登陆注册
5363200000121

第121章

Observe then the difference between my acquaintance with the phenomena of the material universe, and with the individuals of my own species. The former say nothing to me; they are a series of events and no more; I cannot penetrate into their causes; that which gives rise to my sensations, may or may not be similar to the sensations themselves. The follower of Berkeley or Newton has satisfied himself in the negative.

But the case is very different in my intercourse with my fellow-men. Agreeably to the statement already made I know the reality of human nature; for I feel the particulars that constitute it within myself. The impressions I receive from that intercourse say something to me; for they talk to me of beings like myself. My own existence becomes multiplied in infinitum.

Of the possibility of matter I know nothing; but with the possibility of mind I am acquainted; for I am myself an example.

I am amazed at the consistency and systematic succession of the phenomena of the material universe; though I cannot penetrate the veil which presents itself to my grosser sense, nor see effects in their causes. But I can see, in other words, I have the most cogent reasons to believe in, the causes of the phenomena that occur in my apparent intercourse with my fellow-men. What solution so natural, as that they are produced by beings like myself, the duplicates, with certain variations, of what I feel within me?

The belief in the reality of matter explains nothing. Supposing it to exist, if Newton is right, no particle of extraneous matter ever touched the matter of my body; and therefore it is not just to regard it as the cause of my sensations. It would amount to no more than two systems going on at the same time by a preestablished harmony, but totally independent of and disjointed from each other.

But the belief in the existence of our fellow-men explains much.

It makes level before us the wonder of the method of their proceedings, and affords an obvious reason why they should be in so many respects like our own. If I dismiss from my creed the existence of inert matter, I lose nothing. The phenomena, the train of antecedents and consequents, remain as before; and this is all that I am truly concerned with. But take away the existence of my fellow-men; and you reduce all that is, and all that I experience, to a senseless mummery. "You take my life, taking the thing whereon I live."

Human nature, and the nature of mind, are to us a theme of endless investigation. "The proper study of mankind is man."

All the subtlety of metaphysics, or (if there be men captious and prejudiced enough to dislike that term) the science of ourselves, depends upon it. The science of morals hangs upon the actions of men, and the effects they produce upon our brother-men, in a narrower or a wider circle. The endless, and inexpressibly interesting, roll of history relies for its meaning and its spirit upon the reality and substance of the subjects of which it treats. Poetry, and all the wonders and endless varieties that imagination creates, have this for their solution and their soul.

Sympathy is the only reality of which we are susceptible; it is our heart of hearts: and, if the world had been "one entire and perfect chrysolite," without this it would have been no more than one heap of rubbish.

Observe the difference between what we know of the material world, and what of the intellectual. The material goes on for ever according to certain laws that admit of no discrimination.

They proceed upon a first principle, an impulse given them from the beginning of things. Their effects are regulated by something that we call their nature: fire burns; water suffocates; the substances around us that we call solid, depend for their effects, when put in motion, upon momentum and gravity.

The principle that regulates the dead universe, "acts by general, not by partial laws."

When the loose mountain trembles from on high, Shall gravitation cease, if you go by?

No: the chain of antecedents and consequents proceeds in this respect for ever the same. The laws of what we call the material world continue unvaried. And, when the vast system of things was first set in motion, every thing, so far as depends on inert matter, was determined to the minutest particle, even to the end of time.

The material world, or that train of antecedents and consequents which we understand by that term, goes on for ever in a train agreeably to the impulse previously given. It is deaf and inexorable. It is unmoved by the consideration of any accidents and miseries that may result, and unalterable. But man is a source of events of a very different nature. He looks to results, and is governed by views growing out of the contemplation of them. He acts in a way diametrically opposite to the action of inert matter, and "turns, and turns, and turns again," at the impulse of the thought that strikes him, the appetite that prompts, the passions that move, and the effects that he anticipates. It is therefore in a high degree unreasonable, to make that train of inferences which may satisfy us on the subject of material phenomena, a standard of what we ought to think respecting the phenomena of mind.

