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An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 239

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. Imperfecton osn ords.
  2. chrough wrhich vilible Objects pals, cheir Obseurity and Disorder docc
  3. not seldom cast a mist betore our Fves, and impose upon our Understan-
  4. dings. IEe consider, in the Fallacies Men put. upon themselves as ell
  5. as others, and the Mistatres in Mens Dispures and Notions, hoW great a
  6. part is owins to Words, and their uncertain or mistakien Significations.
  7. ire Mall have reason to thinls this no (naIl obstacle in the way to Rnom
  8. ledse; Wrhich, P conclude re arethe more caresul to be marned os because
  9. it. has been (o tar srom beins taten notice of as an Inconvenienco, chat the
  10. Arts of improvins ir, have been made the businels ofMens sudy; and at
  11. tained the Repuration ot Learnins and Subtiler, as Wve Mall sec in ehe Fol-
  12. lorins Chapter. Buc Lam aptro imagine, thativere che imperfections
  13. oF Language, as the Instrument of Rnomledse, more chrouxhls wreighed,
  14. a great mans ofthe Controverties, that makce such a noise in che Worid,
  15. ould ot chemselres cease; and the ar to Rnowledec, and, PerHaPS,
  16. Peace too, lie a great deal opener ehian it docs.
  17. 9. 22. Sure lam, thar the Cignitication oF Words, in aIl Languages, de-
  18. pendins very much on che Thorghes, Notions, and Ideas ot him Fhat
  19. ules them, must unaroidablr be ol great uncertaines, to Men ol thelame
  20. Languase and Connerr. This is so crident in the Crceke Authors, that
  21. he that hall peruse their Writings, Will fnd in almost evers onc ol them,
  22. adiltinet Language, thouoh thelame Words. But when to chis natural
  23. disficuler in every Counery, there Mail be added different Couneries, and
  24. remote Ages, Wwierein the Speakers and Writers had verr difterent No-
  25. tions, Tempers, Cultoms. Ornaments, and Fisures of Specch, (5c. every
  26. one ofirhich, intluenced che signification ot cheir Words chen, though 10
  27. us no, they are lost and untenovn, it vould become us to be charitabbe
  28. one to another in our Interpretations or Misunderstandines of ehole ancient
  29. Vritines, Which thouchos great concernment to us to be underttood,
  30. are liable co the unavoidable difficulties ot Specch, Which (it WC exCCPE
  31. the Namies oF simple Ldcas, and lome very obvious Phings) is not ca-
  32. Pable, irithout a constant detinins che terms, os converins the sense and
  33. intention ofthe Speatcer, ithout any manner of doube and uncertaintr.
  34. tothe FTearer. And in Discourles of Religion, Lar, and Moralitr, a5
  35. they are masters ofthie highest concernment, (o there ill be the greatest
  36. disticuler.
  37. 5. 23. The Volumes ot Interpreters, and Commentators on the OId
  38. anden Testament, are but t00 maniles proois ofthis. Thoush every
  39. thins said in the Pext be infallibls true, vet the Reader may be, nay.
  40. cannot chuse but be very fallible in che understandins of it. Nor is it to
  41. De rondred, chat the WiII OF COD, When cloathed in Words Mould
  42. beliable eo that doube and uncertainer, Which unavoidably artends chac
  43. Tort oF Converance, when even his Son, Whilst cloached in FleM, Was
  44. subject to all the Frailcies and Inconveniencies ot humane Waturo, Sin ex-
  45. cepted. And e oushero magnihie his Croodness, that he hath spread Be-
  46. Fore all thie Worid, such lesible Characters of his Wortes and Providence.
  47. arid siveri all Mantind (o sufficiene a light oF Reason, that they to whom
  48. this Wrritten Word never came, could nor (When- ever they set themselves
  49. eo searchi) cicher doubt olthe Beins ot a GOD, or ol the Obedience due
  50. EoFrim. Since chen che Precepts of Natural Relision are plain, and very
  51. intellisible to al Mankind, and seldom come to be controverted; and
  52. other rerealed Truchs, which are convezed to us by Boolis and Lan-
  53. suases, are liable to the common and natural obscurities and difficulties in-
  54. cident to Words, methints it would become us to be more caretul and
  55. dili

Cite

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 239. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0255?run=74