"It is by possession of this power, that the mind holds its empire--for when this power is lost, we are said to be out of our senses--and then our acts can neither be good nor evil."
— Caulfield (fl. 1778)
Author
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Dodsley
Date
1778
Metaphor
"It is by possession of this power, that the mind holds its empire--for when this power is lost, we are said to be out of our senses--and then our acts can neither be good nor evil."
Metaphor in Context
If, on the other hand--although we are influenced by motives, we have a power within our breasts, by which we can at pleasure have recourse to other motives, and examine by which motives it is best to be influenced, we then, by recovering POPULAR free will, regain possession of PHILOSOPHICAL. It is by possession of this power, that the mind holds its empire--for when this power is lost, we are said to be out of our senses--and then our acts can neither be good nor evil. It is in the power of our minds to reflect on whatever motives we please, at the sovereign command of our arbitrary pleasure, that free will consists--and if we have it not, we are mere machines, incapable of vice or virtue. But if we have that power, and do not chuse to use it--we then become criminal for not having exerted it.
(p. 208)
(p. 208)
Categories
Provenance
Gale's Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO).
Citation
Only 1 entry in ESTC (1778).
See An Essay on the Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul, and Its Instinctive Sense of Good and Evil; in Opposition to the Opinions Advanced in the Essays Introductory to Dr. Priestley's Abridgment of Dr. Hartley's Observations on Man. to Which Are Added, Strictures on Dr. Hartley's Theory; ... With an Appendix, in Answer to Dr. Priestley's Disquisitions on Matter and Spirit. by the Author of the Letters in Proof of a Particular, As Well As a General Providence, Which Were Addressed to Dr. Hawkesworth ... Under the Signature of a Christian (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1778). <Link to ESTC>
See An Essay on the Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul, and Its Instinctive Sense of Good and Evil; in Opposition to the Opinions Advanced in the Essays Introductory to Dr. Priestley's Abridgment of Dr. Hartley's Observations on Man. to Which Are Added, Strictures on Dr. Hartley's Theory; ... With an Appendix, in Answer to Dr. Priestley's Disquisitions on Matter and Spirit. by the Author of the Letters in Proof of a Particular, As Well As a General Providence, Which Were Addressed to Dr. Hawkesworth ... Under the Signature of a Christian (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1778). <Link to ESTC>
Date of Entry
07/18/2005
