Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-10-11

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/ esEa;t14 For the srEcrAToR.
/ LOCKE'S ESSAYS. 49,
| 80 - -fs 81 gzl ge. !
"A FEW CRITICAL REFLECTIONS.
I have just been reading LoCKE's Es-
SAY ON THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING
a. I have frequently done In the past
only this time, I have laid the book
down; in more serious and thoughtful
mood than usually indulge. Some oi
his ideas impress me very conflctingly
while others appeal more approvingly
to my humble understanding. Now
my book recollection of Cudw0rth, the
great master mind of the English phi
Iosophers, is that he pioneered the way
for John Locke, and with his great
mind and great researches in phfloso-
phy not only investigating for, but also
indicated to Locke, fields Of the grand
est thought, all teeming with untold
riches, and lunexplored. CudwOrth ap-
pears TO have grappled frequently and
successfully with Hobbies. The Intel
lectuai System" his great production,
Gays Macintosh, is directed against the
atheistical opinions of Hobbies; and he
further adds, Hit touches ethical quee-
ly. And D1gald Stewart also testifies
I'm reeafd 70 ''the sIntellectuaf SYSTEM
| that It "will forever remain precious
mine of information to those whose Gu
riosity may lead them to study the spir-
it of the ancient theories" This was the
line of thought I found myself indulging,
and which I continued to pursue under
the inspiring presence. of an old friend,
who came to my assistance with the fol-
lowing well prepared thoughts, and fully
matured reflections, which he assured
me had MeVer been in print, the same
not having been s0ritten for publication.
When the MSS. in its neat and precise
penmanship lay on the table before me
/ proceeded to read its contents in this
wise - 1.s fe ut
"The two most important conclu-
sions, which result from Cudworth's
reas0nings in opposition to Hobbies,
are these: First, that the mind is able
to form antecedently to positive institu-
tion the ideas of right and wrong; and,
secondly, that these words express SIM
pie ideas, or ideas incapable of analysis.
From these conclusions of Cudworth q
further question naturally arose, how
the ideas of right and wrong, were
formed, and to what principle of our
constitution they ought to be referred ?
This very interesting question did not
escape the attention of Cudworth. And,
in answer to it, he endeavored to show
that our notions of moral distinctions
are found by reason, or in other words,
by the power which distinguishes truth
from falsehOod. And accordingly it be-
oov for offvprn h0 70 h 1o,
guage among moralists to say that vir-
tue consisted, not in obedience to the
law of superior, but in conduct con-
formable to reason. At the time when
Cudworth wrote no accurate classifca-
ton had been attempted of the prlnci
pies of the Human Mind. His account
of the Office of reason, accordingly, in
enabling US to perceive the distinction
between right and wrong, passed with
out censure, and was understood merely
to imply, that there is an eternal and
immutable distinction between right
and wrong, no less than between truth
and falsehood, and that both these dis
tinctions are perceived by our rational
powers, or by those powers which raise
us above the brutes. The publication
of Locke's Essay introduced into this
part of science q precision of expression
unknown before, and taught philoso-
pliers to distinguish variety of powers
which had formerly been very generally
confounded. With these great merits,
however, this work has capital defects,
and perhaps in no part of it are these
defects more important than in the at
tempt he has made to deduce the origin
ton and reflection. To the former of
these sources he refers the ideas we re.
ceive by our external senses, of colors,
sounds, hardness. &c. To the latter
the ideas we derive from consciousness
of our mental Operations,-Of memory,
Imagination. volition, pleasure, pain,
&C. These, according to him, are the
sources of all our simple ideas and the
only power that the mind possesses is to
perform certain operations of analysis,
combination, comparison, &C., on the
materials with which it is thus supplied
1t was this system Of Locke's which led
him to those dangerous opinions that
were formerly mentioned concerning
the nature of moral distinctions, which
he seems to have considered as entirely
the offspring of education and fashion.
Indeed, if the words right and wrong
neither express simple ideas, nor rela-
tions diseOverable by reason, 1t will not
be found easy to avoid adopting this
conclusion" Dugald Stewart. Philoso
ply of the Active and Moral Powers of
Man, B. 2, ch. S, section 1, which con-
suit at large.
Locke has had a singular fate. He
was Jealous advocate Of mixed mon
archy-his Essay on Government was
written to maintain the throne of Will
liam and Mary-his notions of practical
nvnu nnp1f nvh hihifod in M
stitution of North Carolina, with its
caciques and landgraves; yet from his
book have been deduced the widest de.
mocracy and demented JacObinism.-
He exploded the right divine of kings
he showed that all government is of hu-
man institution; yet he is supposed to
have established the divine right of de-
mocracy. So, he was pious Christian
of the Church of England-of the Low
Church, however,-yet from his chap
ter on Innate ideas in his Essay on the
Human Understanding infidels have
deduced the doctrines of MAterialism,
infidelity, and atheanlh.p Benjamin
w. Leigh, speech an the nAsis Of Rep
resentation, in the Convention of Vir-
ginia. November, 1929.
AS to the Essay on the Human I'm
derstanding. the sceptical conclusions
deduced from 1t seem to be not very
strained, to say the least But the pie
ty of Mr.. Locke is not intended to be
impeached by this remark, nor the sim
cerity of his faith for men often enter
tain with the utmost sincerity very in
consistent opinions, nor is there the
least reason why they should not until
they are sensible of the Inconsistency.
The truth is, Mr.. Locke seems to have
been involved In some confusion upon
that subject of the origin of our knowl-I
edge, as think will sufficiently appear
from an attentive perusal of the Essay.
The follow ing observations seem to N.Y.
self, at least, to be well founded. They
are made up on B. 1, ch. 2, sec. A; and
the distinction stated in them may be
successfully applied to the solution of
difficulties in other places. 1t is no
doubt true, that the verbal propositions
there stated are unknoa0n to great part
Of mankind; yet it seems to me per-
fectly certain, that thousands daily act
upon the truth, maxim, principle, dut
qu0cssnQne alto nonaine vocatssr, that is
declared in them, who have never heard