updated_at,reviewed_on,context,comments,theme,id,text,provenance,created_at,work_id,metaphor,dictionary
2012-01-18 21:54:54 UTC,2012-01-18,"Book IV, Chapter i","Taylor quotes from Concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality . London, 1731. Book IV, chap. 1, p. 126.",Self-Mastery,11773,"Having hitherto shewed that Sense or Passion from Corporeal Things existent without the Soul, is not Intellection or Knowledge, so that Bodies themselves are not known or understood by Sense; It must needs follow from hence, that Knowledge is an Inward and Active Energy of the Mind it self, and the displaying of its own Innate Vigour from within, whereby it doth Conquer, a Master and Command its Objects, and so begets a Clear, Serene, Victorious, and Satisfactory Sense within it self.
(IV.i, p. 126)","Reading Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989), 165.",2005-07-07 00:00:00 UTC,4475,"""It must needs follow from hence, that Knowledge is an Inward and Active Energy of the Mind it self, and the displaying of its own Innate Vigour from within, whereby it doth Conquer, Master and Command its Objects, and so begets a Clear, Serene, Victorious, and Satisfactory Sense within it self.""",""
2012-01-20 22:30:31 UTC,,"Book III, Chapter i","","",19466,"Neither is this Passion of the Soul in Sensation a meer naked Passion or Suffering; because it is a Cogitation or Perception which hath something; of Active Vigour in it. For those Ideas of Heat, Light, and Colours, and other Sensible things, being not Qualities really existing in the Bodies without us, as the Atomical Philosophy instructs us, and therefore not passively stamped or imprinted upon the Soul from without in the same manner that a Signature is upon a piece of Wax, must needs arise partly from some Inward Vital Energy of the Soul it self, being Phantasms of the Soul, or several Modes of Cogitation or Perception in it. For which Cause some of the Platonists would not allow Sensations to be Passions in the Soul, but only Active Knowledges of the Passions of the Body.
(III.i.3, p. 79)",Searching in Google Books,2012-01-20 22:30:18 UTC,4475,"""For those Ideas of Heat, Light, and Colours, and other Sensible things, being not Qualities really existing in the Bodies without us, as the Atomical Philosophy instructs us, and therefore not passively stamped or imprinted upon the Soul from without in the same manner that a Signature is upon a piece of Wax, must needs arise partly from some Inward Vital Energy of the Soul it self, being Phantasms of the Soul, or several Modes of Cogitation or Perception in it.""",Impressions
2012-01-22 17:09:17 UTC,,"Book III, Chapter iii","","",19474,"4. The Essence of nothing is reached unto by the Senses looking Outward, but by the Mind's looking inward into it self. That which wholly looks abroad outward upon its Object, is not one with that which it perceives, but is at a distance from it, and therefore cannot Know and Comprehend it; but Knowledge and Intellection doth not meerly look out upon a thing at distance, but makes an Inward Reflection upon the thing it knows, and according to the Etymon of the Word, the Intellect doth read inward Characters written within itself, and Intellectually comprehend its Object within it self, and is the same with it. For though this may be conceived to be true of Individual things Known (although the Mind understands them also under abstract Notions of its own) yet, at least in Aristotle's Sense, it is unquestionably true, In Abstract things themselves, which are the Primary Objects of Science, the Intellect and the thing known are really one and the same. For those Ideas or Objects of Intellection are nothing else but Modifications of the Mind itself. But Sense is of that which is without, Sense wholly gazes and gads abroad, and therefore doth not know and comprehend its Object, because it is different from it. Sense is a Line, the Mind is a Circle. Sense is like a Line which is the Flux of a Point running out from it self, but Intellect like a Circle that keeps within it self.
