An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense Quotes

“The sceptic asks me, Why do you believe the existence of the external object which you perceive? This belief, sir, is none of my manufacture; it came from the mint of Nature; it bears her image and superscription; and, if it is not right, the fault is not mine: I even took it upon trust, and without suspicion. Reason, says the sceptic, is the only judge of truth, and you ought to throw off every opinion and every belief that is not grounded on reason. Why, sir, should I believe the faculty of reason more than that of perception?—they came both out of the same shop, and were made by the same artist; and if he puts one piece of false ware into my hands, what should hinder him from putting another?”
― Thomas Reid, An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense: A Critical Edition

“No man has ever been able to set out for us, distinctly and methodically, all the operations of the thinking principle within himself, but if some philosopher did achieve this feat, this would reveal only the anatomy of one particular subject , and if applied to human nature on general it would be both incomplete and wrong. For you don't have to think very hard to realize that the differences among human minds are greater than the differences among any other beings that we regard as belonging to the same species.”
― Thomas Reid, An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense: A Critical Edition

“I [the sceptic] resolve not to believe my senses. I break my nose against a post that comes in my way; I step into a dirty kennel: and after twenty such wise and rational actions, I am taken up and clapped into a mad-house. Now, I confess I would rather make one of those credulous fools whom Nature imposes upon, than one of those wise and rational philosphers who resolve to withold assent at all this expense. If a man pretends to be a sceptic with regard to the information of sense, and yet prudently keep's out of harms way as other men do, he must excuse my suspicion that he either acts as a hypocrite, or imposes on himself.”
― Thomas Reid, An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense: A Critical Edition

“I thank the Author of my being, who bestowed it upon me before the eyes of my reason were opened, and still bestows it upon me, to be my guide where reason leaves me in the dark. And now I yield to the direction of my senses, not from instinct only, but from confidence and trust in a faithful and beneficent Monitor, grounded upon the experience of his paternal care and goodness. In all this, I deal with the Author of my being, no otherwise than I thought it reasonable to deal with my parents and tutors. I believed by instinct whatever they told me, long before I had the idea of a lie, or thought of the possibility of their deceiving me.”
― Thomas Reid, An Inquiry Into the Human Mind

“Things that don’t now exist in the mind itself can only be perceived, remembered or imagined by means of ideas or likenesses of them in the mind, which are the immediate objects of perception, memory and imagination. This doctrine seems evidently to be borrowed from the old ·Aristotelian· system, which taught that external things make impressions on the mind like the impressions of a seal on wax; that it is by means of those impressions that we perceive, remember or imagine them; and that those impressions must resemble the things from which they are taken. When we form our notions of the operations of the mind by analogy, this way of conceiving them seems to be very natural, and offers itself to our thoughts. Everything that is ·tactually· felt must make some impression on the body, and so we are apt to think that everything that is understood must make some impression on the mind.”
― Thomas Reid, An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense: A Critical Edition