Philosophical Works, v. 2 (of 4): Including All the Essays, and Exhibiting the More Important Alterations and Corrections in the Successive Editions Published by the Author — David Hume — John Shaqi
Philosophical Works, v. 2 (of 4): Including All the Essays, and Exhibiting the More Important Alterations and Corrections in the Successive Editions Published by the Author
David Hume · en
In the _third_ place, 'tis observable of these two kinds of
association, that they very much assist and forward each other, and
that the transition is more easily made where they both concur in
the same object. Thus, a man who, by an injury from another, is very
much discomposed and ruffled in his temper, is apt to find a hundred
subjects of discontent, impatience, fear, and other uneasy passions,
especially if he can discover these subjects in or near the person who
was the cause of his first passion. Those principles which forward
the transition of ideas here concur with those which operate on the
passions; and both uniting in one action, bestow on the mind a double
impulse. The new passion, therefore, must arise with so much greater
violence, and the transition to it must be rendered so much more easy
and natural.
Upon this occasion I may cite the authority of an elegant writer, who
expresses himself in the following manner:--"As the fancy delights in
every thing that is great, strange or beautiful, and is still more
pleased the more it finds of these perfections in the _same_ object,
so it is capable of receiving a new satisfaction by the assistance of
another sense. Thus, any continued sound, as the music of birds or a
fall of waters, awakens every moment the mind of the beholder, and
makes him more attentive to the several beauties of the place that lie
before him. Thus, if there arises a fragrancy of smells or perfumes,
they heighten the pleasure of the imagination, and make even the
colours and verdure of the landscape appear more agreeable; for the
ideas of both senses recommend each other, and are pleasanter together
than when they enter the mind separately: as the different colours of a
picture, when they are well disposed, set off one another, and receive
an additional beauty from the advantage of the situation." In this
phenomenon we may remark the association both of impressions and ideas,
as well as the mutual assistance they lend each other.
SECTION V.
OF THE INFLUENCE OF THESE RELATIONS ON PRIDE AND HUMILITY.