New essays concerning human understanding

Front matter

NEW ESSAYS

CONCERNING

HUMAN UNDERSTANDING w

Contents

Translator's Preface xi

Gerhardt's Introduction to his edition of Leibnitz's Nouveaux

Essais 3

Book I. — Innate Ideas CHAPTER

I. Are there innate principles in the mind of man ? . . .64 II. No innate practical principles ....... 85

III. Other considerations touching innate principles, both speculative and practical 100

Book II. — Ideas

I. Which treats of ideas in general, and examines by the way whether the mind of man always thinks .

II. Simple ideas

HI. Of ideas which come to us by one sense only .

IV. Of solidity

V. Of simple ideas which come by different VI. Of simple ideas which come by reflection vii

109 120 121 122 129 130

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

XXI.

XXII.

XXIII.

XXIV.

XXV.

XXVI.

XXVII.

XXVIII.

XXIX.

XXX.

XXXI.

XXXII.

XXXIII.

XI. Page

Of ideas which come by sensation and reflection . . 130

Other considerations upon simple ideas .... 130

Of perception 135

Of retention . . . _ 142

Of discernment, or the faculty of distinguishing ideas . 143

Of complex ideas 147

Of simple modes, and first of those of space . . . 149

Of duration and its simple modes 155

Of duration and expansion considered together . . 158

Of number 100

Of infinity 161

Of other simple modes 164

Of the modes of thinking 164

Of modes of pleasure and pain 167

Of power and freedom 174

Of mixed modes 221

Of our complex ideas of substances 225

Of collective ideas of substances 235

Of relation 235

Of cause and effect and some other relations . . . 237

What identity or diversity is . . . - . . 238

Of some other relations, and especially of moral relations 258

Of clear and obscure, distinct and confused ideas . . 265

Of real and fantastical ideas 275

Of adequate and inadequate ideas ..... 278

Of true and false ideas ....... 281

Of the association of ideas ...... 281

Book III. — Words. Of words or language in general 285

Of the signification of words 291

Of general terms 307

Of the names of simple ideas 318

Of the names of mixed modes and relations . . . 325

Of the names of substances 330

Of particles ' 364

Of abstract and concrete terms . . . . . 368

Of the imperfections of words 369

Of the abuse of words 376

Of the remedies which may be applied to the imperfections and abuses just spoken of . . . . . 390

CONTENTS

Book IV. — Of Knowledge CHAPTER PAGE

I. Of knowledge in general 397

II. Of the degrees of our knowledge 404

III. Of the extent of human knowledge 423

IV. Of the reality of our knowledge 444

V. Of truth in general 449

VI. Of universal propositions, their truth and certitude . . 452

VII. Of propositions called maxims or axioms .... 462

VIII. Of trifling propositions 490

IX. Of our knowledge of our existence 497

X. Of our knowledge of the existence of God .... 449

XL Of our knowledge of the existence of other things . .511

XII. Of the improvement of our knowledge . . . .517

XIII. Other considerations concerning our knowledge . . 528

XIV. Of judgment 528

XV. Of probability 529

XVI. Of the degrees of assent 532

XVII. Of reason ... 555

XVIII. Of faith and reason and their distinct limits . . . 583

XIX. Of enthusiasm 596

XX. Of error 607

XXI. Of the division of the sciences 621

I. Leibnitz to Jacob Thomasius. April 20-30, 1669 . . .631 II. Fragment, (c. 1671) 651

III. Demonstration against atoms taken from the contact of

atoms. (October, 1690) 652

IV. Essay on Dynamics on the laws of motion, in which it is

shown that not the same quantity of motion is preserved, but the same absolute force, or rather the same quantity of moving action (Taction motrice). (c. 1691) . . 657 V. Essay on Dynamics in defence of the wonderful laws of nature in respect to the forces of bodies, disclosing their mutual actions and referring them to their causes.

