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An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 155

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. Relation.
  2. Thohes the Pdeu oF che ordinare Duration ot a Man co be seventr rears
  3. wrhen ire Car a Mtan is Toune, re mean; that his Ase is vet but a (mali
  4. part of that wrhrich ulually Men attain to: And iwhen e denominate hirri
  5. Oid, We mean, that his Durarion is run out almost to the end of that
  6. Wrhich Men do not ulually excecd. And lo tis but comparins che particu.
  7. lar AsC, or Durarion oFthis or that Man, to the Idea oF that Duration
  8. trhich re have in our Nlinds, as ordinarils belonoino EO Fhat COrt OF Ani-
  9. mals: Which is plain, in the application of these Names to ocher Thines;
  10. for a Man is called vouno at evener rears, and very roune at sever
  11. rears old: But yet a FTorie we call old at tventr, and a D0g at seven
  12. vears; because in cach of chese, we compare their Age to ditterent Ideas
  13. et Duration Wrhrich are setled in our Mines, as belonoino to these severai
  14. Ports ot Animals, in the ordinary course ot Nature. But the Sun, and
  15. Scars, thousl ther have outlasted several Generations of Men, We calI
  16. HOt old, because we do not knor What period CFOD hath set EO FhaL COrt
  17. et Beings. This Term belongins proverlr to those Thines, Wwhich ve
  18. can oblerve in the ordinarr course ot Thinos, by a natural decar tocome
  19. to an end, in a certain period of time; and lo have in our Minds, as it
  20. arere, a Standtard to which re can compare the several pares ol their Du:
  21. ration; and by the relation ches bear thereunto, call them roune, or old;
  22. irhich re cannot theretore do to a Ruby, or a Diamond, chinss rhole
  23. usual periods ve know not.
  24. 8. 5. The Rebation also that thinos have co oneanother, in their Places
  25. and Distances, is very obrious to oblerve; as Above, Belor, a Mile di-
  26. stant Froni Charing. Cross, in Encland, and in London. But as in Duration,
  27. 10 in Exiension and Bullc, there are lonie Ideas that are relarive, whrich
  28. ve Bonitie Dy Nares, thac are chouxhe Posuire; as Oreat, and Little, are
  29. truly Relations. For here also havino, by observation, setled in our Minds
  30. the Ideas oftheBignels ofseveral Species oF Thines, trom thole re have
  31. boen most accustomed t0, e ake theri, as it vere, the Standards Where.
  32. by to denominate the Bulk oF others. Thus We call a sreat Applo, such
  33. an one a5 is biooer than the ordinary sort ot thole e have beeri
  34. ased to; and a lierle PTOrse, such an one as COmeS nOL uP tO the siZC OF
  35. that Idea, Which e have in our Minds, to belono ordinarily to TTOr-
  36. ses: And that will be a oreat Horseto a Wels. man, Which is but a lietle
  37. Oneto a Flemine; they rvo havine trom the different Brecd ol their
  38. Conneries, calen several (I2 d Ideas to wtrich they compare, and in rela-
  39. tion to which they denominare their Creat, and cheir Licrle.
  40. 5. 6. So literise Weak and Strong are bur relative Denominations oF
  41. Porver, compared to Tome Ldea Wwe have, at tlrat rime, ot greater or lels
  42. POIVer. Thus Wwhen re (aY a Weak Mar, We mean one that has not (0
  43. much Strensch, or Porer to move, as ulually men have, or ulually those
  44. oF his size have; wtrich is a comparine his Strensth, to the ldea ne have
  45. oF the usual Strength oF Men, or Men oP such a Cize. The litee nhen
  46. ve lav the Creatures are alt veak Thinos: WealE, there, is but a re-
  47. latire rerm, signityins che disproportion there is in the Poer ot
  48. GOD, and the Creatures. And (o abundance ofWords, in ordinary
  49. Spcech, Sand only for Relations, (and, perhars, chegreatest Part,) Wrhich
  50. at sirst Cighe, seem eo have no such signitication: 2. 8. The Strip has neces
  51. Pary Stores: Necessary, and Stores, are boch relarire Words; one havino
  52. 2 relatior tothe accomplistrins the thing incended, and ihe other to future
  53. usc. AII ehich Relations, hor ther are continedta, and terminate in
  54. Ideas derived trom Sensation, or Reftection, is 100 obrious to need any
  55. Fixplication.

Cite

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 155. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0171?run=74