s own terms, by reminding him sometimes of it; but carry
no knowledge with them, but of the signification of words, however
certain they be.

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 f