VI. On the radical origin of things. 1697 692

VII. Appendix to a letter to Honoratus Fabri. 1702 . . . 699 x CONTENTS

PAGE

VIII. Letter of Leibnitz to Basnage de Beauval, editor of the " Histoire des Ouvrages des Savants," printed in that

journal, July, 1698, pp. 829 sq 706

IX. Fragment of a letter to an unknown person. 1707 . . 712

X. That the most perfect Being exists ...... 714

XL What is idea 716

XII. On the method of distinguishing real from imaginary phenomena 717

Index A. To the Critique of Locke ...... 777

Index B. To the Appendix 823

Index C. To the Notes, Additions, and Corrections . . . 831

The work herewith given to the public consists of a translation of the entire fifth volume of Gerhardt's Die phUosopliischen Schriften von G. W. Leibniz, sub-entitled "Leibniz und Locke," consisting of an Introduction by Gerhardt, several short pieces on Locke's Essay and the New Essays on Human Understanding ; and of an Appendix containing a translation of other short pieces of Leibnitz bearing on the subjects discussed in the New Essays or referred to therein. The Introduction on The Philosophy of Leibnitz by the translator suggested and urged by Professors Palmer and Eoyce of Harvard University, and for some time contemplated, is deferred, and reserved, if at all, for another time and occasion, owing to the size of the present volume, as well as for other good and sufficient reasons which it is not necessary here to mention.

The translation of Leibnitz's Nouveaux Essais sur VEntendement Humain was first suggested by the following sentence of the late Professor George S. Morris, of the University of Michigan, in a note to his Pliilosophy and Christianity, page 292: "It suggests no favorable comment on the philosophic interest of the countrymen of Locke that the above-mentioned reply of Leibnitz to Locke has never (so far as I can ascertain) been translated into English." Four instalments, consisting of Book I. and Book II., chapters 1-11 inclusive, were published in as many numbers of the "Journal of Speculative Philosophy. " * Professor Morris very kindly sent me a careful criticism of about one-third of the first instalment, with valuable suggestions regarding the further work of translation. His corrections and suggestions received careful con-

xi sideration and were embodied in subsequent revisions of the translation in preparing it for the present issue.

The portion of the New Essays thus published being favorably received by professors and students of philosophy in this country and in Europe, and being encouraged to go on and translate the entire piece, the work begun in 1885 was continued in leisure hours until in June, 1891, the translation was completed. Revision, annotation, and the labor of getting it through the press have occupied the greater part of my free time since then. The annotation, which was not a part of the original plan, but which was found to be desirable, if not even necessary, as the sheets began to appear in type, has been the chief cause of the delay in the appearance of the book, the labor involved therein proving far greater and unavoidably more protracted than was expected, the annotation also, as is frequent in such cases, growing with the progress of the book.

The text-basis of the translation is that of C. I. Gerhardt, in his Die philosophischen Schriften von G. W. Leibniz, 7 vols., Berlin, 1875-1890, except for the Dynamical Pieces in the Appendix, Nos. IV., V., the text-basis of which is C. I. Gerhardtfs Leibnizens mathematische Schriften, Berlin and Halle, 1849-1863, and Appendix No. VII., for which both these editions are used; for Appendix No. IX., the text is that given by Guhrauer, G. W. Freiherr v. Leibnitz. Eine Biographie, Breslau, 1846. The other editions used in the comparison of the text and the preparation of the notes are: J. E. Erdmann, Leibnitii Opera Philosophica, Berlin, 1839-1840; M. A. Jacques, CEuvres de Leibniz, Paris, 1842; P. Janet, (Euvres PMlosophiques de Leibniz, Paris, 1866; Dutens, Leibnitii Opera Omnia, Geneva, 1768; Foucher de Careil, Lettres et Opuscides inedits de Leibniz, Paris, 1854, Nouvelles Lettres et Opuscides de Leibniz inedits, Paris, 1857, and (Euvres de Leibniz, Paris, 1859 sq., 2d ed., Paris, 1867 sq. R. E. Raspe, (Euvres Philosophiques de feu Mr. Leibnitz, Amsterdam and Leipzig, 1765, was received too late to be of service, but as his text is the original printed text of the New Essays, and has been used by all subsequent editors, it is not probable that any important variation of reading has been overlooked; and Raspe's text has no notes. Besides these editions of Leibnitz's Works, the German translations of the Theodicee and of the smaller philosophicallyimportant works entitled Die Meineren philosophisch wichtigeren Schriften by J. H. von Kirchmann, in his Philosophische Bibliothek, Berlin, 1879, and the English translation of his important philosophical opuscules by Professor George M. Duncan of Yale University, entitled The Philosophical Works of Leibnitz, New Haven, 1890, have been consulted. From the last-named work, so as to include in one book all of Leibnitz's discussions of Locke, it was at first intended to reprint in the Appendix all the pieces bearing upon the subject discussed in the New Essays, or especially referred to therein. It finally seemed best to both Professor Duncan and myself to change the plan and translate new material, rather than duplicate that already translated, so that with the exception of Appendix No. VI., Professor Duncan's translation of which was either forgotten or unnoticed till after mine was in type, nothing appears in both books save such portions of the New Essays .as he has included, and the piece entitled On Locke's Essay on Human Understanding, 1696. This statement will explain the references in certain notes, for example, page 101, note 1, page 154, note 1 (cf. infra, pages 737 and 749 respectively), to certain pieces of Leibnitz in the Appendix, which references are corrected in the Additions and Corrections by being changed to the proper pages of Professor Duncan's book.

