So far from weakening the respect and awe with which mere symbols are regarded, their very obscurity and lack of meaning will ensure their position and inviolability. The vogue for mysticism in poetry, art, and religion reflects this love of symbolism. Men, from the very indolence of their minds, love to set up symbols and to worship them, without verifying the truths they are supposed to represent, for symbols are easily acquired and easily perceived, and dispense with the arduous necessity of probing reality and the mental discipline without which truth cannot be reached.
The power of words and symbols is entirely independent of their real meaning. As we have already shown, the most meaningless and the most obscure phrases are, as a rule, for that very reason the most potent. Such terms as liberty, equality, democracy, socialism, etc., whose meanings are so vague that whole libraries do not exhaust their possible interpretations, are solemnly uttered as though they were magic spells, at the very sound of which all problems disappear. Symbolism and mysticism form the fanatic's charter of licence. They revel in the dim obscurity which intensifies the false brightness of their symbols. They welcome the emotional domination of their minds that they may abandon themselves to passions and feelings, and by developing theirsubjective[83]powers, infect the masses with their madness. A true metaphysics, it is well to remember, is the very antithesis of mysticism, for it aims at the elimination of symbols; its method is to co-ordinate and synthesize, and by means of the systematization of materia to penetrate through and beyond, towards a realization of direction and of value; it tests the highest powers of the intellect.
Bergson defines metaphysics as the science which claims to dispense with symbols. A symbol, at best, can only stand for an aspect of the truth, a mere sign-post pointing somewhere in its direction. Symbols have no part in intuition, yet linguistic symbols are necessary for conveyingthoughts and ideals to others. The generality of men, however, can only think in symbols, and can only be influenced by them; lies and illusions are propagated and perpetrated in the form of images, yet images perform necessary service in establishing goals of endeavour for securing co-ordination and moral direction. Symbololatry is a common trait of humanity, and few men analyse the symbols they worship; for this reason it is necessary that the ideals and symbols of "the good" should be forged by the few and the wise, not by the force of the greatest number, that is, they must come from above, not from below. Thus we see that in past history religion has performed a necessary function, and that in spite of the gross unreality of its symbols it constituted the only instrument of consolidation at the disposal of primitive man. Without this force, born of man's fear of the unknown, his ignorance and false appreciation of causality, together with a vague realization of his dependence on his fellows, the imposition of rough and arbitrary values, which first constituted moral conduct, would have been impossible. For this reason any advancement and progress in the direction of civilization would have been impossible without religion. The conservative spirit of religion is seen to have been the means of securing the consolidation and stability of society which was necessary for the well-being and strength of every community; without this it could not have survived. As long as men aredazzled by symbols and governed by emotions, and there is at present no sign of change in this respect, a strong hierarchy capable of evoking respect for its values alone can save a state from disintegration, anarchy and social decay; but only if that hierarchy is composed of the highest, noblest and most enlightened in the race can those values be the best possible, and can they continue to improvepari passuwith advancing civilization. The alternative, the increasing despotism of the many, articulating through the voice of demagogues, resulting in the gradual extermination of the few and the highest, and in the imposition of values growing ever more false, points the way to decadence and barbarism. Evolution implies decline no less than advancement, and the "survival of the fittest" in the former case means the survival of the lowest and the most degraded.
A child's moral conduct, like primitive man's, is at first absolutely dependent upon his environment, but with the development of self-consciousness and with the growth of an ideal of self, his values and his conduct become progressively freer from his present environment, and in a greater degree determined by the direction of past habits and the force of early impressions.[84]"There is hardly anything," said Mill, "so absurd or so mischievous that it may not by theuse of external sanctions and the force of early impressions be made to act on the human mind with all the authority of conscience."
The attainment of character through the development of an ideal of self and the systematization of habits and motives is a slow and gradual process, and only rarely is complete independence of judgment attained, which alone renders the highest form of moral conduct possible, when all conduct is determined by will with regard to the realization of ends.
