Inquiries concerning the intellectual powers, and the investigation of truth
^^ifii fe?y/!>' f>fm^^ vj*? :>i* V'V' '"' '^^^' .H ' ri' h ' t'. fp^^i'yil \'C. ft'('' ? 'f'' t ^ mij' T'r ' '*-. , '^{'^ , ^i^ r t \'r?;'^*^^i. «',V . ,!• ' !*,'t * ,i-^' j.lc'l, ' ,; 1'?. 1;.'.:' "i;^ <i. [:;;i;;/{;ii:';..i;^,.i;^r''^r>;iu'>.. "if If luii .t..h<.1.i I •: *W" s • • . "^"^ INQUIRIES ^ .. CONCERNIHO THE i^ . ., ^ CJ'i. INTELLECTUAL POWERS, INYESTIGATION OF TRUTH. BY JOHN ABERCROMBIE, M.D. F.R.S. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh, &c. and First Physician to Hia Majesty in Scotland. WITH ADDITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS TO ADAPT THE WORK TO THF. USE OF SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES, BY JACOB ABBOTT. BOSTON: OTIS, BROADERS, AND COMPANY. 1846, •Nn'^ e~-*- Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, by Jacob Abbott^ in the Clerk^s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. PREFACE. The text of the following work, strictly speaki^iig, is Dr Abercrombie's treatise on the Human Mind, entire. In connection with this treatise, however, the original edition has two articles attached to it by the author, for the sole benefit of the class whom he was addressing, viz. a class of medical students. The first to which we refer is a history of the science of Intellectual Philosophy, prefixed to the work ; the second, an admirable set of directions, to guide medical students in their professional inquiries. These trea- tises do not of necessity constitute a part of a treatise on the Philosophy of Mind. They are accordingly omitted in this edition. What, in the editor's opinion, constitutes the treatise itself, is published entire, without alterations or omissions, the editor holding his author's language sacred. The additions which have been made are intended, not to svjpply any supposed deficiencies in the original, but simply to adapt it to a purpose for which the book is, in the main, admirably suited : they are intended as nearly as was pos- sible to be such additional explanations as the editor con- ceived the author would himself have made, had he have had in view, whilst preparing the book, the purpose to which it is now applied. The practice of studying such a work as this by formal questions, the answer to which pupils commit to memory annot be too severely censured. There seemed, however 4 PREFACE. to be something necessary as a guide to the contents of the page, both for the pupil in reviewing the lesson, and for the teacher at the recitation. That minute and familiar ac- quaintance, not only with the doctrines taught in the lesson, but with the particular contents of every page and para- graph, so essential in enabling the teacher to ask his ques- tions with fluency, very few teachers have the time to se- cure. The editor has accordingly added an analysis of the page in the margin. This analysis is given sometimes in questions, and sometimes in topics or titles^ which can easi- ly be put by the teacher into the form of questions if he pleases ; or, what will perhaps be better, they can, at the recitation, be given to the pupil as topics, on which he is to state in substance the sentiments of the author. In regard to the value of Dr. Abercrombie's treatise, there is, and there can be, but one opinion. Its useful tendency is most decided, both in making the pupil acquainted with his powers, and in guiding him to the most efficient and successful use of them. The effect of a proper study of this work must be highly salutary upon every mind brought under its influence ; and it is a kind of effect which is ex actly suited to guard against the peculiar dangers of the age. Boston, September^ 1833. O G If T E N T 8. Introetjction Design of the Study- Qualifications for engaging in it. 1. Ability to understand the language of 2. Ability to appreciate the Thoughts 3. "Willingness to make the proper elTort Method of pursuing the study Particular directions . .. he Bock Page 1 11 19 13 14 15 .6 21 PART I. OF THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF OUR KNOWLEPGE OF MIND. Our Knowledge of Mind limited entirely to Facts . . 25 Ideal Theory of the Ola Philosophy . . . .27 Of Materialism ....... 28 Grounds for considering Materialism as not only unfounded, but as in its nature opposed to the First Principles of Philo- sophical Inquiry ...... 29 Grounds for believing that the Thinking Princ^le is in its Es- sence independent of the Body, and will survive it . . 30 This Belief is entirely independent of our Speculations respect- ing the Immateriality of the Thinking Principle, and rests on a species of evidence altogether different . . .3? 1# 6 CONTENTS. PART II. OF THE ORIGIN OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF FACTS RE» LATING BOTH TO MATTER AND MIND. SECTION I. SENSATION AND PERCEPTION. Of the Primary and Secondary Properties of Matter Knowledge of the Properties of Matter by the Senses. Of our Knowledge of Distance and Magnitude. Apparent improvement of some Senses after loss of others Of our Knowledge of the Nature of Perception. Remarkable Influence of Attention Habits of Attention and Inattention Of False Perceptions SECTION II. CONSCIOUSNESS AND REFLECTION. Of the Knowledge which we derive from Consciousness and R6" flection . . .... 