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An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 326

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. Improvement of our Lnomledoc.
  2. LOSA IV.
  3. irtrich, Tchins, it is crident, that Substances aftord Matter oF very lirile
  4. general Rnomledee; and the bare Contemplation ot their abstract Ideas,
  5. ill carry us bur a very licele ay in the scareh oF Pruth and Certaintr.
  6. WVhiat then arc e to do Cor the improrement ot our Unomledre in substan-
  7. tial Beines? Flere re are to talle a quite contrary Course, the ivant ot
  8. Ideas of cheir real Essences sends us trom our omn Thoughes, trom, con-
  9. templatins, and drains Consequences trom our omn Ideas, tothe Things
  10. themselres asthes exitt: Lexperience must teach me rrhat Realon cannot:
  11. and by eryins, tis alone chat l can cerrainly bnow what oher Oualities
  12. conexist ith chole oF ny complex Idea, v. 8. Whether chat zello, hea-
  13. vr, fusible Body, I cali Cold, be malleable, or no; wrtich Experience
  14. CWhich vas ever it prove in that particular Body lexamine) matces me
  15. not certair, that it is l0, in all or anz other rellor, heavy, fulible Body
  16. buc thac Which Thare tried. Becauleit is no Consequence one ay or
  17. Pocher trom my complex Idea, the Nccestuy or Inconsiltence oF Mallea-
  18. rilier, hath no visible connection rich the Combination of that Colour,
  19. Weiohe, and Fusibilier in any bodr. WhatI have laid here ot thenomi-
  20. nal Essence oF Cold, supposed to consist oF a Pody ot such a determinare
  21. Colour, Weighe, and Fulibilier, ill hold true, if Mallcableness, Fixcd-
  22. nels, and Solubilier in aqua Resia be added io it, our Realoninos trom
  23. thele Ldeas will carry us bur a litile ay in the certain discorery ot the
  24. Ocher Properties in those Mases OE Matrer, Wherein all these are to DC
  25. Found. Becaule the other Properties oF sueh Bodies, devendine not on
  26. thele, but on chat unkinomn reat FNenco, on Which these also depend, we
  27. cannotby them discovertherest; Wre can 5o no larther than the simple
  28. Ideas oF our nominal Essence Will carry us, which is very licele beyond
  29. themselves; and s0 affordus bur vers sparinsls ans certain, univertal, and
  30. usetul Truths. For upon Trial, havins found that particular piece (and
  31. all others oF that Colour, Weighe, and Fusibilier, thatP ever tried) mal-
  32. leable, that allo mates no, perhaps, a part ol my complex Idea, part ot
  33. my nominal Lislence o Gold; whereby choushl maliemy complex Idea,
  34. to which Iaffix the Name Gold, to conlis otmore limple Ldeas thanbe-
  35. Fore: Vet Bill, it not containins the real Fsence ot any Species ot Bodies,
  36. it helps me nor cerraints to lnow (Isay toknoW, perhaps, it may to
  37. conjecture) the ocher remainine Properries oFthat Body, farcher chan
  38. eher trave a visible connection, Writh lome or all oF the simele Fdeas, thaF
  39. make up my nominal Fsence. For Fxample, I cannor be certain trom
  40. ehis complex Idea, Whether Gold De fixed, or no: Because as betore, there
  41. is no necessary connection, or inconsisrence tobe dilcovered betvixt a
  42. complex Idea oF a Bod), rellor, hearr, tusible, malleable, betrixt chele,
  43. llay, and Fixedness, (o that l mas certainly hnow, chac in whatloever
  44. Body those are Cound, there Fixedness is fure to be: Hlere again for assu-
  45. rance, I must appls my selFto Experience, as far as that reaches, I may
  46. have cerrain Hnorr ledge, but no Farther.
  47. 5. FO. Ideny noc, bur a Man ac cultomed to rational and regular FX-
  48. periments, Mail be able to sec tarcher into the Nature oF Bodies, and
  49. Suels risheer at their y et unknoin Properties, than one that is a Stranger
  50. co rhem: But vet, a5 Thave laid, this is buc fudsment and Opinion, not
  51. Bnomledse and Certainer. This vay of acrainins, and improvine our
  52. sinouledse in Substances, only by Fxperience and Hictors, to Wrhich the
  53. Wrealinels oE our Faculcies in this Seate oI Mediocrity e are in, in this
  54. Worid, matres me suspect, that natural Philolophy is not capable ol bcins
  55. made a Science. We are able, l imagine, to reach very lirele general
  56. inomledse concerrins che Species ot Bodies, and cheir sererat Properries,
  57. ExPC.

Cite

An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, fol. 326. Machine transcription, not an edition: Leibniz Legible (model FoNDUE-GD_v2_ft_Leibniz, run 74). https://leibnizlegible.com/page/778263916:0342?run=74