(III.iii.4, pp. 97-9)",Searching in Google Books,2012-01-22 17:09:17 UTC,4475,"""Sense is a Line, the Mind is a Circle. Sense is like a Line which is the Flux of a Point running out from it self, but Intellect like a Circle that keeps within it self.""",""
2012-01-22 17:25:02 UTC,,"Book III, Chapter iv","","",19477,"Whereas these Imaginations that we have of Individual Corporeal things when we are awake, and our Outward Senses employed upon their several Objects, do not seem to be Sensations of things Really existing and Present, as our Dreams do, but to be certain faint, evanid, shadowy and umbratile things, in comparison of those Sensations which we have at the same time with them when we are awake, that is, not as things existent without us, but as our own Cogitations. The Reason whereof is, because though they be both of the same kind, yet those Motions of the Spirits which are caused by the Nerves, from the Objects without when we are awake, being more vigorous, durable, constant and prevalent, do naturally obscure or extinguish those other weaker Phantasms or Imaginations which we have at the same time: And Reason interposing, brings in its Verdict for those Stronger Phantasms also whose Objects are durable and permanent, by means whereof the latter only seem to be Real Sensations, the former counterfeit and Fictitious Imaginations; or meer Picture and Landskip in the Soul. And this Aristotle long ago observed in this manner. In the day they are shut out and disappear, the Senses and Understanding working, as the lesser Fire is made to disappear by the Greater; and small Griefs and Pleasures by Great ones. But when we are at rest in our Beds, the least Phantasms make Impressions upon us. In the day-time, and when we are awake, those more fleeting Fancies and Imaginations, which proceed not from the Motions of the Nerves, caused by the Objects without, must needs yield and give place, as being baffled and confuted by those stronger, more durable and lasting Motions that come from the Nerves, caused by permanent Objects, Reason also carrying it clearly for the latter, by means whereof the former cannot appear as Real Things or Sensations. But when we are asleep, the same Phantasms and Imaginations are more strong, vivid and lively; because the Nerves are relaxated, there are often no Motions transmitted by them from the outward Objects into the Brain, to confound those Motions of the Spirits within, and distract the Soul's Attention to them; Just as the same Loudness of a Voice in a still Evening will be heard a great deal further and clearer, than in the Day-time when the Air is agitated with many contrary Motions crossing and confounding one another. But now there are no other Motions of the Spirits, besides these which cause Dreams to compare with them; and disgrace them, or put them out of Countenance; and as it were, by their louder Noise and Clamours, so to possess the Animadversive part of the Soul, that the weaker Murmurs of the other cannot obtain to be heard, as it is when we are awake, or in the Day-time. And therefore in Sleep the Mind Naturally admits these Phantasms as Sensations, there appearing none other to contradict that Verdict.
(III.iv.4, pp. 115-117)",Searching in Google Books,2012-01-22 17:25:02 UTC,4475,"""But when we are asleep, the same Phantasms and Imaginations are more strong, vivid and lively; because the Nerves are relaxated, there are often no Motions transmitted by them from the outward Objects into the Brain, to confound those Motions of the Spirits within, and distract the Soul's Attention to them; Just as the same Loudness of a Voice in a still Evening will be heard a great deal further and clearer, than in the Day-time when the Air is agitated with many contrary Motions crossing and confounding one another. But now there are no other Motions of the Spirits, besides these which cause Dreams to compare with them; and disgrace them, or put them out of Countenance; and as it were, by their louder Noise and Clamours, so to possess the Animadversive part of the Soul, that the weaker Murmurs of the other cannot obtain to be heard, as it is when we are awake, or in the Day-time.""",""
2012-01-22 18:09:37 UTC,,"Book IV, Chapter i","Cudworth is much addicted to ""as it were.""","",19484,"5. For the Soul having an Innate Cognoscitive Power Universally, (which is nothing else but a Power of raising Objective Ideas within it self, and Intelligible Reasons of any thing) it must needs be granted that it hath a Potential Omniformity in it. Which is not only asserted by the Platonists, that the Soul is all things Intellectually, but also by Aristotle himself That the Soul is in a manner All things. The Mind being a kind of Notional or Representative World, as it were a Diaphanous and Crystalline Sphære, In which the Ideas and Images of all things existing in the Real Universe may be reflected or represented. For as the Mind of God, which is the Archetypal Intellect, is that whereby he always actually comprehends himself, and his own Fecundity, or the Extent of his own Infinite Goodness and Power; that is, the Possibility of all things; So all Created Intellects being being certain Ectypal Models, or Derivative Compendiums of the same; although they have not the Actual Ideas of all things, much less are the Images or Sculptures of all the Several Species of existent Things fixed and engraven in a dead manner upon them; yet they have them all Virtually and Potentially comprehended in that one Cognoscitive Power of the Soul, which is a Potential Omniformity, whereby it is enabled as Occasion serves and Outward Objects invite, gradually and successively to unfold and display it self in a Vital manner, by framing Intelligible Ideas or Conceptions within it self of whatsoever hath any Entity or Cogitability. As the Spermatick or Plastick Power doth Virtually contain within it self, the Forms of all the Several Organical Parts of Animals, and displays them gradually and Successively, framing an Eye-here and an Ear there.
