6. Instance, man and palfrey.
"Every man is an animal, or living body," is as certain a proposition as can be; but
no more conducing to the knowledge of things than to say, a palfrey is an ambling horse, or a neighing, ambling
animal, both being only about the signification of words, and make me know but this--That body, sense, and
motion, or power of sensation and moving, are three of those ideas that I always comprehend and signify by the
word man: and where they are not to be found together, the name man belongs not to that thing: and so of the
other--That body, sense, and a certain way of going, with a certain kind of voice, are some of those ideas which I
always comprehend and signify by the word palfrey; and when they are not to be found together, the name palfrey
belongs not to that thing. It is just the same, and to the same purpose, when any term standing for any one or more
of the simple ideas, that altogether make up that complex idea which is called man, is affirmed of the term
man:--v.g. suppose a Roman signified by the word homo all these distinct ideas united in one subject,
corporietas, sensibilitas, potentia se movendi, rationalitas, risibilitas; he might, no doubt, with great certainty,
universally affirm one, more, or all of these together of the word homo, but did no more than say that the word
homo, in his country, comprehended in its signification all these ideas. Much like a romance knight, who by the
word palfrey signified these ideas:--body of a certain figure, four-legged, with sense, motion, ambling, neighing,
white, used to have a woman on his back--might with the same certainty universally affirm also any or all of
these of the word palfrey: but did thereby teach no more, but that the word palfrey, in his or romance language,
stood for all these, and was not to be applied to anything where any of these was wanting. But he that shall tell
me, that in whatever thing sense, motion, reason, and laughter, were united, that thing had actually a notion of
God, or would be cast into a sleep by opium, made indeed an instructive proposition: because neither having the
notion of God, nor being cast into sleep by opium, being contained in the idea signified by the word man, we are
by such propositions taught something more than barely what the word man stands for: and therefore the
knowledge contained in it is more than verbal.
