"But the knowledg of our Passions in their very Seeds, the measuring well the Growth and Progress of Enthusiasm, and the judging rightly of its natural Force, and what command it has over our very Senses, may teach us to oppose more successfully those Delusions which come arm'd with the specious Pretext of moral Certainty, and Matter of Fact."
— Cooper, Anthony Ashley, third earl of Shaftesbury (1671-1713)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Morphew
Date
1708, 1714
Metaphor
"But the knowledg of our Passions in their very Seeds, the measuring well the Growth and Progress of Enthusiasm, and the judging rightly of its natural Force, and what command it has over our very Senses, may teach us to oppose more successfully those Delusions which come arm'd with the specious Pretext of moral Certainty, and Matter of Fact."
Metaphor in Context
Other Reasons, my Lord, there are, why this plain home-spun Philosophy, of looking into our-selves, may do us wond'rous Service, in rectifying our Errors in Religion. For there is a sort of Enthusiasm of second hand. And when Men find no original Commotions in themselves, no prepossessing Pannick that bewitches 'em, they are apt still, by the Testimony of others, to be impos'd on, and led credulously into the Belief of many false Miracles. And this Habit may make 'em variable, and of a very inconstant Faith, easy to be carry'd away with every Wind of Doctrine, and addicted to every upstart Sect or Superstition. But the knowledg of our Passions in their very Seeds, the measuring well the Growth and Progress of Enthusiasm, and the judging rightly of its natural Force, and what command it has over our very Senses, may teach us to oppose more successfully those Delusions which come arm'd with the specious Pretext of moral Certainty, and Matter of Fact.
(pp. 43-4; pp. 22-3 in Klein)
(pp. 43-4; pp. 22-3 in Klein)
Categories
Provenance
Reading; text from C-H Lion
Citation
At least 10 entries in ESTC (1708, 1711, 1714, 1733, 1744, 1751, 1757, 1758, 1773, 1790). Letter dated September, 1707; printed the following year.
See A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm, To My Lord ***** (London: J. Morphew, 1708). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
See also "A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm" in Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times. In Three Volumes. (London: John Darby, 1711). <Link to ESTC>
Some text drawn from EEBO and ECCO, most from Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury. Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, ed. Lawrence E. Klein (Cambridge: CUP, 2001). Klein's text is based on the British Library's copy of the second edition of 1714. [Texts to be collated.]
See A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm, To My Lord ***** (London: J. Morphew, 1708). <Link to ESTC><Link to Google Books>
See also "A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm" in Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times. In Three Volumes. (London: John Darby, 1711). <Link to ESTC>
Some text drawn from EEBO and ECCO, most from Anthony Ashley Cooper, Third Earl of Shaftesbury. Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times, ed. Lawrence E. Klein (Cambridge: CUP, 2001). Klein's text is based on the British Library's copy of the second edition of 1714. [Texts to be collated.]
Date of Entry
07/09/2013
