New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-19

pporrssoR LApp ON THE VALUE OF IN
IRRESPECTIVE STUDY OF MENTAL ACTS.


sonb,ca, method In psychology as perfectly con-
..,... nth governmental investigation. 1t In
,sts on the reality oil that with which psychology
t. uunnossd N busy Itself, namely the mind-on
ITO unitv. ON It's permanence and on the reality OF
-, .o,s md ,ts knowledge Professor Ladd Is a
strenuous opponent of those who seek psychol-
o,y without soul. He is equally stern with those
wbo nretend TO allure metaphysics In the pursuit
NJ science As he says, they only turn one kind OF
r,o,anhvs,cs ont of the door, while they let an
other kind usually more lcentious, In at the win
don, or nv some back way. This Ii true OF all
SCIENCE the moment It abandons the narrow field
q, axner,ment and turns to conjecture and specll-
lat,on Rut II IL especially true Of psychology, be-
oause the governmental processes never deal with
the aotuaI object of investigation, hut only with
the instr,mentalities which II controls, " one
seeks IN study the mental acts ~ another, one u
obliged IN Interpret all observations by consulting
on,ls own mental acts All the results NJ modern
esnerImenl IN reaction, time, asaoolaIlon ana Tho
like as soon "a they G0mn ~ b. stated are subject
n,si IA the mental inspection ~ lhn eApeflmentef
and linn IA n simllef scrutiny Nv others, these
ssaonda,y p,nerspos being beyond tho fanau ~
,asi ~, nny eoniflvanops ynl invented, N In Easy
IN nav that investigation ehnll bo confined 10 es-
norlu,eut and 10 tho bnldoHt statement ~ result,
INT A IN not confined within these limits, ana II
canpot bc. Interrogation steps IN To tell what tho
rosu,s impiy, ana the terms that II uses. however
they may bo disguised. are found 10 bc mcnphysi-
chi In view II this condition Of things. Professor
Ladd urges that where philosophical methods are
necessary they should be used frankly and not
surrcp,itounly Hut he does not demand that tho
particular form Of metaphysics which he prefers
shnIi be used by others. lie does not ask that
others ahall agree with him IN saying that mind
IL known In its acts and that no unknowabc mind
a,un exists behind thIs mind In action. But he cx-
horts those who have any system to adhere to II;
and those who deny the use OF any system to re-
Wow their processes and TO see II they not
mistaken lie intimates that they will find subtle
metaphysics lurking under their pet hypothesis
and doing all the guesswork that patches their in
terpretation Of facts together
II will easily be guessed that Professor Ladd
cher.shes a hearty contempt for the Kantian bogy.
thing in itself An object stripped OF all that by
which Il is known not only passes to the realm or
the unknowable, but to that Of the non-existent.
On the other hand. the thing being known In It's
attributes these cannot be known as separate
things-that is. to the mind real things are known,
not mere phenomena. The mere assertion that all
knowledge Is phenomenal carries with II the inn
plcaton that there is something which Is not phe-
nomenal To know that there Is an unknowable
Is to know the unknowable. 1t Is in this contra
diction that agnosticism comes to grief Il cannot
tell you that know that you and cannot know
without assuming both the possibility Of knowl-
edge for you and for me- and also the reality In
some sort Of both you and me-" Here, of course.
Professor Ladd is aware that. while his argu-
ment is unanswerable 1t is itself no answer either
f1aufi ct
who here occupy common ground. They do not
question the assumption. Since the time OF Pyr-
rho there has probably never been philosopher
who had to be held back from the edge of a preci-
pice or who refused to take stick to drive off a
dog because he consistently maintains that
neither preclpices nor sticks dogs existed, and
that he himself could not be hurt because he was
only an appearance But they, either as agnostics,
deny that the assumption Is knowledge, or, as
idealists demand formal proof To a certain class
Of minds II is irksome to assume anything, and
To- such minds this difficulty, though purely for
NAL is as real as any other They may never get
the proof they are after but they will always con-
tinue to seek it, at the same time admitting the
inconsistency OF acting in daily life as II no such
proof were necessary. The mind cannot review a
single act OF its own. not even the denial of Its
own existence without asserting that existence.
Nevertheless the question why this Is so Will con-
tinue to be asked. But those who ask 1t must re-
member If they try In way TO get rid OF mind as
a datum Of science that they are only repeating
Pyrrho's error In another field. They Will simply
have to let 1t into their scheme again In surrep-
titious manner Attempts to escape the assump-
ton Of sef-consciousness as the underlying fact OF
knowledge are never more than verbal bubbles In
which the pronoun has been more or less skill
fully suppressed. And yet the fact that Il and t.
as Jean Paul put 1t. Is always a comparatively
late discovery in child life. will always tempt some
minds to get behind the returns OF consciousness.
On this point the actual thinking OF races whose
languages are devoid OF personal pronouns might
be OF interest. For example II would be interest
ing TO know whether there !s difference appre-
ciable to science or metaphysics. In the positive
ness OF personal Identity, between Japanese and
Europeans.
As to all the problems Of double or multiple con-
scousness. Professor Ladd demands more thor
ough investigation than has yet been made. Too
many hasty conclusions were drawn from ill-as-
sorted facts and the occasional withdrawal Of
what was supposed to be demonstrated vitiates
all speculation on these obscure subjects. He in
stances the dsproof Of the familiar assumption
that hypnotic subjects carried over no memory
+,
after all such abnormal phenomena shall have
been investigated. they will not furnish puzzle
equal to the one which IL apparent In every human
being, mad or sane, sound or diseased-namely.
the Interruptions OF conscious life. marked by in
attention by sleep by swoon. The efforts Of
genius are said TO be achieved In complete literal,
not figurative. forgetfulness OF self. Similar abb
sorption In the moral aspects of life have led to
the thought almost II not quite universal. of con-
tentlon between good self and an evil self. like
guardian angel and attendant demon. over third
self which seems to be the object or the cause Of
the conflict 1t Is not In these confusions OF self
that the proof of personal Identity Is 10 be found.
hut in the fact that the normal consciousness uni
formly atteets 1t. On awaking from the appar-
entity complete forgetfuness OF sound sleep. the
first question In case Of doubt or bewIlderment Is
never "Who am II" Still the problem remains as
10 what became Of this self-consciousness In the
hours that seemed those Of utter oblivion. Pro-
fessor Ladd does not consider this question
worthy of being asked or answered with gravity.