(51:8) Lastly, from this inconstancy in the nature of human judgment,
inasmuch as a man often judges of things solely by his emotions, and
inasmuch as the things which he believes cause pleasure or pain, and
therefore endeavours to promote or prevent, are often purely imaginary,
not to speak of the uncertainty of things alluded to in [xxviii] ;
we may readily conceive that a man may be at one time affected with
pleasure, and at another with pain, accompanied by the idea of himself
as cause. (51:9) Thus we can easily understand what are Repentance and
Self-complacency. (10) Repentance is pain, accompanied by the idea of
one's self as cause; Self- complacency is pleasure accompanied by the
idea of one's self as cause, and these emotions are most intense because
men believe themselves to be free ([xlix] ).
Prop. [LII] An object which we have formerly seen in conjunction
with others, and which we do not conceive to have any
property that is not common to many, will not be
regarded by us for so long, as an object which we
conceive to have some property peculiar to itself.
Proof.- (52:1) As soon as we conceive an object which we have seen in
conjunction with others, we at once remember those others ([xviii]
&Note), and thus we pass forthwith from the contemplation of one object
to the contemplation of another object.
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