Of great value in the revision of the translation, and of the greatest service in the preparation of the notes, has been the German translation of the Nouveaux Essais, with notes, by Professor Carl Schaarschmidt of the University of Bonn. His material has been freely used, either by direct translation and quotation, or in substance, in the notes of the present edition, though always, so far as possible, only after verification and further independent study. His notes, I regret to say, contain many numerical errors, occasioned presumably by insufficient care and accuracy in proof-reading; otherwise they are, for the most part, accurate. The fact that Professor Schaarschmidt' s book was not received till after a portion of mine was in type accounts in part for the appearance of so much of his note-material in the Additions and Corrections, rather than in its proper place in the foot-notes to the text.

Professor A. C. Frazer's splendid edition of Locke's Essay, Oxford, 1894, did not appear until after most of the New Essays were in type; and P. Coste, Essai pliilosophique concernant V Entenclement humain — par M. Locke, Amsterdam, 1742, 1 vol., 4to, 1774, 4 vols., 12mo, could not be obtained, until all the New Essays and most of the Appendix were in type. Both of these works, therefore, could be used only in the supplementary notes in the Additions and Corrections.

With regard to the text itself, particularly of the New Essays, a few words may not be out of place. The variations are slight and chiefly verbal, and scarcely ever essentially modify the thought. They are ultimately due either to the manuscript of Leibnitz — which Erdmann (Preface, p. xxii) says is " written in such small characters often, and so full of corrections, that it is very difficult to read it" ("tarn parvis ssepe Uteris conscriptum et correctionibus adeo abundans ut perdifficile lectu ") — or to certain changes made for the purpose of improving the literary style of the author, and of thus making his work more acceptable to his French readers. The chief difference between the text as given by Gerhardt, who has compared his impression "with the original, so far as it is still extant," and that of the other editors consists in a transposition of the text in Book I., chap. I., a transposition which is fully indicated in the note at the point in the text of the translation where it occurs, and which is, I suppose, due to Gerhardt' s fidelity to Leibnitz's original text. All the important textual variations are listed in the notes.

Gerhardt' s text, having been compared with the original, seems the most trustworthy, and accordingly has been followed in this translation, excepting in a few instances mentioned in the notes, where it is manifestly erroneous from inaccurate proof-reading or other cause, and where the text of some other editor seemed more consistent or correct. Gerhardt has introduced into his text the brackets, [ ], in which, " in the original, Leibnitz has enclosed the words of Philalethes, who states the views of Locke," "perhaps as an indication that they are not his own;" and I have introduced them into the translation precisely as they stand in the text of Gerhardt, in order that the translation may conform to and represent as perfectly as possible Leibnitz's original text in its integrity. There seems to be, however, little regularity or consistency in the employment of these brackets, so far, at least, as I can discover upon comparison with Locke's treatise.

Besides the editions and translations already named, the various separate editions of single works of Leibnitz, as also the various discussions of his philosophy, theology, etc., and the monographs on different parts of the same, were occasionally consulted or referred to, so far as these were accessible or could be procured. Among the monographs, especial mention should be made of Professor John Dewey's most excellent Leibniz's New Essays concerning the Human Understanding. A Critical Exposition, 1888, in the series of German Philosophical Classics edited by Professor George S. Morris, and published by S. C. Griggs & Co., Chicago; and of the earlier monograph of G. Hartenstein, Locke's Lehre von der mensclilichen Erkenntniss in Vergleiclmng mit Leibniz's Kritik derselben, Leipzig, 1861.

