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partake. — And thus if is we arc fuppofed to come by the Ah- flraEl Idea of Man, or of Humanity, or Human Nature ; wherein there is indeed included Colour, becaufc no Man but has fome Colour, but it is neither white, nor black, nor hroiwi 5 becaufe there is no one particular Colour wherein all Men partake. So likewife there is included Stature, but then it is neither tall, nor lew, nor yet middle Stature, but fomething abflraEied from all thefe : And fo of the reft.
Farther yet, there being a general Variety of other Crea- tures, which partake in fome Parts, but nor all, of the Com- plex Idea of Man ; the Mind leaving out thofe Parts which are peculiar to Men, and retaining thofe only which are com- mon to all living Creatures, frames the Idea of Animal 5 which abflraEt s or participates not only of all Men, but all Birds, Beads, Fifties, and Infects.
The constituent Parts of fuch AbflraEt Idea of Animal, are Body, Life, Senfe, and fpontaneous Motion. — By Body, is meant, Body without any particular Shape, or Figure 5 there being no one common ro all Animals 5 without Cover- ing, either of Hair, of Feathers, or Scales : nor yet naked ; Hair, Feathers, Scales, and Nakedness, being the diftin- gui filing Properties of particular Animals, and for that Rca- fon left out or the AbflraEt Idea. Upon the fame Account, the fpontaneous Motion muft be neither walking, nor flying, nor creeping ; it is nevcrthelefs a Motion — But what that Motion is, it is not eafy to conceive.
' I will not affirm, fays 2)r. Berkeley, that other People
- have not this wonderful Faculty of abflratl'wg their Ideas 5
c but I am confident I have it not my felf. — I have, in- ' deed, a Faculty of imagining, or reprefenting to my felf
- the Ideas of Things I have perceived, and of varioufly
c compounding or dividing them : I can imagine a Man with
- two Heads, or the upper Parts of a Man join'd to the Bo-
1 dy of a Horfe. I can confider the Hand, the Eye, the 4 Nofe, each by it felf, abflraEied or feparatcd from the reft
- of the Body — But then, whatever Hand or Eye I ima-
- gine, itmuft have fome particular Shape and Colour. — So,
- again, the Idea of a Man I frame to my felf, rnuft be
c either of a white, or a black, or a tawny, a ftrait or a c crooked, a tall, or a low, or a middle-hVd Man.
- I cannot by any Effort of Thought conceive the Ab-
1 flraEt Idea above defcribed 5 and it is equally impoffible e for me to form the AbflraEt Idea of Motion, diftincT: from e the Body moving, and which is neither fwifr nor flow, ( curvilinear, nor rectilinear. — -And the like may be faid of
- all other abflraEt general Ideas whatever.*
Since all things that exift are only Particulars, c Whence,
- fays Mr. Locke, is it, that we come by general Words,
- expreffive of a thoufand Individuals V His Anfwer is,
6 Terms only become general, by being made the Signs of c abfiratl and general Ideas ;' fo that the Reality of Ab- flraEt Ideas, fhould follow from the Reality of General
Words. But this is a Deception. — A Word becomes Ge- neral, by being made the Sign, not of an abflraEt general Idea, but of feveral particular ones ; any one of which it indifferently fuggefts to the Mind.— For an Example, when I fay that Whatever has Extenfion is dlvijible j the Propo- iltion is to be underftood of Extenfion in general : not that I muft conceive any abflraEt general Idea of Extenfion j which is neither Line, Surface, nor Solid, neither great nor fmall, &c.
To make this more evident, Suppofe a Geometrician to be demonftrating a Method of dividing a Line in two equal Parts : In order hereto, he draws, Tor inftance, a black Line, an Inch long j and this, which in it felf is a particu- lar Line, is nevcrthelefs, with refpecl: to its Signification, general 5 fince it rcprefents all Lines whatever : So that what is demonftrated of this one, will hold of all others — And as that particular Line becomes general by being made a Sign ; fo does the Name Line : And as the former owes its Generality, not to its being the Sign of an abflraEt or general Line, but of any or all particular right Lines that may poffibly exift ; fo muft the latter derive its Generality from the fame Caufe. See General Term.
Mr. Locke, fpeaking of the Difficulty of forming Ab- flraEt Ideas, fays 5 ' And does it not require fome Pains < and Skill to form the general Idea of a Triangle, which c yet is none of the mofl abflraEt and comprehenfive ; for
- it muft be neither Oblique, nor Reftangular ; neither E-
1 quilateral, Ifofceles, nor Scalenous ; but all, and none of
4 thefe, at once.' * Now, let any Man look into his
' Thoughts, and try whether he has, or can attain to an ' Idea of a Triangle, correfpondent to this Defcription.*
From the Notion of AbflraEt Ideas, Dr. Berkeley endea- vours to ftiew, it was, that Bodies firft came to be fuppofed to have an Exiftence of their own, out and independent of the Mind perceiving 'em: — Can there be a greater Strain of Abflracfion, fays he, than to diftinguifh the Exiftence of feniible Objects from their being perceiv'd, fo as to conceive them exifting unperceiv'd. See Bod*, and External World.
