E4P9S
Scholium — Part IV
Latin
Cum supra in propositione 18 partis III dixerim nos ex rei futuræ vel præteritæ imagine eodem affectu affici ac si res quam imaginamur præsens esset, expresse monui id verum esse quatenus ad solam ipsius rei imaginem attendimus; est enim ejusdem naturæ sive res ut præsentes imaginati simus sive non simus sed non negavi eandem debiliorem reddi quando alias res nobis præsentes contemplamur quæ rei futuræ præsentem existentiam secludunt, quod tum monere neglexi quia in hac parte de affectuum viribus agere constitueram.
English (Elwes 1883)
When I said above in III. xviii. that we are affected by the image of what is past or future with the same emotion as if the thing conceived were present, I expressly stated, that this is only true in so far as we look solely to the image of the thing in question itself; for the thing's nature is unchanged, whether we have conceived it or not; I did not deny that the image becomes weaker, when we regard as present to us other things which exclude the present existence of the future object: I did not expressly call attention to the fact, because I purposed to treat of the strength of the emotions in this part of my work.
Modern English
When I said above in E3P18 that we are affected by the image of something past or future with the same affect as if the thing we imagine were present, I expressly noted that this holds only insofar as we attend to the image of the thing itself alone — for the image is the same in nature whether we imagine the things as present or not. I did not, however, deny that the image becomes weaker when we contemplate other things that are present to us that exclude the future existence of the thing in question. I neglected to call attention to that point then because I had decided to treat of the forces of the affects in this part.