"I have been a long time distrusting my Senses; methought I saw things by a dim Light, and thro false Glasses. Now, the Glasses are removed, and a new Light breaks in upon my Understanding."
— Berkeley, George (1685-1753)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by G. James, for Henry Clements
Date
1713, 1734
Metaphor
"I have been a long time distrusting my Senses; methought I saw things by a dim Light, and thro false Glasses. Now, the Glasses are removed, and a new Light breaks in upon my Understanding."
Metaphor in Context
Hyl.
I have been a long time distrusting my Senses; methought I saw things by a dim Light, and thro false Glasses. Now, the Glasses are removed, and a new Light breaks in upon my Understanding. I am clearly convinced, that I see things in their native Forms; and am no longer in Pain a|bout their unknown Natures, or absolute Existence. This is the State I find myself in at present: Tho, indeed, the Course that brought me to it, I do not yet thorowly comprehend. You set out upon the same Principles, that Academics, Cartesians, and the like Sects, usually do; and, for a long time, it looked as if you were advancing their Philosophical Scepticism; but, in the End, your Conclusions are directly opposite to theirs.
(pp. 165-6)
I have been a long time distrusting my Senses; methought I saw things by a dim Light, and thro false Glasses. Now, the Glasses are removed, and a new Light breaks in upon my Understanding. I am clearly convinced, that I see things in their native Forms; and am no longer in Pain a|bout their unknown Natures, or absolute Existence. This is the State I find myself in at present: Tho, indeed, the Course that brought me to it, I do not yet thorowly comprehend. You set out upon the same Principles, that Academics, Cartesians, and the like Sects, usually do; and, for a long time, it looked as if you were advancing their Philosophical Scepticism; but, in the End, your Conclusions are directly opposite to theirs.
(pp. 165-6)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
5 entries in ESTC (1713, 1725, 1734, 1776, 1777).
See Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous: The Design of Which Is Plainly to Demonstrate the Reality and Perfection of Human Knowledge, the Incorporeal Nature of the Soul, and the Immediate Providence of a Deity: In Opposition to Sceptics and Atheists. Also to Open a Method for Rendering the Sciences More Easy, Useful, and Compendious. (London: Printed by G. James, for Henry Clements, at the Half-Moon, in S. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1713). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO-TCP>
Working with the Past Masters electronic version of The Works of George Berkeley, ed. T. E. Jessop and A. A. Luce, vol. II (Desirée Park: Thomas Nelson, 1979).
See Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous: The Design of Which Is Plainly to Demonstrate the Reality and Perfection of Human Knowledge, the Incorporeal Nature of the Soul, and the Immediate Providence of a Deity: In Opposition to Sceptics and Atheists. Also to Open a Method for Rendering the Sciences More Easy, Useful, and Compendious. (London: Printed by G. James, for Henry Clements, at the Half-Moon, in S. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1713). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO-TCP>
Working with the Past Masters electronic version of The Works of George Berkeley, ed. T. E. Jessop and A. A. Luce, vol. II (Desirée Park: Thomas Nelson, 1979).
Date of Entry
09/12/2013
