A search of truth in the science of the human mind, part first

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Part First

BY THE REV. FREDERICK BEASLEY, D, D.

PROVOST OF THR UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, MEMBER OF THE PHILOSOPIIIOAL SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA, AND A PRESBYTER OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

PHILADELPHIA:

C .

EASTERN DISTRICT OP PENNSYLVANIA, to wit-

BE IT REMFMBERED,thaton the 18th day of January, in the fortjrsixth year of the independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1892, FREDVRrcK Beaslet, D. D. of the said district, hath deposited in this oflSco the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author in the words following, to wit:

Jf Search of Trvih in the Seienee of the fhtman Mhnd. Ptartfint.

By the Rrv. Frederick Beasley^ P. /). Frooaet of the VnivenHtf of PefmnbHmk, Mnnber of the PhUoiopfueal Society of PhileOelphia, and a Prabtftgr qfie JElpJtcoftoL Church.

In conformity to the act of the congress of the United States, intituled ** An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned.'* And also to the act, entitled, *' An act supplementary to an act entitled, '* An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned," and ex fending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prinb."

TABLE OP CONTENTS.

Dedioatkm 1

btrodiictioDy • - - • » 9

BOOK L

Chap. 1 The two g^reat departments of science, - - 15 Chap. 3 Od the tenns, cause, effect, law of nature, Bus. - 19 Chap. 3 The opinions of Philosophers concerning cause, effect, phenomenon, law of natnre, See.. • - 26 Chap. 4 The opinion of Mr. Hume on cause and effect, - 31 Chap. 5 Opinions of other authors on cause and effect, - 47 Chap. 6 Opiniofis of Professor Stewart upon cause and eflfect, 83

BOOKn.

Chap. 3 Of perception, «... 123

Dr. Reid's ohjecdons to the theory of the philosophers answered; and the ideal theoiy prored not to be maintained by them,. - - - - - - 142

Mr. Locke Tindicated from the charge of maintaining the ideal theory, ----- 143

Chap. 8 Of Miracles, 363 BOOK IV

Chap. 1 Of our acquired perceptions and the metaphysicks of vision, 391 Of the phenomena exhibited in the case of the young man couchrd by Cheselden, - - - - 392

A solution of the question, why we see objects erect when the image formed upon the tunica retina is known to be inverted, ------ 396

Chap. 2 The same subject continued, - . . 405

A solution of the question, do we originally see objects single or double with both eyes? Is our seeing objects single with both eyes an oric^inal or an acquired perception? 403 Of that defect of vision called squinting; and the opinion of M. De La Hire and M. Jurin, - - - 413

<Shap. 3 Of deceptions of the senses, - - - - 417

Why objects sometimes appear larger than they really are, and of that inversion of the ordinary laws of vision called looming, ..... 42O

An explanation of the appearances exhibited by the mountain in the neighbourhood of Monticello, mentioned by Mr. Jefferson, in bis notes upon Virginia, - - 421

An explanation of the fact of the increased dimensions of the sun and moon at their rising and setting, - 423

^h^K 4 Progress of the mind in the acquisition of its ideas, - 433

Tabk of Contenu. 5

l%e tnfliieiice of the mother's imagination upon the foetus in the womb disputed, .... 434

The singular cases mentioned by Malebranche stated, and his theory about them denied^ .... 435

Cbap. 5 The progress of the mind in the acquisition of ideas continued, ..... . 439

Cbap. 6 The question discussed, does the soul always think? 443

Chap. 7 Of dreaming, ..... 457

Chap. 8 Alienations of mind, deliriums, ecstacies, madness, &c. 465

Of spectral Tisions and apparitions, ... 47$

Of Saul and the Witch of Endor, ... 477

The visions of M. Nicoiai, a member of the Royal Society of

A solution of the fact that the sign of the cross was displayed to Constantino, the Roman Emperor, before his battle with Maxentius, .... 496