1. The Knowledge of our Mental Processes 2. Compound Notions, — as Time, Cause, Motion. 3. First Truths, or Intuitive Articles of Belief Page 39 41 42 45 48 49 50 52 57 57 57 58 SECTION III. TESTIMONY. lules by which we estimate the Credibility of Testimony . 59 Confidence in Testimony in regard to statements at variance with our Personal Observation or Experience . . .62 Objections which have been made to the Reception of such State- ments on the Evidence of Testimony . . . . 63 Fallacy of these Objections, and Grounds of our Confidence m Testimony ....... 64 Distinction between Events which are marvellous and those which are miraculous ..... 67 CONTRNTS. 7 Page. Moial Probability ol Miracles . . . . , 68 Miracles not a violation of the estaDlished order of Nature, but referable to an agency altogether new and peculiar . . 71 Grounds on which we estimate the Credibility of Testimony in regard to unusual or miraculous events . . .72 PART III. OF THE INTELLECTUAL OPERATIONS, SECTION II. ABSTRACTION. SECTION III. IMAG-INATION. 81 83 86 90 94 95 SECTION I. MEMORY. Attention ..... Association 1. Natural or Philosophical Association 2. Local or Incidental Association. 3. Arbitrary or Fictitious Association Artificial Memory Important Application of the Principle of Arbitrary Association in Commemorative Rites . .96 Conception, or the Memory of Perceptions . . .98 Of the  and Memory • 108 Of Extensive Cerebral Disease, without Sensible Derangement cf the Mental Functions • • • • -119 Influence of the Facts connected with this subject in showing the Independent Existence of the Thinking Principle . • • • -120 Nature and Application of Abstraction - • • '121 Disputes of the Nominalists and Realists • • -127 Nature and Applications of Imagination .... 12y Various Kinds of Artificial Combination to which it is applicable 130 8 CONTENTS. Importance of a Proper Application of it in the Formation of Character ....... Effects of Fictitious Narrative ..... Effects of an ill-regulated Imagination .. Page. 131 132 13? SECTIOJS^ IV. REASON OR JUDGMENT. Analysis of the Mental Process of which Reason consists . 134 Applications of Reason in the Investigations of Science, the Affairs of Common Life, and the Formation of Opinions . 138 Man's Responsibility for his Belief . . . .142 Farther Division of the Subject. —  IN THE INVESTIGATION OF TRUTH. Of First Truths, or Intuitive Articles of Belief, as the Founda- tion of all Reasoning ..... 1. A Belief in our own Existence, and of Mind as some thing distinct from the Body 2. A Confidence in the Information furnished by our Senses . .. 3. A Confidence in our Mental Operations .. 4. A Belief of our Personal Identity 5. A Conviction that every Event must have a Cause 6. A Confidence in the Uniformity of Nature Uniformity of Physical Relations Uniformity of Moral Relations Application to the Question of Liberty and Ne- cessity Of the Nature and Importance of First Truths, and Sophisms connected with attempts to reason against them J..aws of Investigation in any Department of Knowledge 1 . Of collecting Facts .... 2. Of tracing the Relation of Cause and E fleet 3. Of deducing General Principles. Of Fallacies in Investigation Fallacies in regard to Facts. False Induction False Reasoning Of the Nature of Reasoning i )f the Syllogism and its Uses 145 146 145 147 147 147 148 148 151 153 159 163 166 166 167 168 168 168 169 169 170 CONTENTS. 01 the Cautions m examining a Process of Reatoning or Invcs. ligation . . . .. Distinction between a Process of Reasoning and a Process of In vestigation ...... Of Fallacies in Reasoning .... Of Mathematical Reasoning .... PiiFerence between the Sound Exercise of Judgment and the Art of Disputation ..... Of the Culture and Regulation of the Judgment. Influence of Attention .... Influence of Prejudice Influence of Passion, or State of Moral Feelings Importance of a well-regulated Judgment. Page. x73 175 178 187 189 191 191 192 193 194 ^ II. — OF THE USE OF REASON IN CORTIECTING THE IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND IN REGARD TO EXTERNAL THINGS. Nature and Effects of this Exercise of Reason , Peculiar Conditions connected with the Suspension of it I. Dreaming . . .... Peculiar Condition of the Mind in Dreaming. Origin of the various Classes of Dreams. 1. Recent Events .... 2. Old Associations excited by Bodily Sensations 3. Old Associations recalled by a Process of the Mind itself .. .. 4. Mental Emotions imbodied into Dreams. ' Dreams consist chiefly of Real Objects of Concep- tion .... Operations of an Intellectual Character in Dreams II. Somnambulism . . . _. Various degrees of this Affection. Remarkable Condition, commonly called Double Con- sciousness ..... IIL Insanity ..... Peculiar Condition of the Mind constituting Insanity Various Modifications of it, from Eccentricity to Ma- nia . . .. Great Activity of the Mental Powers in many Cases Remarkable Loss of Recent Impressions, and sudden Revival of them on Recovery Hallucination confined to a single Point Probable Origin of the Peculiar Hallucinations. in dif- ferent cases of Insanity 195 196 198 198 198 199 203 207 213 214 218 221 225 226 227 229 230 232 233 10 CONTENTS. Fage. 1. Propensities of Character . . . 233 2. Old Associations .... 234 3. Old Fictions of the Imagination . . 