"The mind, therefore, in producing the vital and other involuntary motions, does not act as a rational, but as a sentient principle; which, without reasoning upon the matter, is as necessarily determined by an ungrateful sensation or stimulus affecting the organs, to exert its power, in bringing about these motions, as is a balance, while, from mechanical laws, it preponderates to that side where the greatest weight prevails."
— Whytt, Robert (1714-1766)
Author
Place of Publication
Edinburgh
Publisher
Printed by Hamilton, Balfour, and Neill
Date
1751
Metaphor
"The mind, therefore, in producing the vital and other involuntary motions, does not act as a rational, but as a sentient principle; which, without reasoning upon the matter, is as necessarily determined by an ungrateful sensation or stimulus affecting the organs, to exert its power, in bringing about these motions, as is a balance, while, from mechanical laws, it preponderates to that side where the greatest weight prevails."
Metaphor in Context
The mind, therefore, in producing the vital and other involuntary motions, does not act as a rational, but as a sentient principle; which, without reasoning upon the matter, is as necessarily determined by an ungrateful sensation or stimulus affecting the organs, to exert its power, in bringing about these motions, as is a balance, while, from mechanical laws, it preponderates to that side where the greatest weight prevails.
(Sect XI, p. 289)
(Sect XI, p. 289)
Categories
Provenance
Searching in Google Books
Citation
3 entries in ESTC (1751, 1763, 1768).
Robert Whytt, An Essay on the Vital and Other Involuntary Motions of Animals (Edinburgh: Printed by Hamilton, Balfour, and Neill, 1751). <Link to Google Books>
Robert Whytt, An Essay on the Vital and Other Involuntary Motions of Animals (Edinburgh: Printed by Hamilton, Balfour, and Neill, 1751). <Link to Google Books>
Date of Entry
04/25/2012