Chap. 9 An explanation of the supposed supernatural Tision of Colonel Gardiner, - - - • - 489 Chap. 10 Of discernment, judgment, wit, attention, intension, &c. 499 The great importance of forming habits of attention, 502 The errors of Professor Stewart on the subject of attention stated and refuted, .... 504

Of the faults and excellencies of the memory, - 524

Of the best expedients by which to improve the memory, 527 Of the local memory of the Ancients, - - 531

Mr. Locke's doctrine about memory defended from the objections of Dr. Reid, .... 536

Chap* 12 Of conception, ..... 543

What is implied by this term. It has no peculiar philosophical import, distinct from what is expressed by the terms, idea, thought, remembrance, imagination, &c. 544 The doctrine of Professor Stewart, that in conception and imagination we have a momentary belief that their objects exist and are present to us, explained and lefuted, 547 The doctrine asserted that even in tragic representations the deception is never so complete as to lead us to the belief that the scenes and events which are displayed are real, ...--- 553

Strictures upon the conduct of Mr. Hume in his last moments, as represented by his friend. Dr. Adam Smith, 560

Dedication

TOTRB

RIGHT REV. JOHN HENRY HOBART,

BI8HOP OP THK PROTESTANT SPI8C0PAL CHUltCH IN THE STATE

Introduction

CfCBJlO.

It is somewhere remarked by an intelligent writer, that he thinks the present condition in which man is placed in this world, where perpetual toil and attention are necessary to the search and discovery of truth, is preferable to one in which all truth should be disclosed to his understanding by intuitive perception. One of the purest and most exalted enjoyments of which the human mind is susceptible, is that which it experiences in the pursuit and acquisition of knowledge; and there can be no doubt, that according to the usual wisdom discoverable in the works of the Creator, who annexes a pleasure to every virtuous exertion of the human powers, there is a high degree of satisfaction derived from every effort of the understanding in quest of science. Truth is to the mind of man what light is to the eye, while ignorance and error are like darkness to that sense. And as in the

B

10 Introduction*

case of the outward organ, there is such an admirable contrivance for refracting and transmitting the rays of that singular fluid, in order to render visible an exterior world; so also in the mind, there would appear to be constituted no less wonderful organs, to fit it for the perception of what might justly be denominated, in the language of the Peripatetick philosophy, the intelligible world. There is such a congeniality between truth and the human mind, such a nice and exquisite adaptation of the intellectual powers to the reception of this moral light, that it cannot fail to be remarked even by the most superficial observers, whenever we are perusing the works of a good author, all the thoughts which seem spontaneously to arise out of the subject he is treating of, appear only to reflect back upon us the image of our own ideas. This is the only circumstance which gives any colour of probability in fact and experience to the opinion of Plato, to which allusion is so frequently made, that all knowledge is reminiscence, or simply the recollection of what was previously known. This phenomenon, however, is readily explained, without a recurrence to that fanciful doctrine, by admitting what is known to be the fact, that in the original conformation of the mind, there is a wise correspondence or conformity in its powers to those truths, which it is its province to investigate, a correspondence or conformity analogous to that which subsists between the organs of sense 9od the objects which excite them into action.

But while we do not hesitate to admit the justness and force of the observation, made by the writer beforementioned, that there is a high degree of pleasure to be derived from that intellectual toil necessary to the prosecution and successful issue of our inquiries into nature, and cheerfully acquiesce, moreover, in the disposal of infinite wbdom, which allots it as our portion to become humble labourers in the vast mines of science, and to pay the sweat of our brow, as

