登陆注册
5363200000105

第105章

Newton was of opinion that matter was made up, in the last resort, of exceedingly small solid particles, having no pores, or empty spaces within them. Priestley, in his Disquisitions relating to Matter and Spirit, carries the theory one step farther; and, as Newton surrounds his exceedingly small particles with spheres of attraction and repulsion, precluding in all cases their actual contact, Priestley is disposed to regard the centre of these spheres as mathematical points only. If there is no actual contact, then by the very terms no two particles of matter were ever so near to each other, but that they might be brought nearer, if a sufficient force could be applied for that purpose.

You had only another sphere of repulsion to conquer; and, as there never is actual contact, the whole world is made up of one sphere of repulsion after another, without the possibility of ever arriving at an end.

"The principles of the Newtonian philosophy," says our author, "were no sooner known, than it was seen how few in comparison, of the phenomena of nature, were owing to solid matter, and how much to powers, which were only supposed to accompany and surround the solid parts of matter. It has been asserted, and the assertion has never been disproved, that for any thing we know to the contrary, all the solid matter in the solar system might be contained within a nutshell[45]."

[45] Priestley, Disquisitions, Section II. I know not by whom this illustration was first employed. Among other authors, I find, in Fielding (Joseph Andrews, Book II, Chap. II), a sect of philosophers spoken of, who "can reduce all the matter of the world into a nutshell."

It is then with senses, from the impressions upon which we are impelled to draw such false conclusions, and that present us with images altogether unlike any thing that exists out of ourselves, that we come to observe the phenomena of what we call the universe. The first observation that it is here incumbent on us to make, and which we ought to keep ever at hand, to be applied as occasion may offer, is the well known aphorism of Socrates, that "we know only this, that we know nothing." We have no compass to guide us through the pathless waters of science; we have no revelation, at least on the subject of astronomy, and of the unnumbered inhabitable worlds that float in the ocean of ether; and we are bound therefore to sail, as the mariners of ancient times sailed, always within sight of land. One of the earliest maxims of ordinary prudence, is that we ought ever to correct the reports of one sense by the assistance of another sense. The things we here speak of are not matters of faith; and in them therefore it is but reason, that we should imitate the conduct of Didymus the apostle, who said, "Except I put my fingers into the prints of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." My eyes report to me an object, as having a certain magnitude, texture, and roughness or smoothness; but I require that my hands should confirm to me the evidence of my eyes. I see something that appears to be an island at an uncertain distance from the shore; but, if I am actuated by a laudable curiosity, and wish to possess a real knowledge, I take a boat, and proceed to ascertain by nearer inspection, whether that which I imagined to be an island is an island or no.

There are indeed many objects with which we are conversant, that are in so various ways similar to each other, that, after having carefully examined a few, we are satisfied upon slighter investigation to admit the dimensions and character of others.

Thus, having measured with a quadrant the height of a tower, and found on the narrowest search and comparison that the report of my instrument was right, I yield credit to this process in another instance, without being at the trouble to verify its results in any more elaborate method.

The reason why we admit the inference flowing from our examination in the second instance, and so onward, with less scrupulosity and scepticism than in the first, is that there is a strict resemblance and analogy in the two cases. Experience is the basis of our conclusions and our conduct. I strike against a given object, a nail for example, with a certain degree of force, because I have remarked in myself and others the effect of such a stroke. I take food and masticate it, because I have found that this process contributes to the sound condition of my body and mind. I scatter certain seeds in my field, and discharge the other functions of an agriculturist, because I have observed that in due time the result of this industry is a crop. All the propriety of these proceedings depends upon the exact analogy between the old case and the new one. The state of the affair is still the same, when my business is merely that of an observer and a traveller. I know water from earth, land from sea, and mountains from vallies, because I have had experience of these objects, and confidently infer that, when certain appearances present themselves to my organs of sight, I shall find the same results to all my other senses, as I found when such appearances occurred to me before.

But the interval that divides the objects which occur upon and under the earth, and are accessible in all ways to our examination, on the one hand, and the lights which are suspended over our heads in the heavens on the other, is of the broadest and most memorable nature. Human beings, in the infancy of the world, were contented reverently to behold these in their calmness and beauty, perhaps to worship them, and to remark the effects that they produced, or seemed to produce, upon man and the subjects of his industry. But they did not aspire to measure their dimensions, to enquire into their internal frame, or to explain the uses, far removed from our sphere of existence, which they might be intended to serve.

同类推荐
  • The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

    The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 净土全书

    净土全书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • On Our Selection

    On Our Selection

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 玄风庆会录

    玄风庆会录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Dhammapada

    The Dhammapada

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • Poison Most Vial

    Poison Most Vial

    Murder in the lab! The famous forensic scientist Dr. Ramachandran is stone-cold dead, and Ruby Rose's father is the prime suspect. It's one more reason for Ruby to hate the Gardens, the funky urban neighborhood to which she has been transplanted. Wise but shy, artistic but an outsider, Ruby must marshal everything and everyone she can to help solve the mystery and prove her father didn't poison his boss. Everyone? The list isn't too long: there's T. Rex, Ruby's big, goofy but goodhearted friend; maybe those other two weird kids from class; and that mysterious old lady in the apartment upstairs, who seems to know a lot about chemistry … which could come in very wkkk.net for Poison Most Vial“Carey mixes toxic chemistry and logic problems in his second middle-grade mystery to good, if not great effect. Budding chemists and crime-scene investigators will especially enjoy this science whodunit."
  • 傲世圣王

    傲世圣王

    我爱的人,谁也不能动。要是你动了,不好意思,杀!我要杀的人,谁也不能阻,要是你阻了,不好意思,死!踏大陆,战群雄。斗神明,傲天下!
  • 大神,别抢我人头!

