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Show H4 Reafon: Booi~~ ~~----------. ~~-------- wholly new, and unoortowet!, I fl1all have given Occalion to othe~ cafi about for new Difcoveries, and to feek in their own Thoughts,' for thofe r1gbt Helps of .Art, wluch wt!l fcarce be found, I fear by rhofc who fervilely confine themfelves to the Rules and Dictates of ;thcrs . for beaten Tracts lead thefe fort of Cartel, (as an obferving Romun 'calls them,) whofe Thoughts reach only to Imitation, Non r•o eu~tdum efl jed ruo itur. But I can be bold to fay, that this Age is adorned with fomb Men of that Strength of Judgment, and Largenefs of Comprehenfion that if they would employ their Thoughts on this Subject, could ope~ .rtew and undifcovei'ed Ways, to tlie Advancement of I\n0wledne §. 8. Haying here had Occafion to fpeak of Syllogifm in ge,;"e;.,l, and the Ufe of 1t, 111 Reafonm~, and the Improvement of our !(now ledge, 'tis fit, before I leave th1s SubJect, to take not1ce ?f one manifdl: Miflake iii the Rules of Syllog1fm; vtz. That no Syllog1fi1cal Reafonin<> can be right and conclulive, but what has, at lea!!, one general Propouti~n in it. As ii· ave could not reafo~, and have Know!edg~ aboutParticulan; whereas, in truth,the Matter nghtlJ:' conlidered, the 1mmedmc Object of all our Reafonmg and 1\nowiedge, IS notlung but Particulars: Every Man's Reofoning and Knowledge, IS only about the Ideas ex1fimg m h1s own Mind, whici1 are truly, every one of them, particular Ex1fiences; and our !(now ledge and Reafoning about other Things, is only as they correft,ond with, thofe our particular Ideas. So that the P~rception of the Agreement, or Difagreement of o~r part1cular Ideas, .'s the whole and utmofl: of all our Knowledge:. Umverfahty IS but acc1dental to it, and conlifl:s only in this That the particular Ideas, about which it is, are fuch as more than on~ particular Thing can correfpond with, and be reprefe~ted by. But the Perception of the Agreement~ or D1fagreement of any two Ideas, and cmlfequently, o_ur Knowledge, IS equally clear and oertain, whether either, or both, or neither of thofe Ideas be capable of rcprefcnting more real Bemgs than one, or no. ~. 9· Reafon, Though it penetrates into the Depths of the Sea and Earth, elevates our Thoughts as !ugh as the Stars, and !<;:ads us through the va(l: Spaces, and large Rooms of tlus m1ghty Fabnck, yet it comes far fl10rt of the real Extent of even corporeal Being ; and there are many lnflances wherem 1t fads "s : As, Firfl, It perfeCtly fails us, avbere our Ideas fail. It neither does, nor caft extend tt felf farther than they do: and therefore, where-ever we have no Ideas, our Reafonmg flops, and we are at an End of our Reckoning : And 1f ~t any time we reafon about Words, which do not fiand for anJ Idea~, tiS only about thofe Sounds, and nothing c!fe. ~·. 10. Secondly, Our Reafon is often puzled, and at a lofs, ltecaufe of tbe Ob fcunty, Confufi•n, or lmper(eE/ionof theldeas it is employet! about; and there we are mvolved m Ddlicu!t,es and Contradictions. Thus, not havmg any perfect Idea of the leaf!: Extenfion of Matter nor oflnfinity we are at a lofs about the Divilibility of Matter; but havi~g perfect, clear: anq d1fimct ldea.s of Number, our Rcafon meers with none of thofe ine'mcable Difficulties m Numbers, nor finds it felf involved in any Controd! ctiOn~ about ~hem. Thus, we having but imperfect ldeas,of the Operations of our Mmds upon our Bodtes or Thoughts; and of the Beginning of etther Motion or Tho_ught m us ; and much imperfecter ycr of the Operation of GOD, run mto great Difficulties about free crdated Ancnrs wh1ch Rcafon cannot well extricate it felf out of. ' " ' Id §.I I.Tbirdly,Our Renfon is often at a lland,becaufe it perceiiJes not tbofe eas, wlurh <outd ferve to