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Show No innate Principles. Book I. believe) yet, I think, few Children c•n be fuppofed to have thofe Idea's, which therefore they muft begin to have fometime or other ; and then they will alfo begin to nlfent to that Propofit10n, and make very little queftion of it ever after. But fuch an a !Tent upon heanng, no more proves the Ideas to be innate, than it does, That one born blind (With Cataracts, which will becouched to morrow) bad the innate Ideas of the Sun, or Light, or Saffron, or.Yellow; becaufe when hi> .Sight is cleared, he will certainlyalfent to dus Propofinon, That the Sun iS lucid, or that Saffron iS yellow :And therefore iffuch an a!fent upon hearing cannot prove the Ideas innate it can much lefsthe Propofitions made upofthofc/deas. ~If they have any in'nate Ideas I would be glad toibe told,wbat,and how many they are. §. ~0• Be fides 'what I have already faid, the~c is ano~her Rcafon, why 1 doubt that neitherthefe, nor any other Pnnciplesare mnute. I that am fully pe'rfwaded, that the infinitely Wife GOD made all Things in perfect Wifdom cannotfatisfie my felf,why he lhould be fuppofed to print upon the Minds of Men,fome univerfa!Principles; whereof thofe that are pretend· ed innate, and concern Speculation, are of no great ufe ; and tbofe t/;at concern PraE/ice, no{felj-evident; and neither of tbem dijfinguifhable from fome other iruths, not allowed to be innate. For to what purpofe 010uld Characters be graven on the Mind, by the finger of God, which are not clearer there, than ,thofe which are afterwards introduced , or cannot be diftinguilh'd from 1 lf any .ope thinks there are fuch innate Ideas and PropofitiQns, Which by therr clearnefs and ufefulnefs, are d!lhngllllhable from all that is adventitious in the Mind, and acquired, it will not be a hard matter for him to tell us, which they are ; and then every one will be a fit Judge, whether they be fo, or no. Since if there be fuch innate Idea's and Imprellions, plainly different from all our other perceptions and knowledge, every one will find it true in himfclf. Of the evidence of thefe fupJ?ofed innateMaxims,I have fpoken already; of their ufefulnefs, lfhall have occafion to fpeak more hereafter, §.2.1. Toconcludc,fome Ideas forwardly offer themfelvestoall mens Un· derftandings;and fome forts ofTruthsrefult from any Ideas,as foonas the Mod putS them into Propofitions: Other Truths require a train of Idw placed in order, a due comparing "f them, and deductions made with at· tention, before diey can be difcovered,and a!fented to. Some of the fir!\ fort, becaufe of tbeir general•nd ealie reception, have been mifl:aken for innate: But the truth is, Ideas and Notions are no more born with us, than Arts and Sciences; though fome of them, iode~, olfer thcmfelves to our Faculties, more readily than others ; and therefore are rnore generally received ; though that too, be according as the Organs of our Bodies, and Powers of our Minds, happen to be employ'd; God having fitted Me• with fac~lties and tn(ans, to difco7Jer, obferve, and retain:Truths,according· ly a; t/;ry are employ' d. The great difference that is to be found in the Notion of Mankind, is, from the different ufe they put their Faculties ro, whilftfome( and thofe the moft)taking things upon truft,mifemploy their power of Alrent, by lazily enllaving their Minds, to the Dictates and Dominion of others, in Doctrines, which it is their Du;y carefully to exa· mine; and not blindly ,with an implicit faith,tofwallow :Others employ· ing their Thoughts only about fome few things, grow acquainted fuffi· ciently with them, attain great degrees of knowledge in them, and arc . ignorant of ,.n <_>tbtr, having never let their Thoughts loofe, in the fearch of other,Enqumes. . Thus, that the three Angles of a Triangle are equal to two R1ght ones,is a Truth, as certain as any thihg can be; and I thmk more evidepc,than many of t]lofe Prppofitions that go for Principles; aQV yet Chap. IV. No innate Principles. yet there are millions,however expert in other things,know not this at all, becaufe the.y never fet their Thoughts on work about fuch Angles: And he that certainly knows this Propofition, may yet be utterly ignorant of the truth of other Propof1tions, in Mnthematicks it felf, which are as clear and evident as this; becaufe, in his fearch of thofe mathematical Truths, he !l:opp'd his Thoughts fl10rt, and went not fo far. The fame may happen concerning the notions we have of the Being of a Deity; for though there be no Tru.th, which a Man may more evidently make out to himfelf, than the Ext!l:ence of a God, yet he that fhall content htm· felf with thing<, as he finds them, in this World, as they min iller to his Pleafures and l'aflions, and not make enquiry a little farther into their Caufes, Ends, and admirable Contrivances, and purfue the thoughts thereof with diligence artd attention, may live long without any notion offuch a Being: And if any Perfon hath, by talk, put fuch a notion into his head, he may, perhaps, believe it : But if he hath never examinedit,his knowledge of it will be no perfetl:cr, than hi<, who havmg been told,that the three Angl es of a Triangle,are equal to two Right ones, takes it upon tru!l, without examinmg the demonflrat1on; and may yield lm alTent as to a probable Opinion, but hath no knowledge of the truth of it; which yet his Faculties, if carefully employ'd, were able to make clear and evi· dent to him. But this only by the by, to fl1ew how much our knowledge Jepends upon the rigbt ufe of thofe potvers Nature bath 6ej/ow<d upon w, and how little upon thofe innate Principles, which are in vain fuppofed to be in all Mankind, for their direction ; which all Men could not but know, if thy were there, orelfe they would be there to no purpofe. . §. u. What cenfure, doubting thus of innate Principles, I may deferve from Men who will be apt to call it, Pulling up the old foundation of !\now ledge and Certainty, I cannot tell : I perf wade my felf,at leal\, that the way I have purfued, being conformable to Truth, lays thofe foundations furer. This lam certain, Ihavenot made it my bufinefs, either to quit, or follow, any Authority in the enfuing Difcourfe: Truth has been my only aim; and where-ever that has appeared to lead, my Thoughts have impartially followed, without minding, whether thefootfleps of any other lay that way, or no. Not that I want a due refpell to ocher Mens Opinions;butafter all, the greatefl reverenu is due to iruth; and,! hope, it will not be thought arrogance, to fay, That, perhaps, we 010uld make greater progrefs in the difcovery of rational and contemplauve Knowledge, ifwefo11~bt it in the Fountain, in the confideration of Things tilemfelves; and made ufe rather of our own Thoughts, than other Mens to find it: For, I think, we may as rationally hope to fee with other . Mens Eyes, as to ]>now by other Mens Underflandings. So much as we our , felves confider and comprehend of Truth and Reafon, fo much \1 e }'Oifefs of real and true Knowledge. The floating of other mens Opmwns m our brains, makes us not one jot the more knowing, though they ha~pen to be true. Whor in them was Science, is in us but Opm1atnty, wht!l\ we give up our Affent, only to reverend Names, and do not, as they did, employ our own Reafon to underjfand thofe Trutbs, which gave them repnratibn. Arijintle was certainly a knowing Man, but no body ever thou~!~t him fo, bccaufe he blindly embraced, and confidently vented the Opmi· ons of another. And if the taking up of another's Principles, without ex· · amining them, made not him a Philofopher, I fuppofe it can make no body elie fo. In the Sciences, every one has fo much as he really knows and comprehends: What he believes only, and tal<es upon truft, are but thread$ · which however well in the whole piece , make no conliduable ' F ,. addition |