at That time would be; fince the Will is never determin'd by any Other Motive than That Appearance of Good to Our Selves, whether that Appearance be True, or Falfe; as might cafily be fhewn notwithstanding what is com monly faid on this Argument... Video Meliora,proboq; Deteriora fequor... but it will not be 4. Connoiffeurs having fix'd their Ideas fhould keep close to them, and not flutter about in Confufion from One, to Another. Mr. Lock has again furnish'd us with an Example. In his Pofthumous work of the Conduct of the Understanding, p. 99. he mentions it as a Rule in which (he Lays) Every one agree, That Giving, and Witholding our Affent, and the Degrees of it should be Regulated by the Evidence that things carry with them: And yet (fays he) Men are not the better for this Rule, Some firmly embrace Doctrines upon Slight grounds, Some upon No grounds, and Some contrary to appearance. The Natural, and obvious Sence of which is no other than This, Men Should Affent According to the Evidence They have, but they Do not. Every one will readily agree That our Affent,and Diffent fhould be proportionable to the Appearance the Evidence has to Us; This being certainly the Idea of Evidence begun withal, it must be carried throughout, no notice being given to the contrary. But then the Latter Affertion is not true; For no Man Firmly embraces Doctrines upon Grounds He fees to be Slight, or when He fees None, or when the Evidence appears to Him to be directly Contrary: Be pleas'd to try if you can determine in Favour of Mr. Lock, (Thus understood,) or Me in the Present Controverfy contrary to the Appearance the Arguments on either fide have to You, or Otherwife than Those regulate your Judgment in This matter: For my Own part I can as easily perfwade my felf that the Scale on the Left hand preponderates when I fee that on the Right does fo, as I can in any Other cafe judge contrary to the Appearances of things to my Understanding, by which I as clearly perceive the weight of an Argument (fuch as it appears to to me,) as I do the Other with my Sences. Probably therefore This could not be Mr. Lock's Meaning in this Difficult place, tho' 'tis certain 'tis the Natural import of his Words; But Evidence being alfo to be understood as what might be fuppos'd to be had, what Mr. Lock Himfelf faw, and not what appear'd to every Other Man when he determines upon any point in question, it seems much more Credible that this great Mafter in the management of Ideas Forgot himself Here, and Began with this Latter Idea of Evidence, but dropt That for the Other; Thus both Affertions are true tho' they are ill connected; That he began with the Idea of Evidence as That which appears to Him that Judges is indifputable; No body will agree that that Affent fhould be regulated by the Evidence Another man has; And that he had got the Other in his head when he fi nifh'd that period (befides what has been already faid) appears further Evident from his Advi fing us (as he imediatly after does) to Examine with Care, and Impartiality: For if he had conceiv'd men had Affented contrary to the Evidence Themfelves had the Fault had been in their Wills, not in their Underftandings, and instead of applying themselves to the Information of These, Their bufinefs would have been to have corrected Thofe,, and he would have advised accordingly. I will conclude what I have to fay concerning Ideas with One Cafe in which all the Falfe. ways of Thinking, and Reafon |