213 / 868
' 9%
M E T A P 11
equalily, Or the Ictn difr<rcoce,: Fur Ihore olher fiml'le
id~aJ
being
appcaranccs
or fenf...
tiolls
produceo in us
by
thefizc',
p):llre, 1IIf;liol/.
&c.
of
nl1nutc corpu(c1c.:s
I¡ngl y
¡nrcnliul~1
lheir ddfcrenl d(:grees' .110 depcnd un lhe
v,ui–
alion of fome, or al! of thale
\.au les; which
finte
jt
C30-
1l0l
be obfcned
by
us
in
p¡ullc1es of mau cr,
whercof each
y
e
s.
i. too ruoule to be
r"ce,,'~d,
it is impoffible ror us to
bal'e aoy exaa mearnrcs of Ihe differeot degrees of there
limpie:
it!t:.lJ .
Thus, for
iolt~nce,
not knowing
wh~t
number of particlcs,
Dor
whi\t motian
oC
them, is
r.t
lO
prouuce any precife degrec: of
r¡,uhi/~n~fi .
\Ve
cannal
dc–
monHratc (he
ccnain
cquali:y of any t\Vo degrees
oC 'Whi/e–
n~fi,
becaufe we have no cert aio
n.tnd ...
rd to meafure thcm
by, oor meaos
10
diflioguiOl every Ihe lean difFereoee ;
the ooly help we have oeiog from our Ceore" whicb in
this point fati us.
BUl where lhe
difference
is
lo
great
as to
produce
in
the mind
¡denl
clearly
dinint1: , thcre
ideal
of
colourJ,
as
wc
fee in dilferen¡ kind.,
bit"
and
ud,
(for inltance,)
~r~
c.pable of demonltralion
as
id,ol
of number and
cxtenCion. What is here
faid
of eolours, holds !rue in
• 11
fecondary qualities, Thefe
t\Yo then,
in/tu/ion
add
ilu1JonJlra/iofl.
are
the degrec:s of
ou r
lntJ<W/fdge;
what·
cver
com{s
fuort of
one of
thefe, is
bUl
failh
or
opinion,
not
~no'W/((Ig.,
.t lea!l, in aJl
gmera/lrUlhr.
There is,
indeed, anolher perception of Ihe mind employed . bout
the
par/hu/ar
~xif/enC(
of
fin ile beingl
without us;
wbich
going beyond probabililY, but not reaching
10
eitho< of
Ih,e foregoing degrees of cenainty, parres under ,the name
of
kM'W/. dg<,
Nothing can be more cenain, th.n Ihat the
id.a
we
rect:ive
fronl an external objeél: is in
our minds:
T his. is
;ntuilÍve l,;owledge
i
bU! whether we
can
thence
certain·
Iy infer the exi!lence of any thing wi,hout us, eorre(pond–
ing to that
idea,
is that
whereof fome men lhink there
may be a queflion made, beeauCe men may have ruch ao
idea
io
their minds, wheri
no fueh things exifl,
00
fuch
objetl a/feas their feoCes.
But ilS evideO! Ihat we are
iovincibly confciou!
lO
9urfclves of
a
different perception,
when we look "pon Ihe
[UI/
in Ihe day, aod Ihink on i,
by night ; when we aauaJly tane
'W. rlll1JJood,
or Cmell a
r(,fe,
or only
think
OR
that
fovour
or
odour.
So that ....
e.
may
~dd
10
the t\Vo former rOTtS of knowledge, this aIro
of Ihe cxiClenee of particular eXlernal objcas,
by
that
perceptíon
and confcioufneCs \'le
have
of
lhe
aé'lual entrance
of
id,al
from Ihem, and allow there Ih ree degrees of
knowledge,
viz. intuilive, danonjlrAtivf,
and
¡,:,yitive.
BUI lince our knowledge is founded on, and employed
aboul our
id,tll
enly, will i, follow thenec that il mul! be
conformable
tO
our
itltOf~'
and that
where
our
idC(1f
are
clear ano
dinintl,
oLfcure
and
confufed, there our kno\V–
ledge will be fo
100 '1
N o,
For our knowledge confiCling
in
the perception
of
lhe agreement. or
dir3gre~ment
of a1)y
two
ideal,
its
c1carncrs
or
obfcurny
con(jfls
10
,he
cle;u ·
neCs or obfeurilY of Ihat perecp,ion, and not in Ihe clear–
pers or obCeu,ilY of the
id,al
IhemCelves. Aman (for
in(l. nce) thal h:'s • clcar
idea
of Ihe angles of a tri'ngle,
and of I='luality
lO {WO
riCht
ones,
m:\y yet
ha\'e
bUl
an
obfcure
percepllon
o( their OIgreement ; and
fo
have but
a ..ry obfeur. knowledge of il. But oofcure and coo-
f"C<d
idrnl
can neVer prod"ce any cle.. or diOina kno",–
Icdge;
hec.lurc,
;¡S
(<Ir as any
idelll
are
obfcure
or con.
fl1feJ, (o f.t r lhe minu ca n
never
pcrceive cléarly whethcr
Ihey agr« or dil" llrec.
