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
This undeveloped stage of religious thought faded away, as general
conceptions of man and his surroundings arose. Starting always from his
wish dependent on unknown control, man found certain phenomena usually
soothed his fears and favored his wishes, while others interfered with
their attainment and excited his alarm. This distinction, directly
founded on his sensations of pleasure and pain, led to a general, more
or less rigid, classification of the unknown, into two opposing classes
of beings, the one kindly disposed, beneficent, good, the other
untoward, maleficent, evil.
At first this distinction had in it nothing of a _moral_ character. It
is in fact a long time before this is visible, and to-day but two or
three religions acknowledge it even theoretically. All, however, which
claim historical position set up a dual hierarchy in the divine realms.
Ahura-mazda and Anya-mainyus, God and Satan, Jove and Pluto, Pachacamac
and Supay, Enigorio and Enigohatgea are examples out of hundreds that
might be adduced.
The fundamental contrast of pleasure and pain might be considered enough
to explain this duality. But in fact it is even farther reaching. The
emotions are dual as well as the sensations, as we have seen in the
first chapter. All the operations of the intellect are dichotomic, and
in mathematical logic must be expressed by an equation of the second
degree. Subject and object must be understood as polar pairs, and in
physical science polarization, contrast of properties corresponding to
contrast of position, is a universal phenomenon. Analogy, therefore,
vindicates the assumption that the unknown, like the known, is the field
of the operation of contradictory powers.
A variety of expression is given this philosophic notion in myths. In
Egypt, Syria, Greece and India the contrast was that of the sexes, the
male and female principles as displayed in the operations of nature. The
type of all is that very ancient Phrygian cult in which by the side of
Ma, mother of mountains and mistress of herds, stood Papas, father of
the race of shepherds and inventor of the rustic pipe.[183-1] Quite
characteristic was the classification of the gods worshipped by the
miners and metal workers of Phrygian Ida. This was into right and left,
and the general name of Dactyli, Fingers, was given them. The right gods
broke the spells which the left wove, the right pointed out the ore
which the left had buried, the right disclosed the remedies for the
sickness which the left had sent. This venerable division is still
retained when we speak of a _sinister_ portent, or a _right_ judgment.
It is of physiological interest as showing that “dextral pre-eminence”
or right-handedness was prevalent in earliest historic times, though it
is unknown in any lower animal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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