第 11 节
作者:
桃桃逃 更新:2022-08-21 16:33 字数:9317
though they have no right to be set first; are still fostered by the presence of the highest good。
Religion; for instance; has an absolute value of its own; yet at the same time other ends flourish and
succeed in its train。 As Christ says: 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be
added unto you。' Particular ends can be attained only in the attainment of what absolutely is and
exists in its own right。
Thought in its bearings upon objects
§ 21
(b) Thought was described as active。 We now; in the second place; consider this
action in its bearings upon objects; or as reflection upon something。 In this case
the universal or product of its operation contains the value of the thing … is the
essential; inward; and true。
In § 5 the old belief was quoted that the reality in object; circumstance; or event;
the intrinsic worth or essence; the thing on which everything depends; is not a
self…evident datum of consciousness; or coincident with the first appearance and
impression of the object; that; on the contrary; Reflection is required in order to
discover the real constitution of the object … and that by such reflection it will be
ascertained。
Universals apprehended in Reflection
§ 21n
To reflect is a lesson which even the child has to learn。 One of his first lessons is to join adjectives
with substantives。 This obliges him to attend and distinguish: he has to remember a rule and apply it
to the particular case。 This rule is nothing but a universal: and the child must see that the particular
adapts itself to this universal。 In life; again; we have ends to attain。 And with regard to these we
ponder which is the best way to secure them。 The end here represents the universal or governing
principle and we have means and instruments whose action we regulate in conformity to the end。
In the same way reflection is active in questions of conduct。 To reflect here means to recollect the
right; the duty … the universal which serves as a fixed rule to guide our behaviour in the given case。
Our particular act must imply and recognise the universal law。 We find the same thing exhibited in
our study of natural phenomena。 For instance; we observe thunder and lightning。 The phenomenon
is a familiar one; and we often perceive it。 But man is not content with a bare acquaintance; or with
the fact as it appears to the senses; he would like to get behind the surface; to know what it is; and
to comprehend it。 This leads him to reflect: he seeks to find out the cause as something distinct
from the mere phenomenon: he tries to know the inside in its distinction from the outside。 Hence
the phenomenon becomes double; it splits into inside and outside; into force and its manifestation;
into cause and effect。 Once more we find the inside or the force identified with the universal and
permanent: not this or that flash of lightning; this or that plant … but that which continues the same in
them all。 The sensible appearance is individual and evanescent: the permanent in it is discovered by
reflection。
Nature shows us a countless number of individual forms and phenomena。 Into this variety we feel
a need of introducing unity: we compare; consequently; and try to find the universal of each single
case。 Individuals are born and perish: the species abides and recurs in them all: and its existence is
only visible to reflection。 Under the same head fall such laws as those regulating the motion of the
heavenly bodies。 To…day we see the stars here; and tomorrow there; and our mind finds something
incongruous in this chaos … something in which it can put no faith; because it believes in order and
in a simple; constant; and universal law。 Inspired by this belief; the mind has directed its reflection
towards the phenomena; and learnt their laws。 In other words; it has established the movement of
the heavenly bodies to be in accordance with a universal law from which every change of position
may be known and predicted。 The case is the same with the influences which make themselves felt
in the infinite complexity of human conduct。 There; too; man has the belief in the sway of a general
principle。 From all these examples it may be gathered how reflection is always seeking for
something fixed and permanent; definite in itself and governing the particulars。 This universal which
cannot be apprehended by the senses counts as the true and essential。 Thus; duties and rights are
all…important in the matter of conduct; and an action is true when it conforms to those universal
formulae。
In thus characterising the universal; we become aware of its antithesis to something else。 This
something else is the merely immediate; outward and individual; as opposed to the mediate;
inward; and universal。 The universal does not exist externally to the outward eye as a universal。
The kind as kind cannot be perceived: the laws of the celestial motions are not written on the sky。
The universal is neither seen nor heard; its existence is only for the mind。 Religion leads us to a
universal; which embraces all else within itself; to an Absolute by which all else is brought into
being: and this Absolute is an object not of the senses but of the mind and of thought。
The Subject … Object Relation
§ 22
(c) By the act of reflection something is altered in the way in which the fact was
originally presented in sensation; perception; or conception。 Thus; as it appears;
an alteration must be interposed before the true nature of the object can be
discovered。
What reflection elicits is a product of our thought。 Solon; for instance; produced
out of his head the laws he gave to the Athenians。 This is half of the truth: but we
must not on that account forget that the universal (in Solon's case; the laws) is the
very reverse of merely subjective; or fail to note that it is the essential; true; and
objective being of things。 To discover the truth in things; mere attention is not
enough; we must call in the action of our own faculties to transform what is
immediately before us。 Now; at first sight; this seems an inversion of the natural
order; calculated to thwart the very purpose on which knowledge is bent。 But the
method is not so irrational as it seems。 It has been the conviction of every age
that the only way of reaching the permanent substratum was to transmute the
given phenomenon by means of reflection。 In modern times a doubt has for the
first time been raised on this point in connection with the difference alleged to
exist between the products of our thought and the things in their own nature。 This
real nature of things; it is said; is very different from what we make out of them。
Kantian Scepticism
The divorce between thought and thing is mainly the work of the Critical
Philosophy; and runs counter to the conviction of all previous ages; that their
agreement was a matter of course。 The; antithesis between them is the hinge on
which modern philosophy turns。 Meanwhile the natural belief of men gives the lie
to it。 In common life we reflect; without particularly reminding ourselves that this
is the process of arriving at the truth; and we think without hesitation; and in the
firm belief that thought coincides with thing。 And this belief is of the greatest
importance。 It marks the diseased state of the age when we see it adopt the
despairing creed that our knowledge is only subjective; and that beyond this
subjective we cannot go。 Whereas; rightly understood; truth is objective; and
ought so to regulate the conviction of every one; that the conviction of the
individual is stamped as wrong when it does not agree with this rule。 Modem
views; on the contrary; put great value on the mere fact of conviction; and hold
that to be convinced is good for its own sake; whatever be the burden of our
conviction … there being no standard by which we can measure its truth。
We said above that; according to the old belief; it was the characteristic right of
the mind to know the truth。 If this be so; it also implies that everything we know
both of outward and inward nature; in one word; the objective world; is in its
own self the same as it is in thought; and that to think is to bring out the truth of
our object; be it what it may。 The business of philosophy is only to bring into
explicit consciousness what the world in all ages has believed about thought。
Philosophy therefore advances nothing new; and our present discussion has led us
to a conclusion which agrees with the natural belief of mankind。
〃Think for Yourself〃
§ 23
(d) The real nature of the object is brought to light in reflection; but it is no less
true that this exertion of thought is my act。 If this be so; the real nature is a
product of my mind; in its character of thinking subject … generated by me my
simple universality; self…collected and removed from extraneous influences … in
one word; in my Freedom。
'Think for yourself' is a phrase which peop