The vocabulary of philosophy, mental, moral, and metaphysical : with quotations and references for the use of students / by William Fleming ; edited by Henry Calderwood.
- Date:
- 1876
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The vocabulary of philosophy, mental, moral, and metaphysical : with quotations and references for the use of students / by William Fleming ; edited by Henry Calderwood. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![TESTIMONY— principle of veracity, which has its counterpart in a natural principle of credulity—that is, while we are naturally disposed to speak the truth, we are naturally disposed to believe what is spoken by others. But, says Mr. Locke (Essay on Hum. Understand., bk. iv. ch. 15, 16), “ Testimony may be fallacious. He who declares a thing—1. May be mistaken, or imposed upon. 2. He may be an impostor, and intend to deceive.” The evidence of testimony is, therefore, only probable, and requires to be carefully examined. The nature of the thing testified to—whether it be a matter of science or of common life—the character of the person testifying—whether the testimony be that of one or of many —whether it be given voluntarily or compulsorily, hastily or deliberately, are some of the circumstances to be attended to. Testimony may be oral or written. The coin, the monu- ment, and other material proofs have also been called testimony. So that testimony includes tradition and history. Mr. Hume maintained that no amount of testimony can be sufficient to establish the truth of a miracle. See reply to him by Dr. Adams* in his Essay on Miracles, and Dr. Campbell on Miracles, and Dr. Douglas on Miracles. It was maintained by Craig, a celebrated English geometri- cian, and by Petersen, that the value of testimony decreases by the lapse of time. And Laplace, in some measure, favoured this view. But if the matter of fact be well authenticated in the first instance, lapse of time and continued belief in it may add to the validity of the evidence. “Testimony is like an arrow shot from a longbow; the force of it depends on the strength of the hand that draws it. Argument is like an arrow from a cross bow, which has equal force though shot by a child.”—Bacon. THEISM (0£A, God).—[The theory of the universe which regards an absolute Being, infinite in intelligence, and perfect in moral goodness, as the author of all things.—Ed.] It is * “ Hume told Caddell tlie bookseller, that he had a great desire to be introduced to as many of the persons who had written against him as could be collected; and requested Caddell to bring him and them together. Accordingly, Dr. Douglas. Dr. Adams, Ac., were invited by Caddell to dine at his house in order to meet Hume. They came; and Dr. Price, who was one of the party, assured me that they were all delighted with David.”—Rogers’s Table Talk.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2199531x_0502.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