    大神,别抢我人头!

    [甜宠无虐小清新,温馨蜜汁小甜饼]我的意中人是个盖世大狗比,打我的野、偷我的buff、拿我的人头、抢我的MVP、还朝我笑嘻嘻。顾漓曾经是个王者,后来翻船翻进了苏白这条阴沟沟里,从此衰出天际。“小姐姐,给个红好吗?”“小姐姐,让个蓝好吗?”“小姐姐,我想要人头~”顾漓一忍再忍,直到忍无可忍,顺着网线爬过去打苏白的时候,却发现对方是个披着羊皮的西伯利亚大尾巴狼!从此撩,撩,撩不停。
  • 等不到海潮退去时

    等不到海潮退去时

    二十二岁,顾梓喻失去了刻骨铭心的初恋,从此一蹶不振。四年后,她偶遇沈江然,那双墨眸成了两人之间纠缠不清的缘分。沈江然如一束火,既温暖她也灼烧她,她和沈江然谈公平,他却说“我爱你,不论公平。”
  • 生存岛(二)

    生存岛(二)

    阴历七月初三阴终于抵达生存岛了,这几天天总是阴沉沉的,传说岛上埋藏着很久以前一位公主陪嫁的宝藏,不知道是不是真的。在接下来的几天里,会有怎样的挑战迎接我们呢……阿良合上日记本,把行李箱随便放在了一旁,舒舒服服地躺在了旅店房间里。这时“砰”地一声,门开了。进来的是阿良的同学,吴雯葶。“别这么衰的样子,后天就是生存能力的挑战了,我们可不能输给别的组啊!”雯葶一进来就拍了阿良肩膀一下。“哼!你以为我愿意来这个鸟不拉屎的地方啊,要不是你……”说到这里,阿良赌气地闭上了眼。
  • 兄弟日

    兄弟日

    世界上有很多节日,有父亲的,母亲的,恋人的……却唯独没有兄弟的。这个故事串联了关于两个家,四个兄弟姐妹之间的恩怨纠葛。这段从离别到相聚的日子……我们叫它——《兄弟日》。
  • 寒冬里那丝暖意

    寒冬里那丝暖意

    《寒冬里那丝暖意》从作者孙瑞林已发表的故事中精选出45篇,每篇作品都以灵动的笔触和质朴的语言,讲述一个洞彻人心灵的故事。这些故事都是以真实的生活为基础,把深奥的人生道理,融入跌宕起伏的情节变化之中,让读者在潜移默化中,心灵得以滋养,情感得以温暖。本书的故事中有你、有我也有他,只要你翻开它,就会从中找到自己的影子。《寒冬里那丝暖意》的每篇作品都犹如一杯咖啡,让你从中品味出幽香深远的韵味。
  • 烤焦疑问

    烤焦疑问

    蔡波赶到迎宾山庄时看了一眼手表:午夜两点零五分。迎宾山庄悄没声息,这种时候别说人,鬼都跑去睡了。但是最靠水边的两幢别墅还有灯,楼上楼下一片通明。这一片别墅区位于湖边。湖呈月牙形,名字就叫“月湖”。月湖四周绿树环绕,绿树旁射灯耀眼。灯光投在湖面上,湖水轻摇,闪着寒光。除湖畔两幢别墅外,其他小楼座座黑暗,窗子里边没一盏灯光,只有楼角壁灯与别墅间的路灯相接,连成一线照亮空无一人的林阴道。蔡波吩咐:“轻点声。”轿车悄悄滑向亮灯的别墅。林文祺在房间里等候。
  • 也曾陪你渡凡尘

    也曾陪你渡凡尘

    人的爱情真的会随着心脏而转移吗?白雨,你爱的到底是我,还是我的身体里那可跳动的沈非墨的心?!如果我付出一切,我的骨髓,我的心脏......你,能爱我吗?......她用了最大的恶意去揣测一片真心,她以为是他没有感情,自私冷漠。其实她才是那个冥顽不化的人,她从来没有选择相信过他。从来没有。自己就像一滴墨水,弄脏了他干净的城池。但他却像温泉一样,源源不断地温暖她,净化她,从未抱怨过一句。穆尘,我们之间,能有一个圆满的结局吗?--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 三世明月:不成仙便为魔

    三世明月:不成仙便为魔

    三世轮回谁知孰轻孰重?仙与魔不过一念之差,她非仙亦非魔,却纵横三界。世人都说神仙好,而她眼中所谓的神仙不过是披着普度众生的私心邪魔!这难道是她三观不正吗?她说:“魔有什么不好?世间万物生灵皆有情,我就是喜欢这万丈红尘。”他说:“月儿成魔我便随之,你们这些道貌岸然的神仙不配和她相提并论!”就连可爱的、不!威武的小神兽也表示当个魔兽还不赖!