Introtktction. 11

I tribute for ev^ morsel of ore which we extract from cbem; the reflection cannot but frequently obtrude itself upon the contemplative mind, how great would be the privilege, tod how sublime the enjoyment, to have the whole system of nature, that *^ wondrous frame of things," ordained by the Great Contriver, with its magnificent apparatus of materials, its vast and curious machinery, its matchless combinations and contrivances, and the diversified laws of its action unfolded to us. If that scanty pittance of knowledge which we are at present able to attain by the judicious exercise of our limited faculties, affords us so much rational and refined satisfaction; great, beyond all human conception, would be our gratification, were we able to solve all the phenomena, both of the physical and moral world, to trace the mighty chain of causes and effects throughout its whole extent, to explore those fields of nature which lie within the limits of human understanding, and even those which extend beyond them, and which the feet even of Newton, Locke, and the most illustrious philosophers, both of ancient and modem times, never dared to tread. It was a noble saying of Democritus, recorded by Eusebius, that he would rather discover one true cause of things, than be master of the Persian empire. This sentiment was uttered in tne genuine spirit of philosophy. If the man whose inclinations are but in a slight degree turned to the pursuits of science, has only to walk abroad into nature, and contemplate for a moment that variegated scene of magnificence and beauty which she holds forth to view, in order to awake within him the most agreeable emotions of complacency and satisfaction, into what a transport of delight and astonishment would he be thrown, were he capable of comprehending the structure and operations of the whole system! On whatever side we direct our view, wonders upon wonders rise, which our straining faculties in vain essay to resolve. In attempting to penetrate into the mysteries of nature, our reason soon finds herself entangled in

12 Introduction*

inextricable labyrinths. To begin with the simplest and most familiar instances-— what are the natures and whence the active energies of the four great elements, earth, air, (ire and water, by the multiform combinations and diversified operations of which all those bodies are evolved, and those revolutions performed that compose the Universe? What is the origin and nature of light, that curious and admirable fluid which pervades the hemisphere, and without whose cheering influence the earth would be a scene of dreariness and desolation? What is the nature of that substance which occupies the space between our atmosphere and the sun, for substance there must be some, whether it be that of light, emanating from that luminary, or a medium interposed between it and our planet, through means of which the one body is able to operate upon the other? What is the sun himself, that wonderful object of contemplation and by what secret means is he furnished with such an inexhaustible supply of light? By what hidden process could the universe have been formed, in ascertaining which the geniuses of Thales, Democritus, Plato, Leibnitz, and Des Cartes, together with a host of philosophers both of ancient and modem times, have only indulged themselves in vain conjectures and unsatisfactory hypotheses? What is the occult cause of that great principle of attraction which binds the heavenly bodies to their spheres, and upon which their revolutions depend, but with the results and laws of which only did Newton profess to be acquainted? Coming down to our own globe, we find our understandings posed by mysteries no less insoluble, in the wonderful process by which dead is converted into living matter, and in what the principle of life itself consists, in the inscrutable structure of our own minds, the mysterious ties by which they are connected to our bodies, the mode of their reciprocal action upon each other, the incomprehensible manner in which feeling, perception, thpught

Introduction- 13

and voluntaiy motion are accomplished. These and manj other principles and operations of body and niind, are among die unsearchable arcana of nature, and great and sublime as would be our enjoyment did infinite wisdom think proper to unfold them to us, are, for the present, refused to our most eager curiosity, and perhaps the disclosure of them may be reserved to enhance and invigorate our happiness in a more exalted state of being. Let us not, however, from considering the limited nature of our faculties and the scantiness and imperfection of that knowledge which, with our best exer* dons, we are able to attain, be discouraged in pushing on, to the utmost extent of our time and opportunities, our philosophical investigations. The triumphs which philosophy has obtained, and the conquests she has made in the dominions of nature, are numerous and important, and have contributed to improve and exalt our species. What new worlds have Newton, Locke, and other illustrious adventurers upon the great deep of science, laid open to our view, in which our spirits, ranging at large, are at once supplied with an inexhaustible store of intellectual wealth, taught to expand with sublime conceptions, and catch the sentiments of greatness from the grandeur of the objects that surround them. For my part, I regard the philosopher, toiling in quest of knowledge, pursuing his peaceful conquests into the departments of nature, and returning from his adventures, laden with the spoils and graced with the trophies of new discoveries, with which to enrich and adorn the treasury of science, as entitled to the highest honours which his fellow-men can bestow, and among the greatest benefactors of his race. He extends the views, enlarges the powers, elevates the character, refines the moral feelings, and multiplies the rational enjoyments of his species, gives new value to their existence and dignity to their nature. His name should be venerated when living, and when dead the noblest monuments should perpetuate his memory.

