Essays: On the Nature and Immutability of Truth, in Opposition to Sophistry and Scepticism : on Poetry and Music, as They Affect the Mind : on Laughter, and Ludicrous Composition : on the Utility of Classical Learning, Volume 1William Creech, Edinburgh; and for E. & C. Dilly, and T. Cadell, London, 1776 - 555 pages |
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Page 24
... give a definition of Truth . But we fhall endea- vour to give fuch a description of it , as may make others understand what we mean by the word . The definitions of former writers are not fo clear , nor fo accurate , as could be wifhed ...
... give a definition of Truth . But we fhall endea- vour to give fuch a description of it , as may make others understand what we mean by the word . The definitions of former writers are not fo clear , nor fo accurate , as could be wifhed ...
Page 38
... give the names Reafon and Common Senfe . Their connection and mutual depend- ence , and the extent of their respective jurif- dictions , I now proceed more particularly to investigate . I ought perhaps to make an apology for these , and ...
... give the names Reafon and Common Senfe . Their connection and mutual depend- ence , and the extent of their respective jurif- dictions , I now proceed more particularly to investigate . I ought perhaps to make an apology for these , and ...
Page 53
... give us wrong information ; that therefore our belief in the evidence of fenfe is not in- ftinctive or intuitive , but fuch as may be ei- ther confuted or confirmed by reasoning . We fhall acknowledge that our fenfes do often impofe ...
... give us wrong information ; that therefore our belief in the evidence of fenfe is not in- ftinctive or intuitive , but fuch as may be ei- ther confuted or confirmed by reasoning . We fhall acknowledge that our fenfes do often impofe ...
Page 60
... give no further reason " for it ; but I feel that fuch is my duty . " Here the investigation must stop ; or , if car- ried a little further , it must return to this point : " I know that I ought to do what my confcience enjoins ...
... give no further reason " for it ; but I feel that fuch is my duty . " Here the investigation must stop ; or , if car- ried a little further , it must return to this point : " I know that I ought to do what my confcience enjoins ...
Page 64
... give me neither pleasure nor pain ; yea , tho ' I were to believe , that a cruel death would overtake me within an hour , I fhould be no more concerned , than if I were told , that a certain elephant , three thousand years hence , would ...
... give me neither pleasure nor pain ; yea , tho ' I were to believe , that a cruel death would overtake me within an hour , I fhould be no more concerned , than if I were told , that a certain elephant , three thousand years hence , would ...
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Common terms and phrases
abfurd Æneid againſt alfo alſo anſwer argument arife axiom becauſe believe cafe caufe cauſe Cicero common fenfe conclufion confcious confequence confiftent conftitution confutation conviction demonftration difcover difpute diftinction doctrine doubt Effay eſtabliſh evidence exift exiſtence experience exprefs faculties faid falfe fallacious falſe fceptical fcepticiſm fcience fect feems felf-evident fenfation fenſe fentiments fhall fhould firſt fome fomething fometimes foul ftill fubject fuch fufficient fuppofe fuppofition fyftem himſelf Human Nature HUME idea impoffible impreffion inftances inſtinctive intuitive inveſtigation itſelf judgement leaſt lefs lieve MALEBRANCHE mankind matter metaphyfical mind miſtake moft moral moſt muft muſt myſelf neceffarily neceffary neceffity never notion obfervation object perceive perception perfon philofophy pleaſe poffible prefent principles proof propofition prove purpoſe queſtion reafon refpect rience ſeems ſenſe ſpeak thefe themſelves ther theſe thofe thoſe tion Treatife of Human true truth underſtanding univerfal uſeful virtue viſible whofe words Xenoph
Popular passages
Page 63 - Thou sun, said I, fair light, And thou enlighten'd earth, so fresh and gay, Ye hills and dales, ye rivers, woods, and plains, And ye that live and move, fair creatures, tell, Tell, if ye saw, how came I thus, how here?
Page 143 - I dine, I play a game of backgammon, I converse, and am merry with my friends; and when, after three or four hours...
Page 297 - Knowst thou th' importance of a soul immortal ? Behold this midnight glory : worlds on worlds ! Amazing pomp! redouble this amaze ; Ten thousand add ; add twice ten thousand more; Then weigh the whole; one soul out-weighs them all, And calls th' astonishing magnificence Of unintelligent creation poor.
Page 426 - I am apt to suspect the negroes, and in general all the other species of men (for there are four or five different kinds) to be naturally inferior to the whites. There never was a civilized nation of any other complexion than white, nor even any individual eminent either in action or speculation.
Page 63 - Tell, if ye saw, how came I thus, how here? Not of myself, by some great Maker then, In goodness and in power pre-eminent : Tell me, how may I know him, how adore, From whom I have that thus I move and live, And feel that I am happier than I know.
Page 227 - As to the first question, we may observe, that what we call a mind, is nothing but a heap or collection of different perceptions, united together by certain relations, and supposed, though falsely, to be endowed with a perfect simplicity and identity.
Page 244 - Where is the harm of my believing, that if I were to fall down yonder precipice, and break my neck, I should be no more a man of this world? My neck, Sir, may be an idea to you, but to me it is a reality, and an important one too. Where is the harm of my believing, that if, in this severe weather...
Page 272 - A cause is an object precedent and contiguous to another, and so united with it that the idea of the one determines the mind to form the idea of the other, and the impression of the one to form a more lively idea of the other.
Page 33 - Reason, as implying a faculty not marked by any other name, is used by those who are most accurate in distinguishing, to signify that power of the human mind by which we draw inferences, or by which we are convinced, that a relation belongs to two ideas, on account of our having found, that these ideas bear certain relations to other ideas. In a word, it is that faculty which enables us, from relations or ideas that are known, to investigate such as are unknown; and without which we never could proceed...
Page 64 - What am I? or from whence? - For that I am I know, because I think: but whence I came, Or how this frame of mine began to be, What other being can disclose to me?