Brownthusillustratesthegravitationofthe’common-sense’philosophytopureempiricism。HewasthelastinthegenuinelineofScottishcommon-sensephilosophers。WhenafterwhatmaybecalledtheunphilosophicalinterregnumwhichfollowedBrown’sdeath,Hamiltonbecameprofessor,theScottishtraditionwasblendedwiththeverydifferenttheoriesderivedfromKant。UponBrown’sversion,theScottishphilosophyhadvirtuallydeclareditselfbankrupt。Thesubstanceofhisteachingwasthatoftheveryschoolwhichhispredecessorshadattemptedtoconfute,carefullyasthefactmightbehiddenbydexterousrhetoricandmanipulationoftechnicalterms。HeagreeswithHume’spremises,andadoptsthemethodofCondillac,thiswasperceivedbyhismostremarkablehearer。CarlylewenttoEdinburghattheendof1809。Brown,’aneloquent,acutelittlegentleman,fullofenthusiasmaboutsimplesuggestions,relative,etc。,was’utterlyunprofitable’tohim,disspiriting,astheautumnwindsamongwitheredleaves。’41InSignsoftheTimes1829
CarlylegavehisviewoftheScottishphilosophygenerally。Theyhad,hesays,startedfromthe’mechanical’premisessuggestedbyHume。’theyletlooseinstinctasanindiscriminatorybandogtoguardthemagainsthis
conclusions’;’theytuggedlustilyatthelogicalchainbywhichHumewassocoldlytowingthemandtheworldintobottomlessabyssesofAtheismandFatalism,Butthechainsomehowsnappedbetweenthem,andtheissuehasbeenthatnobodynowcaresabouteither——anymorethanaboutHartley’s,Darwin’s,orPriestley’scontemporaneousdoingsinEngland。’42Thejudgmentgoestotherootofthematter。ThemethodofReidinevitablyledtothisresult。Considerthephilosophyasbasedupon,ifnotidenticalwith,aninductivescienceofpsychology,andtheendisclear。Youmaystudyandanalysethephenomenaascarefullyasyouplease;andmay,astheScottishprofessorsdid,produce,ifnotascientificpsychology,yetamassofacuteprolegomenatoascience。Buttheanalysiscanonlyrevealtheactualcombinations,chemicalormechanical,ofthought,theultimateprincipleswhichtheteachersprofesstodiscoveraresimplyprovisional;
productsnotyetanalysed,butnotthereforeincapableofanalysis。Itwasverydesirabletopointthemout:aninsistenceupontheinsufficiencyofHume’sorCondillac’stheorieswasamostvaluableservice;butitwasvaluablepreciselybecauseeveryindicationofsuchanunresolvedelementwasachallengetothenextcomertoresolveitbycloseranalysis。Andthus,infact,theintuitions,whichhadplayedsogreatapartwithReid,comeinBrown’shandstobesoclearlylimitedtothematerialsgivenbysensationorexperiencethatanyshowof’philosophy,’meaninganindependenttheoryoftheuniverse,wasanillusorycombinationoffinephrases。43
II。JAMESMILL’S’ANALYSIS’
JamesMill’sAnalysisofthePhenomenaoftheHumanMindisontheonehandanexpositionoftheprinciplesimpliedinBentham’swritings,and,ontheotherhand,astatementofthepositionfromwhichtheyoungerMillstarted。J。S。
Milldiscussedthebookwithhisfatherduringitscomposition,andin1869hepublishedanewedition,withelaboratenotesbyhimself,GeorgeGrote,ProfessorBain,andAndrewFindlater,44thecommentaryisofgreatimportanceindefiningtherelationbetweenthetwosuccessorstothethroneofBentham。
Mill’sAnalysis,thoughnotwidelyread,madeadeepimpressionuponMill’sowndisciples。Itisterse,trenchant,anduncompromising。ItremindsusinpointofstyleoftheFrenchwriters,withwhomhesympathised,ratherthanoftheEnglishpredecessors,towhommuchofthesubstancewasowing。ThediscursiverhetoricofBrownorStewartisreplacedbygood,hard,sinewylogic。Thewriterisplainlyinearnest。Ifoverconfident,hehasnopettyvanity,andatleastbelieveseverywordthathesays。Certainlimitationsareatonceobvious。Mill,asapublicist,ahistorian,andabusyofficial,hadnothadmuchtimetospareforpurelyphilosophicreading。Hewasnotaprofessorinwantofasystem,butanenergeticmanofbusiness,wishingtostrikeattherootofthesuperstitionstowhichhispoliticalopponentsappealedforsupport。HehadheardofKant,andseenwhat’thepoormanwouldbeat。’
