"It can frame new Ideas upon the model of old ones: as when we suppose a Person we have not seen, to resemble one we have seen; and when we frame an Idea of Constantinople from what we have seen of London, or perhaps but from a Map of London. This sort of coining is very often a forging."
— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Osborn and T. Longman
Date
1734
Metaphor
"It can frame new Ideas upon the model of old ones: as when we suppose a Person we have not seen, to resemble one we have seen; and when we frame an Idea of Constantinople from what we have seen of London, or perhaps but from a Map of London. This sort of coining is very often a forging."
Metaphor in Context
AEMILIUS
That may be call'd involuntary Imagination. One and the same Faculty may be said to be both passive and active. The Mind has certainly a Power of raising Images or Appearances of things within itself, and it often feels them rais'd it knows not how.
But tho' we can tell many things the Fancy can do, 'tis impossible to tell every thing. It adds, it pares, it joins, it separates, it mixes, it jumbles, it builds, it razes; in short, it works wonders in its own Shop, and the best Description will still be inferior to its power. It can frame new Ideas upon the model of old ones: as when we suppose a Person we have not seen, to resemble one we have seen; and when we frame an Idea of Constantinople from what we have seen of London, or perhaps but from a Map of London. This sort of coining is very often a forging. Nor must it ever be forgot, that such images are quite wrong, or rather no Images at all; that are form'd when the particular Sense is wanting or hurt: as in the known Story of the blind Man, that reckon'd Scarlet was like the Sound of a Trumpet.
(p. 36)
That may be call'd involuntary Imagination. One and the same Faculty may be said to be both passive and active. The Mind has certainly a Power of raising Images or Appearances of things within itself, and it often feels them rais'd it knows not how.
But tho' we can tell many things the Fancy can do, 'tis impossible to tell every thing. It adds, it pares, it joins, it separates, it mixes, it jumbles, it builds, it razes; in short, it works wonders in its own Shop, and the best Description will still be inferior to its power. It can frame new Ideas upon the model of old ones: as when we suppose a Person we have not seen, to resemble one we have seen; and when we frame an Idea of Constantinople from what we have seen of London, or perhaps but from a Map of London. This sort of coining is very often a forging. Nor must it ever be forgot, that such images are quite wrong, or rather no Images at all; that are form'd when the particular Sense is wanting or hurt: as in the known Story of the blind Man, that reckon'd Scarlet was like the Sound of a Trumpet.
(p. 36)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
Three entries in ESTC (1734, 1762, 1763).
See Essays Moral and Philosophical, on Several Subjects: Viz. A View of the Human Faculties. (London: Printed for J. Osborn and T. Longman, 1734). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
See Essays Moral and Philosophical, on Several Subjects: Viz. A View of the Human Faculties. (London: Printed for J. Osborn and T. Longman, 1734). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/18/2013
