ON THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING: ABRIDGED FOR COLLEGIATE AND GENERAL USE. WITH A PRELIMINARY OUTLINE OF THE PLAN OF THE ORIGINAL WORK. BY JOHN MURRAY, A. M., LL. D. SOMETIME SCHOLAR OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN; AUTHOR OF "ORIGINAL VIEWS OF Τοιαῦτα κοινὰ τρόπον τινὰ ἁπάντων ἐστὶ γνωρίζειν, καὶ ὀνδε- DUBLIN: BOOKSELLERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. MDCCCLII. 265, c. 44. PREFACE. THE purpose of the present undertaking is to edit the pure text of "LOCKE'S Essay" from a comparison of the best previous editions, in a compass more proportionate to the solid contents of the Work, in a form more easy of access, and on a principle less liable to some particular objections, than has been heretofore attempted; in the hope that an acquaintance, at once real and ready, with that standard specimen of ancient English philosophy may thereby be secured and extended. The process of abridgment I have endeavoured to carry out by reducing the repetitions, diffusiveness, and irrelevant matter, by which many parts of the "Essay" are incumbered. I have felt, however, that mere convenience should not be so far consulted by a compiler of LOCKE as to induce him to mar the genuine style of the unique original: repetitions, too, are often impressive; especially when they recall at intervals the main question in a long argument: and matter strictly irrelevant (as; for instance, practical reflections on truths established, or supposed to be so) may be very valuable. b |