234 4. Bodily Feelings . . . . .234 5. Undefined Impression of the new and peculiar Condition of the Mental Powers . . 235 Melancholia — Propensity to Suicide . . . 236 Origin and Causes of Insanity .... 238 Cautions in deciding on slight or suspected Case. . 241 Liability of the Insane to Punishment . . . 242 Mpral Treatment of Insanity .... 244 Of Idiocy — Difference between it and Insanity . 248 Cretinism ...... 250 IV. Spectral Illusions. Various Forms and Sources of them . . . 254 PAET IV. VIEW OF THE QUALITIES AND ACQUIREMENTS WHICH CONSTITUTE A WELL REGULATED MIND. 1. Habit of Attention 2. Regulation of the Succession of Thoughts 3. Activity of Mind .. 4. Habits of Association and Reflection 5. Proper Selection of Objects of Pursuit 6. Government of the Imagination. 7. Culture and Regulation of the Judgment Observing and Inventive Genius 8. Right Condition of the Moral Feehngs 267 269 272 272 273 274 275 277 2SQ INTRODUCTION. METHOD OF USING THE BOOK. TC BE CAREFULLY STUDIED BY THE PUTILS AS THEIR FIRST LESSOW The design of the study of Intellectual Philosophy is not merely, as in the case of most other studies, the acquisition of knowledge. Something far more impor- tant, and far more difficult to attain, is in view. In the study of Chemistry, History, Geography, and other similar sciences, the main object is to obtain informa- tion— to become acquainted with facts. But although the science of Mind does indeed present to view a most valuable and interesting class of facts, it is not merely with reference to these that the study is pursued. This science aims at a higher object. It is intended to intro- duce the pupil to a new range of thought, and to bring out into action, and consequently into more full deve- lopment, a new class of faculties. It is its aim to ex- ercise and strengthen the thinking and reasoning pow- ers,— to enable the mind to grasp abstruse and perplex- ing subjects, — to think clearly and to reason correctly, in regard to truths that lie in those depths which the senses cannot explore. Design of the study, what? Compar i with other studies. What is its chief aim? 12 INTRODUCTION. Of course, the study of Intellectual Philosophy is not intended to be an easy one. Its very difficulty is one source of the benefit to be derived from it ; for it is by encountering and overcoming this difficulty, that intel- lectual strength is acquired. In Gymnastics, the exer- tion necessary to perform the feats is the very means by which the advantage is secured, and it is to require this exertion that the whole apparatus is contrived. Now mathematical and metaphysical studies are in- tended as a sort of intellectual gymnastics, in which the tasks ought indeed to be brought fairly within the pow- ers of the pupil, but they ought nearly to equal those powers, so as to call them into active and vigorous ex- ercise, or the end will be lost If, therefore, the writer of a treatise on such a subject comes down so complete- ly to the level of the young as to make the study mere light reading, he fails entirely of accomplishing what ought to be his highest aim. He destroys the difficul- ty and the advantage together. It is indeed true that a very useful book may be written for children, with the design of merely giving them information on some subjects connected with the structure of their minds. It might be entertaining, and to a considerable degree instructive, but it would answer none of the important purposes which ought to be in view, in the introduction of such a study into literary institutions. It would de- velop no new reasoning or thinking powers. It would awaken no new intellectual effi^rt. Such being the nature of this study, it is plain that it ought not to be commenced by any pupil without a proper understanding of its object and design. Such an understanding is essential. That it may come more distinctly and definitely before the mind, I propose to enumerate the qualifications which each individual should see that he possesses, before he commences the study of this work. The study difficult. Why ? Gymnastics. Difference between readhig and study, on this subject. INTRODUCTION. 13 L Ability to understand the language of the work. It is not a child's book. It was written by a man, and was intended to be read by men. The editor has made no effort to alter it in tHis respect, so that the book stands on a level, as to its style and language, with the great mass of books intended to influence and interest the mature. It ought to be so ; for to be able to understand such writing is necessary for all, and if the pupil is far enough advanced in his education to study metaphysics, it is high time for him to be habituated to it. Let no pupil therefore, after he is fairly engaged in the study, complain that he cannot understand the lessons. This is a point which ought to be settled before he begins. Take for instance the following passage, which may perhaps be considered as a fair specimen. Let the pu- pil read it attentively, and see whether or not he can fully understand it. " There is a class of intellectual habits directly the re- verse of those now referred to ; namely, habits of inatten- tion, by which the mind, long unaccustomed to have the at- tention steadily directed to any important object, becomes frivolous and absent, or lost