LaterGermansystems,hadheheardofthem,wouldhavebeensummarilyrejectedbyhimassomuchtranscendentalmoonshine。Theproblemofphilosophywas,heheld,averysimpleone,ifattackedinastraightforward,scientificmethod。
Mill,likehisScottishrivals,applies’Baconian’principles。Theinductivemethod,whichhadalreadybeensofruitfulinthephysicalsciences,willbeequallyeffectiveinphilosophy,andeversinceLocke,philosophyhadmeantpsychology,the’philosophyofthemind’andthephilosophyofthebodymaybetreatedasco-ordinateandinvestigatedbysimilarmethods,inthephysicalscienceswecomeultimatelytothelawsofmovementoftheirconstituentatoms。
Inthemoralscienceswecomeinthesamewaytothestudyof’ideas,’
thequestions,Howdoideasoriginate?andhowaretheycombinedsoastoformtheactualstateofconsciousness?arethereforethegeneralproblemstobesolved。Humehaddefinitelyproposedtheproblem。HartleyhadworkedoutthetheoryofassociationofideaswhichHumehadalreadycompared45totheuniversalprincipleofgravitationinthephysicalworld;andhadendeavouredtoshowhowthismightbeconnectedwithphysiologicalprinciples。
Hartley’sfollowershadbeencontenttodwelluponthepowerofassociation。
AbrahamTucker,Priestley,ErasmusDarwin,andBelshamrepresentedthistendency,andwerethenormalantagonistsofReidandStewart。InFrancethe’ideologists’mainlyfollowedCondillac,andapparentlyknewnothingofHartley。Mill,ashissontestifies,hadbeenprofoundlyinfluencedbyHartley’streatise——the’reallymaster-production,’asheesteemedit,’inthephilosophyofmind。’46Hartley’swork,astheyoungerMillthought,andtheelderapparentlyagreed,wasverysuperiortothe’merelyverbalgeneralisationofCondillac。’JamesMill,however,admiredCondillacandhissuccessors。Inhisarticleuponeducation,MilltracestheassociationtheorytoHobbes,Locke,andHume,thelastofwhom,hesays,wassucceededbythetwo’moresober-minded’philosophers,CondillacandHartley;whileheespeciallypraisesErasmusDarwin,Helvé;tius,andCabanis。Mill,therefore,mayberegardedasanindependentallyoftheideologistswhoseinfluenceuponBrownhasbeenalreadynoticed。MillhadnotreadBrown’sLectureswhenhebeganhisAnalysis,andafterreadingthemthoughtBrown’butpoorlyreadinthedoctrineofassociation。’47Hehad,however,readtheessayuponcausation,whichheratheroddlydescribesas’oneofthemostvaluablecontributionstoscienceforwhichweareindebtedtothelastgeneration。’48HeacceptedBrown’sviewminusthe’intuition。’
ThepithofMill’sbookisthusdetermined。Hisaimistogiveacompleteanalysisofmentalphenomena,andthereforetoresolvethosephenomenaintotheirprimitiveconstituentatoms。Herewehaveatonceatacitassumptionwhichgovernshismethod。
Philosophy,speakingroughly,isbysomepeoplesupposedtostartfromtruths,andthustobeinsomewayanevolutionoflogic。AccordingtoMillitmuststartfromfacts,andthereforefromsomethingnotgivenbylogic。Tostateclearly,indeed,therelationbetweentruthandfactmaysuggestveryintricateproblems。Mill,atanyrate,mustfindabasisinfact,andforhimtheultimatefactsmustbefeelings。Therealityatleastofafeelingisundeniable。ThePenserc’estsentir。orthedoctrinethatall’ideas’aretransformedsensationsishisstarting-point。Theword’feeling,’accordingtohim,includesevery’phenomenonofthemind。’’think,’
