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Excerpt from An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding: In Four Books Parts: But their Parts being all of the fame kind, and without the mix ture of any other Idea, hinder them not from having a Place amonglt fimple Idedf. Could the Mind, as in N umber, come to 10 {mall a part of Exrenlion or Duration, as excluded Divifibility, that would be, as it were, the indivifible Unite, or Idea; by repetition of which, it would make its more inlarged Idea: ofextenfion and Duration. But [ince the Mind is not able to frame an Idea of any Space, without Parts inliead thereof it makes ufe of the common Meafures, which by familiar ufe, in each Country, have imprinted themfelves on the Memory (as Inches, and Feet or Cubits, and Parafangs and lo and Years in Duration: The Mind makes ul'e, I fay, offuch Idea as thefe, as fimple ones and thefe are the component Parts of larger 1411911, which the Mind, up0n Occafion, makes by the addition of fuch known Lengths, which it is acquainted with. On the other fide, the ordinary fmallefi meafure we have of either, look'd on as an Unite in N umber, when the Mind by divifion would reduce them into lefs Fractions. Though on both (ides, both in addition and divifion, either of Space or Duration, when the Idea under Confideration becomes very big, or very fmal], its precife Bulk becomes very obfcure and confufed; and it is the N umber of its repeated additions, or divifions, that alone remains clear and dif'tinct, as will eafily appear to any one, who will let his Thoughts loofe in the val't Expanlion of Space, or divifibility ofmatter. Every part of Duration is Duration too; and every part of Extenfion is extenfion, both of them capable of addition or divifion m mfimtum. But the leafl: Portions of either of them, whereof we have clear and dil'tiné't Idezu, may perhaps be fittefi to be confidered by us, as_ the fimple Idea: of that kind, out of which our complex modes of Space, Extenfion, and Dura tion, 'are made up, and into which they can again be dulinctly refol Ved. Such a (mall part in Duration, may be called amoment, and is the time of one Idea in our Minds, in the train of their ordinary Succef lion there. The Other, wanting a proper N ame, I know not whether I may be allowed to call afiwfiéle Pomt, meaning thereby the' leal't Particle of Matter or Space we can difcern, which is ordinarily about a Minute, and to the {harpel't eyes feldom lefs than thirty Seconds of a Circle, whereof the Eye is the Centre. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
