"I conceive that a newly created spiritual substance would be a perfect tabula rasa, without a single idea till it was supplied by its own experience and reflection; nor can I understand how matter, mere matter, unconnected with a really active substance, could begin to perceive or reflect at all."

— Holmes, Edward (1737/8-1799)

Author

Holmes, Edward (1737/8-1799)

Work Title

An attempt to prove the materiality of the soul, by reason and scripture. With an appendix, shewing the influence of this opinion upon the faith and practice of Christians. By the Rev. Edward Holmes

Place of Publication
Newcastle
Publisher
Printed for W. Charnley, R. Fisher, and S. Hodgson; T. Longman, London; J. and T. Merrill Cambridge; T. Wilson, York; Pearson and Rollason, Birmingham; and J. Binns, Leeds
Date
1789
Metaphor
"I conceive that a newly created spiritual substance would be a perfect tabula rasa, without a single idea till it was supplied by its own experience and reflection; nor can I understand how matter, mere matter, unconnected with a really active substance, could begin to perceive or reflect at all."
Metaphor in Context
"I conceive that a newly created spiritual substance would be a perfect tabula rasa, without a single idea till it was supplied by its own experience and reflection; nor can I understand how matter, mere matter, unconnected with a really active substance, could begin to perceive or reflect at all. I conceive the highest and most perfect spirits which God first created to have made almost infinite improvements in wisdom and understanding, in the long duration of their existence, and to be still making daily additions. This I take to be the very case with the human mind, when it exerts itself with diligence, and has leisure and means of improvement. the external senses certainly grow more dull and inefficient by time, and we often find the most sublime mental attainments in those who have long lost the organs of both sight and hearing."
(p. 13n.)
Categories
Writing::Tabula Rasa
Provenance
Searching "tabula rasa" in ECCO
Citation
Holmes, Edward. An attempt to prove the materiality of the soul, by reason and scripture. With an appendix, shewing the influence of this opinion upon the faith and practice of Christians. By the Rev. Edward Holmes, ... Newcastle, 1789. Based on information from English Short Title Catalogue. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale Group.
http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/ECCO
Theme
Blank Slate; Materialism
Date of Entry
10/14/2006

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.