"They held, that all bodies continually send forth slender films or spectres from their surface, of such extreme subtilty, that they easily penetrate our gross bodies, or enter by the organs of sense, and stamp their image upon the mind."

— Reid, Thomas (1710-1796)


Place of Publication
Edinburgh and London
Publisher
John Bell, and G.G.J. & J. Robinson
Date
1785
Metaphor
"They held, that all bodies continually send forth slender films or spectres from their surface, of such extreme subtilty, that they easily penetrate our gross bodies, or enter by the organs of sense, and stamp their image upon the mind."
Metaphor in Context
The theory of Democritus and Epicurus, on this subject, was not very unlike to that of the Peripatetics. They held, that all bodies continually send forth slender films or spectres from their surface, of such extreme subtilty, that they easily penetrate our gross bodies, or enter by the organs of sense, and stamp their image upon the mind. The sensible species of Aristotle were mere forms without matter. The spectres of Epicurus were composed of a very subtile matter.
(I.i.10, 26)
Provenance
Reading in Google Books
Citation
4 entries in ESTC (1785, 1786, 1790, 1793).

See Thomas Reid, Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man (Edinburgh and London: Printed for John Bell, and G.G.J. & J. Robinson, 1785). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
01/31/2012

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.