An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 139
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The machine reads it as
- Our Ideas of Substances.
- real Consticutions and Differences depend, we are fain to malse ule of theit
- secondary Qualities, 25 the characteriltical Notes and Martis, Whrereby t0
- frame Ldeas of them in our Mlinds, and distinguis them one from another.
- AII erhich secondary Oualities, as has been eun, are noching bur bare
- Porers. For theColour and Paste ot Opium, are, a5 vellas its loporifickE or
- anodrn Virtues, meer Pouers dependins on is primary dualities, Whercby
- it is tirted to produce different Opcrations, on ditterent parts of our Bodies.
- The Tdcas that make our complex ones of corporeal Substances, are ot these
- three (OrES. First, The Ideas oF the primary Oualities oF thines, Wrhich
- are discovered by our Senles, and are in them even when me perceive
- them noc, suchare ehe Pulk, Figure, Number, Situation, and Morion
- oF the Pares oF Bodies, Which arc realls in them, Whether we perceire
- chem orno. Secondly, The sensible secondary Onalicies, Which depend.
- ins on thele, are nothins but the Porvers, chole Substances havero produco
- several Ideas in us by our senses; Wrhichi Ldeas are nor in thethinss them-
- selves, otherrile thanas any ching is in its Cause. Thirdly. The aptnels
- Wre consider in ans substance, to sire or receire such alterations ot primary
- Oualities, as that the Subltance (o altered, Mould produce in us differene
- Ideas trom rhat it did betore. chese are called actire and pastive Porers: aiI
- Which POrerS, as Far as Wre have any Notice or Notion ofthem, terminare
- ouly in sen lible simple Ideas; For wrhaterer alteration a Load. Cone has the
- Pover to malce in the minute Particles of Tron, re Bould have noNorion
- Ol any Porer it had at all to opcrate on tron, did not its sensible Motion
- discover it; and I doubr noc bur there are a thouland Changes, that Bodies
- We dails handle, have a Porver to cause in onc another, which enever su-
- spect, Decause ther never appear in sentible eAects.
- 6. 10. Povers theretore, justl mate a great part of our complex Ideas of
- Substances. Tle, thac will examine his complex Idea oF Cold, Will And leve.
- ral oFits Ideas, that makie it up, to be onlr Povers, as the Pover ot beine
- melted, buc of lcepins its weighe in the Pire, of beins distolved in 49.
- Recia, are Ideas, as necellary to male up our complex Laca ot Crold, a5
- its Colour and Weight; Whicl is duly considered, are allo noching but
- difterent Porers. For to speal truly, Vellornessis not actuallr in Grold;
- but is a Pover in Grold, to vroduce thac Ldea in us by our Fres, irhen pla-
- ced in a due Lighe; and the Hlcat, which re cannor lcave ouc otour Idea
- Ofthe sun, is no more realls in the sun, than the irhrite Colour it intro-
- duces in Wax. Thescare both equally Povers in the sun, operatins by
- theMorion, and Figure et its insensible Parts; P0 on a Man, as to malie
- tim lrave the Idea oF Hear; and (o on Wax, as eo malse it capable t0
- produce in 2 Nan the Idea OF Whicc.
- S. TF. Flad We senses acure enough to discern the minure particles of
- Bodies, and the real Constitution on erhich cheir sensible Qualities depend,
- I doube not but cher rould produce quire ditterent Ideas in us; and that
- erhich is nor etie rellor Colour ot Crold, vould then dilappear, and in-
- Atead oF it ve sould sec an adrmirable P’exture oF parts. oF a certain Size
- and Figure. This Microscores plainly diseover to uS; For What tO Oux
- nated Liyes produces a certain Colour, is by chus ausmentins the acute.
- nels otour senses, discovered to be quite a different ching; and the thus
- alterins, as it ere, the proporrion ot the Bulk of theminure parts of a co-
- loured Objeet to our ulual Sishue, produces dicterent ideas trom wtrat it
- did besore. Thus Sand, or Dounded Clals, Whichis opaque; and wrhite
- to the naked Fre, is Dellucid in a Microscope; and a Flair seen this Way,
- looles its former Colour, and is in a great mersure pellucid, ith a mixture
- ot some brislut spartilins Colours, tuch as appear trom the retraction oF
- Diamonds.
- Chap. XZTII.
Cite
An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 139. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0155?run=74