hesayselsewhere,49doesnotincludeallourexperience,but’thereisnothingtowhichwecouldnotextendtheterm”Ifeel。”’Heproceedstoinferthatourexperienceiseitheraknowledgeofthefeelingsseparately,or’aknowledgeoftheorderinwhichtheyfolloweachother;andthisisall。’Wemayaddthattheknowledgeisthefeeling,Reid,Kant,andtheGermanshaveindeedtriedtoshowthattherearefeelingsnotderivedfromthesensations,butthis,asHartleyandCondillachaveshown,isamistake。Thisishisfirstprincipleinanutshell,andmustgiveacluetothevariousapplications。
Thenextstepisfamiliar。
Humehaddistinguishedimpressionsandideas。’Ideas’arecopiesofprevious’impressions。’Itisforpsychologytosaywhatarethelawsbywhichtheyarerelatedtotheiroriginals。Theultimateorigincannotbeexplainedbypsychologyalone。Impressionsarecausedbytheoutwardworldactinginsomewayuponthemindandthepsychologistcanonlyclassifythevariousmodesinwhichtheypresentthemselves。Millthereforebeginsbytheusualaccountofthefivesenses,throughwhichcomesallknowledgeoftheexternalworld。HeaddstoReid’slistmuscularsensations,andthosederivedfromtheinternalorgans,towhichlastCabanisinparticularhadcalledattention。
Sofarheisfollowingthestepsofhispredecessors。Heis,hesays,simplyassertingan’indisputable’fact。50Wehavesensationsandwehaveideas,whichare’copiesofsensations。’Wemaythenconsiderhowfarthesefactswillenableustoexplainthewholeseriesofmentalphenomena。
’Ideation,’whichhesuggestsasanewword——theprocessbywhichacontinuousseriesofthoughtsgoesoninourminds——isthegeneralphenomenontobeconsidered。Without,asyet,pronouncingthatsensationsandcopiesofsensationswillturnouttoformthewholecontentsofourconsciousness,hetriestoshowforwhatpartofthosecontentstheywillaccount。
Herewecometothedoctrinewhichforhimandhisschoolgavethekeytoallpsychologicalproblems。
ItwasJamesMill’srealmerit,accordingtohisson,thathecarriedtheprincipleofassociationofideasfurtherthanithadbeencarriedbyHartleyorotherpredecessors。51Theimportanceofthedoctrine,indeed,isimpliedintheverystatementoftheproblem。Ifitbetrue,orsofarasitistrue,thatourconsciousnessrevealstoussimplyaseriesof’sensations’and’ideas,’thequestionmustbehowtheyarecombined。’thoughtsucceedsthought,ideafollowsideaincessantly,’52saysMill;
andthisphraseassumes’thoughtsandideas’tobeseparableatoms。How,then,dotheycometocoalesceintoanapparentlycontinuousstream?Themindisastreamof’ideas。’Ifthestreamiscomposedofdrops,wemust,ofcourse,considerthedropsascomposingthestream。Thequestionis,Whatlawscanweassignwhichwilldeterminetheprocessofcomposition?
thephrase’association’admittedlyexpressessomegeneralandveryfamiliartruths。Innumerableconnectionsmaybeestablishedwhenthereisnoassignablegroundofconnectionintheideasthemselvesotherthanthefactofapreviouscontact。Oneideanotonlycallsuptheother,butinsomewaygeneratesabeliefinanindependentconnection。Wehearthunder,forexample,andthinkoflightning。Thetwoideasareentirelydistinctandseparate,fortheyareduetodifferentsenses。Yetwenotonlythinkoflightningwhenwehearthunder,butwehavenodoubtthatthereisacausalconnection。
Webelieveinthisconnection,again,thoughnofurtherexplanationcanbegivenofthefact。Thunderandlightninghaveoccurredtogether,andweinferthattheywill,andevenmust,occurtogether。Whenweexamineourwholestructureofbelief,wefindsuch’arbitrary’associationspervadeitineverydirection。Languageitselfislearnedsimplybyassociation。
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