Lee, Henry, (c.1644-1713)

Anti-Scepticism

London

Printed for R. Clavel and C. Harper

1702

"Thus a man's Face in the Glass is properly the 'Idea' of that Face; or when we seen any single Object, the little Picture or Image form'd at the bottom of the Eye may be properly call'd the 'Idea' of the thing seen; and by a Latitude in Expression the Picture of a Man or of any thing else, may be call'd the 'Idea' of that man or thing represented"

[...] The word Idea, we all agree, is derived from the Greek word [GREEK], which originally signifies, to see, and therefore in its strict and proper Sense, Resemblance of the Object, and, in some measure at least, like that thing of which it is the Idea. Thus a man's Face in the Glass is properly the Idea of that Face; or when we seen any single Object, the little Picture or Image form'd at the bottom of the Eye may be properly call'd the Idea of the thing seen; and by a Latitude in Expression the Picture of a Man or of any thing else, may be call'd the Idea of that man or thing represented: In all which cases there is a Resemblance or some kind of Likeness between the Thing itself and its Idea; so that in the proper original Sense of that word, There is no Idea in the Mind, but when it is some Resemblance, Picture, Image, or Likeness of that which is without it; and never occurs but in that Act of the Mind which is commonly and properly call'd Imagination: and there is then indeed a kind of Picture or Image of that thing in the Mind, whilst it thinks of it. And therefore whenever it's used in any other case, 'tis metaphorical and improper. And tho' this is no more thatn what this Author owns and proves in several places, and long before him Des Cartes, Hobbs, Gassendus and most others that have written of late concerning those matters; yet it was necessary to be noted here, to shew the Necessity of using other Words to express Things with any tolerable Clearness: for this Impropriety of the Word would wear off by degrees; because Common Use will make any word proper: And besides most other Words are metaphorical as well as this. But now this Author has stock'd our Language with such a Spawn of new Words, that one will need a Dictionary to understand English. Simple, Complex, Abstract Ideas; simple, compound, mixt Modes; which does not only corrupt our Language, but, which is worse, raises such a Mist, that we are often deluded with the Hopes of some great Discoveries, when there is hardly Common Sense to be gain'd [...]
(pp. 1-2)

Optics::Mirror

Reading John W. Yolton, "As in a Looking-Glass: Perceptual Acquaintance in Eighteenth-Century Britain." Journal of the History of Ideas 40:2 (1979): 214.

Only 1 entry in ESTC (1702).

Anti-Scepticism: or, Notes Upon Each Chapter of Mr. Lock’s Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. ... In Four Books. by Henry Lee, B.D. (London: Printed for R. Clavel and C. Harper, 1702). <Link to ESTC>

07/30/2014