jhe,v tbe artai• or probable d;,reeme11t, or Dij; P!f.ret'r!Nilf ~hap. XVII. R. eajon. a1_reement of a~y two otbrr Ideas; and in this, fame Men's Faculties far our-go others. Till Al!l,ebra, that great lnflrument and lrifl~nce o£ Hu" mane SagaCity, was difcovered, Men, with Amazement, looked on fevc. raJ of the Demohfirations of ancierit Mathematicians, and could fcarce forbear to think the finding fame of thofe Proofs, more than humane. §. u. Fourthly, Rcafoh is ofteri engaged in Abfurdiiies niid Difficulties br.ought intoSrraits and ConiniJictions, without knowing hqw io free i; felf, by proceeding upon fa/fe Principles; which, being followed, lead Men into Contradictions to themfdves, and lnconliflency in iheirown Thoughts; wluch their Reafon IS fo far from cleanng, that If they will, purfue it, it entangles them the more, and engages them deeper in Perplexities. ~·I 3· Fifthly, As obfcure and imperfect Ideas often involve onr Reafdn, fo,upon the fame Ground, do dubiou.r !Yards, and uncertain Signs,ofun, in bif,ourfes and Arguings, when not warily attended to, puzzle Mew's Rea· fo•, and bring them to a Nonplus. But thefe two latter are our Fault, and not the f'ault ol Reafon : But yet, the Confequences of them are ne. verthelefs obvious; and the Perplexities, or Errors, ihey fill Men's Minds With, is every where oufervable. . ~. i4. Some of the Id<as that are in the Mind, ilre. ~o ihere, that they i:an be, by themfelves, 1mmed1ately compared, one W1th another: And in thefe, the Mind is able to perceive, that they agree, or difagree, as cle:irfy, as that it has them. Thus the Mind perceives, thatari Arch of a Circle is lefs than the whole Circle, as clearly as it does the Idea of a Circle: And this, therefore, :ls,has been faid, I call Intuitive Knowledge; which is certain, beyond all Doubt, and needs no Probation, nor can have any; this being the highefi of all Humane Certainty. In this conlifu the Evitlence of all thofe ./Eternm Veritates, which no Body has any Doubt ~bout, but every Mari (does not, as is faid, only a!fent to, but) knows to be tnle, as foon as ever they are propofed to his Underflanding. In the Difcovery of, and AtTent to thefe Truths, there is no Ufe of the dif· turlive Faculty, no need of lleafon ; but they are known by a fupcrior, and higlier Degree of Evidence: And fuch, ifl may guefs at Things un· known, I am apt to think, that Angels have now, and the Spirits of jufl: ,Men made pcifeCt, flJall have, in a future State, of Thoufands of Things, which nmv, either wholly efcape our Apprehenfions, or which, our IQort-lighted Reafon having got fame faint Glimpfc of, we, in the Dark, grope alter. · §. 1 5. But though we have, here and there, a little of this clear Light, fomc Sparks of bright Knowledge; yet the greatefi part of our Ideas are fuch, that we cannot difcern their Agreement, or Difagreement, by an immediate Comparing them: And in all thefe, we have Need of our Rea· fo•; and mull:, by D1fcourfe and Inference, make our Difcoveries. Now of thefe, there are two forts, which 1 fhall rake the liberty to mention ~·~~ . . Fi•JI, Thole whofe Agreement, or Dlfagreement, though a cannot be feen by an immediate Pilfting them together, yet maybe exammed by' the Intervention of other Ideas, which can be compared with them; wherein, if the Agreement, or Difagreement, be plainly difcerned, of the ime:mediate !dews on both fides, with thofe we would compare, there 1t IS Vtmortj/ration; and it produces certain Knowledge, though not altoge· ther fo evident as the former: Becaufe there IS m the former, bare lntmrion, but in thele there is Intuition indeed, but not altogether at once} ror there mu(l: be a Remembrance of tbo IAtUition of the Agreement of the MeJiNm, with that we compared it with before, when we compare Yy 1t |
