An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 280
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
- Fxrent of Tlumane Lnonledoe.
- BC
- any choushe Mould produce a motion in Body is AS FCMOLE from the na
- ture oE our Ldeas, as how any Body Bould produce any Thousht in the
- Mlind. That it is (o,is Experience did not convince us, the Conliderations
- OF ehe Thingsthemselres voule never beable, in the least, to discover
- t0uS. Theso, and the litce, thoush ther have a constant and regular
- connexion, in the ordinary course ot Thines; yet that connexion beine
- not dilcorerable in the Ideas themselres, Which appearins to have no ne-
- cellary dependence one on another, re can attribute their connexion 10
- nothins elle but the arbitrary Determination oF that AII. rile AGenF, Wrho
- has made them to be, and to opcrare asthey do, in a ray utterty above
- our Weak Onderstandinq to conceire.
- 5. 29. In Tome oi our Ideas there are certain Relations, tlabitudes
- and Connexions, (o visibly included in theNature oEthe Ldeasthemselves,
- thae we cannor conceive them separable trom them, by ans Porerrtar.
- Toever. And in these ontr, we are capable of certain and univerlal Knon.
- lecloe. Thusthe Idea ot a right lincd Triangle neceslarily carries with
- it an equaliti oF its Angles to tro righe oncs. Nor can we conceire chis
- Relation, ehis connexion of chese ero Pdeas, to be possibly mutable, or
- depend on any arbitrary Pover, ihich ot choice made it thus, or conld
- matre it ocherwise. But the coherence and continuitr of che PartS OF
- Matrer, the production ot sensation in us of Colours and Sounds, (9c. bY
- impulse and motion; nay, the original Rules and Communication ol
- Motion, beins such Wrherein we ean diseover no natural connexion with
- any Ideas re have, re cannor but alcribe ehem eo ene arbitrary WiII
- and g00d Pleasure os the Wise Archirect. I need nor, LthinlE, here men-
- tion the Relurrection ol our Bodies, the future Cate of this Clobe of
- Farth, and such ocher Thines, Wtrich are by every one actnom ledsed to
- depend irholly onthe Determination oF a frec Asent. The Things that,
- as tar as our Observation reaches, re constantly findto proceed regularty.
- ve may conclude, do aet by a Law set them; but vet a Lar FhaE We
- Hno nOL; Whereby, though Causes worte seddily and Fffects con-
- Stantly Aour trom them; yet their Connexions and Dependencies beine
- not dilcoverable in our Ideas, ve ean have but an experimental Rnoir-
- ledre of them. From allertich, tis easse to perceire irhat a darteness We
- are involved in, hor litele tis ofbeine, and the things that arc, that ve
- ore capable cokno. And cheresore we Mall do no injury to our Rnor-
- lecee, wrhen e modeslz chink with our selves, that e are l0 Car trom
- Deins able to compretiend the whole nature oF the Dniverse, and aIl the
- thinos contained in it, that we are nor capable oF a philosophical Kno-
- ledse oFthe Bodies that are about us, and make a part OFuS: Concer-
- nins their secundary Dualities, Porrers, and Operations, we can haveno
- unirersal certainer. Sereral FHecs come every das ithin the noriee ot
- our Senses, oF Wtich we have so far sensitive Rnomledge; but the caules,
- manner, and certaints of their production, for the tro toresoins Rea-
- Sons, Wwe must be content to be ignorant of. In thele me can so notarther
- than particular Experience informs us ot matrer of Fact, and by Analoov
- tosues erhat Fffects the like Bodies are, upon orter errals, litre t0 pro-
- duce. BuE as to apertect Science ot natural Bocies, (nocro mention spi
- ricual BeinSS,) Weare, I think, s0 Par trom beins capable ol ony suet
- thins, that l conclude it lostlabourto secke alrer it.
- 5. 30. Thiraly, Wrhere re have adequate Jdeas, and irhrere there is a
- cerrain and discoverable connexion vetreen them, vet re are often ieno-
- rant, for vant of tracine those Ldeas ve bave, or may have, and Andins
- oux chose intermediare ideas, whieh max Mew us utrat habitude ot
- agrCC
Cite
An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 280. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0296?run=74