14 Introductioti,

How much more highly is he deserving of esteem iind immortality, than the conqueror who erects a vain renown upon the desolation of countries and the destruction of his fellow-men, and the monuments of whose glory are steeped in tears of the widow and the orphan, and besmeared with the blood of human victims!

BOOK I.— CHAPTER I. (Jfthe two great departments of Science

Philosopht^ taken in the widest extent of the term, is naturally divided into two great departments. The first, embraces all the inquiries of the human understanding in reference to matter, its properties and operations, and is denominated physical science; the second is a like investigation relative to mind, and has received the appellation of moral philosophy, or, perhaps, the still more appropriate title of die science of the human mind. Matter and mind, therefore, present the two great dominions which nature opens to our view, and which it is the province of philosophy to explore and oiltivate. Tliese are the only substances, with which the powers furnished us by the Creator, enable us to converse. Whether there may not be an intermediate substance, or intermediate substances, between matter and mind, partaking of the properties of neither the one nor the other, it is impossible for us to determine, and would be useless to inquire. That there are various grades of intelligent beings throughout the universe, some of whom as greatly surpass the human race, in the powers with which they are endow- , ed, as the human race does the lowest species of animals possessed of sagacity, would, independently of revelation, seem in a high degree presumable from the analogy of nature. When we reflect upon the numberless links in the chain of animated nature, commencing from man, and terminating in the most insignificant creature possessed of life, sense, and spontaneous motion, it seems extremely improbable, that there are no grades of intelligent beings to fill up the immense chasm between the limited and finite mind of man, and the infinite mind of the creator. We should in vain, however, exhaust the strength of our understandings in dis-

16 Departments of Science.

quisitions of this nature. Although it might be gratifying to a laudable curiosity, to attain to knowledge and certainty in such matters, yet, it is not to be denied that they are without the legitimate province of philosophy, and guarded by impassible barriers against the approach and examination- of the human faculties. Body and spirit, the material and immaterial principle, are the two substances with which we are perpetually conversant, and to enlarge and extend our acquaintance with which, is the great object of philosophical investigation and research. But it is to be remarked, that our acquaintance, even with these objects that have become so very familiar to us, is not without its limits. It is evident we are furnished with no powers, that enable us to discern the inward structure and constitution of matter or mind, and that all our information concerning them, must be confined to the knowledge we can obtain of their properties and operations. ^^ What the real substance of any thing is, says Newton,* we know not. In bodies we see only their figures and colours, we hear only the sounds, we touch only their outward surfaces, we smell only the smells and taste the savours, but their inward substances are not to be known either by our senses or by any reflex act of our minds." As, then, it is an admitted maxim in philosophy, that we are endowed with no faculties that enable us to penetrate into the hidden essences of things, and from a knowledge of those essences to determine a priori, the results of their future actions upon each other, all our acquaintance with the qualities and operations both of body and mind must depend solely upon ex« perience. Considering this circumstance, it seems astonishing that the method of inquiry proposed by lord Bacon and denominated his plan of induction, when we reflect that its necessity and use are so obvious and important to mankind, not only as a vehicle for the advancement of science, but as

* General scholium, book 3.

Depattmenia of Science. \7

an indispensable instrument for the daily and ordinary acquisition of knowledge, should have bSca^o long unknown to the philosophic world. This method of induction teaches the inquirer into nature, instead of indulging the pride of wisdom, and dogmatically pronouncing his decrees and perverting her judgments to suit his own hypothesis, to become the humble pupil of nature, be instructed in her school, and contented with performing the part of a modest and faithful interpreter of her signs; it subjects the investigator of truth to so severe a mental discipline, that he is required to discard all theories not substantiated by ample observation and experience, and not attempt to establish general principles of science, until he has ascended to them through a just gradation, and from a complete smd ample collection of facts. It is at once the vehicle by which we attain to those simple lessons of practical wisdom, which are necessary to our safety and well being, and the most sublime discoveries of science. As it naturally falls in with our plan, however, to treat of this method of inquiry during the progress of these dissertations, we dismiss the subject for the present, and proceed, without further delay, to explain the nature, object and uses of the science of the human mind.