FOOTNOTES:[64]"Heredity and Memory," p. 15.[65]Processes known technically as palingenesis and cenogenesis, the former term denoting the more complete epitomized development.[66]Dean Rashdall, who thus summarizes his position, is candid enough to admit the strength of McDougall's psychological analysis, which, however, he fails to see undermines his own position.[67]"Principles of Psychology," vol. ii, p. 408.[68]Many authorities deny that women are more easily hypnotized than men. It should, however, be remembered that emotional suggestibility does not correspond with susceptibility to hypnotic influence. The neurotic, weak-brained and hysterical, who are usually most susceptible to emotional suggestions in normal life, are invariably the most difficult to hypnotize, and on the other hand, as Dr. Bramwell points out, "Subjects who readily respond to suggestions when hypnotized are frequently the very ones who have for years resisted suggestion in the waking condition, even when this has been associated with emotional states." It is not, therefore, in hypnotic phenomena that evidence of the greater suggestibility of women is found.[69]Cf. the following passage by Elliot Smith and Pear: "It must be understood that this suppression of the external manifestations of an emotion such as fear is but a partial dominance of the bodily concomitants of that emotion. The only changes which can usually be controlled by the will are those of the voluntary or skeletal muscular system, not those of the involuntary or visceral mechanism.... Men may feel intense emotions, obviously not of fear alone, for a long time without displaying any signs of them. But suppression of emotion is a very exhausting process. As Bacon says: 'We know diseases of stoppings and suffocations are the most dangerous in the body: and it is not otherwise in the mind.'"[70]Article on Psychology,Encyclopædia Britannica, 10th edition.[71]For example, ereutophobia (fear of blushing) and tremophobia (fear of tremor) are abnormal psychoneurotic conditions which illustrate the reaction and interaction between psychical state and physical manifestation. Blushing and spontaneous tremor are reflex manifestations of the emotional condition, which in these cases increase in proportion to the fear of blushing or of tremor respectively. The physical phenomenon produces the obsession which, in its turn, increases the somatic reaction; the exaggeration of the latter again reacts on the mental disorder. Such psycho-physical reactions operate in varying degree in all states of emotional excitement. (Roussy and Lhermitte.)[72]"Principles of Psychology," vol. ii, chap. xxv.[73]"Conflict" and "repression" are the terms in current usage by psychiatrists of the Freudian school to explain the mechanism of psychoneurotic disturbance.[74]It should be noted that this is an inverted form of cosmic suggestion which exerts a considerable influence over certain dispositions; very often this bias is confined to one or two subjects only in which an individual is particularly interested, and in connexion with which a permanently repellent autosuggestion is developed. Some writers have spoken of this ascontra-suggestion. On these subjects any suggestion conveyed by word or sign provokes an immediate and unthinking contradiction or an unreasoning hostile attitude or tendency.[75]Préface à "Bajazet."[76]The æsthetic emotions are dealt with at length by Dr. Bain in "The Emotions and the Will," chap. xiv.[77]I.e. processes of the conscious or objective mind.[78]There are a few notable exceptions where this instinct appears to be deficient among primitive and nomadic tribes. McDougall instances the Punaris of Borneo.[79]"Social Psychology," p. 100.[80]"The Free Press," 1918.[81]Mr. Hughes, March 11, 1918.[82]Gustave Le Bon.[83]I.e. powers of the subjective mind.[84]Thus Mr. Jevons says: "The consciousness of the child reproduces the consciousness of the community to which he belongs."—"The Idea of God in Early Religions."
[64]"Heredity and Memory," p. 15.
[64]"Heredity and Memory," p. 15.
[65]Processes known technically as palingenesis and cenogenesis, the former term denoting the more complete epitomized development.
[65]Processes known technically as palingenesis and cenogenesis, the former term denoting the more complete epitomized development.
[66]Dean Rashdall, who thus summarizes his position, is candid enough to admit the strength of McDougall's psychological analysis, which, however, he fails to see undermines his own position.
[66]Dean Rashdall, who thus summarizes his position, is candid enough to admit the strength of McDougall's psychological analysis, which, however, he fails to see undermines his own position.
[67]"Principles of Psychology," vol. ii, p. 408.
[67]"Principles of Psychology," vol. ii, p. 408.
[68]Many authorities deny that women are more easily hypnotized than men. It should, however, be remembered that emotional suggestibility does not correspond with susceptibility to hypnotic influence. The neurotic, weak-brained and hysterical, who are usually most susceptible to emotional suggestions in normal life, are invariably the most difficult to hypnotize, and on the other hand, as Dr. Bramwell points out, "Subjects who readily respond to suggestions when hypnotized are frequently the very ones who have for years resisted suggestion in the waking condition, even when this has been associated with emotional states." It is not, therefore, in hypnotic phenomena that evidence of the greater suggestibility of women is found.
[68]Many authorities deny that women are more easily hypnotized than men. It should, however, be remembered that emotional suggestibility does not correspond with susceptibility to hypnotic influence. The neurotic, weak-brained and hysterical, who are usually most susceptible to emotional suggestions in normal life, are invariably the most difficult to hypnotize, and on the other hand, as Dr. Bramwell points out, "Subjects who readily respond to suggestions when hypnotized are frequently the very ones who have for years resisted suggestion in the waking condition, even when this has been associated with emotional states." It is not, therefore, in hypnotic phenomena that evidence of the greater suggestibility of women is found.
[69]Cf. the following passage by Elliot Smith and Pear: "It must be understood that this suppression of the external manifestations of an emotion such as fear is but a partial dominance of the bodily concomitants of that emotion. The only changes which can usually be controlled by the will are those of the voluntary or skeletal muscular system, not those of the involuntary or visceral mechanism.... Men may feel intense emotions, obviously not of fear alone, for a long time without displaying any signs of them. But suppression of emotion is a very exhausting process. As Bacon says: 'We know diseases of stoppings and suffocations are the most dangerous in the body: and it is not otherwise in the mind.'"
