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could be made to hold its tongue。







Medical materialism seems indeed a good appellation for the too



simple…minded system of thought which we are considering。 



Medical materialism finishes up Saint Paul by calling his vision



on the road to Damascus a discharging lesion of the occipital



cortex; he being an epileptic。  It snuffs out Saint Teresa as an



hysteric; Saint Francis of Assisi as an hereditary degenerate。 



George Fox's discontent with the shams of his age; and his pining



for spiritual veracity; it treats as a symptom of a disordered



colon。  Carlyle's organ…tones of misery it accounts for by a



gastro…duodenal catarrh。  All such mental overtensions; it says;



are; when you come to the bottom of the matter; mere affairs of



diathesis (auto…intoxications most probably); due to the



perverted action of various glands which physiology will yet



discover。  And medical materialism then thinks that the spiritual



authority of all such personages is successfully undermined。'2'







'2'  For a first…rate example of medical…materialist reasoning;



see an article on 〃les varietes du Type devot;〃 by Dr。 



Binet…Sangle; in the Revue de l'Hypnotisme; xiv。 161。















Let us ourselves look at the matter in the largest possible way。 



Modern psychology; finding definite psycho…physical connections



to hold good; assumes as a convenient hypothesis that the



dependence of mental states upon bodily conditions must be



thoroughgoing and complete。  If we adopt the assumption; then of



course what medical materialism insists on must be true in a



general way; if not in every detail:  Saint Paul certainly had



once an epileptoid; if not an epileptic seizure; George Fox was



an hereditary degenerate; Carlyle was undoubtedly



auto…intoxicated by some organ or other; no matter whichand the



rest。  But now; I ask you; how can such an existential account of



facts of mental history decide in one way or another upon their



spiritual significance?  According to the general postulate of



psychology just referred to; there is not a single one of our



states of mind; high or low; healthy or morbid; that has not some



organic process as its condition。  Scientific theories are



organically conditioned just as much as religious emotions are;



and if we only knew the facts intimately enough; we should



doubtless see 〃the liver〃 determining the dicta of the sturdy



atheist as decisively as it does those of the Methodist under



conviction anxious about his soul。  When it alters in one way the



blood that percolates it; we get the methodist; when in another



way; we get the atheist form of mind。  So of all our raptures and



our drynesses; our longings and pantings; our questions and



beliefs。  They are equally organically founded; be they religious



or of non…religious content。







To plead the organic causation of a religious state of  mind;



then; in refutation of its claim to possess superior spiritual



value; is quite illogical and arbitrary; unless one has



already worked out in advance some psycho…physical theory



connecting spiritual values in general with determinate sorts of



physiological change。  Otherwise none of our thoughts and



feelings; not even our scientific doctrines; not even our



DIS…beliefs; could retain any value as revelations of the truth;



for every one of them without exception flows from the state of



its possessor's body at the time。







It is needless to say that medical materialism draws in point of



fact no such sweeping skeptical conclusion。  It is sure; just as



every simple man is sure; that some states of mind are inwardly



superior to others; and reveal to us more truth; and in this it



simply makes use of an ordinary spiritual judgment。  It has no



physiological theory of the production of these its favorite



states; by which it may accredit them; and its attempt to



discredit the states which it dislikes; by vaguely associating



them with nerves and liver; and connecting them with names



connoting bodily affliction; is altogether illogical and



inconsistent。







Let us play fair in this whole matter; and be quite candid with



ourselves and with the facts。  When we think certain states of



mind superior to others; is it ever because of what we know



concerning their organic antecedents?  No! it is always for two



entirely different reasons。  It is either because we take an



immediate delight in them; or else it is because we believe them



to bring us good consequential fruits for life。  When we speak



disparagingly of 〃feverish fancies;〃 surely the fever…process as



such is not the ground of our disesteemfor aught we know to the



contrary; 103 degrees or 104 degrees Fahrenheit might be a much



more favorable temperature for truths to germinate and sprout in;



than the more ordinary blood…heat of 97 or 98 degrees。  It is



either the disagreeableness itself of the fancies; or their



inability to bear the criticisms of the convalescent hour。  When



we praise the thoughts which health brings; health's peculiar



chemical metabolisms have nothing to do with determining our



judgment。  We know in fact almost nothing about these



metabolisms。  It is the character of inner happiness in the



thoughts which stamps them as good; or else their consistency



with our other opinions and their serviceability for our needs;



which make them pass for true in our esteem。







Now the more intrinsic and the more remote of these criteria do



not always hang together。  Inner happiness and serviceability do



not always agree。  What immediately feels most 〃good〃 is not



always most 〃true;〃 when measured by the verdict of the rest of



experience。  The difference between Philip drunk and Philip sober



is the classic instance in corroboration。  If merely 〃feeling



good〃 could decide; drunkenness would be the supremely valid



human experience。  But its revelations; however acutely



satisfying at the moment; are inserted into an environment which



refuses to bear them out for any length of time。  The consequence



of this discrepancy of the two criteria is the uncertainty which



still prevails over so many of our spiritual judgments。  There



are moments of sentimental and mystical experiencewe shall



hereafter hear much of themthat carry an enormous sense of



inner authority and illumination with them when they come。  But



they come seldom; and they do not come to everyone; and the rest



of life makes either no connection with them; or tends to



contradict them more than it confirms them。  Some persons follow



more the voice of the moment in these cases; some prefer to be



guided by the average results。  Hence the sad discordancy of so



many of the spiritual judgments of human beings; a discordancy



which will be brought home to us acutely enough before these



lectures end。







It is; however; a discordancy that can never be resolved by any



merely medical test。  A good example of the impossibility of



holding strictly to the medical tests is seen in the theory of



the pathological causation of genius promulgated by recent



authors。  〃Genius;〃 said Dr。 Moreau; 〃is but one of the many



branches of the neuropathic tree。〃  〃Genius;〃 says Dr。 Lombroso;



〃is a symptom of hereditary degeneration of the epileptoid



variety; and is allied to moral insanity。〃   〃Whenever a man's



life;〃 writes Mr。 Nisbet; 〃is at once sufficiently illustrious



and recorded with sufficient fullness to be a subject of



profitable study; he inevitably falls into the morbid category。 。



。 。  And it is worthy of remark that; as a rule; the greater the



genius; the greater the unsoundness。〃'3'







'3'  J。 F。 Nisbet:  The Insanity of Genius; 3d ed。; London; 1893;



pp。 xvi。; xxiv。















Now do these authors; after having succeeded in establishing to



their own satisfaction that the works of genius are fruits of



disease; consistently proceed thereupon to impugn the VALUE of



the fruits?  Do they deduce a new spiritual judgment from their



new doctrine of existential conditions? Do they frankly forbid us



to admire the productions of genius from now onwards?  and say



outright that no neuropath can ever be a revealer of new truth?







No! their immediate spiritual instincts are too strong for them



here; and hold their own against inferences which; in mere love



of logical consistency; medical materialism ought to be only too



glad to draw。  One disciple of the school; indeed; has striven to



impugn the valu

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