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Show 226 Nmnes o/ Subftances. Book Ill. another Man's Mind, without Explication, they being voluntary Signs in every one. ~- 45. Let us n?w alfo confld~r after the fame ma?ner! the Na":1es ?f Subfbnces, in thetr firfl: Apphcatton. One of Adams Cluldren, rovmg m the Mountains, lights on a glittenng Subfl:ance, wluch pleafes Ius Eyes; Home he carries it to Adam, who upon Confldcranon of tt, finds tt to be hard, to have a bright yellow Colour,_ ~nd an exceeding grea~ Weight. Thefe, perhaps, at firfl:, arc all the ~ahnes, he takes nonce of m tt, and abfl:racting this complex Idea, conflfl:mg of a Subfl:ance, havmg_that peculiar bright Yellownefs, and a Wetght very great m proportion to tts Bulk, he gives it ~he Name Zaha6, to denommate, and mark all Subfianr:; es, that have thefe fenfible ~ali ties in them. 'Tis evident now, that in this Cafe, Adam acts quite differently from what he did before, in forming thofe Ide,, of mixed Modes, to which he gave the Name Kimteab and Niouph ; for there he put Ideas together, only by Ius own Imagmation, not taken from tlte Exifience of any thing ; and to them he gave Names to denominate all Things, that fhould happen to agree to thofe his abfiract Ideas, without confidering whether any fuch thing did exifi, or no : the Standard there was of his own !113king. But in the forming his Idea of this new Subflance, he takes the quite contrary Courfe, here he bas a Standard made by Nature ; and therefore being to reprefcnt that to bimfe!f, by the Idea he has of it, even when it is abfent, he puts in no fimple idea into his complex one, but what lte has the Perception of from the thing it fe!f. He takes Care that his !tie a be conformable to this Ar· chetype, and intends the Name fhould !land for an Idea {o conformable. §. 46. This piece of Matter, thus denominated Za!Jab by Adam, being quite different from any he had fccn before, no Body, I think, will deny to be a diflinct Species, and to have its peculiar EtTence; and that the Nar?ic Za/Jab is the mark of the Species, and a Name belonging to all Things partaking in that Erfence. But here it is plain, the EtTence Adam lignified, and made the Name Zabab fland for, was nothing but a Body hard, fhining, yellow, and very heavy. But the inquifltive Mind of Man, not content with the Knowledge of thefe, as I may fay, fuperlicial ~ali· ties, puts Adam upon farther Examination of this Matter. He therefore !mocks, and beats it with Flints, to fee what was difcoverable in the infide: He finds it yield to Blows, but not eaflly feparate into pieces: he finds it will bend without breaking. Is not now Ductility to bC added to his former Idea, and the 'Eifence of the Species that Name Zabab !lands for? Farther Trials difcover Fufibility, and Fixednefs, Are not they •lfo, by the fame Reafon, that any of the others were, to be put into the complex Idea, lignified by the Name Zabab? If not, What Reafon will there be fl1ewed more for the one than the other ~ If thefe mufl, then all the other Properties, which any farther Trials fhall difcover in this Matter, ought by the fame Reafon to make a part of the Ingredients of the coml'lex Idea, which the Name Zaba6 !lands for; and fo be the Effcnce of tl:e Spec1_es? ma~ked by that Name ; which Properties, becaufe they are end· lefs, 1t 1S plam, that the Idea made after this Fafhion by this Archetype, will be always inadequate. ~. 47 · But this is hot all, it would alfo follow, that the Names of Su!J. ./lancU\vould nor only have, (as in Truth they have) but would alfo be fuppofed to have dijf'erent Sigoifcations, as ufed by different Jlfen, which Would very much cumber the ufe of Language. For if every diflin/J: Q..ll"!!ity, that were difcovered in any Matter by any one, were fuppofed ro Chap. VI. Names of Subrlances. to make a necetTary part of the complex Idea, lignified by the common N1me given it, it mufl follow, that Men mufl fuppofc the fame Word to fignilie different Things in different MeR: Since the~ cannot doubt, but different Men m1y have d1fcovered fevcral Qgahtles m Subflances of the Jame Denomination, which others know nothing of. § 48. To avoid this therefore, rhey have juppofed a real E!Je•ce, 6elowgin! l. to every Species, from which thefe Properties all flow, and ·would have their name of the Spec1es iland for that: l.lut they not having any Idea of that real Eifence in Subilanccs, and rlwiQ Words fignifying nolhing b~t the ltfe"s they have, that which is done by this Attempt, is only to put the name or faun~, in the place and !lead of the thing having· tTllt real Effence, without know111g. what that real Effencc ts ; and this is rim which Men do, when they fpeak of Species of Things, a> fuvpofing. tltem made by Nature, ancfdiilingui:!hed by real Eifences. § 49. lior let us con·li\per,when wealfit;m,rhat all Gold is fixed, either it means rhat Fixcdhefs is a. part of the Definition, part of the nominal E«ence the Word Gold !lands f0r; and fo this Affirmation, all Gold is fixed, contains notf1ing bur the flgnlfication of the Term Gold. Or elfe ir means, that Fixedncfs nor being a paJtof the de6nition oft!.reWordGold, is a P'ropertV of that Subflance it felf: iu whicl1 Cafe, it is plain,. th:lt the Word Gold' !lands in the place of a Subflance, ha,mg the real EfTence of a Species of Tf1ings, made by Nature; in which way of Subilitu~km, it lias jQ confufed and uncerram a S1gm~uon, that ~h011gh th!S Propolitwn, Gold' is fixed, be In that fenfe an Allirlljation of fomcthing, real; yet 'cis a Truth will always fail us in its ~articular AppLication, and fo is of no iealUfe nou Certainty. · For let. it be never fo true, that all God, i.e. all that has the real Ef1"encc, of Gold, is fix~d, What ferves this for, whi!fl: we know not in this fenfe, what is or is not Gold~ For if we know not the real EtTence of Gold, 'tis impollible we fhould . know what parcel of Matter has that E«ence, and fo whether it be true Gold or no. §. 50. To conclude; what liberty Adam had at firfl: to make any complex Ideas of mixed Modes, by noothorPattern, bur by hiS own Thoughts, the fame have all Men ever finae had. And rhe fume necellity of conforming bis Ideas of Subllances to Things wirlmu1 him, as to Archetypes made by Nature, tlmt Adam was under, if he would not wilfully impofo upon himfelf the fame are all Men ever once under wo. The fame Lilierty alfo, tl~t Adam bad o'f affixing any new name to any Mea ; the fame has any one fl:ill, ( efpecia!ly the beg,nncrs of Languages, 1f we can imagine any fuch,) bur only with. rlus dtffcrence, that m Places, where Men in Society have already efl:abhl1Jed a Language amongfl, them, the lignification of Words are vcr]' wanly and fpanngly to be alter d > becaufe Mefl beingturnif\JCd,already Wttll names forthelf ftlt as, and common Ufe having appropriated known names to cerram Ideas, an affected mt&ppheation ofthem cannot but be very ndtculous. He that hath new Nottons, will,perhaps, venturefometim~ on the coming new Terms, to exprefs them: 1\{en think it a Bold netS and ns uncerrrun, whether common Ufe wdl ever make them patS fo; currant. But in Communication with others, it is neceffary, that we conform the Ideas we make rhe vulgar Words of any Language fland for, ro their known proper SJgntficatJons, C::vhrch l have explain'd at large already,) ot elfe to make known that new .)tglllficauon, we apply them to. Gg ~ CHAP. |