(IV.i.5, pp. 134-5)",Searching in Google Books,2012-01-22 18:09:37 UTC,4475,"""The Mind being a kind of Notional or Representative World, as it were a Diaphanous and Crystalline Sphære, In which the Ideas and Images of all things existing in the Real Universe may be reflected or represented.""",Optics
2012-01-22 18:13:28 UTC,,"Book IV, Chapter i","","",19485,"5. For the Soul having an Innate Cognoscitive Power Universally, (which is nothing else but a Power of raising Objective Ideas within it self, and Intelligible Reasons of any thing) it must needs be granted that it hath a Potential Omniformity in it. Which is not only asserted by the Platonists, that the Soul is all things Intellectually, but also by Aristotle himself That the Soul is in a manner All things. The Mind being a kind of Notional or Representative World, as it were a Diaphanous and Crystalline Sphære, In which the Ideas and Images of all things existing in the Real Universe may be reflected or represented. For as the Mind of God, which is the Archetypal Intellect, is that whereby he always actually comprehends himself, and his own Fecundity, or the Extent of his own Infinite Goodness and Power; that is, the Possibility of all things; So all Created Intellects being being certain Ectypal Models, or Derivative Compendiums of the same; although they have not the Actual Ideas of all things, much less are the Images or Sculptures of all the Several Species of existent Things fixed and engraven in a dead manner upon them; yet they have them all Virtually and Potentially comprehended in that one Cognoscitive Power of the Soul, which is a Potential Omniformity, whereby it is enabled as Occasion serves and Outward Objects invite, gradually and successively to unfold and display it self in a Vital manner, by framing Intelligible Ideas or Conceptions within it self of whatsoever hath any Entity or Cogitability. As the Spermatick or Plastick Power doth Virtually contain within it self, the Forms of all the Several Organical Parts of Animals, and displays them gradually and Successively, framing an Eye-here and an Ear there.
(IV.i.5, pp. 134-5)",Searching in Google Books,2012-01-22 18:13:28 UTC,4475,"""For as the Mind of God, which is the Archetypal Intellect, is that whereby he always actually comprehends himself, and his own Fecundity, or the Extent of his own Infinite Goodness and Power; that is, the Possibility of all things; So all Created Intellects being being certain Ectypal Models, or Derivative Compendiums of the same; although they have not the Actual Ideas of all things, much less are the Images or Sculptures of all the Several Species of existent Things fixed and engraven in a dead manner upon them; yet they have them all Virtually and Potentially comprehended in that one Cognoscitive Power of the Soul, which is a Potential Omniformity, whereby it is enabled as Occasion serves and Outward Objects invite, gradually and successively to unfold and display it self in a Vital manner, by framing Intelligible Ideas or Conceptions within it self of whatsoever hath any Entity or Cogitability.""",Impressions and Writing
2012-01-22 18:45:35 UTC,,"Book IV, Chapter ii","","",19493,"That there are some Ideas of the Mind which were not stamped or imprinted upon it from the Sensible Objects without, and therefore must needs arise from the Innate Vigour and Activity of the Mind it self, is evident, in that there are, First, Ideas of such things as neither are Affections of Bodies, nor could be imprinted or conveyed by any Local Motions, nor can be pictured at all by the Fancy in any sensible Colours; such as are the Ideas of Wisdom, Folly, Prudence, Imprudence, Knowledge, Ignorance, Verity, Falsity, Vertue, Vice, Honesty, Dishonesty, Justice, Injustice, Volition, Cogitation, nay, of Sense it self, which is a Species of Cogitation, and which is not perceptible by any Sense; and many other such like Notions as include something of Cogitation in them, or refer to Cogitative Beings only; which Ideas must needs spring from the Active Power and Innate Fecundity of the Mind it self, Because the Corporeal Objects of Sense can imprint no such things upon it. Secondly, in that there are many Relative Notions and Ideas, attributed as well to Corporeal as Incorporeal things that proceed wholly from the Activity of the Mind Comparing one thing with another. Such as are Cause, Effect, Means, End, Order, Proportion, Similitude, Dissimilitude, Equality, Inequality, Aptitude, Inaptitude, Symmetry, Asymmetry, Whole and Part, Genus and Species, and the like.
