The Collected Works of Dugald Stewart

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SECTION II.?OF CERTAIN LAWS OF BELIEF, INSEPARABLY CONNECTED WITH THE EXERCISE OF CONSCIOUSNESS, MEMORY, PERCEPTION, AND REASONING. 1. It is by the immediate evidence of consciousness that we are assured of the present existence of our various sensations, nothing to our information; and that the palpable...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SECTION II.?OF CERTAIN LAWS OF BELIEF, INSEPARABLY CONNECTED WITH THE EXERCISE OF CONSCIOUSNESS, MEMORY, PERCEPTION, AND REASONING. 1. It is by the immediate evidence of consciousness that we are assured of the present existence of our various sensations, nothing to our information; and that the palpable evidence which accompanies them, amounts to nothing more than to an expression of the same idea by means of two different terms. On such occasions, the mind only turns to no purpose about its own axis, without advancing forward a single step. Accordingly, axiom are so far from holding the highest rank in philosophy, tint they scarcely deserve the distinction of being formally enunciated. Or quelles sont lea verites qui doivent entrer dans des elemens de philosophic? Il y en a de deux sortes; csUee qvi foment la tete de ckaque partie de la chaine, et celles qui se trouvent au point de reunion de plu- sieurs brauchea. Lea verites du premiere geure ont pour caractere distinctif de lie dependro d'aucune autre, et de n'avoir de preuves que dans elles-memes. Plusieura lec- teurs croiront que nous voulons parler des axiomes, et ils se tromperont; nous les renvoyons a ce que nous en avons dit ailleurs, que ca tortes de principes ne nous apprennent rien a force d'etre vrais, et que leur evidence palpable et gros- siere se reduit a exprimer la meme idee par deux termes difii-rens, 1'esprit ne fait alors autre chose que tourner in- ntilement sur lui-meme sans avancer d'un seul pas. Ainsi les axiomes, bien loin de tenir en philosophic le premier rang, n'ont pas meme besoin d'etre enonccs.? Elem. de. PMl. 4. Melanges, tom. iv. pp. 25, 26.] Although in the foregoing passage D'Alembert, in compliance with common phraseology, has bestowed the name of principles upon ax...