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We iliall only add, that abflraBiiig, on the corrim'oti Syf- tem, is no more than generalizing : "'tis making one thing ftand for an hundred, by omitting the Confideration of the Differences between 'em : It is taking feveral Differentsj i. e. different Combinations, fetting affdc the Peculiarities in each, and confidering only whar is found alike in ail. — : — - Thus it is that I fay, I love my Friend,, love my Mtfirifii love my felf, my 'Bottle, my Book, my Eafe, &c— Not that it is poffible I iliould have the fame Senfation with refpeft to fo many different forts of things, things that ftand in fuch different Relations to me ; but only that there ap- pearing fomething in them all that bears a refemblance to the relt, in fome Circumitaoces or other, I chufe to cali 'em all by one Name, Zone. For if I confider the Tendency of the Effects of them all, I (hall find they iead me very dif- ferent ways to very different AHions : and there is not more refemblance between the Caufes than between the Effects : All the Analogy there is between them, is a fort of Pieafarei or Satisfaction, arifing upon the Application of the particular
Object to its proper Organ, or Senfe. The AbflraB
Idea of Love, then, will terminate in the Idea of Pleafure i But, 'tis certain, there can be no Idea of Pleafure, without a thing plealant to excite it. Any other AbftraB Idea of Pleafure, will amount to no more than a View or Perception of the Circumitances wherewith our Pieafurcs have been at- tended : But thefe are mere Externals, foreign to the plea- furabie Senfation it felf; which nothing but an Object appli- ed in fuch and fuch a manner, can excite. — To fuppole an Idea of Pleafure produced obliquely, by any other than the proper Caufe, is as abfurd as to fuppofe an Idea of Sbund, produced without a fonorous Object. The Mind has nd Power of making any Ideas, call 'em what you will, whe- ther AbftraB, or Concrete ; or General, or Particular : Its Activity goes no farther than to the perceiving of fuch a3 are prefemed to it : So that its Action is really no other than a degree of Paflion. See Sense.
ABSTRUSE, denotes fomething to be deep hidden, or far-removed from the common Apprehenfions, and ways of conceiving ; in opposition to what is obvious and palpable.
In this Senfe, Mctaphyficks is an al/ftrufe Science ; thei new Doctrine of Infinites is an abftrufe Point of Knowledge* that few People attain to. — The Word is of Latin Origi- ginal, Abftrtifm ; form'd of abs, from, and trudo, 1 thrult 3 q. d. being far off, and out of reach.
ABSURD, Absurdum, a thing that thwarts, or' goes contrary to our common Notions and Apprehenfions. See Absurdity.
Thus, a Propofition would be abfurd, that mould affirm, that two and two make five ; or that fhould deny 'em to" make four. See Prof-osition.
The Logicians have a way of proving the Truth of a Pro- pofition, by fhewing the contrary is abfurd. See Truth.-— This they call
ReduBio ad Absurdum, or arguing ex Abfurdo: See Reduction.
ABSURDITY, Absurdities, is a kind of Error, or Offence againit fome evident, and generally allowed Truths or Principle. See Error, Maxim, &c.
The greateft of all Abfurdities is the ContradiBion. See Contradiction.
The Schoolmen make two Species of Abfurdities — The one, a-r/.oV, which contradicts the common Senfe of Mankind 5 the othet rm, which gives the Lye to fome one or more Philofophers ; e.g. Arifiotle. — The latter fort may be a real Truth.
ABSINTHIUM, Wormwood, a Medicinal Plant, ofcon- fiderable Efficacy in quality of a Bitter and Stomachic. See Stomachic, &c.
There are divers Kinds hereof enumerated by Botanifrsj at lealt 30. Thofe which obtain in Medicine, are, i°, the Roman or fmall, call'd alfo 'Pontic 5 ufed as a Stomachic* Aftringent, Difcutient, and to prevent Putrefaction. — F.tmul- ler fays, there is not a chronic Diftemper in which it is not ferviceable. — A Conferve of the Roman Abfyntbium is now alfo much ufed.
2 , The common or large Wormwood, bitterer much than the former, and antiently ufed not only as a Stomachic and a Deftroyer of Worms, but alfo a Detergent ; and prefcrib'd againft the Jaundice and Dropfy : But it is now grown intd difufe in thofe Intentions, as being prejudicial to the Eyes 5 and is now chiefly rctain'd as an Ingredient in fome of the Officinal Compofitions ; and particularly fome csphalick dif- till'd Waters. See Water.
Its Infufion in Wine, makes what they call Vinmn Abfyn- thites. See Wise. — The Pharmacopeias alfo mention art Extract of Abfynthium, ExtraBum Abfynthii ; and a Sy- rup of Abfynthium, Syropus de Abfynthio.
Some will have this to yield the Semen Sanftum, or San- tonicum, i. e. Wormfeed ; but Matthiolm affirms the cow trary. See SANTomct'Mi
Th'«