amid its own waking dreams. A mind in this condition becomes incapable of following a train of reasoning, and even of observing facts with accu- racy and tracing their relations. Hence nothing is more opposed to the cultivation of intellectual character ; and when such a person attempts to reason, or to follow out a course of investigation, he falls into slight and partial views, unsound deductions, and frivolous arguments. This state of mind, therefore, ought to be carefully guarded against in the young, as, when it is once established, it can be removed only by a long and laborious effort, and after a certain pe- riod of life is probably irremediable. " In rude and savage life remarkable examples occur of the effect of habits of minute attention to those circumstan- ces to which the mind is inteifsely directed by their relation to the safety or advantage of the observer. The American First qualification—what ? Language of the book. Mode of ascertaining the pupil's aWUty to understand it. Substance of the passage quoted— what ? 2 14 XNTRODUCTION. n hunter finds his way in the trackless forests by attention to minute appearances in the trees, which indicate .-^ hi«^r the points of the compass. He traces the progress of n - -ne- mies or his friends by the marks of their footsteps ; and judges of their numbers, their baitings, their employments, by circumstances which would entirely escape the observa- tion of persons unaccustomed to a mode of life requiring such exercises of attention. Numerous examples of this kind are mentioned by travellers, particularly among the original natives of America." The pupil may read as attentively as he pleases. He may make use of a dictionaryj or any other similar help. He may make occasional inquiries of a friend ; but if he cannot, with such assistance, really understand the train of thought presented in such a passage, and give a tole^ rable account of it to his teacher, he had better for the present postpone the study of Intellectual Philosophy : his mind is too immature. 11. Mental cultivation enough to be interested in the subject of the work. The subjects discussed, and the views presented, are of such a nature, that mere chil- dren can take no interest in them. They cannot appreciate them. Unless the mind has made consi- derable progress in its development, and in its attain- ments in other branches, and unless it has, in some de- gree, formed habits of patient attention, it must fail in the attempt to penetrate such a subject as this. The pupil, in such a case, after going a little way, will say the book is dull and dry. He will attribute to the study, or to the mode in which it is treated, a failure, which really results from his own incapacity. He ought to reflect when tempted to make this charge, that it cannot be possible that the study is, in itself, uninteresting. This treatise of Dr. Abercrombie's has been bought and read with avidity by tens of thousands in Great Britain and America, who could have been led to it by no motive Second qualification. Consequences of coramencing the study without It. The really interesting : how proved to t)e so. INTRODUCTION. 15 whatever, but the strong interest which the subject inspires. They, therefore, who are not interested in it, after making faithful efforts, fail of being so because their intellects are yet too feeble to appreciate what they read ; and by complaining of the dryness or dullness of the book, they are really exposing their own incompe- tency to enter into the spirit of it. The teacher ought to take care that his pupils do not commence the work, until they are capable of feeling the interest which it is calculated to awaken. III. A willingness to give to the subject the severe^ patient^ and persevering study which it demands. Some will wish to take up such a branch merely for the sake of having something new. Others be- cause their vanity is flattered by the idea that they are studying Philosophy. Others still, because they wish for the honor of being in a class with certain individu- als known as good scholars. Beginning with such ideas and motives, will only lead to disappointment and failure. The pupil ought to approach this subject with a distinct understanding that though it is full of inte- rest, it will be full of difficulty ; that it will try, to the utmost, his powers ; and that the pleasure which he is to seek in the pursuit of it, is the enjoyment of high intellectual effort, — the interest of encountering and overcoming difficulties, — and opening to himself a new field of knowledge, and a new scope for the exercise of his powers. I come now to describe a method of studying and reciting the lessons in such a work as this. I say a method, because it is only meant to be proposed for adoption in cases where another or a better one is not at hand. Experienced and skilful teachers have their own modes of conducting such studies, and the recita- tions connected with them, with which there ought to Complaints of its dullness show what? Third qualification. Wrong motives fo? »'oramenciiig the study. Proper views of it. Method of studying — why proposed. 16 INTRODUCTION, be no interference. The plan about to be proposed may, however, be of use in assisting teachers who are, for the first time, introducing this study to their schools ; and the principles on which it is based are well worthy the attention of every pupil who is about to commence tliis study. 