[69]Cf. the following passage by Elliot Smith and Pear: "It must be understood that this suppression of the external manifestations of an emotion such as fear is but a partial dominance of the bodily concomitants of that emotion. The only changes which can usually be controlled by the will are those of the voluntary or skeletal muscular system, not those of the involuntary or visceral mechanism.... Men may feel intense emotions, obviously not of fear alone, for a long time without displaying any signs of them. But suppression of emotion is a very exhausting process. As Bacon says: 'We know diseases of stoppings and suffocations are the most dangerous in the body: and it is not otherwise in the mind.'"
[70]Article on Psychology,Encyclopædia Britannica, 10th edition.
[70]Article on Psychology,Encyclopædia Britannica, 10th edition.
[71]For example, ereutophobia (fear of blushing) and tremophobia (fear of tremor) are abnormal psychoneurotic conditions which illustrate the reaction and interaction between psychical state and physical manifestation. Blushing and spontaneous tremor are reflex manifestations of the emotional condition, which in these cases increase in proportion to the fear of blushing or of tremor respectively. The physical phenomenon produces the obsession which, in its turn, increases the somatic reaction; the exaggeration of the latter again reacts on the mental disorder. Such psycho-physical reactions operate in varying degree in all states of emotional excitement. (Roussy and Lhermitte.)
[71]For example, ereutophobia (fear of blushing) and tremophobia (fear of tremor) are abnormal psychoneurotic conditions which illustrate the reaction and interaction between psychical state and physical manifestation. Blushing and spontaneous tremor are reflex manifestations of the emotional condition, which in these cases increase in proportion to the fear of blushing or of tremor respectively. The physical phenomenon produces the obsession which, in its turn, increases the somatic reaction; the exaggeration of the latter again reacts on the mental disorder. Such psycho-physical reactions operate in varying degree in all states of emotional excitement. (Roussy and Lhermitte.)
[72]"Principles of Psychology," vol. ii, chap. xxv.
[72]"Principles of Psychology," vol. ii, chap. xxv.
[73]"Conflict" and "repression" are the terms in current usage by psychiatrists of the Freudian school to explain the mechanism of psychoneurotic disturbance.
[73]"Conflict" and "repression" are the terms in current usage by psychiatrists of the Freudian school to explain the mechanism of psychoneurotic disturbance.
[74]It should be noted that this is an inverted form of cosmic suggestion which exerts a considerable influence over certain dispositions; very often this bias is confined to one or two subjects only in which an individual is particularly interested, and in connexion with which a permanently repellent autosuggestion is developed. Some writers have spoken of this ascontra-suggestion. On these subjects any suggestion conveyed by word or sign provokes an immediate and unthinking contradiction or an unreasoning hostile attitude or tendency.
[74]It should be noted that this is an inverted form of cosmic suggestion which exerts a considerable influence over certain dispositions; very often this bias is confined to one or two subjects only in which an individual is particularly interested, and in connexion with which a permanently repellent autosuggestion is developed. Some writers have spoken of this ascontra-suggestion. On these subjects any suggestion conveyed by word or sign provokes an immediate and unthinking contradiction or an unreasoning hostile attitude or tendency.
[75]Préface à "Bajazet."
[75]Préface à "Bajazet."
[76]The æsthetic emotions are dealt with at length by Dr. Bain in "The Emotions and the Will," chap. xiv.
[76]The æsthetic emotions are dealt with at length by Dr. Bain in "The Emotions and the Will," chap. xiv.
[77]I.e. processes of the conscious or objective mind.
[77]I.e. processes of the conscious or objective mind.
[78]There are a few notable exceptions where this instinct appears to be deficient among primitive and nomadic tribes. McDougall instances the Punaris of Borneo.
[78]There are a few notable exceptions where this instinct appears to be deficient among primitive and nomadic tribes. McDougall instances the Punaris of Borneo.
[79]"Social Psychology," p. 100.
[79]"Social Psychology," p. 100.
[80]"The Free Press," 1918.
[80]"The Free Press," 1918.
[81]Mr. Hughes, March 11, 1918.
[81]Mr. Hughes, March 11, 1918.
[82]Gustave Le Bon.
[82]Gustave Le Bon.
[83]I.e. powers of the subjective mind.
[83]I.e. powers of the subjective mind.
[84]Thus Mr. Jevons says: "The consciousness of the child reproduces the consciousness of the community to which he belongs."—"The Idea of God in Early Religions."
[84]Thus Mr. Jevons says: "The consciousness of the child reproduces the consciousness of the community to which he belongs."—"The Idea of God in Early Religions."
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