This, indeed, has always been the fate of the few that have professed scepticism, that, when they have done what they can to discr...edit their senses, they find themselves, after all, under a necessity of trusting to them. Mr. Hume has been so candid as to acknowledge this; and it is no less true of those who have shewn the same candour; for I never heard that any sceptic runs his head against a post, or stepped into a kennel, because he did not believe his eyes.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Every man feels that perception gives him an invincible belief of the existence of that which he perceives; and that this belief i...s not the effect of reasoning, but the immediate consequence of perception. When philosophers have wearied themselves and their readers with their speculations upon this subject, they can neither strengthen this belief, nor weaken it; nor can they shew how it is produced. It puts the philosopher and the peasant upon a level; and neither of them can give any other reason for believing his senses, than that he finds it impossible for him to do otherwise.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »