"For certainly men are not otherwise so unequal in capacity as the evidence is unequal of what is taught by the mathematicians, and what is commonly discoursed of in other books: and therefore if the minds of men were all of white paper, they would almost equally be disposed to acknowledge whatsoever should be in right method, and right ratiocination delivered unto them. But when men have once acquiesced in untrue opinions, and registered them as authentical records in their minds; it is no less impossible to speak intelligibly to such men, than to write legibly upon a paper already scribbled over."
— Hobbes, Thomas (1588-1679)
Author
Work Title
Date
MS. 1640, 1650
Metaphor
"For certainly men are not otherwise so unequal in capacity as the evidence is unequal of what is taught by the mathematicians, and what is commonly discoursed of in other books: and therefore if the minds of men were all of white paper, they would almost equally be disposed to acknowledge whatsoever should be in right method, and right ratiocination delivered unto them. But when men have once acquiesced in untrue opinions, and registered them as authentical records in their minds; it is no less impossible to speak intelligibly to such men, than to write legibly upon a paper already scribbled over."
Metaphor in Context
8. There is a fault of the mind called by the Greeks [Amadia], which is INDOCIBILITY, or difficulty of being taught; the which must needs arise from a false opinion that they know already the truth of that which is called in question. For certainly men are not otherwise so unequal in capacity as the evidence is unequal of what is taught by the mathematicians, and what is commonly discoursed of in other books: and therefore if the minds of men were all of white paper, they would almost equally be disposed to acknowledge whatsoever should be in right method, and right ratiocination delivered unto them. But when men have once acquiesced in untrue opinions, and registered them as authentical records in their minds; it is no less impossible to speak intelligibly to such men, than to write legibly upon a paper already scribbled over. The immediate cause therefore of indocibility, is prejudice; and of prejudice, false opinion of our own knowledge.
(I.x.8, p. 48)
(I.x.8, p. 48)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in Past Masters
Citation
Wood cites Hobbes, The Elements of Law, Natural and Politic, ed. Ferdinand Tönnies, introduction by M.M. Goldsmith. 2nd edition. London, 1969. 183-4.
Circulates in manuscript in 1640. First published in 1650, although inaccurately, in two parts: Human Nature and De Corpore Politico. First accurate edition is Tönnies of 1889. See Deborah Baumgold's article on "The composition of Hobbe's Elements of Law." History of Political Thought, 25:1 (2004): 16-43, p. 28.
Circulates in manuscript in 1640. First published in 1650, although inaccurately, in two parts: Human Nature and De Corpore Politico. First accurate edition is Tönnies of 1889. See Deborah Baumgold's article on "The composition of Hobbe's Elements of Law." History of Political Thought, 25:1 (2004): 16-43, p. 28.
Date of Entry
04/15/2012
