The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-12-28
The Insuficiency of Purely intellectual Culture.
SOME TELLING FACTS FROM HkRBERr srEN
GER. ..
IFrom tho Philadelphia standardI.

and an Atne1eG, VINO, In IaCtD beiuot 10y,
ences God, nor has any regard for the Dig
nifty and nobility of humanity. he oenevee
that man 10 nothing but beast, that
through the operation or long contihu9u
habituai impression he has come to thlnk,
that his most heroic actions are put the 70
ault of repeated emotions, operating MEG
hapicalIy upon him - and consequently
that for him there 10 neither virtue nor vice.
nor moral responsibility.
Yet this man, Though he thus ignores
his own manhood, is gifted with exception
ally remarkable power, of analysis. he 10
a Keen observer, an admirable dis.ector
and analyst. He can pull down, divide,
destroy. Bnt synthesis, reconstructiop' no
knows not of. .,
From his late articles on Sociology
we make the following condemned extracts
of his views Of the utter inefficiency, for
any valuable social or moral purpose, OF
mere intellectual culture.
His statements az to this are incontro-
vertible and the array of facts he has
gathered, and the lessons they teach, carry
with them, the more weight, rs they fnr-
nish n striking illustration how cont'nasl-
ly tho bitterest enemies of the truth, be
come, against their own Intention aud wills
witnesses in it's favor, and how, in their
efforts to combat the truth, they forge In
etruments for it's defence:
Though the drunkard knows that after o
days debauch will come to-morrow's headaehe,
yet he is not deferred by consciousness OF TINS
truth. similarly WIN improsi-
dence in general. The truth
that reck' essness brings distress, fully &C
Lnowledged though it may BIO, remains IN
operative. Tho mere coguision does not afset
conduct
"Have we not here, then, q cardinal psy-
Geological truth, to which any rational system
of human discipline must conformf In it not
and tacitly assumes its opposite will inevitably
Yet failf much Of our legislation does this
and we are at present, Legislation and nation
witch proceed on the postalate that conduct is
determined by cognitiOns.
"For what else 10 the assumption under1y-
ing this hgng on h o, onp
mon to secularists and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS but
the notion that spread Of knowledge is the one
thing needfnl for bettering behavior HaTing
State State edncation will check il-doing. In news
papers they have often met with comparisons
between tho number of criminals who can
read and write and numbers who cannot; and,
finding the numbers who cannot greatly ex-
coed the numbers who can, they accept the
inference that Ignorance 10 the cause OF crine.
1t does not occur to them to AJAX whether other
statistics, similarly drawn up, would not prove
with like sonclusiveness that crime is caused
by absence of ablutions, or by lack OF clean
linen, or by bad ventilation, or by want of o
separate bedroom. Go through any jail and
ascertain how many prisoners had been in the
find that criminality hsbituslly went with
dirtiness of skin. Count up those who had
possessed q second suit Of clothes, and . com
but small percentage of criminals were ha-
bitualIy able to change their garment0. In
qaire whether they have lived In main streets
or down courts, and you would discover that
nearly all urban crime comes from holes and
corners. Similarly, o fAnateal advocate of
total abstinence or OF sanitary improvement
tons for his belief But ii, net accepting the
random inference presented to You, that igno-
rance and crime arc cause and effect, you con
ssnal reason be asoribsd to various other
causes, you are led to see that it is really con-
nected with an inferior mode of life, itself
nature and you are led to see that ignorance
IL simply one of the ooncomitante, no more to
be held the cause of crime than various
other concomitauts.
but this obvious criticism and the obvious
counter-conclssion it implies are not simply
overlooked, but when insisted upon seem
powerless to affect the belief which has taken
possession of men. Disappointment alone will
now affect it. A wave Of opinion, reaching q
certain height, cannot DO changed by any evil
dence or argument but has to spend iteslf in
the gradual course of things before o reaction
of opinion eau arise. OtherwiBe it would be
incomprehensible that this confidence in the
curative effects of teaching, which men have
carelesaly allowed TO be generated in them by
the reiteratiops OF doctrinaire politicians,
should survive the direct disproofs By daily
a 10 it not the trouble of every mother aBd
every GoverneRs that perpetual insisting on
the right and denouncng the wropg do not
subject Is it not the constant complaint that
on many natures reasoning end explanation
and the clear denomination Of oonseqn erces
are scarcely at all operative. Do We not simi
iariIy hear from every heuee-keeper that
servautsSgenerally pay bat little attention to
reproofs; that they go on Peryerseiy IN old
habits, regardless of clear evidence OF their
foolishness and that their actions are TO be
altered not by explanations and reasoniugsf
when we turn from domestic life to the
life of the suter world. do not like dsproo.s
everywhere meet usf Are Eot fraudulent bank
rupts edncAt ed people, and gettsrs-up Of bubble
companies, and makers Of sdalterstod goods.
and users of false Trademarks, and retailers
who have light weights aud ownaro of unsea- |
worthy ships, and those who cheat insurance
companies, and those who carry on turf CHI |
cAneries, aud tho great majority of gamblers |
Or, to take moro extreme fora of turpitude,
10 there not among those who have committed
murder by poison within our memories, q CEN
siderable number of the cducated-A number
bearing as large q ratio to the eduoa classes
as does the total number of murdOrers to the
total population.