A Treatise of Human Nature

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BOOK III PART II


relation, and even an absurd one, in order to
compleat any union, it will easily be imagined,
that if there be any relations, which depend on
the mind, it will readily conjoin them to any
preceding relation, and unite, by a new bond,
such objects as have already an union in the
fancy. Thus for instance, we never fail, in our
arrangement of bodies, to place those which
are resembling in contiguity to each other, or at
least in correspondent points of view; because
we feel a satisfaction in joining the relation of
contiguity to that of resemblance, or the resem-
blance of situation to that of qualities. And this
is easily accounted for from the known proper-
ties of human nature. When the mind is de-
termined to join certain objects, but undeter-
mined in its choice of the particular objects, It
naturally turns its eye to such as are related to-
gether. They are already united in the mind:

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