Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-05-10
Pure Wisdom.

n DOoh mas recently been puDnSneu
containing the summing up of the life
work of one of the greatest thinkers of
the Nineteenth century. Doubtless it
will interest our readers to know some
thing of these profound conclusions. We
| therefore quote few paragraphs. We
offer no apology for the great writers
style of composition. 1t is as profound
as his thoughts. We permit ourselves
only to remark that if a newspaper man
had wanted to say that common beliefs
among mankind probably arose from a
common experience and were therefore
likely to contain more or less truth, he
would have said it and stopped. But
this is how great philosopher says it:
However wrong many human beliefs appear,
we may infer that they terminated from
actual experience, and that they originally
contained, and perhaps still contain, some
small amount of truth. We may assume this
more especially OF those beliefs which are
nearly or quite universal.
Further, if a newspaper writer had
been going to say that no mans judg-
ment is either always correct or always
wrong, he would have said just that, no
more. Read how you must put it if you
are great thinker:
We shall not regard some mems judgments
as wholly good and others as wholly bad, but
shall rather conclude that none are completely
right and none are completely wrong.
As for the following sentence, let it
speak for itself;
We must say Of conceptions in general that
they are complete only when the attributes of
the object conceived are of such number and
kind that they can be represented in conscious
ness so nearly at the same time as TO seem all
present together; that when the size, complex
ity or discreetness of the object conceived be-
comes very great, only small portion of its
attributes can be thought of at once, and the
conception formed of il thus becomes SO mad
equate as to be a mere symbol; that, neverthe-
less such symbolic conceptions, which are
indispensable in general thinking, are legiti-
mate, provided that by some cumulative or
indirect process of thought, or by the fulfill
ment Of predictions based on them, we can
assure ourselves that they stand for actuali-
ties but that when our symbolic conceptions
are such that no cumulative or indirect proc
esses OF thought can enable us to ascertain
that there are corresponding actualities, nor
prove this, then they are altogether vicious and
Elusive and in no way distinguishable from
pure fiction.
We think the philosopher here means
to let us know how we can tell when a
man is lying, but we are not certain.
Every reader will take in the profundity
of the following observations:
Every society, be it rudimentary. or be it ad-
vanced, displays phenomena that are ascriba-
BILE to the characters Of its units and to the
conditions under which they exist.
| Social growth is at once a consequence and a
cause Of social progress. The influences which
| the society exerts on the natures OF its units,
and those influences which the units exert on
the nature Of the society, necessarily cooper
ate in creating new elements.
Once more:
Other things being equal, localities that are
uniform in structure are unfavorable TO social
progress.
Here is one, however, that is so plain
we wonder the philosopher did not put
it into Latin:
The desire to appropriate and to keep that
which has been appropriated lies deep, not in
human nature only. but in animal nature
As to the next one, though, the un-
trained thinker is not quite sure whether
it goes or not:
Hence it follows that objective necessities Of
relation In space are represented by established
nervous structures implying latent subjective
necessities Of nervous action; these last consti-
tute predetermined forms of thought produced
| by the molding OF Thought upon Things, and
that the impossibility OF inverting them, i'm
piled by the inconceivableness of their mega
tions, Is a reason for accepting them as true,
which immeasurably transcends in value any
other reason that can be given.
One more we quote, in the hope that it
will set at rest many vague doubt in
the breast of the common individual
who works for his living. Let us read
it and thank heaven we live in an age of
printing and of philosophers who can
explain things:
The conclusions that part cause Of evolu-
ton is the multiplication Of effects, and that
this increases IN geometrical progression as the
heterogeneity becomes greater, are not only 70
be established inductively, but they are de-
ducible from the deepest of all truths. The
multiplication Of effects is a corollary from
the persistence of force.
We always thought sol