man tree in thistense, there must be another an-
  31. Eecedent Will, to determine the ACtS oF this Will, and anorher to deter.
  32. mine chat, and so in infinitum: For Where- eVer one AopS, the ACtionS OL
  33. the last Will Cannot befree: Nor is any Beins, 25 tar as I ean compre.
  34. hend Beinos abore me, capable of suchi a frecdom of WilI, that it can For-
  35. bear to Will, 1. e. t0 preterr the beins, or not beins ot ans chins in its
  36. Porer, Which it has once considered as fueh.
  37. 0. 24. This chenis evident, A Man is not at liberty eo wilt, or not t0
  38. vill anx thine in his pover, that he once considers of: Liberts consictins in
  39. a porver to act, or not to act, and in that only. Por a Man thar sirs Rill, is
  40. Taidret eo be at libere, because he can Walk it hewills it. ANIan thac W alHS
  41. is aeliberer in that respeet: not because he walks, or moves; bur because
  42. he can Ctand Cill it he wills it. But it a BPan scting CilL HaS nOF a POrVer
  43. toremove him(elF, he is not at tiberey: nor a Man Falling domna precipice,
  44. thouoh inmotion, is not atliberer, becaule he cannor Atox thac morion il
  45. heould: But a Plan chat is alkins, to ihom it is propoled to sive oA
  46. alkins, is noc at liberes, whecher he will will, or no: he mult necestaritr
  47. Preter onc, or Lother oE chem; walkins or noc waltsins: and lo itis in re-
  48. sard oF all other Actions in our porver; thes beins once propoled, the
  49. Mind Has not a porver co aet, or not to act, Wherein consists Libertr: IEHaS
  50. not a porerlto forbear willinz, it cannor avoid lome determination concer-
  51. nins them; lec ehe Consideration De as Morr, the Thought as quick as it
  52. Wriil, it cither leares the Mlan in the Cate he was betore chinkins, or
  53. changesit: Wrhereby ic is manitest it preters onetothe orher, and there.
  54. by cicher che concinuarion, or chapsc becomes unaroidably voluntars.

Cite

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 122. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0138?run=74