(47:5) Many errors, m truth, can be traced to this head, namely, that we
do not apply names to things rightly. (6) For instance, when a man says
that the lines drawn from the centre of a circle to its circumference are
not equal, he then, at all events, assuredly attaches a meaning to the
word circle different from that assigned by mathematicians. (47:7) So
again, when men make mistakes in calculation, they have one set of
figures in their mind, and another on the paper. (8) If we could see
into their minds, they do not make a mistake; they seem to do so, because
we think, that they have the same numbers in their mind as they have on
the paper. (9) If this were not so, we should not believe them to be in
error, any more than I thought that a man was in error, whom I lately
heard exclaiming that his entrance hall had flown into a neighbour's
hen, for his meaning seemed to me sufficiently clear. (10) Very many
controversies have arisen from the fact, that men do not rightly explain
their meaning, or do not rightly interpret the meaning of others.
(47:11) For, as a matter of fact, as they flatly contradict themselves,
they assume now one side, now another, of the argument, so as to
oppose the opinions, which they consider mistaken and absurd in their
opponents.
Prop.[XLVIII] In the mind there is no absolute or free will;
but the mind is determined to wish this or that
by a cause, which has also been determined by
another cause, and this last by another cause,
and so on to infinity.
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