“Philosophy has no other root but the principles of common sense.; it grows out from them, and draws its nourishment from them; severed from this root, its honours wither up, its sap is dried up, it dies and rots.”
― Essays on the Active Powers of the Human Mind ; An Inquiry Into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense ; and An Essay on Quantity
― Essays on the Active Powers of the Human Mind ; An Inquiry Into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense ; and An Essay on Quantity
“Nature hath given us us a particular emotion, to wit, that of ridicule, which seems intended for this very purpose of putting out of countenance what is absurd, either in opinion or practice. This weapon, when properly applied, cuts with as keen an edge as argument. Nature has furnished us with the first to expose absurdity; as with the last to refute error.”
― Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
― Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
“It is no nation that we inhabit, but a language. Make no mistake; our native toungue is our true fatherland.”
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“Suppose a man be found dead on the highway, his skull fractured, his body pierced with deadly wounds, his watch and money carried off. The coroner's jury sits upon the body, and the question is put, what was the cause of this man's death...? Let us suppose an adept in Mr. Hume's philosophy to make one of the jury, and that he insists upon the previous question, whether there was any cause of the event, or whether it happened without a cause? Surely, upon Mr. Hume's principles, a great deal might be said upon this point...But we may venture to say, that, if Mr. Hume had been of such a jury, he would have laid aside his philosophical principles, and acted according to the dictates of common prudence.”
― Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, Vol. 1
― Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, Vol. 1
“No man has ever been able to set out for us, distinctly and methodically, all the operations of the thinking principle within himself, but if some philosopher did achieve this feat, this would reveal only the anatomy of one particular subject , and if applied to human nature on general it would be both incomplete and wrong. For you don't have to think very hard to realize that the differences among human minds are greater than the differences among any other beings that we regard as belonging to the same species.”
― An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense: A Critical Edition
― An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense: A Critical Edition
Paul’s 2025 Year in Books
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