1 . When you sit down to the study of a lesson in this work, be careful to be free from interruption, and to have such a period of time before you, to be occu- pied in the work, as will give you the opportunity really to enter into it. Then banish other thoughts entirely from the mind, and remove yourself as far as possible from other objects of interest or sources of in- terruption. The habit into which many young persons allow themselves to fall, of studying lessons in frag- ments of time, having the book, perhaps, for some time before them, but allowing their attention to be con- tinually diverted from their pursuit, will only lead to superficial and utterly useless attainments. It is de- structive to all those habits of mind necessary for suc- cess in any important intellectual pursuit. It is espe- cially injurious in such a study as this. Intellectual Philosophy is emphatically the science of thought^ and nothing effectual can be done in it without patient, continued, and solitary study. 2. Ascertain before you commence any lesson what place it occupies in the general plan of the book, with which, at the outset, you should become very thorough- ly acquainted. Nothing promotes so much the forma- tion of logical and systematic habits of mind, and no- thing so effectually assists the memory, in regard to what any particular work contains, as the keeping constantly in view the general plan of the book ; look- ing at it as a whole^ and understanding distinctly, not merely each truth, or system of truths brought to view, but the place Avhich it occupies in the general design. First direction. A common but faulty mode of studying described. Its effects — frhat ? Second direction. Effects of this practice. INTRODUCTION. 17 3. This preparation being made, you are prepared to read the lesson, which should be done, the first time, with great attention and care, and with especial effort to understand the connection between each sentence and paragraph, and those which precede and follow it. It should always be borne in mind, that treatises on such subjects as these, present trains of thought and reasoning, not mere detached ideas and sentences. Every remark, therefore, should be examined, not by itself, but in its connections. This should be especially observed in regard to the anecdotes and illustrations, with which the work abounds. The bearing of each one on the subject should be very carefully studied. They are all intended to prove some point, or to illus- trate some position. After reading such narratives, then, you should not only take care to understand it as a story, but should ask yourself such questions as these: ''Why is the story introduced here? What does the author mean to prove by it 7 What principle does it illustrate?" There is, for example, in the section on Memory, a story of the author's seeing the wife of one of his pa- tients, but he could not think who it was, until he ac- cidentally passed a cottage where he had attended the patient, when all the circumstances came to his mind. This is a very simple story to read and remember, merely as a story. But to do that alone is only light reading ; it is not study at all, far less the study of the Philosophy of Mind. But if you inquire what the nar- rative is designed to illustrate, by looking back a para- graph or two, you will see that the subject is Memory, as affected by Local Association, and that this incident is intended to show how events were recalled to the memory of the author, by his coming in sight of a cot- tage with which they were strongly associated^ although all his direct efforts failed to bring them to mind. Third direction. Connections of tiie passage. Anecdotes and illustrations, how to \m Btudied? Example. Mode of studying it? Difference between reading and study. 18 INTRODUCTION. Thus it illustrates a principle; and careful effort to dis- cover and clearly to understand the principles thus illustrated, is what constitutes the difference between merely reading a story book, and studying the Philo- sophy of Mind. The pupil, too, should avail himself of collateral helps ni understanding the lesson. Every geographical, or historical, or personal allusion should be examined with the help of the proper books. If a distinguished indivi dual is mentioned, find the account of his life in a bio- graphical dictionary. If a place is named, seek it on the map. There is one other direction which I am sorry to say it is absolutely necessary to mention. Look out all the words, whose meaning you do not distinctly and fully understand, in a dictionary. Strange as it may seem, in nine cases out of ten, a pupil in school will find in his lesson a sentence containing words he does not understand, and, perplexing himself some minutes with it in vain, he will go to his recitation in ignorance of its meaning, as if he never had heard of such a contrivance as a dictionary. Now the habit of seeking from other books explanations and assistance in regard to your studies is of incalculable value. It will cause you some additional trouble, but it will mul- tiply, many fold, your interest and success. 