114 ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. Book III. 



produced by the operation of external objeds upon our organs of 

 fenfe, of which Mr Locke has made a clals of ideas), but ideas truly 

 fo called, that is thofe perceptions of the intelled, which prefent to 

 the mind the nature of the things that it confiders. Now, to per- 

 ceive the nature of things, is to know ; and to know^ is truly the 

 pleafure and the happinefs of mari^ properly fo called : For as he is 

 a creature of intelligence, and is in that way diftinguiflied from all 

 the other animals on this earth, and as tlie only pleafure of intelli- 

 o-ence is knowledge, it follows, by neceifary confequence, that in 

 knowledge confifts his only happinefs as a man; and, accordingly, 

 Ariftotle has very well obferved, that, to Uve without knowledge, is 

 not to live the life of a man, but of a different animal. How know- 

 ledge comes to give pleafure, I have elfewhere explained*; and have 

 fhown that it proceeds from the Beauty which we perceive in it. 

 Now, the perception of Beauty is the delight, and the only delight, 

 of the intclledlual mind. 



But, though all knowledge gives pleafure to the intelled, it is not 

 ■every kind of knowledge that gives the higheft pleafure. So far from 

 that, there are objeds of knowledge, which give us very great pain. 

 As our fenfes are our firft inlets to knowledge in our prefent ftate of 

 exiftence, it is of objects of fenfe that we form our firft ideas j and 

 which are therefore very properly called particular ideas, being the 

 nature of thofe particular objedls, which the mind perceives, and by 

 which it diftinguiihes any particular objedl from other objeds of 

 fenfe, by perceiving what it has peculiar, and thereby dlftinguifhing 

 it from other objeils which may have many things in common with 

 this objed, but have not that which is peculiar to it. The particu- 

 lar idea of this obje6l thus formed, being abftradted from the mat- 

 ter, makes what is called an ahJiraEl idea. The next and laft ftep 

 -of our intelled, in forming ideas, is to apply this abJlraEl idea to 



other 



* Vol. 1. p. 104. 



