Index for Chapter VI - Of Universal Propositions: their Truth and Certainty

1. Treating of words necessary to knowledge.

2. General truths hardly to be understood, but in verbal propositions.

3. Certainty twofold- of truth and of knowledge.

4. No proposition can be certainly known to be true, where the real essence of each species mentioned is not known.

5. This more particularly concerns substances.

6. The truth of few universal propositions concerning substances is to be known.

7. Because necessary co-existence of simple ideas in substances can in few cases be known.

8. Instance in gold.

9. No discoverable necessary connexion between nominal essence of gold and other simple ideas.

10. As far as any such co-existence can be known, so far universal propositions may be certain.

11. The qualities which make our complex ideas of substances depend mostly on external, remote, and unperceived causes.

12. Our nominal essences of substances furnish few universal propositions about them that are certain.

13. Judgment of probability concerning substances may reach further:

14. What is requisite for our knowledge of substances.

15. Whilst our complex ideas of substances contain not ideas of their real constitutions, we can make but few general certain propositions concerning them.

16. Wherein lies the general certainty of propositions.