The translation has purposely been made close rather than free, a philosophical treatise seeming properly to require a closer adherence on the part of the translator to the author's form of thought and expression than a history, novel, or poem. Whatever view may be taken on this point, — and I frankly admit that at least two views are possible and that each method of translation has its advantages and its disadvantages, its perils and its successes, — the form and style of the New Essays make an elegant and forceful translation well-nigh impossible. Such a translation would necessitate the entire re-writing of Leibnitz's work, would, in fact, be a reproduction rather than a translation, a task I have not attempted nor felt it incumbent on me to attempt. My aim has been simply to represent as faithfully and as accurately as possible, and in as good English as its form and expression admitted, Leibnitz's exact thought. The style of Leibnitz in the New Essays, especially in the abbreviations or abstracts of Locke's Essay put into the mouth of Philalethes, is often abrupt and obscure and sometimes even un grammatical (c/., for example, New Essays, Book III., chap. II., § 18, page 392, lines 6 and 7, and the note thereto, infra, page 768 ad Jin.). This condition of things is due partly to the form of the work, but chiefly to the method of its composition (cf. Gerhardt's introduction, infra, page 8, and notes, and the letters of Leibnitz cited by Raspe in Ms Preface, page 12, note 6, and which he says, " I found with the manuscript of the New Essays," and "give as I found them "). A work so written, in spite of more or less revision, could not possibly be a finished treatise or a work of literary art like the Dialogues of Plato, and the character of the work must of necessity be reflected in the translation.

The notes aim to give the desirable or necessary biographical and bibliographical information regarding the persons and books referred to in the course of the work, so far as such information could be obtained; references to other pieces of Leibnitz, and occasionally to other authors, where the same topic is discussed; and explanations of a few terms thought to be obscure and the explanations of which are not generally known or easily accessible. The notes do not pretend to be a commentary on the text. Except in a few cases, the reader or student has purposely been left to gain his knowledge of Leibnitz's views from Leibnitz himself. Extended commentary was impossible within the necessary limits of the volume, and accordingly was not included in the plan. The philosophical notes, therefore, confine themselves to a brief statement of Leibnitz's views and to brief criticism or indication of criticism. The aim was to bring Leibnitz's great work within the reach of English students and to render it more easily accessible, with such annotation, literary and other, as would make it more acceptable to the student.

All material taken from other authors has, so far as possible, been verified and made the subject of such independent study as the case seemed to demand. All references to authorities have been verified when possible, and very great pains have been taken to secure perfect accuracy in all references. The citations have uniformly been taken and the references made to the best editions, and usually to the latest, when these editions were accessible. Occasionally other works or editions are referred to because of their accessibility or for other evident reasons. For the convenience of those possessing different editions of Leibnitz's works, as well as for those who may have access to only one of them, reference is usually made, especially in the earlier notes, to all of the editions. Later this procedure seemed to encumber the notes with an unnecessary amount of numerical reference, and it was for the most part discontinued.

Attention is called to the Additions and Corrections as containing matter of importance, most of which was not obtained till after the portion of the hook to which it refers was already in type, and which, therefore, could not be inserted in its proper place in the book, but had to be reserved to the end.

The Indexes are intentionally full and complete and have been made with great care by Rev. Robert Kerr Eccles, M.D. There is no adequate index to Leibnitz's works, and none whatever exclusively devoted to the New Essays. The references thereto in the meagre index in Raspe's edition of the Philosophical Works, not generally accessible, and in the general index, full as it is, in Erdmann's edition, are by no means sufficient. It is hoped that the Indexes here furnished may prove adequate for the works of Leibnitz included in this volume, and that thus a beginning at least of an adequate index to Leibnitz's complete works shall have been made.

In Appendix No. IV., infra, page 663, and No. V., infra, pages 674, 682, and 686, the numbering of the cuts is changed from that of the original text to conform to their proper numerical order in this book. The fact is here noted to prevent confusion in referring to the original.

