Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-04-06
REALISM.

i"'tbt 't'ttif ~ WJWt INC ~ &. htVW
LgeNm HoDch Is, By 4, C'ahuH.
Man is an inQurng, social, initiating
creature.
The inquiring impulse springs from
thought, which prompts him to look for
the sources of phenomena. Why?
Where(rom: are the questions which
force themselves upon his mind in con-
necti0n with the Impressions produced
upon it by surrounding nature.
Sociality is due to the instinct of self
Preservation, which causes us to unite
with our fellow men in joint war upon
the rest Of creation, and which grows
according to Herbert Spencer, into he
reditary habit, increasing through the
survival of the tittest.
| The initiating activity seems to me to
| be stimulated by the reflective or imita-
| tive character of our sensations. just
as the nervous system receives impress
| sions which it does not communicate to
the mind (retleX actions, the mind re.
peats a sensation without the aid of a
| duplicate impression The work Of our
memory consists in initiating sensa-
tons And just as impression of the
! body passes into sensation of the mind
the sensation tends to be converted into
| imprpsslOn For sensation is nothing
else than the mental counterpart of ma
ture The face see is not the one be-
fore my eyes, nor even the Photographic
picture taken from it by the camera OBJ
scura Of my eyes, which is the physical
impression created by that face, The
sensation of sight the perception of
"the change wrought in our body" or,
in other words, the consciousness of this
impression, is inSeparabIe from a men
tai copy of the face we look at. The
sensation Of sound is in a like manner
the minds imitation of the sound which
is brought to bear upon the tympan-
mum of my ear. The stronger this SEN
saton the nearer the copy to the orig
inal, the greater is the propensity to re.
produce the latter. On recalling words
or a sound which have produced on
us deep impression, we are tempted
to repeat them to ourselves. in order to
receive that impression afresh. The
more one dwells on such a Recollection,
that is, the stronger the duplicate sell
sation, the stronger is our inclination to
express them.
frequently, when thinking of a circle,
we nvoluntarily draw one in space. A
child initiates what 1t sees or hears. Its
plays are the initiated actions of its par
ents The most primitive man CaryeS
images of the animals he is surrounded
by. The monkey our esteemed fore
father, is a great hand at initiating.
This initiating impulse finds ample
support in the sociahty of man, which
urges him to share his sensations with
his neighbour and is thus crystalizrd into
inherited habit.
If the new image is true to the natu
raj one, /. e., if 1t produces the same, or
nearly the same sensation which has
called it into being it affords us gratif.
cation; otherwise, it is connected with
repulsIOn.
That there is a natural initiating in.
stinct in man is also proven by the
pleasure we derive from the discovery
of similarity. by the delight which VT
/ lttI Oh mean lux Tue SuCttSSIlI llllltdIlOI
Of the neigh of horse, for example
which in itself is unable to produce any
such feeling.
The mind which eNcels in the suscept.
Utility and retention of sensations Of
light is also possessed by more power
full inclination to initiate the phenomena
Of light; in other words, the artist com
hueS a strong impreSsiveness of the eye
with a passion for reproducing what he
sees or creating something ustenSbly
original by combining these visionary
sensations. Again, one artist has q
greater susceptibility and along with il
a stronger impulse to reproduce glow.
ing sunsets; another a Partially for hui
man faces. and still another Is partiCu.
larry impressed with the agonies Of the
wounded soldier.
The inquiring instinct finds satisfac.