4. After having thus read, with minute and critical attention, the portion assigned, the pupil should next take a cursory review of it, by glancing the eye over the paragraphs, noticing the heads, and the questions or topics in the margin, for the purpose of taking in, as it were, a view of the passage as a whole. The order of discussion which the author adopts, and the regular manner in which the several steps of an argument, or the several applications of a principle, succeed one an- other, should be carefully observed. There are the same reasons for doing this, in regard to any particular chapter, as in regard to the whole work. The connec- Collateral helps. Examples of this. Use of dictionary. Fourth direction. Reriew cf the lesson. INTRODUCTION. 19 tioiij too, between the passage which constitutes the lesson, and the rest of the book, i. e. the place which it occupies in the plan of the author, should be brought to mind again. You thus classify and arrange, in your own mind, what is learned, and not only fix it more firmly, but you are acquiring logical habits of mind, which will be of lasting and incalculable value. 5. You will thus have acquired a thorough know- ledge of the lesson, but this is by no means all that is necessary. You must learn to recite it. That is, you must learn to express, in your own language, the ideas you have thus acquired. This is a distinct and an important point. Nothing is more common than for pupils to say, when they attempt to recite in such a study as this, ^'I know the answer, but I cannot ex- press it;'' as if the power to express was not as impor- tant as the ability to understand. The pupil then must make special preparation for this part of his duty, that is, for expressing in his own lan- guage^the thoughts and principles of the author. The best way, perhaps, of making this preparation, is to go over the lesson, looking only at the topics in the margin, and repeating aloud, or in a whisper, or in thought, the substance of what is stated under each. Be careful chat what you say makes complete and perfect sense of itself, that it is expressed in clear and natural language, and that it is a full exposition of the author's meaning. Such a study as this ought not to be recited by mere question and answer. Whenever the subject will allow. It is better for the teacher to give out a subject or topic, on which the pupil may express the sentiments of the writer. This is altogether the pleasantest, as well as the most useful mode of recitation. Those miaccus- tomed to it will, of course, find a little difficulty at first. But the very effort to surmount this difficulty v/ill be as useful in developing and strengthening the intellectual powers, as any other effort which the study requires. Connections of the lesson. Fifth direction. Learning to recite. What implied ia this. Common excuse. Preparation—how to be made. Mode of questioning. 20 INTRODUCTION. You should go over the lesson, then, for the purpose of reciting- it by yourself as it were, by looking at the marginal titles, one by one, and distinctly stating to yourself the substance of the author's views upon each. If this preparation is made, and if the recitation is con- ducted on the same principles, the pupils will soon find themselves making very perceptible and rapid progress in that most important art, viz. expressing their senti- ments with fluency, distinctness, and promptitude. It will be evident, from what is said above, that the pupil ought not to commit to memory the language of the author. This practice may indeed be useful in strengthening the memory, and in some other ways, but very far higher objects ought to be in view in stu- dying such a* work as this, which will be far better at- tained by the pupils depending entirely on themselves for the language in which they express their ideas. To illustrate distinctly the mode of recitation intended, I will give a specimen. The following passage will serve as text. " Memory is very much influenced by Attention, or a full and distinct perception of the fact or object, with a view to its being remembered ; and by the perception being kept before the mind, in this distinct manner, for a certain time. The distinct recollection of the fact, in such cases, is gene- rally in proportion to the intensity with which it has been contemplated ; and this is also very much strengthened by its being repeatedly brought before the mind. Most peo pie, accordingly, have experienced that a statement is more strongly impressed upon the memory by being several times repeated to others. It is on the same principle that memo- ry is greatly assisted by writing down the object of our knowledge, especially if this be done in a distinct and sys- tematic manner. A subject also is more distinctly conceiv- ed, and more correctly remembered, after we have instructed another person in it. Such exercises are not strictly to be considered as helps to the memory, but as excitements to attention ; and as thus leading to that clear and full corn- Advantage of this mode. Committing to memory. INTRODUCTION. 