(IV.ii.1, pp. 148-9)",Searching in Google Books,2012-01-22 18:45:25 UTC,4475,"""That there are some Ideas of the Mind which were not stamped or imprinted upon it from the Sensible Objects without, and therefore must needs arise from the Innate Vigour and Activity of the Mind it self, is evident, in that there are, First, Ideas of such things as neither are Affections of Bodies, nor could be imprinted or conveyed by any Local Motions, nor can be pictured at all by the Fancy in any sensible Colours; such as are the Ideas of Wisdom, Folly, Prudence, Imprudence, Knowledge, Ignorance, Verity, Falsity, Vertue, Vice, Honesty, Dishonesty, Justice, Injustice, Volition, Cogitation, nay, of Sense it self, which is a Species of Cogitation, and which is not perceptible by any Sense; and many other such like Notions as include something of Cogitation in them, or refer to Cogitative Beings only; which Ideas must needs spring from the Active Power and Innate Fecundity of the Mind it self, Because the Corporeal Objects of Sense can imprint no such things upon it.""",Impressions
2012-01-22 19:08:44 UTC,,"Book IV, Chapter ii","","",19501,"And indeed the Reason is the same both in Visibles and Audibles; for the Sense of a Man, by reason of its Vicinity and Neighbourhood to Reason and Intellectuality, lodged in the same Soul with if, must needs be Coloured with some Tincture of it; or have some Passive Impresses of the fame upon it: and therefore when it finds or meets with insensible Objects any Foot-steps or Resemblances thereof, any Thing that hath Cognation with Intellectuality; as Proportion, Symmetry and Order have, being the Passive Stamps and Impresses of Art and Skill (which are Intellectual Things) upon Matter, it must needs be highly gratified with the same. But the Soul of a Brute having no Intellectual Anticipations in it, but barely Suffering from the Corporeal Objects without, can have no Sense of any Thing but what their Activity impresseth upon it.
(IV.ii.14, pp. 180-1)",Searching in Google Books,2012-01-22 19:08:44 UTC,4475,"""And indeed the Reason is the same both in Visibles and Audibles; for the Sense of a Man, by reason of its Vicinity and Neighbourhood to Reason and Intellectuality, lodged in the same Soul with if, must needs be Coloured with some Tincture of it; or have some Passive Impresses of the fame upon it: and therefore when it finds or meets with insensible Objects any Foot-steps or Resemblances thereof, any Thing that hath Cognation with Intellectuality; as Proportion, Symmetry and Order have, being the Passive Stamps and Impresses of Art and Skill (which are Intellectual Things) upon Matter, it must needs be highly gratified with the same.""",""
2012-01-22 19:20:23 UTC,,"Book IV, Chapter iii",Metaphors worked out in greater detail above. I've only included once.,"",19505,"Now if Sense it self be not Knowledge, much less can any Secondary or Derivative Result from Sense be Knowledge; for this would be a more Obscure, Shadowy and Evanid Thing than Sense it self is. As when the Image of a Man's Face, received in a Mirror or Looking-glass, is reflected from thence into a Second Mirror, and so forward into a Third; still the further it goes, the more Obscure, Confused and imperfect it grows, till at last it becomes altogether imperceptible. Or as in the Circlings and Undulations of Water, caused by the falling of a Stone into it, that are successively propagated from one to another; the further and wider they go, the Waves are still the less, slower and weaker, till at length they become quite undiscernable. Or as a Secondary Echo, that is, the Echo of an Echo, falls as much short of the Primary Echo in Proportion, as that doth of the Original Voice. Or, Lastly, If we could suppose a Shadow to cast a Shadow, this Secondary Shadow, or Projection of a Shadow, would fall as much short of the Primary Shadow, as that did of the Substance it self. So if the Knowledge of Corporeal Things were but a Secondary and Derivative Result from Sense, (though it cannot be conceived that the Passion of Sense should ray upon the Intellect, so as to beget a Secondary Passion there, any more than one Shadow should cast another) then Knowledge would be much a Weaker Perception of them than Sense it self is, and nothing but as it were