242 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING 



stantly dwell in the contemplation of nature, as it were, in 

 the open daylight. And with this emblem of Plato s den 

 agrees the saying of Heraclitus; viz., that men seek the sci 

 ences in their own narrow worlds, and not in the wide one. 



But the idols of the market give the greatest disturbance, 

 and from a tacit agreement among mankind, with regard to 

 the imposition of words and names, insinuate themselves 

 into the understanding: for words are generally given ac 

 cording to vulgar conception, and divide things by such 

 differences as the common people are capable of: but when 

 a more acute understanding, or a more careful observation, 

 would distinguish things better, words murmur against it. 

 The remedy of this lies in definitions; but these themselves 

 are in many respects irremediable, as consisting of words: 

 for words generate words, however men may imagine they 

 have a command over words, and can easily say they will 

 speak with the vulgar, and think with the wise. Terms of 

 art also, which prevail only among the skilful, may seem 

 to remedy the mischief, and definitions premised to arts in 

 the prudent mathematical manner, to correct the wrong 

 acceptation of words; yet all this is insufficient to prevent 

 the seducing incantation of names in numerous respects, 

 their doing violence to the understanding, and recoiling 

 upon it, from whence they proceeded. This evil, therefore, 

 requires a new and a deeper remedy; but these things we 

 touch lightly at present, in the meantime noting this doc 

 trine of grand confutations, or the doctrine of the native and 

 adventitious idols of the mind, for deficient. 



There is also wanting a considerable appendix to the art 

 of judgment. Aristotle indeed marks out the thing, but has 

 nowhere delivered the manner of effecting it. The design 

 is to show what demonstrations should be applied to what 

 subjects, so that this doctrine should contain the judging 

 of judgments. For Aristotle well observes, that we should 

 not require demonstrations from orators, nor persuasion 

 from mathematicians; 16 so that if we err in the kind of 



16 Ethics, xiii. 1. 



