ISBN: 9780217248839

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not … More...

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1792 edition. Excerpt: ... congruity of thought, amounting to a genuine Bull, as truly as the unlucky Frenchman''s indignation at the old woman foe changing him at nurse. Many other passages I then saw clearly to be approximations to the fame kind of incongruity, and was enabled to answer them accordingly. The objections, and the answers to them, shewing some of those incongruities, are printed in the Appendix to the Essay, to which they relate; and which must be read before they can be understood. Every person then may judge for himself, whether the account here given of them be exaggerated, or in any way misrepresented; and will, I trust, on mature consideration and trial, agree with me in thinking, that this real case affords an illustration, stronger, if possible, and certainly more in point, than any of the imaginary extreme caies that 1 had contrived, to ihew the nature aud causes of some kinds of obscurity and perplexity of thought, and the remedies or means for for correcting them. Such persons may judge, whether it would have been pojjtble to have thought and argued in the fame way, if, either instead of vague, ambiguous, general terms, or along with these, and in explanation of them, particular instances, such as Bacon recommends, and I suggest, had been duly employed. Yet those ambiguous expressions and reasonings were satisfactory, not only to the author of them, but to two other men, of undoubted candour, and uncommon talents, and great knowledge, and much accustomed to, and very capable of, the acutest and strictest reasonings on different subjects, in which the notions to be reasoned about are clear and precise, and the terms expressing them distinct and accurate. I have no doubt but that many persons of good fense, even aster this ample warning,... James Gregory, Books, Religion and Spirituality, Philosophical and literary essays Books>Religion and Spirituality Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ESSAY, SECT. I. Remarks on the Jinking Jimilarity', and the generally fuppofed difference, between the relation of Motive and that ofPhyfical Caufe; ?on Mr Hume'j doctrine of their perfel Identity; ? on his juft and important dif- tinftion between NeceJJary Connection and only Conftant Conjunction;?on his attempt to account for the popular perjuafion of the Liberty of human Actions, on his own prin- ciples. AMONG all the various relations that have engaged the attention either of philolbphers or of mankind in general, there is none which has commonly been thought to bear a clofer and more finkmg refemblance and affinity to that of A caufecaufe and effect in phyfics, than the familiar and well-known relation between the ordinary voluntary determinations and actions of men, and the motives or principles of action to which they are referred, and from which they are conceived in fome meafure to proceed: yet there are none which the vulgar diftinguifh more readily and uniformly, in point of thought at leaft, however they may exprefs them in words; nor any which philofophers have more induftrioufly or more luccclbf ully la boured to confound. The popular perfuafion of what is called the Liberty of human actions implies a conviction, that there is an important and well-underftood difference between thofe two relations. The philofophical doctrine of Neceffity implies and confifts in the perfuafion, that the two relations in queflion are either pre- cifely or very nearly the fame. The former by no means confifts in the belief, that there is no relation between motives motives and the determinations and actions of men, which is the notion of it that many philofophers have unluckily adopted, and imputed to the vulgar, and employed much labour and ingenuity in refutin...<

ISBN: 9780217248839

Philosophical and Literary Essays Author :James Gregory 9780217248839 0217248837