Scientific Romances (First Series)Hinton, Charles Howard
Philosophy
Scientific Romances (First Series)
Hinton, Charles Howard
Fourth dimension
In the building on the right hand of the palace met those of the
inhabitants who had studied the nature of feeling most deeply, and who
from temperament or for other reasons had in their course of study not
paid so much attention to whether feelings were painful or pleasurable,
but who had studied their amount and regularity of their recurrence.
They were the thinkers from whom all the practical inhabitants derived
their rules of business. They devised the means and manner of putting
into execution what was decided on in the other assembly. They did not
often propose any positive enactment themselves, but were always able to
show how the proposals of the other council could be carried into
effect.
Their power was derived in this manner. The king had connected the
feelings of pleasure and pain with certain acts, and had given each
being a routine. Now as he himself made use of this routine and combined
the routines of different individuals to bring about the results he
desired, so also did the rulers of the valley. The routines of the
individuals were studied and classified, and if any work was required to
be done, those individuals whose routines were appropriate were selected
and brought to the required spot. Now to effect this a careful study of
the different routines was necessary, and also a knowledge of what stage
they were at. For it would be no use bringing an individual whose
routine was almost at an end to a work which was just beginning. Hence
the most delicate instruments and processes had been devised for
measuring the amount of feeling experienced by any individual, whether
of pleasure or of pain, and a careful classification had been made of
all routines.
But it is best to study the constitution of the state in a regular
order, and the questions of pleasure and pain considered as such were
esteemed the most important.
The inhabitants knew that they sought pleasure and avoided pain, and the
great object was to make their life more pleasurable. Two means were
adopted, the banishing of the causes of pain, and the obtaining causes
of pleasure.
By causes of pain and pleasure they meant those objects with which the
king had associated the feelings of pleasure and pain in the equal and
opposite moments into which he had divided their apathy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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