O[ Ih,
,xIU"
o[
hUlJJon
kM'W/.dg',
F flOM u.·hat has
beeo
raid cOllce.rning knowledge,
it
follo"'"
Fi,.jl,
That we c.n have no knowledge farlher
th;:m we h.tve
ide:u .
S,..
o?dly ,
T I", we have
0 0
knowlcdge farlher than We
can h.,,'e
perct..plion
of th:u agrecment
or
diragrecment
of
our
idt:aJ ,
eilher by
intuition, dCll1onjlralio1J
J
or
I(n–
fal ion.
7
hirdly ,
V.fccannot hav' an
Í1rlu;liv,
knowledgcth.t
(h. 1I eXlCnd ilCelf
10
aJl ou r
id<Ol,
and all that we would
know about
them,
bec:lU re \Ve
cannot'examine
and
per~
ce¡ve all [he
rehujors they
Ji,,\le one
to
another.
by
jllXta.
pofidon , or
30
immediate
comp~riron
one
with
aoother.
Tllus
\Ve
cannot
infTJi/ively
perceive the equaJity
of
[WO
extenfions,
Ihe dífference of
whofe
figures
makes
thiir
parts ¡ncapable of
30
ex~ét
immediatl!
applicatioo.
Fourlhly,
Our
raliona'
knowledge canDot reach
to
the:
whole exteOt of
our
¡¿(al;
becaufe between two
different
id(tol
we
\Yould examine.
we
Cjmnot always find
fuch
prooji
as we
cs.n conncl.'l:
one
to another,
with.
3D
in/u;.
liv.
~1/.'W/dg,
in all Ibe par.. of Ihe dedultion,
FiJlhly, S,njiriw
knowledge reaching no fanher tban
the oxi!lence of (hing. aau.aJly prercn'
10
our fenre" i.
)'et
much
narrOwer thao
either of the
former.
Sh.:Jhly,
FroDl
~II
which
it is evideol, that
the
e.'(ltnl
of
Dur
inO'UJI<dge,
comes nOI only OlOr< of the realily of
Ihillglt
but
even
of
lhe
eKteol
of oue
Qwn
ideal.
' Ve
have
t1~
ideal
of a
f quare,
a
circ/(,
and
equa/il)' ;
and
yet, perhaps, IhaJl never be able ' o find a
circle 'gua/ l'
a
[ quar<.
The affi
rmations
oc
negatioos
we
make conct!rning
the
¡d(al
we
hilve, being
reduced
tO
the
(our
fons above
mentioned .
viz. idenl;I)', cor:xif/enu, rdalion,
and
real
o :ijlenu,
we (hall exami ne how farou rknowledge extends
in eaeh of Ihe(e,
Firjl ,
As
tO
idenlil]
and
divu:JiI)',
our
intuitirte
11!o'W~
/eJge
is as far e:-aended as
our
ideal
thernf"lves;
aod
therc: c",n be
no
¡¿la
in (he.
miod. which
it
doe, not
pre~
femly, by an
j"rnitiv:
l.nf)l'¡v/edgl,
perceived
tO
be
what
it is,
and
to
be
different from any othcr,
S<C011l/Iy,
As tO Ihe agre.ment or diCagreement of ou r
ideal
in
cOlxifler¡ce:
lo this our
knowl~dge
is
very
fhon ;
though in Ihis conr.!ls the greatdl and mol! malerial part
of ou r 'knowledge,
concerniog f llhJltrnco.
For our
ideal
of
fubjlanc<J
being nOlhing but
cert.incol/, nianl o[fim–
p/t
'¡dens,
coexifling
in
one fubjefi,
(our
i¿fa
of
jlame,
'fo r
¡nnance, is a body
ho/, 11l11linouI,
and
11Iovin¡ up–
ttuard
,)
when we would know any
thing
fan:ler
con–
cerning this, or
any other fon of
fubOance,
what
do
\Ve
but
¡nquire what other qualitics or powers lhefe
fubflaD~
ces have, or ha,'e
not?
\oVhich is
norhing
d fe·bllt
(O
know what.
other fimp le
ideal
Jo or do
nut
co('xifl
with
IhoCe th..
m.keup Ihal compl«
id_a.
The reaCón of
Ihis ¡s. becaufe the Cimple
ir/<.nl
which make up our com–
plex
ideal
of fubltance" havo
00
vifiblc-ilece([,,,>,, con-
oeaioQ