38 NOVUM ORGANUM. 



craftily in philosophy and the sciences ; in which a settled 

 maxim vitiates and governs every other circumstance, though 

 the latter be much more worthy of confidence. Besides 

 even in the absence of that eagerness and want of thought 

 (which we have mentioned), it is the peculiar and perpetual 

 error of the human understanding to b e more moved and 

 excited by affirmatives than negatives, whereas it ought 

 duly and regularly to be impartial ; nay, in establishing any 

 true axiom, the negative instance is the most powerful. 



47. The human understanding is most excited by that 

 which strikes and enters the mind at once and suddenly, 

 and by which the imagination is immediately filled and in 

 flated. It then begins almost imperceptibly to conceive and 

 suppose that every thing is similar to the few objects which 

 have taken possession of the mind ; whilst it is very slow 

 and unfit for the transition to the remote and heterogeneous 

 instances, by which axioms are tried as by fire, unless the 

 office be imposed upon it by severe regulations and a 

 powerful authority. 



48. The human understanding is active and cannot halt 

 or rest, but even, though without effect, still presses forward. 

 Thus we cannot conceive of any end or external boundary 

 of the world, and it seems necessarily to occur to us, that 

 there must be something beyond. Nor can we imagine 

 how eternity has flowed on down to the present day, since 

 the usually received distinction of an infinity, a parte ante 

 and a parte post cannot hold good : for it would thence fol 

 low that one infinity is greater than another, and also that 

 infinity is wasting away and tending to an end. There is 

 the same difficulty in considering the infinite divisibility of 

 lines, arising from the weakness of our minds, which weak 

 ness interferes to still greater disadvantage with the dis 

 covery of causes. For although the greatest generalities in 

 nature must be positive, just as they are found, and in fact 

 not causable, yet the human .understanding, incapable of 

 resting, seeks for something more intelligible. Thus, how 

 ever, whilst aiming at further progress, it falls back to 

 what is actually less advanced, namely, final causes; for 

 they are clearly more allied to man s own nature, than the 

 system of the universe ; and from this source they have 

 wonderfully corrupted philosophy. But he would be an 

 unskilful and shallow philosopher, who should seek for 

 causes in the greatest generalities, and not be anxious to 

 discover them in subordinate objects. 



49. The human understanding resembles not a dry light, 



