For  example,  when  we  think  that  it  is  impossible  to  make  any
thing  out  of  nothing,  we  do  not  imagine  that  this  proposition  is
a  thing  which  exists,  or  a  property  of  something,  but  we  take
it  for  a  certain  eternal  truth,  which  lias  its  seat  in  the  mind
(pcnsee),  and  is  called  a  common  notion  or  an  axiom.  Similarly,
when  we  alii  nil  that  it  is  impossible  that  one  and  the  same  thing
should  exist  and  not  exist  at  the  same  time  ;  that  that  which
has  been  created  should  not  have  been  created  ;  that  he  who
thinks  must  exist  while  he  thinks  ;  and  a  number  of  other  like
propositions  ;  these  are  only  truths,  and  not  things  which  exist
outside  our  thoughts.  And  there  i«  such  a  number  of  these  that
it  would  be  wearisome  to  enumerate  them  :  nor  is  it  necessary  to
do  so,  because  we  cannot  fail  to  know  them  when  the  occasion
of  thinking  about  them  presents  itself,  and  we  are  not  blinded
by  any  prejudices."

It  would  appear  that  Locke  was  not  more
familiar  with  Descartes'  writings  than  Hume
seems  to  have  been ;  for,  viewed  in  relation  to
the  passages  just  cited,  the  arguments  adduced  in


102  HUME


III


his  famous  polemic  against  innate  ideas  are  totally
irrelevant.
