Whether a bat be a bird or no, is not a
question, Whether a bat be another thing than indeed it is, or have
other qualities than indeed it has; for that would be extremely absurd
to doubt of. But the question is, (1) Either between those that
acknowledged themselves to have but imperfect ideas of one or both
of this sort of things, for which these names are supposed to stand.
And then it is a real inquiry concerning the nature of a bird or a
bat, to make their yet imperfect ideas of it more complete; by
examining whether all the simple ideas to which, combined together,
they both give the name bird, be all to be found in a bat: but this is
a question only of inquirers (not disputers) who neither affirm nor
deny, but examine: Or, (2) It is a question between disputants;
whereof the one affirms, and the other denies that a bat is a bird.
And then the question is barely about the signification of one or both
these words; in that they not having both the same complex ideas to
which they give these two names, one holds and the other denies,
that these two names may be affirmed one of another. Were they
agreed in the signification of these two names, it were impossible
they should dispute about them. For they would presently and clearly
see (were that adjusted between them), whether all the simple ideas of
the more general name bird were found in the complex idea of a bat
or no; and so there could be no doubt whether a bat were a bird or no.
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