I gratefully acknowledge my obligations and express my thanks to all who have aided me in my long and arduous work. Especially to President E. B. Andrews of Brown University, for aid in the note on the term "quarto modo," page 455, and for the verification of references; to Professor Albert G. Harkness of Brown University, for aid in locating some of the Latin quotations in the New Essays; to Professor J. E. Jameson of Brown University, for the note, page 757, explaining the term "Promoter," page 227; to Professor John M. Manly of Brown University, for information and aid in the notes to the New Essays, Book III., chap. 2, page 294, notes 2, 3, page 295, notes 2, 3; to Professor E. B. Delabarre of Brown University, for aid in the note to page 122, lines 1, 2, infra, pages 739-740; to Professor H. P. Manning of Brown University, for aid in the note on the " perles " of De Sluse, page 768; to Rev. R. H. Ferguson, for aid in the same note, and in the revision of a portion of the Appendix; to Mr. Frank E. Thompson, A.M., Head-master of the Rogers High School, Newport, R. I., for aid in connection with a part of the subject-matter of the Dynamical Pieces in the Appendix; to Professor Benjamin 0. True of Rochester Theological Seminary, for information and verification of references in connection with the notes to the New Essays, Book IV., chap. 19, page 599, note 2, 601, note 1, 602, note 1; to Professor F. A. March of Lafayette University, for the location of the Latin poetical quotation on page 603 ; to Professor Carl Schaarschmidt of Bonn University, for consulting books inaccessible in this country, and for information kindly furnished by letter, and for his cordial interest in my work, as well as for the very valuable notes to his translation of the New Essays, without which mine never would have been written in their present form; to the various libraries whose resources have in one way or another been placed at my disposal, among which should be mentioned the Boston Public Library, the Boston Athenaeum, the libraries of Andover Theological Seminary, Newton Theological Institution, Rochester Theological Seminary, Brown University, Harvard University, Yale University through Professor Duncan, the Library of the Surgeon General's Office, Washington, D.C., and the Redwood Library, Newport, R.I.; to the libraries particularly of Newton Theological Institution, Brown University, and Harvard University, for the long-continued loan of needed books ; to Professor Charles R.

Brown of Newton Theological Institution for information and the verification of references; to my friend and former pupil Mr. Alfred R. Wightman, of the Morgan Park Academy of the University of Chicago, for the verification of references and aid in the revision of a portion of the Appendix; to Mr. Thomas J. Kiernan of the Harvard University Library, for special favors in the consultation of the library, for the loan of books from the same, and for information cordially furnished by mail; to Benjamin Rand, Ph.D., of the Department of Philosophy at Harvard University, for frequent consultation of authorities, verification of references and information furnished; to my friend Mr. Richard Bliss, Librarian of the Redwood Library, without whose competent criticism and constant advice and aid, added to his comprehensive and accurate knowledge in many fields, and especially in bibliography, my notes would have been far less full and accurate than, I trust, they now are; and last but not least, to my wife for literary criticism in the revision of the translation and notes, and aid in the laborious task of proof-reading. Had I always accepted and adopted her criticism and that of Mr. Bliss, my work would doubtless rank higher as a piece of literature than is now possible.

My thanks are also due and most heartily tendered to my publishers, Messrs. Macmillan & Co., for their uniform courtesy and long-suffering patience in the repeated but unavoidable delays which have characterized the appearance of this book; and to J. S. Cushing & Co., of the Norwood Press, for the excellence of their work, and the pains they have taken to secure the greatest possible accuracy in the same, and for their uniform courtesy and long-suffering patience amid the vexatious delays unavoidably incident to the preparation of the notes and the correction of the proof.

In editing the work of a thinker and writer so comprehensive as Leibnitz, it is impossible to escape all errors of fact or judgment. I have done the best I could in the circumstances in which I have had to work, away from large libraries and from the advice and criticism of fellow-students in the same lines. Competent and truth-loving criticism, and the correction of any and all real errors will be thankfully received.

With one sentence from Leibnitz's letter to Coste, June 16, 1707, as significant of his character and illustrative of his spirit, more truth-loving than polemical, and as beautifully expressing the essence of true criticism, I close this Preface : " Mon but a este plustost d'eclaircir les choses, que cle refuter les sentimens d'autruy," which, being interpreted, is: "My purpose has been to throw light upon things rather than to refute the opinions of another."

Alfred G. Langley.

Newport, R.I., April 11, 1896.

LEIBNITZ'S CRITIQUE OF LOCKE ON HUMAN UNDERSTANDING

GERHARDT'S INTRODUCTION TO HIS EDITION OE LEIBNITZ'S NOUVEAUX ESSAIS

[From the German']

