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Full Idea
If all truths were necessary truths, there would be no occasion for different tenses in the verbs by which they are expressed.
Gist of Idea
The existence of tensed verbs shows that not all truths are necessary truths
Source
Thomas Reid (Essays on Intellectual Powers 6: Judgement [1785], 5)
Book Ref
Reid,Thomas: 'Inquiry and Essays', ed/tr. Beanblossom /K.Lehrer [Hackett 1983], p.266
A Reaction
This really is like modern linguistic analysis. Of course the tensed verbs might only indicate times when the universal necessities have been noticed by speakers. …But then the noticing would be contingent!
| 23653 | If you can't distinguish the features of a complex object, your notion of it would be a muddle [Reid] |
| 23655 | An ad hominem argument is good, if it is shown that the man's principles are inconsistent [Reid] |
| 23654 | In obscure matters the few must lead the many, but the many usually lead in common sense [Reid] |
| 23656 | The structure of languages reveals a uniformity in basic human opinions [Reid] |
| 23657 | The existence of tensed verbs shows that not all truths are necessary truths [Reid] |
| 23660 | The theory of ideas, popular with philosophers, means past existence has to be proved [Reid] |
| 23658 | Consciousness is an indefinable and unique operation [Reid] |
| 23659 | If someone denies that he is thinking when he is conscious of it, we can only laugh [Reid] |
| 23662 | The existence of ideas is no more obvious than the existence of external objects [Reid] |
| 23661 | We are only aware of other beings through our senses; without that, we are alone in the universe [Reid] |
| 23663 | There are axioms of taste - such as a general consensus about a beautiful face [Reid] |