A Philosophical and Practical Treatise on the Will (Classic Reprint)

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FB&C Limited, 2017 - History - 426 pages
Excerpt from A Philosophical and Practical Treatise on the Will

But I would not be understood to make these remarks in the way of complaint. It could hardly be expected to be otherwise. An examination into the will naturally comes last in order in all inquiries into the mind. The questions relative to the origin of knowledge and the ih tellectual part of our constitution come first in order; and these are questions which are not settled without much care and labour. The natural order of inquiry then brings us to the Sensibilities or sentient states of the mind, in distinction from the intellectual, viz., the various forms of emotion, and desire, and feelings of moral obli gation. These must be examined and understood also, as well as the intellectual part. Until mental philosophy is in some degree satisfactorily established in these great departments, the doctrine of the will, although it may be a matter of conjecture, cannot be fully and correctly as certained. But this period has arrived, and there is no longer any excuse for permitting this important inquiry to remain neglected. The subject is one-of wide extent, perhaps more so than has sometimes been imagined; and one, too, which admits of various and important practical applications. My examination of it may be imperfect, (and, in truth, considering the variety of topics embraced in it, cannot well be otherwise, ) and yet I cannot but ih dulge the hope, that some obscurities have been cleared up, that some leading principles have been established.

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