The works of Thomas Reid - v. 4 Author:Thomas Reid Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: ESSAY III. OF THE PRINCIPLES OF ACTION. PART II. OF ANIMAL PRINCIPLES OF ACTION. CHAP. I. OF APPETITES. Having diseoursed of the meehanieal prine... more »iples of aetion, I proeeed to eonsider those I ealled animal. They are sueh as operate upon the will and intention, but do not suppose any exereise of judgment or reason ; and are most of them to be found in some brute animals, as well as in man. In this elass, the first kind I shall eall appetites, taking that word in a strieter sense than it is sometimes taken, even by good writers. The word appetite is sometimes limited, so as to signify only the desire of food when we hunger; sometimes it is extended so as to signify any strong desire, whatever be its objeet. Without pretending to eensure any use of the word whieh eustom has authorized, I beg leave to limit it to a partieular elass of desires, whieh are distinguished from all others by the following marks. 1st, Every appetite is aeeompanied with an uneasy sensation proper to it, whieh is strong or weak, in proportion to the desire we have of the objeet. 2dly, Appetites are not eonstant, but periodieal, being sated by their objeets for a time, and returning after eertain periods. Sueh is the nature of those prineiples of aetion, to whieh I beg leave, in this Essay, to appropriate the name of appetites. Those that are ehiefly observable in man, as well as in most other animals, are hunger, thirst, and lust. If we attend to the appetite of hunger, we shall find in it two ingredients, an uneasy sensation and a desire to eat. The desire keeps paee with the sensation, and eeases when it eeases. When a man is sated with eating, both the uneasy sensation and the desire to eat eease for a time, and return after a eertain interval. So it is with other appetites. ...« less