The object of pneumatology, or the science of the human mind, is to trace the progress of the imderstanding in the acquisition of knowledge, to pursue it from its earliest beginnings in those simple perceptions to which it attains by means of the external senses and reflex acts of its own, to its most complex and sublime combinations and conclusions. It ascertains the constituent principles of the mind, solves all the phenomena exhibited by it, penetrates to the deep foundations of truth and certainty, weighs, in the scales of right reason, the different degrees of evidence upon which our assent is grounded, shows in what cases absolute demonstration may be attained, and when we should rest contented with moral certainty, or even strong probability, and, finally,

G

18 Department oj Science.

detects the errors to which we are liable, unfolds the latent sources of them, «nd points out the true roads that lead, in the various departments of science, to that kind of evidence and certaint}*, to which, from the limited nature of our faculties, we should yield an entire assent. Certainly no science could be more important, not only as it constitutes in itself a most interesting branch, but as in it are laid the foundations of every other; by its principles their certainty, permanence and usefulness are tested, and the best methods disclosed by which they may be advanced on the way towards improvement and perfection.

Chapter II

On f^ temUt cause, phenomenon, law of nature, ^.

y '

Nihil fieri line causa potest. Itaque non sic causa intelligi debet, at qood cniqae tttecedat, id ei caasa sit, sed qood cniqoe efficieater antecedat.

CiCiaO Dl FATO.

We shall endeavour to lay more securely the foundation of our future structure, in a brief attempt to ascertain our ideas and give precise definitions of our terms. The terms enumerated above are sufficiently precise, and convey very clear and distinct ideas, and any further explanation of them Hfould have been unnecessary, had they not been rendered confused and uncertain in their signification by some late disquisitions about them. Aristotle divides causes into four kinds, the material, the formal, the efficient, and the final. The material, denoted the substance or matter out of which things were formed; the formal implied that inward structure or form, from which proceed the outward figure and diversified appearances of objects; the efficient cause, was the principle or agent of motion and change, and the final, was the end or purpose which any thing is intended to serve. The distinctions of material and formal causes have justly been allowed to fall into disuse, since the decline of the Peripatetick philosophy. Efficient causes alone comprehend all that can properly be denominated such in the technical and philosophical meaning of the word. The distinction of final causes, also, is retained in the schools, and implies the ends or purposes intended to be accomplished by the Creator, in the formation of the various parts of nature. Many final causes may have contributed to the formation of the same object. As for instance, one of the final causes of the exquisite construction of a human eye, was, no doubt, to enable us to see; another may have been to extend the sphere of our rational en-

20 On the terms^ cause^

joyment, and a third to display the benignity and power of the Almighty. Final causes, therefore, while they furnish unanswerable arguments in proof of the existence of a Supreme Contriver, have nothing to do, except as motives influencing the mind of the deity, in the production of effects, and of consequence, do not enter into the views or occupy the attention of the philosopher, in his investigations of nature, whose province it is to trace the series of causes and effects, or, in other words, aiFord solutions of the various phenomena presented to his inspection. It was under this view of the subj^t, no doubt, and not to throw any slight upon the pursuit of final causes, when such pursuit is directed to its proper object, the proof of the being of a God from the wise contrivances of nature, that Bacon represents the final cause, as a virgin consecrated to the deity, (virgo Deo consecrata, by a most beautiful figure,) and therefore, sterilis barren, or unproductive of any important results to science. In the true and philosophical meaning of the term, a cause may be defined to be any agent or principle, existing in physical or moral nature, which contains within itself a power or efficiency to produce an effect, and that effect is denominated a phenomenon, fact or appearance. A law of nature, is the manner or rule by which this cause, agent or principle operates in the production of its effect. For example — ^the electric fluid, as it exists in nature, is properly regarded as a cause, agent or principle; thunder and lightning, are the phenomena exhibited by it, and the laws or rules of its action are collected and ascertained from observation and experiment. To illustrate the matter still farther* One of the laws of electricity, is, that when one part of nature is positively electrified, and another, in its immediate vicinity, negatively electrified, (to use the language of Franklin) electric sparks pass from the one to the other, and restore the equilibrium. The same may be said of gravity. If there be, as Newton merely conjectures, (for he acknowledges, as will

