New-York tribune., 1894-03-02

chOlCgist relative to aesthetics seems 10 De 1Aa'
pain and pleasure have no independent existence
In the mind. They to him the qualities OF
attributes of sensations. perceptions emotions
thoughts. but not psychical entities as these are
This notion looks plausible. If one will consider
himself for a moment he will observe that in his
waking hours he is always in a state OF sausiac-
ton or dissatisfaction more or less emphatlc
Ills bias toward delight on the one hand or tow
ard ANNOYANCE on the other may be 50 sllght
as to pass unnotlced. Thus he may become prac-
tcally Indifferent but never absolutely So De-
cause Indifference almost instantly takes shaae
Of dislike for the thing that has failed 10 please
When a man says. II am Indifferent, he Is usu-
ally conscious of a feeling Of aversion Ihis su8-
gestion of Mr. Marshall has special value Tor the
reason that even II pain and pleasure can be
rescued on occasion from the attributive limbo
In which he has imprisoned them, they are never
theless well suited to the fetters which he puiS
upon them If some philosophers can make them
equal to the emotions. yet they must still give
them at times this subordinate relation to the
emotions and to all other mental acuNiiles'
Otherwise, how could poets write OF the pleas
ures Of memory of hope Of the Imagination!
How could such phrase arise as the luxury ol
f.rief?" Or how could the ancient heroes nave
taken downright pleasure in anger? lie irdS
that all the emotions may be plcasuTaoIe OF pam
full Just as they may he more or less intense
Successive fits of the same emotion, Tor example
Of JOY. of anger. sorrow or fear, are much IKE
each other If you say that a man is angry, you
mean simply that he is acting in the same way
that he always acts when rritated. OF course. in
accordance with the rules Of grammar. You can
say that a man is pleased panied. But in
that case YOU have not proved the independent
reality Of pleasure and pain, for the chances are
ten to one that you might just as well nave sald
that the man happy, or that he was mad'
and these would have been purely emotional
phrases While il is easy to speak Of pleasant
or painful emotions. it gives one shock TO speak
Of angry love or sorrowing dread. though the
poet truly may give fearful JOY. These are
all states of consciousness which pracucaIlE eN-
clude each other one might timidly hint that
pleasure and pain really the attitude or con-
seriousness to these states, and not qualities be-
longing to them This suggestion if adopted /
would relieve Mr. Marshall from difficulty
which he has tried unsuccessfully to remove /
Why should anger cease to be a pieasuraDie /
emotion? MI Marshall supposes that II was |
pleasurable in primitive times because 1t was /
beneficial But it IS peasurabe now u hearty /
children and even TO strong bodied men whose /
minds are not predominant. In these modern /
cases the luxury of anger is not commended. /
But as an emotion pure and simple, the wrath /
article Of the same brand. If the change has not |
been in the emotion it should have the qualities +
which formerly belonged to it; yet the modern
social peer of Achilles feels shame rather than /
Measure in anger. He will not have his self /
poise disturbed by violent irritation And this /
reluctance on his part is not instructive; the /
healthy boy has it not. 1t is part of his indi- /
vidual training only seeming TO be instructive /
because it has become common among persons /
Of good breeding Thus consciousness may see any |
emotion under welcome or unwelcome aspects |
1t can condemn unseemly joy and turn with re- /
lief to fear which has something ethical in it. |
For this reason it is defensibe. at least, to say
that pleasure and pain really the attitudes
of consciousness toward the stream Of thought
perception sensation emotion and vOlitiOn con- /
tinuallv changing as it flows through the mind |
Since primitive times the attitude OF conscious /
ness in people of refinement has become less toll
Grant toward anger This is not the result Of |
evolution. for it is quite plain that change in /
culture might restore the berserker rage to its .
former creditable position in the world
That emotions are practically unchanged in /
their contents and in the form Of their display /
is confessed by Mr.. Marshall when he defines /
them In words that call for the dictionary. as |
fixed psychoses corresponding to fixed co-ordi- /
nations instructive activities which arise upon
the appearance Of definite objects" Anger may !
succeed fear for example SO quickly that the two
seem to merge in one another but the charac- |
teristcs Of the two really never blend. because |
they are the conscious aspects Of well-separated
bundles Of instructive activities But he finds two
such bundles, as one may call them for the sake
Of simplicity which produce states OF conscious
ness without any corresponding emotion that can
be named They are felt as impulses There IS
"a psychosis connected with tendencies to im-
tate the action Of others" identical with the
limitation impulse" and "a psychoss connected
with the tendency to act TO attract advantageous
objects TO us which corresponds TO what the
author calls the Art Impulse" All this may
seeem very technical and useless in common Mfe
but if Mr.. Marshall is right. IL is Of vital import
ance to the wouId-be artist or poet or musician
Every human being is apt to think that his or
her mental experiences are unique until the fact
is found, sometimes through sad mishaps. to be |
otherwise. The endless march past" of genius |
unappreciated, Of mute, inglorious Millions" OF
unrecognized Raphaes and Michael Angeles. Of /
prophets without honor in any country. not to /
mention their own, is enough TO convince us of |
the mistaken estimate which humanity is prone J
TO put upon itself. Between mere aspiration on /
the one side and the capacity Of achievement on .
the other a gulf has been fixed wider and deeper
than that which separated the tortured soul Of |
Dives from Abraham's bosom For the incapable
aspirant. matter how genuine and pure his
ambition may be, there is no hope. Now it would
save a vast deal Of heart-burning and misery
for the individual If wishes could be distn-
guished from capacity at the outset What Mr.
Marshall calls the Art Impulse is often taken
for the stir Of genius in the undeveoped youth
Ii is nothing Of the kind says Mr.. Marshall with
a touch of cynicsm The coster when he's not
a-jumping on his mother is quite capable of APP
precatng beauty in his way. Thus "the
impulse TO produce art-wOrk-this Art Impulse
would appear TO be a common heritage as much +
the impulses to love. to fear and to hate; ,
fact which should be well considered by those
who are tempted to make art-work a means Of
subsistence" Most persons of education have
tried like Johnny Fry in the vulgar epigram l