Philosophical and Literary Essays, Volume 1T. Cadell, London, and W. Creech, Edinburgh., 1792 - 704 pages |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
abfolutely abfurd admitted afferted againſt almoſt ambiguous appear argument axioms becauſe believe beſt cafe caufe and effect cifely circumftances conceive conclufion confequence confidered confiftent conftant conjunction correfponding demonftration diſcoveries doctrine of Neceffity DR PRIESTLY eafily Effay effect in phyfics employed eſtabliſhed exiſtence expreffed expreffions faid falfe falſe fcience feems fenfe fhall fhew fhould firſt fome fomething ftill fubject fuch fufficient fuppofed fuppofition fure fyftem himſelf human thought HUME HUME's illuftration impoffible inferences inftances inveſtigation itſelf juft juſt language leaſt lefs mala fides mankind means meaſure metaphyfical Metaphyficians moſt motive and action muft muſt nature neceffary connection neral notion obfervations objections occafion opinion oppofite perceive perfon philofophers phyfical caufes poffible precifely principle propofition purpoſe queſtion reafon refpect refult relation of motive ſpeak ſtate ſtrict ſtrictly term Cauſe thefe themſelves ther theſe things thofe thoſe tion truth underſtand underſtood univerfally uſe whofe words
Popular passages
Page cciv - Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees : Lives through all life, extends through all extent, Spreads undivided, operates unspent...
Page 63 - A prisoner who has neither money nor interest, discovers the impossibility of his escape, as well when he considers the obstinacy of the gaoler, as the walls and bars with which he is surrounded; and, in all attempts for his freedom, chooses rather to work upon the stone and iron of the one, than upon the inflexible nature of the other.
Page 21 - It is universally allowed, that nothing exists without a cause of its existence ; and that chance, when strictly examined, is a mere negative word, and means not any real power which has any where a being in nature.
Page 62 - ... much into human life, that no man, while awake, is ever a moment without employing it. Have we not...
Page 97 - There are some quantities which may be called proper, and others improper. This distinction is taken notice of by Aristotle ; but it deserves some explanation. That properly is quantity which is measured by its own kind ; or which of its own nature is capable of being doubled or tripled, without taking in any quantity of a different kind as a measure of it. Improper quantity is that which cannot be...
Page cciii - All are but parts of one ftupendous whole, Whofe body Nature is, and God the foul : That, chang'd thro' all, and yet in all the fame, Great in the earth, as in th...
Page 19 - ... the contrary opinion. The matter, I think, may be accounted for after the following manner. If we examine the operations of body, and the production of effects from their causes, we shall find, that all our. faculties can never carry us farther in our knowledge of this relation, than barely to observe, that particular objects are constantly conjoined together, and that the mind is carried, by a customary transition, from the appearance of one to the belief of the other. But though this...
Page 64 - ... physical necessity. The same experienced union has the same effect on the mind, whether the united objects be motives, volition, and actions; or figure and motion. We may change the names of things; but their nature and their operation on the understanding never change.
Page 62 - Where would be the foundation of morals, if particular characters had no certain or determinate power to produce particular sentiments, and if these sentiments had no constant operation on actions...
Page 19 - When again they turn their reflections towards the operations of their own minds, and feel no such connexion of the motive and the action ; they are thence apt to suppose, that there is a difference between the effects which result from material force, and those which arise from thought and intelligence.