21 prehension of the STibject which is required for the distinct remembrance of it. " It is familiar to every one that there are great diffe- rences in memory, both in respect to the facility of acquire- ment and the power of retention. In the former, there ap- pear to be original differences, but a great deal also de- pends upon habit. In the power of retention much de- pends, as we shall afterwards see, upon the habit of correct association ; but, besides this, there are facts which seem to show a singular connection with the manner in which the acquisition was made. The following fact was communi- cated to me by an able and intelligent friend, who heard it from the individual to whom it relates. A distinguished theatrical performer, in consequence of the sudden illness of another actor, had occasion to prepare himself, on very short notice, for a part which was entirely new to him ; and the part was long and rather difficult. He acquired it in a very short time, and went through it with perfect accura- cy, but immediately after the performance forgot every word of it." The titles or topics in the margin, attached to this passage, are the following: Attention — Means of se- curing it — Differences in memory — Illustration. Now in hearing a recitation from it, the teacher will ordina- rily be guided by, but not confined to them, as you will see exemplified in the following dialogue. The pupil, too, will use his own language, which will vary very considerably from that of the author, as will be per- ceived by a comparison. Teacher. The first topic is attention. First Pupil. The author says that it consists in keeping the object distinctly before the mind, for a cer- tain time, so that it may make a strong impression. It assists very much in enabling us to remember it after- wards. Teacher. The best means of confining the atten- tion to any object ? The marginal titles how to be used ? Language of the pupil in recitation. 22 INTEODUCTION. Second Pupil. There are several modes; one is by repeating the thing several times to other persons : another is, by writing an account of it, especially if it is done systematically ; a third, endeavoring to explain it to others. Teacher. How is it these methods produce the ef- fect? Second Pupil. They help us to obtain clear and distinct id jas, and they fix the attention for some time on the subject. Teacher. What does he say of differences in memo- ry? Thir^d Pzipil. There is a great difference in diffe- rent individuals; in some cases it is natural, and in others acquired. Teacher. A story is told here to illustrate this sub- ject. Fourth Pupil. An actor was obliged to learn a part once at a very short notice, and by making a great ef- fort he succeeded, and went through it once, but he forgot it immediately afterwards. Teacher. What is the precise point which this fact is intended to illustrate ? Fourth Ptipil. I did not clearly understand. 6. After the class has, in this thorough manner, gone through with one of the divisions of the book, they should pause, to review it ; and the best, as well as the pleasantest mode of conducting a review, is to assign to the class some written exercises on the portion to be thus re-examined. These exercises may be of various kinds ; I shall, however, mention only two. (1.) An abstract of the chapter to be reviewed ; that is, a brief exposition, in writing, of the plan of the chap- ter, with tne substance of the writer's views on each head. Such an abstract, though it will require some labor at first, will be, with a little practice, a pleasant Sixth direction. Review — how to be conducted. First method— wlmt ? k* INTRODUCTIONS 23 exercise ; and perhaps there is nothing which so effectu- ally assists in digesting the knowledge which the pupil has obtained, and in fixing it indelibly upon the mind, and nothing is so conducive to accurate logical habits of thought, as this writing an analysis of a scientific work. It may be very brief, and elliptical in its style ; its logical accuracy is the main point to be secured. By devoting a single exercise at the end of each section to such an exercise, a class can go on regularly through the book, and, with very little delay, make an abstract ^f the whole. (2.) Writing additional illustrations of the principles brought to view, — illustrations furnished either by the experience or observation of the pupil, or by what he has fead in books. For example, in the chapter on dream- ing, the author enumerates four or five sources of the ideas which come to the mind in dreams. Now the teacher might, after finishing that chapter, require each one of the class, for the next exercise, to write an account of a dream, and to state at the end of it to which of the classes it is to be referred. Nothing could more effectually familiarize the mind of the pupil with the principles which the chapter contains than such an exercise. In many cases, perhaps in nearly all, the dreaniS would be complex, and must be analyzed, and the several parts separately assigned. The effect of such an effort is obvious. There are multitudes of other subjects discussed in the work, equally suitable for this purpose. Wherever anecdotes are told, illustrating the laws of the human mind, the pupil can add others ; for these laws are the same in all minds, and are constantly in operation. Writing these additional illustrations, especially if they are derived from your own experience, will have anoth- er most powerful effect. They will turn your attention within, and accustom you to watch the operations, and Style and manner. Second mode. Example. Advantages of it. Common misua- flerstanding in regard to the nature of this study. 