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An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 317

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. Chrap. L. Lnomledre of the Lixistence d l
  2. Knon its omn, or the motion ol any otter Particle, or the Whole Lnom
  3. the motion ot evers Particular; and soregulate its omn Thouglts or MO.
  4. tions, or indeed have ans Thoughe relultins trom such Morion.
  5. 6. F8. Ochers vould have Maiter eobe eternal, normithstanding thatthey
  6. allo aneternal, cogitatiro, im natorial Beins. Phis, tho il talre nec away the
  7. Beins oF a God, rer lince it denies onc and the first great piece ofhis Woric
  8. manstrip, the Creation, let us consider it a litele. Marrer must De allorr d eter-
  9. nal: WVhir: Becaule rou cannot conceire hor it ean De made out of nothine,
  10. Wrhr do rou not also thinke jour self eternal: Lou will ansirer, perhaps,
  11. Becaule about trventr or Porty vears lince, rou legan tobe. Buc if
  12. askE You, What chat Tou is, Wrtich besan eo be, rou can scarce rellne. The
  13. Nacter Whereot rou are macle, began not chen tobe: For ifit did, then it
  14. is nOE CterTaI: BUF it began to DC put togetter in fuch a Pashion arid
  15. Frame, a5 makces up rour B0dy; but vet that trame ol Particles, is nOF
  16. Vou, it males nor that thinkins Thins Vou are; (For Phave non to do
  17. rich onc, Who allos an eternal, immaterial, thinking Beine, but vould
  18. have unthinkins Macter eternal 10O:) theretore wrhen did that chintcins
  19. Phing begin tobe: IFit did never begin to be, then have vou alirars
  20. becn a chinlcinq Thins Trom Eternity; Elo absurdiey whereot l necd nor
  21. conture, till P meee ith one erho is (0 void of Onderstandino, as to oirn
  22. it. IF theretore rou can alloir a chintins Thino, eo be made out oF p0-
  23. chine, (aSaII Things chat ore not eternal must be,) Whry also ean vou nor
  24. alloir it possible, for a marerial Beins to be made out of nothing, by an
  25. equal Porver, but that rou have the experience of the one in vier, and
  26. not osthe otter. Though, Wrhen ell considered, Creation of onc, a5
  27. Well as Fother, requires an equal Pover: And e have nomore reasonto
  28. bogole at the effect oF that Porver in one, than in the other; because the
  29. manner ot it in Boch, is equalls berond our comprehension. FOr FHC
  30. Creation, or Berinninq ot any one thins out ot nothins, beino once ad-
  31. mitted, the Creationosevery chins else, but IhC CRP ATOK Himset,
  32. may, with the same ease, le suppoled.
  33. 5. F9. But You Will (aY, IS it noc impossible coddmie oF the mateine any
  34. thine out of nothine. Ence re cannor possibly conceire it: l ansiver, NO:
  35. T. Because it is noc reasonable to deny the porver ot an intinite Beine, De-
  36. cause re canno comprehend its Operatiors. We do noc denr ocher
  37. effecs uxon this sround, because we cannot poltibly conccive cheir PrO-
  38. duction, ve cannor conceire hor Thouol (or any thino bur morion ini
  39. Body) can move Bouy: and yet thaclis not a Realon sufficient t0 inalzeus
  40. dery it postible, ogainst ehe constane Experience we have of it in our
  41. selves, in all our voluntarr Mocions Which are produced in us, onty by
  42. tlie Frec Thouslus ot our orrn Minds; and are not, nor cannot bcthe
  43. eftects oE the impulse or decermination ol elle motion of blind Matter, in
  44. Or upon our Bodies; Forthen it could not be in our porver or choiceto
  45. alter ic. For example: My rist Iland errites, Wrtilt my letetland isstill:
  46. Whar causes rest in onc, aud motion in the ocher: Nochine but inf Will.
  47. aFhouslt obmy Mind; my Thouche onl changins, the rishe Tand
  48. rests andthe lest lland mores. This is matter ot tact, Which cannorbe
  49. denied: Fxplain chis, and make it intellisible, and then the next stex rill
  50. Berounderstand Crearion. In the mean time, ris an overvaluino our
  51. selresu to reduée all tothe narron mealure ot our Capaciries; and tO CON-
  52. eludo, allthinss impossible tobe done, irhole mariner ol doins exceeds
  53. Our Comprehention. This is co malzs our Comprehension insnire ox
  54. EOD finite, When erhac he can do, is limitted eo ertat We cani con-
  55. coive oFit. Ilrou do noc understand Hie Operations ot jour oirn finice
  56. Mina.

Cite

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 317. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0333?run=74