Full Idea
We have to progress from the general to the particular, because whole entities are more intelligible to the senses, and anything general is a kind of whole, in the sense that it includes a number of things which we could call its parts.
Gist of Idea
We first sense whole entities, and then move to particular parts of it
Source
Aristotle (Physics [c.337 BCE], 184a22)
Book Reference
Aristotle: 'Physics', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [OUP 1996], p.9
A Reaction
This is the first step in the process of abstraction, which Aristotle describes further in Posterior Analytics. It is common sense that a child will be aware of a horse before it is aware of its hoof, or its colour, or its strength.