THINGS DENOTED BY NAMES. 61 



whole universe except himself were destroyed. But destroy 

 all white substances, and where would be the attribute white- 

 ness ? Whiteness, without any white thing, is a contradiction 

 in terms. 



This is the nearest approach to a solution of the difficulty, 

 that will be found in the common treatises on logic. It will 

 scarcely be thought to be a satisfactory one. If an attribute 

 is distinguished from a substance by being the attribute of 

 something, it seems highly necessary to understand what is 

 meant by of; a particle which needs explanation too much 

 itself, to be placed in front of the explanation of anything 

 else. And as for the self-existence of substance, it is very 

 true that a substance may be conceived to exist without any 

 other substance, but so also may an attribute without any 

 other attribute : and we can no more imagine a substance 

 without attributes than we can imagine attributes without a 

 substance. 



Metaphysicians, however, have probed the question deeper, 

 and given an account of Substance considerably more satis- 

 factory than this. Substances are usually distinguished as 

 Bodies or Minds. Of each of these, philosophers have at 

 length provided us with a definition which seems unexcep- 

 tionable. 



7. A Body, according to the received doctrine of 

 modern metaphysicians, may be defined, the external cause to 

 which we ascribe our sensations. When I see and touch a 

 piece of gold, I am conscious of a sensation of yellow colour, 

 and sensations of hardness and weight ; and by varying the 

 mode of handling, I may add to these sensations many others 

 completely distinct from them. The sensations are all of 

 which I am directly conscious ; but I consider them as pro- 

 duced by something not only existing independently of my 

 will, but external to my bodily organs and to my mind. This 

 external something I call a body. 



It may be asked, how come we to ascribe our sensations to 

 any external cause ? And is therd sufficient ground for so 

 ascribing them ? It is known, that there are metaphysicians 



