3. Communication by words either for civil or philosophical purposes.
Secondly, As to communication by words,
that too has a double use.
I. Civil.
II. Philosophical.
First, by their civil use, I mean such a communication of thoughts and ideas by words, as may serve for the
upholding common conversation and commerce, about the ordinary affairs and conveniences of civil life, in the
societies of men, one amongst another.
Secondly, By the philosophical use of words, I mean such a use of them as may serve to convey the precise
notions of things, and to express in general propositions certain and undoubted truths, which the mind may rest
upon and be satisfied with in its search after true knowledge. These two uses are very distinct; and a great deal
less exactness will serve in the one than in the other, as we shall see in what follows.