Darwin, Erasmus, 1731-1802 / 2008-11-07 00:00:00


VI. 1. In opposition to this doctrine of the production of our ideas, it
may be asked, if some of our ideas, like other animal motions, are
voluntary, why can we not invent new ones, that have not been received by
perception? The answer will be better understood after having perused the
succeeding section, where it will be explained, that the muscular motions
likewise are originally excited by the stimulus of bodies external to the
moving organ; and that the will has only the power of repeating the motions
thus excited.
2. Another objector may ask, Can the motion of an organ of sense resemble
an odour or a colour? To which I can only answer, that it has not been
demonstrated that any of our ideas resemble the objects that excite them;
it has generally been believed that they do not; but this shall be
discussed at large in Sect. XIV.
3. There is another objection that at first view would seem less easy to
surmount. After the amputation, of a foot or a finger, it has frequently
happened, that an injury being offered to the stump of the amputated limb,
whether from cold air, too great pressure, or other accidents, the patient
has complained, of a sensation of pain in the foot or finger, that was cut
off. Does not this evince that all our ideas are excited in the brain, and
not in the organs of sense? This objection is answered, by observing that
our ideas of the shape, place, and solidity of our limbs, are acquired by
our organs of touch and of sight, which are situated in our fingers and
eyes, and not by any sensations in the limb itself.
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