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An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 214

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: 0.90.

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The machine reads it as

  1. Vames o dubstances.
  2. 5. F3. But roreturn to the species of corporeal Sut Rances. FF I ptiould
  3. 2sk any one, Whether Ice ard Water ere tro distinet Species of ThingS,
  4. Idouibe noc buc PMould Be ansivered in the affirmatire: And it cannOF
  5. Be denied, but he thar lars they are ewo diltinct Species, is in the rigHE.
  6. Buc it an Pnslish. man, bred in Famaica, Who, perhaps, had never scen nox
  7. heard ofIce, cominss into Lincland in the Winter, find the Wacer he Dut
  8. in his Bason at nistt, in a great pare trozen in themornins; and not knoir-
  9. ins ans peculiar name it hac, Mould call it harden d Water; I astr. Vihether
  10. this rould be a nem Species to him, different Fromater: And, EFhinkE, it
  11. rould beansrered here, Ec vould noc to nim be a new Species, no more
  12. chanconsealed Crelly, When it is cold, is a distinst Spocies from the same Crel-
  13. ly Auid and arm; or than liquid Gold, in the Fornace, is a distinct Species
  14. From hard Crold in the fTands oF a Worteman. And il this belo, tis plain,
  15. that our distinet Species, are nothinqe but distinct complex Ideas, with distinct
  16. Names annexed to them. Tis true, ever Substance thac exists, has ils
  17. peculiar Constitution, Wrhercon depend those sensible Oualities, and Pou-
  18. ers, re oblerre in it: But the rantring ot Things into Species, which i5
  19. nothins but Cortins them under several Titles, is done by us, accordins 1o
  20. the Ideas that e have ofthem: Which chongh sufficient eo distinouisa
  21. them by Names; Pothat re mar be able ro discourse of tlem, Wvhen We
  22. hare them not present betore us: y et il e suppole it to be done by eieir
  23. real internal Constitutions, and chat Thines existins, are distinouisted,
  24. by Nature, into Species by real Esences, accordins as re distinguistr them
  25. into Species by Wames, e Mallbe liableto grear Mictakes.
  26. 5. F4. T0 distinguilt substantial Beines into Species, accordins 10 the
  27. usual supposition, thac there are cerrain precile Fsences Or LOrmS OF
  28. Thinss, Whereby all che incividuals existins, are, by Nature, diltinsui
  29. Med inco Species, these Thinso are necestary:
  30. 8. T5. First, To be altured, that Nature, in the production of Thines,
  31. alvays dosigns ehem to partake or certain regulated cstablisted FNenCES.
  32. ertrich are to Be the Models oF aII Thines tobe produced. This, in that
  33. crude sense, it is usualsy propoled, rould necd some better explication, belore
  34. ic can tulsy be astenred t0.
  35. 6. 26. SecondlY, IE Would Be necessary to KnoW, Whether Nature al-
  36. ways actains thac Psence, it deliens in che production of Thinss. Thc
  37. irreoular and monttrous Births, that in divers Ports ot Animals have
  38. been obserred, nill alvarssire us realonto doubr os onc, or bothofthele.
  39. 9. 27. Phiraly, IE oust ro be determined, Whecher those we callMOn.
  40. sters, be really a distinet Species, accordins to che scholastick notion ol
  41. the ord species; linceitis certain, that every chins chat exists, has its
  42. particular Consciturion: And yer we tind, that lome ol these monstrous
  43. Productions, have Perr or none ol those Ovalities, Which are supposedio
  44. relult From, and accompanr the Fssence of that Species, Tram ivhence
  45. they derire cheir Orisinals, and to which, by cheir descent, chey scemto
  46. bclons.
  47. 8. 2B. Fourthly, The real Essences oFthole Thinss, Which we distin
  48. guist into Species, and as (odistinguithed, we name, ouche to be Hnown;
  49. i. e. Wwe oushuco have Ideas ol them. But since re are isnorant in thele
  50. tour Doints, the supposed real Pssences of Thines, Stand us not in stead, for
  51. the distinguishins Substances into Species.
  52. 5. 29. Fisthly, Theonly imaginable help in this case, Would De, that
  53. havins tramed perseet complex Ideas, of the Properties oF Things, AOr.
  54. ins tromtheir different real Fssences, e Mould thereby distinguist them
  55. into Species. Buc neicher ean chis bedone: for beirs isnorant Ol 1l.e
  56. reat
  57. 3

Cite

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 214. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0230?run=74