In the first philosophical treatise, Meditaiiones de Gognitione, Veritate, et Ideis, 1 which Leibnitz published in the year 1684, he had firmly laid the foundations of human knowledge ; he declared adequate and at the same time intuitive knowledge as the most complete. At the end he adds : Quod ad controversiam attinet, utrum omnia videamus in Deo ... an vero proprias ideas habeamus, sciendum est, etsi omnia in Deo videremus, necesse tamen esse ut habeamus et ideas proprias, id est non quasi icunculas quasdam, sed affectiones sive modificationes mentis nostra, respondentes ad id ipsum quod in Deo perciperemus : utique enim aliis atque aliis cogitationibus subeuntibus aliqua in mente nostra mutatio fit ; rerum vero actu a nobis non cogitatarum Ide® sunt in mente nostra, ut figura Herculis in rudi marmore. The assumption of these ideas slumbering in the mind, these innate ideas (angebornen Ideen; ide.es innees), Leibnitz regards as necessary in order to understand the nature of the mind. (Habet anima in se perceptiones et appetitus, iisque natura ejus continetur, he writes to Bierling, Hanoverse 12. Augusti 1711. 2 Et ut in corpore intelligimus avriTv-n-iav, et figuram generatim, etsi nesciamus, quse sint figuree corporum insensibilium : ita in anima intelligimus perceptionem et appetitum, etsi non cognoscamus distincte insensibilia ingredientia perceptionum confusarum, quibus insensibilia corporum exprimuntur.) He could therefore only prove the necessary truths, i.e.

i C. I. Gerhardt: Die philosophischen Schriften von (I. W. Leibniz. Vol. i, pp. 422-426. J. E. Erdmann: G. G. Leibnitii Opera PhilosopMca, pp.78- 81. Translated by George M. Duncan, The Philosophical Works of Leibnitz, pp. 27-32, New Haven: Tuttle, Morehouse, & Taylor, 1890. — Tr.

2 The letter is found in Gerhardt's ed., Vol. 7, pp. 500-502. — Tr.

those which are known by demonstration, inasmuch as the senses indeed teach what happens, but not what necessarily happens. Such ideas innate to the mind are, according to Leibnitz, the conceptions of substance, identity, the true and the good.

The writing of the man who questioned and rejected these fundamental principles of the system of Leibnitz could not fail to lay claim to Leibnitz's entire attention. It was John Locke (born, 1632, at Wrington, near Bristol ; died, 1704, at Oates, in the county of Essex, in the house of Sir Francis Masham, whose wife was a daughter of Cud worth), who in his celebrated work (" An Essay concerning Human Understanding " ; in four books, London, 1690 *) sought to discover also the origin, the certainty, and the extent of human knowledge, but who denied the existence of innate ideas and principles, and affirmed that the mind is originally like an unwritten tablet (tabula rasa). In the first book of the work named, Locke seeks to set forth the view that there are no innate ideas, and therefore no innate principles and truths ; that the understanding is by nature like an unwritten sheet of paper. The second book contains the proof whence the understanding gets its ideas. Since there are no innate concepts and principles, the origin of all ideas can be only in experience. Experience, however, has a double sphere, that of external and of internal perception : the first Locke calls Sensation; the second, Reflection. Sensation is the perception of external objects mediated through the senses ; reflection, the perception of the activities of the soul in relation to the ideas presented through the senses. Ideas are partly simple, partly complex. Simple ideas arise through the single senses, remoter ideas through more senses, as extension, form, motion, rest ; through reflection alone, for

1 This work was already completed in the year 1687 ; an abstract made by Locke himself appeared in the following year, 1688, translated into French in Leclerc's " Bibliotheque universelle," T. VIII., pp. 49-142. The contents of the work, after it was completely published in the year 1690, was communicated in much detail by Leclerc in the "Biblioth. Univers.," T. XVII., p. 399 sq. The new editions, which already in the shortest time followed each other in quick succession in the years 1694, 1697, 1699, 1705, prove what a mighty impression Locke's work made upon cultivated circles. 1700 appeared Coste's French translation of Locke's work : it was enriched by Locke himself with improvements and additions. Leibnitz followed this French translation in the comx^osition of his Nouveaux Essais.

example, the idea of thought and will ; through union of sensation and reflection, the ideas of power, existence, unity. The complex ideas are of three kinds : modes, substances, relations. The modes, i.e. the complex concepts, which contain nothing existing for itself, are either pure (simple modes), as space, time, or mixed (mixed modes), as thought, motion, power. By substances Locke understands those combinations of simple ideas or groups of ideas, which are conceived upon the hypothesis that they correspond to definite, actually existing things, so that the substance (substratum) presupposed for and in them is considered as the point of union for the rest of the constituent parts contained in the group of ideas. Of substance, man has no clear conception ; it is, according to Locke, worthless. According to him this conception is not limited to single things, but he extends it also to the collective ideas of many things ; thus an army, a herd of sheep, is just as much a substance as a single man or one sheep. Relations arise from the comparison of many things with one another, as the conceptions of cause and effect, time — and place — relations, identity and diversity.