The Principles of Psychology, Volume 2 (of 2)James, William
Science
The Principles of Psychology, Volume 2 (of 2)
James, William
Psychology
As a whole, sensations are more lively and are judged more real than
conceptions; things met with every hour more real than things seen
once; attributes perceived when awake, more real than attributes
perceived in a dream. But, owing to the _diverse relations contracted
by the various objects with each other,_ the simple rule that the
lively and permanent is the real is often enough disguised. A conceived
thing may be deemed more real than a certain sensible thing, if it only
be intimately related to other sensible things more vivid, permanent,
or interesting than the first one. Conceived molecular vibrations,
e.g., are by the physicist judged more real than felt warmth, because
so intimately related to all those other facts of motion in the world
which he has made his special study. Similarly, a rare thing may be
deemed more real than a permanent thing if it be more widely related
to other permanent things. All the occasional crucial observations of
science are examples of this. A rare experience, too, is likely to be
judged more real than a permanent one, if it be more interesting and
exciting. Such is the sight of Saturn through a telescope; such are the
occasional insights and illuminations which upset our habitual ways of
thought.
But no mere floating conception, no mere disconnected rarity, ever
displaces vivid things or permanent things from our belief. A
conception, to prevail, must _terminate_ in the world of orderly
sensible experience. A rare phenomenon, to displace frequent ones,
must belong with others more frequent still. The history of science
is strewn with wrecks and ruins of theory--essences and principles,
fluids and forces--once fondly clung to, but found to hang together
with no facts of sense. And exceptional phenomena solicit our belief in
vain until such time as we chance to conceive them as of kinds already
admitted to exist. What science means by 'verification' is no more
than this, that no object of conception shall be believed which sooner
or later has not some permanent and vivid object of sensation for its
_term_. Compare what was said on pages 3-7, above.
_Sensible objects are thus either our realities or the tests of our
realities. Conceived objects must show sensible effects or else
be disbelieved._ And the effects, even though reduced to relative
unreality when their causes come to view (as heat, which molecular
vibrations make unreal), are yet the things on which our knowledge
of the causes rests. Strange mutual dependence this, in which the
appearance needs the reality in order to exist, but the reality needs
the appearance in order to be known!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account