Phenomenon^ law of nature ^ i^c. 21

be seen in due time, that the cause of the gravitation of bodies lies under a veil to him impenetrable,) a subtil and elastic fluid which occasions bodies to be attracted towards each other, and towards a common centre; that fluid would properly be called the cause, agent or principle of gravity. The tendency of all bodies around the earth's surface to its centre, and of all the planets to the sun, are the phenomena, facts or appearances, and the laws of gravity, or the rules ^y which bodies gravitate, are explained and demonstrated in natural philosophy.

These appear to me to be the true and precise significations of the aforementioned terms, and by carrying along with us in our inquiries distinct ideas, we shall find many difficulties removed, and obstructions surmounted which might embarrass and impede our progress. The great object of philosophical investigation, as has been frequently remarked, is to trace the chain of causes and effects; and since it is impossible to the human mind, from the imperfection of its powers, to pursue causes originally through their train of operation to the production of their effects, it is evident, that the only legitimate mode of procedure, and that from a strict and close adherence to which the modem schools are characterised, is, in the first instance, to go in quest of phenomena, and after a careful collection, examination and comparison of these, to establish principles and attempt solutions* From an observation of facts to ascend to their causes, and when once adequate causes have been (iilly ascertained, apply them to the solution of future phenomena, is the great prorince of the inquirer into nature. Hoc opus, hie labor est.- It is true that in the highest and most appropriate sense of the word, God is the only efficient cause or agent in the universe, since every thing in nature, throughout its whole frame and constitution, and all its diversified operations, must either immediately or remotely proceed from him; and it is probable, moreover, that it will ever remain an insoluble pro;

33 Omtheierwu^

blem in sdcDce, wHcdier he accomplishes ereiy object md gives rise to every result by his own immediate presence and agency, operadng always as the remote and ohimate came behind the scene; or whedier, after having communicated to matter and mind their several powers, and impressed upoa diem die laws of their action, he has rendered his £uther interference unnecessary in conducting dieir various operations. There is nothing, however, unphilosophical or inconsistent widi our ordinary habits of thinking, in supposing, diat he has originally endowed bodi material and immaterial substances with a power or cflicacy to produce certain rcsuhB, and to these substances we give the dde of secondary causca, agents or principles. He is the great primary cause of all diings; all odier diings act in obedience and subordination to him. Every phenomenon in nature is one link in die vast chain, whose last link is fitttened to die dirone of heaven, or to use the language of lord Verulam, sununnm naturalis car ten« annulum, pedi solii Jovis alKgi*

As abstract truth is always best illustrated by examplea, take for our present purpose, diat to wluch I have already ad* verted. We discover from daily experience diatall bodies upon die earth's sur£Ke gravitate towards its centre, and Newton has demonstrated diat the planets gra¥itate towards the sun. This is the first link in the diain of causes and effects. When we ask the question, what can be the cause of this singular hcti Philosopfay answers, diat it is referable to the law of attraction or gravitation, under which some undiscovered principle acts. This is the second link in the chain. Adasit* ting diat diis principk, which occasions the tendency of bodies to each other, were discovered to be a gaseous and dastic fluid, if die inqniiy be cuntimied in what manner can this principle cause bodies to tend towards each other, die onl^ satisfi^don we can give to the inquirer, is, that it proceeds frtim some inherent virtue or efficacy subsisting in it. Should we be still £udier interrogated and required to tcU finoaa