It is further worthy of our notice to recollect, that the same reasonings which apply to our brethren of mankind, apply also to the brute creation. They, like ourselves, act from motives; that is, the elections they form are adopted by them for the sake of certain consequences they expect to see result from them.

Whatever becomes therefore of the phenomena of what we call dead matter, we are here presented with tribes of being, susceptible of pleasure and pain, of hope and fear, of regard and resentment.

How beautifully does this conviction vary the scene of things!

同类推荐
  • The Voyage Out

    The Voyage Out

    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。
  • 明季荷兰人侵据彭湖残档

    明季荷兰人侵据彭湖残档

    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。
  • 知言

    知言

    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。
  • 续灯存稿

    续灯存稿

    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。
  • 佛三身赞

    佛三身赞

    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
  • 武界之歌

    武界之歌

    武衍天道,玄科双幻,道之天骄神所眷,破碎灵源厉修难。斑驳断剑锁条链,化鳞腾云武界临。云飞传说,武界之歌!
  • 弊魔试目连经

    弊魔试目连经

    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。
  • 不死武神

    不死武神

    蛮荒小镇废材少年,葬父传承神秘血脉,踏上强者之路。窥过绝世娇颜,骗过倾城女神。怒,可焚城灭族,战绝世强者。坏,能坑蒙拐骗,令天之骄女归心。霸,我为尊,不服来战。
  • 任光禄竹溪记

    任光禄竹溪记

    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。
  • 末世空间之执手

    末世空间之执手

    末世来了,丧尸遍地。安晓第一时间觉醒了异能,有空间有系统。安晓本来以为她能跟小说里的玛丽苏女主一样,在末世里称王称霸。不过遗憾地是这一切都是幻想,安晓的空间既没有灵泉也不能种田,甚至连最基本的储存物资都做不到,只有一条臭气熏天臭水沟。至于系统更是一个废柴的污水处理系统。安晓握爪既然一切都靠不住还是抱紧顾准哥哥的大腿才是正经!
  • 至尊雷体

    至尊雷体

    少年一朝出临海,携刀战天下。赴五年之约,踏各路天骄。灭超级势力,战顶级大能。一步一荆棘,一步一血印。且看冷锋如何步步踏向巅峰。
  • 广岛之恋

    广岛之恋

    《广岛之恋》是杜拉斯为同名电影的拍摄而创作的电影脚本,是她最著名的代表作之一,讲述在日本拍戏的法国女演员与日本建筑师的异国恋情,穿插遭遇原子弹的广岛和二战时期女演员少女时代在法国小城纳韦尔与德国士兵的爱情悲剧。
  • 妾身惶恐

    妾身惶恐

    男主是猫,女主是鼠,这是一个猫捉老鼠的故事……谢樱樱像是一只双目赤红的兽,不看前方满路荆棘,不看左右风景如画,更不回头看走过的泥泞,她只是不停地往前走,被打着往前走,被逼着往前走,最后终于自己站起来往前走。
  • 极品女配好威武

    极品女配好威武

    “秋怡贞,女,23岁,未婚,父母双亡,现居S市,X大毕业后一直闲赋在家。”秋怡贞仔细的听声音的来源后发现声音是直接传到脑中的,有点类似于无线电的感觉,冰冷的机械音在准确的说出自己的身份信息时,秋怡贞就已经相信它是经常出现在各种小说中的任务系统了。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 荒野幸运神

    荒野幸运神

    一穿越,就遇到一场飞机劫难,幸运不死流落到一个荒岛。就在叶天为生存发愁的时候,幸运天神系统开启,幸运+99999!顿时叶天牛逼了,在常人无法生存的荒野,叶天却是要风得风,要雨得雨。一个集才华、美貌、牛逼、装逼、还有点污的主播进入了无数人的视野....走上了一条前所未有的直播之神道路。新书《我被降维打击了》,起点中文网首发!