The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 01 (of 11)Hobbes, Thomas
Philosophy
The English works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 01 (of 11)
Hobbes, Thomas
Philosophy, English -- 17th century
1. In the teaching of natural philosophy, I cannot begin better (as I
have already shewn) than from _privation_; that is, from feigning the
world to be annihilated. But, if such annihilation of all things be
supposed, it may perhaps be asked, what would remain for any man (whom
only I except from this universal annihilation of things) to consider as
the subject of philosophy, or at all to reason upon; or what to give
names unto for ratiocination's sake.
I say, therefore, there would remain to that man ideas of the world, and
of all such bodies as he had, before their annihilation, seen with his
eyes, or perceived by any other sense; that is to say, the memory and
imagination of magnitudes, motions, sounds, colours, &c. as also of
their order and parts. All which things, though they be nothing but
ideas and phantasms, happening internally to him that imagineth; yet
they will appear as if they were external, and not at all depending upon
any power of the mind. And these are the things to which he would give
names, and subtract them from, and compound them with one another. For
seeing, that after the destruction of all other things, I suppose man
still remaining, and namely that he thinks, imagines, and remembers,
there can be nothing for him to think of but what is past; nay, if we do
but observe diligently what it is we do when we consider and reason, we
shall find, that though all things be still remaining in the world, yet
we compute nothing but our own phantasms. For when we calculate the
magnitude and motions of heaven or earth, we do not ascend into heaven
that we may divide it into parts, or measure the motions thereof, but we
do it sitting still in our closets or in the dark. Now things may be
considered, that is, be brought into account, either as internal
accidents of our mind, in which manner we consider them when the
question is about some faculty of the mind; or as species of external
things, not as really existing, but appearing only to exist, or to have
a being without us. And in this manner we are now to consider them.
[Sidenote: What is Space.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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