the Secondary Reflection of an Image, or the Remote Cyclings and Undulations of the fluid Water, or the meer Echo of the Echo of an Original Voice: Or, Lastly, nothing but the Shadow of the Shadow of a Substance. Whereas it is a far more real, substantial and satisfactory, more penetrative and comprehensive Perception than Sense is, reaching to the Very Inward Essence of the Things perceived. And therefore it must of Necessity proceed from the Active Power of the Mind it self, exerting its own Intelligible Ideas upon that which is Passively perceived, and so comprehending it by something of its own that is Native and Domestick to it. So that besides the Sensations or Phantasms, the Sensible Ideas of Corporeal Things passively impressed upon us from without, there must be also Conceptions, or Intelligible Ideas of them Actively Exerted from the Mind it self; or otherwise they could never be Understood.
(IV.iii.2, pp. 190-2)",Searching in Google Books,2012-01-22 19:20:23 UTC,4475,"""So if the Knowledge of Corporeal Things were but a Secondary and Derivative Result from Sense, (though it cannot be conceived that the Passion of Sense should ray upon the Intellect, so as to beget a Secondary Passion there, any more than one Shadow should cast another) then Knowledge would be much a Weaker Perception of them than Sense it self is, and nothing but as it were the Secondary Reflection of an Image, or the Remote Cyclings and Undulations of the fluid Water, or the meer Echo of the Echo of an Original Voice: Or, Lastly, nothing but the Shadow of the Shadow of a Substance.""",Optics
2012-01-22 20:37:30 UTC,,"Book IV, Chapter iii","","",19510,"13. Hitherto, by the Instance of am Individual and Material Triangle, we have shewed, how the Soul, in Understanding Corporeal Things, doth not meerly suffer from without from the Body, but Actively Exert Intelligible Ideas of its own, and from within it self. Now I observe that it is so far from being true, that all our Objective Cogitations or Ideas are Corporeal Effluxes or Radiations from Corporeal Things without, or impressed upon the Soul from them in a gross Corporeal Manner, as a Signature or Stamp is imprinted by a Seal upon a piece of Wax or Clay; that (as I have before hinted) this is not true sometimes of the Sensible Ideas themselves. For all Perception whatsoever is a Vital Energy, and not a Meer Dead Passion; and as the Atomical Philosophy instructs us, there is nothing Communicated in Sensation from the Material Objects without, but only Certain, Local Motions, that are propagated from them by the Nerves into the Brain; which Motions cannot propagate themselves Corporeally upon the Soul also, because it penetrates and runs through all the Parts of its own Body. But the Soul, by reason of that Vital and Magical Union which is between it and the Body, sympathizing with the several Motions of it in the Brain, doth thereupon exert Sensible Ideas or Phantasms within it self, whereby it perceives or takes Notice of Objects Distant from the Brain, either within or without the Body. Many of which Sentiments and Phantasms have no Similitude at all, either with those Local Motions made in the Brain, or with the Objects without; such as are the Sentiments of Pain, Pleasure, and Titillation, Hunger, Thirst, Heat and Cold, Sweet and Bitter, Light and Colours, &c. Wherefore the Truth is, that Sense, if we well consider it, is but a kind of Speech, (if I may so call it) Nature as it were talking to us in the Sensible-Objects Without, by certain Motions as Signs from thence Communicated to the Brain. For, as in Speech, when Men talk to one another, they do but make Certain Motions upon the Air, which cannot Impress their Thoughts upon one another in a Passive manner; but it being first consented to and agreed upon, that such certain Sounds shall signify such Ideas and Cogitations, he that hears those Sounds in Discourse, doth not fix his Thoughts upon the Sounds themselves, but presently Exerts from within himself such Ideas and Cogitations as those Sounds by Consent signify, though there be no Similitude at all betwixt those Sounds and Thoughts. Just in the same manner Nature doth as it were talk to us in the Outward Objects of Sense, and import Various Sentiments, Ideas, Phantasms, and