An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 145
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The machine reads it as
- Dur Ideas et Substances.
- Rocohesion, one ith atother: and ret lex but a Marx cold come, ane
- cher unite, ther consolidate, these little Atoms cohere, and arenoc, ith.
- out preat force, separable. HIe that could And thie Bonds, that tic thele
- heaps of loose lirrle Bodies together (0 trmly; he that could ake knon
- the Cement, thac matces them stick (0 fast one to another, ould diseo.
- ver a oreat, and ver untnown Sccret: And vet wtien that as done,
- ould he De Par enoush troin malins the extension of Body CWrhich is the
- cohelion of its solid parts) intellisible, till he could Mew Wherein consi-
- Aeu che union, or consolidation ot the parts ot thole Bonds, ex ofthat Ce
- ment, or oFche least Parricle OF Matter thar exicts. WherebY it appearS
- that ehis primary and suppoled obvious Ovaliry ot Body, will be tound,
- irhien examined, tobe as incomprehensible, as any thing belonoins 1o
- our Minds; and a solid extended substance, as hard to be concerved,
- as a thinine one, Whatever difficulties lome ould raile against it.
- 8. 27. Forto extend our Thouglus a little Carther, that presture, erhrich
- is brouoht to explain the cohesion of Bocies, is asunintellisible, as the co-
- Hetion it selF. For it Nlatrer De considered, as no doubr ic is, finito, let
- any one send his Contemplation tothe Extremities of Oniverle, and there
- see What conceirable LIOops, What Bond he can imagine to hold chisinals
- ot Matcer, in (0 close a presture together; From Whence Sicel has iEs Arm-
- ness, and the parts of a Diamond their hardness and indissolubilier. It
- Matier De finite, it mult have its fxtreams; and there must De lomethiins
- cohinder it trom scatterins asunder. IFto avoid chis difficultr, any one
- rill chroi himselE into the Supposition and AByIS os infinite Matter, let
- him consicer wrhar lishr he chereby brinssto checohetion oF Body; and
- Wtrecher he be ever the rearer matsins it incellisible, by resolving it into a
- Suppolition, the most abturd and most incomprehensible ot all ocher:
- 50 far is our Exrension of Body, (Wrhich is nothins but the cohetion ol
- Tolid parES,) From beine clearer, or more distinct, When e ould en
- quire into theNature, Cause, or Manner of it, than the Idea of Thint.
- in8.
- 5. 28. Another Idea WC have OFBOdy, is the pouer oE communication of
- Motion by impulse; and ot our Souls, the porver ol excitine of Morion By
- Thoucht. Thele Ideas, the one oF BodY, tlie othier ot our Minds, every
- dars experience clearly furnittres us ith: But il here aoain e enquire
- non chisis done, e are equally in the dark. For inthe communication oE
- Morion by impulse, whierein as much Motion is lost to onc Body, as is
- zor co the oclier; Wtrich is the ordinariest case, e can have no otter
- conception, but olthe passins ofMorion our ot one Body into another;
- wetrich, Ithinte, is as obscure and unconceirable, as hor our Minds move
- or Rop our Bodies br Thouohe; Which we every moment Aind they do-
- The increase ot Motion by impulse, rrhichis obserred or believed lome-
- times to happen, is vet harder ro beunderstood. We hare by daili experi-
- enceclear erience oF Morion produced boch by impulle, and by chouxhe;
- but themanner hor, hardly comes within our comprehension; We are, qual.
- Iy at a loss in both. So thac horever ve consider Norion and its communia
- carion either in Body or Spirit, the Idea which belone; +o Spirit, is at least
- as clear, as thar, rhat belones to Body. And if we consider ehe actire porver
- OFMOViBG, Or, as Imay call it, Motirie, ic is much clearer in Spirit than
- Body: Cince tiro Bodies, Placedby onc another ac rest, will never aftord
- US the Ldea oFa porrer in the one ro move the other, buEBy a BOrTOW-
- ed motion: Whereas tlieMind, every daz, attords us Ideas of an active
- porrer otmovins ot Bodies; and cheretore it is worch our consideration,
- ulerher actire porer be not the proper actribute ot Spirits, and pastive
- POVer
Cite
An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 145. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0161?run=74