"Reason then must fall into the grossest Mistakes, when it meddles in things beyond its Line, or out of its Sphere: in this case 'tis like an incompetent Judge, and the Conclusions must be absurd."
— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Osborn and T. Longman
Date
1734
Metaphor
"Reason then must fall into the grossest Mistakes, when it meddles in things beyond its Line, or out of its Sphere: in this case 'tis like an incompetent Judge, and the Conclusions must be absurd."
Metaphor in Context
AEMILIUS
It seems one great use of the reasoning Faculty is to supply the want of Intuition, which is seeing at a glance. For this purpose the Mind puts things in a certain order, as Figures in Cyphering, that we may find out the Sum, the Remainder, the Proportion, or whatever we want to know about them. These three Operations of numbering, weighing, and measuring, seem to answer to the several Exercises of Reason; and so 'tis compared sometimes to a Ballance, sometimes to a Line.
Reason then must fall into the grossest Mistakes, when it meddles in things beyond its Line, or out of its Sphere: in this case 'tis like an incompetent Judge, and the Conclusions must be absurd. Buchanan's Paraphrase on the seventy-third Psalm is very applicable to this purpose. It mistakes also in things within its Sphere, when it is imposed upon by the Affections, like a Judge that's corrupted. And nothing is truer than that Observation, the Understanding is the Dupe of the Inclinations.
(pp. 71-2)
It seems one great use of the reasoning Faculty is to supply the want of Intuition, which is seeing at a glance. For this purpose the Mind puts things in a certain order, as Figures in Cyphering, that we may find out the Sum, the Remainder, the Proportion, or whatever we want to know about them. These three Operations of numbering, weighing, and measuring, seem to answer to the several Exercises of Reason; and so 'tis compared sometimes to a Ballance, sometimes to a Line.
Reason then must fall into the grossest Mistakes, when it meddles in things beyond its Line, or out of its Sphere: in this case 'tis like an incompetent Judge, and the Conclusions must be absurd. Buchanan's Paraphrase on the seventy-third Psalm is very applicable to this purpose. It mistakes also in things within its Sphere, when it is imposed upon by the Affections, like a Judge that's corrupted. And nothing is truer than that Observation, the Understanding is the Dupe of the Inclinations.
(pp. 71-2)
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
