The Religious Sentiment: Its Source and Aim: A Contribution to the Science and; Philosophy of ReligionBrinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
Religion
The Religious Sentiment: Its Source and Aim: A Contribution to the Science and; Philosophy of Religion
Brinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
Religion -- Philosophy
Knowledge reaches the mind in two forms, for which there are in most
languages, though not in modern English, two distinct expressions,
_connaitre_ and _savoir_, _kennen_ and _wissen_. The former relates to
knowledge through sensation, the latter through intellection; the former
cannot be rendered in words, the latter can be; the former is reached
through immediate perception, the latter through logical processes. For
example: an odor is something we may certainly know and can identify,
but we cannot possibly describe it in words; justice on the other hand
may be clearly defined to our mind, but it is equally impossible to
translate it into sensation. Nevertheless, it is generally agreed that
the one of these processes is, so far as it goes, as conclusive as the
other, and that they proceed on essentially the same principles.[22-1]
Religious philosophy has to do only with the second form of knowledge,
that reached through notions or thoughts.
The enchainment or sequence of thoughts in the mind is at first an
accidental one. They arise through the two general relations of nearness
in time or similarity in sensation. Their succession is prescribed by
these conditions, and without conscious effort cannot be changed. They
are notions about phenomena only, and hence are infinitely more likely
to be wrong than right. Of the innumerable associations of thought
possible, only one can yield the truth. The beneficial effects of this
one were felt, and thus by experience man slowly came to distinguish the
true as what is good for him, the untrue as what is injurious.
After he had done this for a while, he attempted to find out some plan
in accordance with which he could so arrange his thoughts that they
should always produce this desirable result. He was thus led to
establish the rules for right reasoning, which are now familiarly known
as Logic. This science was long looked upon as a completed one, and at
the commencement of this century we find such a thinker as Coleridge
expressing an opinion that further development in it was not to be
expected. Since then it has, however, taken a fresh start, and by its
growth has laid the foundation for a system of metaphysics which will be
free from the vagaries and unrealities which have thrown general
discredit on the name of philosophy.
In one direction, as applied logic and the logic of induction, the
natural associations of ideas have been thoroughly studied, and the
methods by which they can be controlled and reduced have been taught
with eminent success. In this branch, Bentham, Mill, Bain, and others
have been prominent workers.
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