I say, it seems the idea of two visible feet will
sooner suggest to the mind the idea of two tangible feet than of one
head; so that the blind man upon first reception of the visive faculty
might know which were the feet or two, and which the head or one.
108. In order to get clear of this seeming difficulty we need only
observe that diversity of visible objects doth not necessarily infer
diversity of tangible objects corresponding to them. A picture painted
with great variety of colours affects the touch in one uniform manner; it
is therefore evident that I do not by any necessary consecution,
independent of experience, judge of the number of things tangible from
the number of things visible. I should not, therefore, at first opening
my eyes conclude that because I see two I shall feel two. How, therefore,
can I, before experience teaches me, know that the visible legs, because
two, are connected with the tangible legs, or the visible head, because
one, is connected with the tangible head? The truth is, the things I see
are so very different and heterogeneous from the things I feel that the
perception of the one would never have suggested the other to my
thoughts, or enabled me to pass the least judgment thereon, until I had
experienced their connexion.
109. But for a fuller illustration of this matter it ought to be
considered that number (however some may reckon it amongst the primary
qualities) is nothing fixed and settled, really existing in things
themselves.
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