Cogitations, not by stamping or impressing them passively upon the Soul from without, but only by certain Local Motions from them, as it were dumb Signs made in the Brain; It having been first Constituted and Appointed by Nature's Law, that such Local Motions shall signify such Sensible Ideas and Phantasms, though there be no Similitude at all betwixt them; for what Similitude can there be betwixt any Local Motions and the Senses of Pain or Hunger, and the like, as there is no Similitude betwixt many Words and Sounds, and the Thoughts which they signify. But the Soul, as by a certain secret Instinct, and as it were by Compact, understanding Nature's Language, as soon as these Local Motions are made in the Brain, doth not fix its Attention immediately upon those Motions themselves, as we do not use to do in Discourse upon meer Sounds, but presently exerts such Sensible Ideas, Phantasms and Cogitations, as Nature hath made them to be Signs of, whereby it perceives and takes Cognizance of many other Things both in its own Body, and without it, at a Distance from it, In order to the Good and Conservation of it. Wherefore there are two kinds of Perceptive Powers in the Soul, one below another; The first is that which belongs to the Inferiour Part of the Soul, whereby it sympathizes with the Body, which is determined by the several Motions and Pressures that are made upon that from Corporeal Things without to several Sensitive and Phantastical Energies, whereby it hath a Slight and Superficial Perception of Individual Corporeal Things, and as it were of the Outsides of them, but doth not reach to the Comprehension of the Essence or Indivisible and Immutable Notion of any thing. The Second Perceptive Power is that of the Soul it self, or that Superiour, Interiour Noetical Part of it which is free from Passion or Sympathy, free and disentangled from all that Magical Sympathy with the Body. Which acting alone by it self, Exerts from within the Intelligible Ideas of Things, Virtually Contained in its own Cognoscitive Power, that are Universal and Abstract Notions, from which, as it were looking downward it comprehends Individual Things. Now because these latter, which are pure Active Energies of the Soul, are many times exerted upon occasion of those other Passive or Sympathetical Perceptions of Individual Things anteceding; it is therefore conceived by many, that they are nothing else but thin and Evanid Images of those Sensible Ideas, and therefore that all Intellection and Knowledge ascends from Sense, and Intellection is nothing but the Improvement or Result of Sense. Yet notwithstanding it is most certainly true, that they proceed from a quite different Power of the Soul, whereby it actively protrudes its own Immediate Objects from within it self, and Comprehends Individuals without it, not Passively or consequentially, but as it were Proleptically, and not with an Ascending, but with a Descending Perception; whereby the Mind first reflecting upon it self, and its own Ideas, virtually contained in its own Omniform Cognoscitive Power, and thence descending downward, comprehends Individual Things under them. So that Knowledge doth not begin in Individuals, but end in them. And therefore they are but the Secondary Objects of Intellection, the Soul taking its first Rise from within it self, and so by its own inward Cognoscitive Power comprehending Things without it. Else how would God have Knowledge? And if we know as God knows, then do we know or gain Knowledge by Universals. In which Sense (though not in that other of Protagoras) the Soul may be truly said to be the Measure of all Things.
(IV.iii.13, pp 214-9)",Searching in Google Books,2012-01-22 20:37:30 UTC,4475,"""But the Soul, as by a certain secret Instinct, and as it were by Compact, understanding Nature's Language, as soon as these Local Motions are made in the Brain, doth not fix its Attention immediately upon those Motions themselves, as we do not use to do in Discourse upon meer Sounds, but presently exerts such Sensible Ideas, Phantasms and Cogitations, as Nature hath made them to be Signs of, whereby it perceives and takes Cognizance of many other Things both in its own Body, and without it, at a Distance from it, In order to the Good and Conservation of it.""",Writing