Smellie, William (1740-1795)

Literary and characteristical lives of John Gregory, M.D. Henry Home, Lord Kames. David Hume, Esq. and Adam Smith, L.L.D. To which are added A dissertation on public spirit; and three essays. By the late William Smellie

Edinburgh

Printed and sold by Alex. Smellie, Bell & Bradfute, J. Dickson, W. Creech, E. Balfour [10 others in Edinburgh, and 4 in London]

1800

"The great Mr. Locke, and several other ingenious philosophers, have represented the human intellect, antecedent to its intercourse with external objects, as a tabula rasa, or a substance capable of receiving any impressions, but upon which no original impressions of any kind are stamped."

The great Mr. Locke, and several other ingenious philosophers, have represented the human intellect, antecedent to its intercourse with external objects, as a tabula rasa, or a substance capable of receiving any impressions, but upon which no original impressions of any kind are stamped. Agreeable to this hypothesis, the soul, while destitute of that knowledge we acquire by experience and observation, is a mere passive being, having no natural principles of action, no power of chusing or refusing, but entirely subjected to receive the first impressions that are made upon it, without the capacity of discovering whether they are proper or improper, whether they tend to its preservation of destruction.
(p. 313)

Writing::Tabula Rasa

Searching "tabula rasa" in ECCO

Smellie, William. Literary and characteristical lives of John Gregory, M.D. Henry Home, Lord Kames. David Hume, Esq. and Adam Smith, L.L.D. To which are added A dissertation on public spirit; and three essays. By the late William Smellie. Edinburgh, 1800. Based on information from English Short Title Catalogue. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale Group.
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10/15/2006