Elements of the philosophy of the human mind.

  • Stewart, Dugald, 1753-1828.
Date:
1822
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Elements of the philosophy of the human mind. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    The case is exactly the same in the philosophy of mind. When wo have once ascertained a general fact; such as, the various laws which regulate the association of ideas, or the dependence of Memory on that effort of the mind which we call Attention ; it is all we ought to aim at in this branch of science. If we proceed no farther than facts for which we have the evidence of our own consciousness, oar conclu- sions will be no less certain, than those in physics : but if our curiosity leads us to attempt an explanation of the association of ideas, by cer- tain supposed vibrations, or other changes, in the state of the brain ; or to explain memory, by means of supposed impressions and traces in the sensorium ; we evidently blend a collection of important and well ascertained truths, with principles which rest wholly on conjecture.* The observations which have been now stated, with respect to the proper limits of philosophical curiosity, have too frequently escaped the attention of speculative men, in all the different departments of sci- ence. In none of these, however, has this inattention produced such a variety of errors and absurdities, as in the science of mind ; a subject to which, till of late, it does not seem to have been suspected, that the general rules of philosophizing are applicable. The strange mixture of fact and hypothesis, which the greater part of metaphysical inquiries exhibit, had led almost universally to a belief, that it is only a very faint • There is indeed one view of the connexion between Mind and Matter, which is perfectly agreeable to the just rules of philosophy. The object of this is, to as- certain the laws which regulate their union, without attempting to explain in what manner they are united. Lord Bacon was, I believe, the first who]gave a distinct idea of this sort of spe- culation, and I do not know that much progress has yet been made in it. In his books de Augmcntis Scientiarum, a variety of subjects are enumerated, in order to illustrate its nature ; and, undoubtedly, most of these are in a high degree cu- rious and important. The following list comprehends the chief of those he has mentioned ; with the addition of several others, recommended to the considera- tion of Philosophers and of Medical Inquirers, by the late Dr. Gregory. See his lectures on the Duties and Qualifications of a Physician. 1. The doctrine of the preservation and improvement of thedifTerent senses. 2. The history of the power and influence of imagination, o. The history of the several species of enthusiasm. 4. The history of the various circumstances in parents, that have an influence on conception, and on the constitution and characters of their children. 5. The history of dreams. 6. The history of the laws of custom and habit. 7. The history of the effects of musick, and of such other things as operate on the mind and body, in consequence of impressions made on the senses. 8. The history of natural signs and language, comprehending the doctrine of physioRnonr.y and of outward gesture. 9. The history of the power and laws of the principle of imitation. To this list various other subjects might be added -, particularly, the history of the laws of memory, in so far as they appear to be connected with the state of the body ; and the history of thedifTerent species of madness. This view of the connexion between Mind and Matter does not fall properly under the plan of the following work ; in which my leading object is to ascertain the principles of our nature, in so far as they can be discovered by attention to the subjects of our own consciousness ; and to apply these principles to explain the phenomena arising from them. Various incidental remarks, however, will oc- cur in the course of our inquiries tending to illustrate some of the subjects com- prehended in the foregoing enumeration.