Idea

Mind soul and inward powers · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A conceived figure understood as an enduring pattern.

In the book. Imaginatio is described as a star in a person and as a celestial and supercelestial body.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 26; facsimile PDF page 354.

Historical Definition

Idea is a figure conceived in imagination as a perpetual being, or a pattern of all things of that nature.

Meaning

The definition connects a figure in imagination with a pattern extending to things of the same nature. It is broader than a passing casual thought. The phrase “perpetual being” gives the conceived figure an enduring character within this account, without explaining the manner of that endurance.

The alternative “or a pattern” is an important aid to reading. It directs attention from one imagined example to a form by which a kind of thing can be understood. The dictionary does not identify a particular figure or state how it is acquired.

Use in the Book

Imaginatio is described as a star in a person and as a celestial and supercelestial body. Formæ rerum gives a different account of forms through celestial influences or virtues. These connections show a philosophical vocabulary of pattern, faculty and efficacy, but the entries should not be collapsed into one definition of a modern mental state.

Places to Read

Formæ rerum. Forms explained through received celestial influences or active virtues.

Imaginatio. Imagination described through human, celestial and supercelestial relations.

In This Edition

The edition retains the strong historical language of enduring being and pattern. It does not replace it with a claim that every personal image determines the nature of external objects.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 26; facsimile PDF page 354 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary 1650, s.v. Idea

See also. Formæ rerum; Imaginatio