The San Francisco call., 1910-11-02
I Is CONVICTION.
MERE MENTALITY
Theory That Belief Makes
Wrong Right and Vice
Versa Disputed
By JEROME S. RIcARD, S. J..

startled the world-of course, that
means only a few dozen souls. more or
less-by proclaiming himself the in
ventor of mentality.
In our simplicity we had always
thought mentality was the common
heritage of our race. and we were all
familiar, at least to certain extent,
with that commodity. But 10 and be-
hold we were rather rudely awakened
from our time honored dream, when,
some indefinite time ago,~a gentleman
we met on the road vouchsafed the in
formation that "howsoever at variance
any two parties might be on any topic,
yet both of them were right. because,
forsooth, they had different minds"
Whence the inference was plain that
either one of the two parties saw one
thing and the other another in the
same thing; or one OF them saw we'll
and the other dim1y; or one of them
saw simply and the other not at all,
in which case the latter pronounced
judgment, and so both Of them were
right because they had a different per-
ceptive faculty. At all events, the i'm
preston remained with us that men
talfty was a sort of mathematical prob
lem awaiting scientific solution, and
the aforementioned scientist had been
fortunate enough to hit upon 1.-THE So
luton amounting to the effect that
''mentality was sort of by-prOduct, or,
rather, an effiOrescence, SO to say, of
ionized infinitesimaI atoms vibrating
with quasi infinite velocity
We have no desire now to delay
upon this old bit of new information,
SO let 1t stand in all the fresh beauty
of it's new garb. We simply notice,
en- passant, the food of light it throws
upon the heterodox looking proposition
above enunciated. If the vibratory
movement is next to infinite, the men
tai machine understands well; If the
movement slackens, not SO we'll; if IL
is comparatively sluggish, ii is dolt-
ishness; if it stops, it is british stu
pfdity. In any case so long as move
ment is movement and mentality is
movement, it and it's result must be
all right, and, therefore, different
minds thinking different things about
the same thing must all of them be
right.
1t may be so subjectively, whether as
mere activity or result in itself. But
what about the objection side of the
question? Some one whispers the
answer. That different minds means
only different degrees of mentality"
and the point in question is only one of
more or less and not of disagreement.
Another suggests that the object is
complex; that one party takes one
point of view and the other another
So it happens with the spectrum when
you can conf1ne your attention to the
ultra-red and L to the ultraviolet. But
the trouble is when, say. dozen persons
would confine their attention to the
ultra-red and one would see nothing.
the other blue, the next not blue or
green, the next black, and so on.
Allowing for the vagaries of color
blindness, one can say this is impos-
sible; yet it is most faithful picture
of this very real world in which we
live. On the hypothesis that difference
in mind is only one of gradation.
good showing can be made out, thus:
l see a triangle, so do you; you see in
1t more than L do, for il brings to your
mind the trigonometric functions which
L know nothing about. Another will see
sines and coSineS into infinite series,
which is all a mystery to you and me.
Why, the geodetic and coast survey of
the United States sees even more; we
mean those processes of triangulation
by which they map out the whole coun-
try and measure arcs OF meridians and
parallels of latitude.
If this is not what is meant by the
phrase different minds" we must con-
Tess our utter inability to understand
the point at issue. For all cognitive
llsh an equation between the represent
alton and the thing represented. If
cognition is nothing but a deiusion and
a snare, and man the perpetual victim
OF phantasma goria. All mind is made
for truth and In the nature of things
can not but be made for truth. and If
truth is worth anything, it consists in
an equation, and that equation can be
certain is that one mind can not de-
clare 1t an equation and another mind
nonequation, for the thing in itself
(das ding an sich) is either an equation
middle term. If it is an equation and
one mind says yes and the other mind
no. one must be right and the other
wrong.
The identity of contradictories is the
ultimate step of mental arrangement
and the solid common sense of man
kind has never been able TO see in it
anything except. a dream of dreams
and vanity of vanities. There are
those who have declared being is not
being and not being is being, which
can be understood in a certain way.
For instance, being in general is not
being in particular and vice versa. But
the dHlTI0dl1On IndL a De1nR In general
is not that being in general. say that a
rose is not a rose, can only be ex-
planned on the supposition that the
affirmer can be suffered TO be at large
only If he is harmless in other respects.
The proposition that different minds
can think different things about the
same thing at the same time and from
the same point of view, otherwise
understood thanN as we have pointed
out, is as full Of practical mischief as
any the grossest error or the widest
passion. Take two men who disagree
about something, say. the owner of the
Los Angeles Times and the dynamiter.
According to the above theory, both of
them are right, because they have
different minds. If so. why should the
country sympathize with the one and
seek vengeance on the other? If both
of them are right, |. e., the peaceful
ownership and preservation of the
Times building is the truth of the case,
and its violent destruction is also the
truth of the case. why should we dis
criminate between truth and truth?
If we are in the truth how can we
persecute, prosecute and punish the
truth? Does truth oppose truth?
/ think a man innocent; you think
him guilty. Both of US are certainly
right, because we have different minds
What 10 to be done? You are stronger
than he. so you rob him of his belong
ings and you send him adrift. But /
think him right and therefore am right
But I am stronger than you, so l violent
80 rl>,& l.