24 INTRODUCTION. study the laws of your own minds. Many pupils do not seem to understand that it is the powers and move» ments of the immaterial principle within their own bo- soms, which are the objects of investigation in such a science. Because illustrations are drawn from the his- tories of men with strange names, who lived in other countries, and a half a century ago, they seem insensi- bly to imbibe the idea, that it is the philosophy of these TYierCs minds which they are studying, not their own. Now the fact is, that appeals are made to the history and experience of these individuals, simply because they are more accessible to the writers of books. A perfect system of Intellectual Philosophy might be written, with all its illustrations drawn from the thoughts and feelings of any single pupil in the class. The mind is in its es- sential laws everywhere the same; and of course you can j&nd the evidence of the existence and operation of all these laws in your own breasts, if you will look there. What you cannot, by proper research, find con- firmed by your own experience, or your observations upon those around you, is not a law of mind. Such is substantially the course which is recommend- ed to those who shall commence the study of this work. It will be perceived that the object of it is to make the study of it, if possible, not what it too often is, the mere mechanical repetition of answers marked and commit- ted to memory, but an intellectual and thorough investi- gation of a science. If the book is studied in this way^ it must have a most poAverful influence in cultivating accurate and discriminating habits, in developing intel- lectual power, and in storing the mind with facts of the most direct and practical importance, in all the con- nections of society, and in all the business of life. Its true design. General object of this introductioBu INaUIRIES CONCERNING THE INTELLECTUAL POWERS, &c PART I. OF THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF MIND. The mind is that part of our being which thinks and wills, remembers and reasons : we know nothing of it except from these functions. By means of the corporeal senses it holds intercourse with the things of the external world, and receives impressions from them. But of this connection al- so we know nothing but the facts ; when we attempt to spe- culate upon its nature and cause, we wander at once from the path of philosophical inquiry into conjectures which are as far beyond the proper sphere as they are beyond the reach of the human faculties. The object of true science on such a subject, therefore, is simply to investigate the facts, or the relations of phenomena, respecting the opera- tions of mind itself, and the intercourse which it carries on with the things of the external world. This important rule in the philosophy of mind has been fully recognised in very modern times only, so that the sci- ence, as a faithful interpretation of nature, may be consider- ed as of recent origin. Before the period now referred to, the investigation was encumbered by the most fruitless speculations respecting the essence of mind, and other dis- cussions which led to no discovery of truth. It was con- tended, for example, that the mind cannot act where it is The mind— what ? Ita connection with the material world ? Object of true acienoe * ka what sense is the science recent ? Nature of former speculations. 26 EXTENT OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF MIND. [PART L not present, and that consequently it cannot be said to per- ceive external objects themselves, but only their images, forms, or sensible species, which were said to be conveyed through the senses, and represented to the mind in the same manner in which images are formed in a camera obscura. By the internal functions of mind these sensible species were then supposed to be refined into phantasms, the objects of memory and imagination ; and these, after undergoing a further process, became intelligible species, the objects of pure intellect. By a very natural application of this doc trine, it was maintained by bishop Berkeley and the philoso- phers of his school, that as the mind can perceive nothing but its own impressions or images, we can derive no evi- dence from our senses of the existence of the external world ; and Mr. Hume carried the argument a little further, by maintaining that we have as little proof of the existence of mind, and that nothing exists in the universe except impres sions and ideas. Of another sect of philosophers who arose out of the same system, each individual professed to believe his own existence, but would not admit the existence of any other being ; hence they received the appropriate name of Egotists. The various eminent individuals by whom the fallacy of these speculations was exposed, combated them upon the principle that the doctrine of ideas is entirely a fiction of philosophers ; and that a confidence in the information con- veyed to us by our senses must be considered as a first truth, or a fundamental law of our nature, susceptible of no explanation, and admitting of no other evidence than that which is derived from the universal conviction of mankind. 