“ In proportion as men extend their dealings, and render their intercourse with others more complicated, they always comprehend, in their schemes of life, a greater variety of voluntary actions, which they expect, from the proper motives, to co-operate with their own. ”
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748). copy citation
Author | David Hume |
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Source | An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding |
Topic | action life |
Date | 1748 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | |
Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/9662/9662-h/9662-h.htm |
Context
“He also expects that, when he carries his goods to market, and offers them at a reasonable price, he shall find purchasers, and shall be able, by the money he acquires, to engage others to supply him with those commodities which are requisite for his subsistence. In proportion as men extend their dealings, and render their intercourse with others more complicated, they always comprehend, in their schemes of life, a greater variety of voluntary actions, which they expect, from the proper motives, to co-operate with their own. In all these conclusions they take their measures from past experience, in the same manner as in their reasonings concerning external objects; and firmly believe that men, as well as all the elements, are to continue, in their operations, the same that they have ever found them.”
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