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contrary; 103 degrees or 104 degrees Fahrenheit might be a much



more favorable temperature for truths to germinate and sprout in;



than the more ordinary blood…heat of 97 or 98 degrees。  It is



either the disagreeableness itself of the fancies; or their



inability to bear the criticisms of the convalescent hour。  When



we praise the thoughts which health brings; health's peculiar



chemical metabolisms have nothing to do with determining our



judgment。  We know in fact almost nothing about these



metabolisms。  It is the character of inner happiness in the



thoughts which stamps them as good; or else their consistency



with our other opinions and their serviceability for our needs;



which make them pass for true in our esteem。







Now the more intrinsic and the more remote of these criteria do



not always hang together。  Inner happiness and serviceability do



not always agree。  What immediately feels most 〃good〃 is not



always most 〃true;〃 when measured by the verdict of the rest of



experience。  The difference between Philip drunk and Philip sober



is the classic instance in corroboration。  If merely 〃feeling



good〃 could decide; drunkenness would be the supremely valid



human experience。  But its revelations; however acutely



satisfying at the moment; are inserted into an environment which



refuses to bear them out for any length of time。  The consequence



of this discrepancy of the two criteria is the uncertainty which



still prevails over so many of our spiritual judgments。  There



are moments of sentimental and mystical experiencewe shall



hereafter hear much of themthat carry an enormous sense of



inner authority and illumination with them when they come。  But



they come seldom; and they do not come to everyone; and the rest



of life makes either no connection with them; or tends to



contradict them more than it confirms them。  Some persons follow



more the voice of the moment in these cases; some prefer to be



guided by the average results。  Hence the sad discordancy of so



many of the spiritual judgments of human beings; a discordancy



which will be brought home to us acutely enough before these



lectures end。







It is; however; a discordancy that can never be resolved by any



merely medical test。  A good example of the impossibility of



holding strictly to the medical tests is seen in the theory of



the pathological causation of genius promulgated by recent



authors。  〃Genius;〃 said Dr。 Moreau; 〃is but one of the many



branches of the neuropathic tree。〃  〃Genius;〃 says Dr。 Lombroso;



〃is a symptom of hereditary degeneration of the epileptoid



variety; and is allied to moral insanity。〃   〃Whenever a man's



life;〃 writes Mr。 Nisbet; 〃is at once sufficiently illustrious



and recorded with sufficient fullness to be a subject of



profitable study; he inevitably falls into the morbid category。 。



。 。  And it is worthy of remark that; as a rule; the greater the



genius; the greater the unsoundness。〃'3'







'3'  J。 F。 Nisbet:  The Insanity of Genius; 3d ed。; London; 1893;



pp。 xvi。; xxiv。















Now do these authors; after having succeeded in establishing to



their own satisfaction that the works of genius are fruits of



disease; consistently proceed thereupon to impugn the VALUE of



the fruits?  Do they deduce a new spiritual judgment from their



new doctrine of existential conditions? Do they frankly forbid us



to admire the productions of genius from now onwards?  and say



outright that no neuropath can ever be a revealer of new truth?







No! their immediate spiritual instincts are too strong for them



here; and hold their own against inferences which; in mere love



of logical consistency; medical materialism ought to be only too



glad to draw。  One disciple of the school; indeed; has striven to



impugn the value of works of genius in a wholesale way (such



works of contemporary art; namely; as he himself is unable to



enjoy; and they are many) by using medical arguments。'4'  But for



the most part the masterpieces are left unchallenged; and the



medical line of attack either confines itself to such secular



productions as everyone admits to be intrinsically eccentric; or



else addresses itself exclusively to religious manifestations。 



And then it is because the religious manifestations have been



already condemned because the critic dislikes them on internal or



spiritual grounds。







'4'  Max Nordau; in his bulky book entitled Degeneration。















In the natural sciences and industrial arts it never occurs to



anyone to try to refute opinions by showing up their author's



neurotic constitution。  Opinions here are invariably tested by



logic and by experiment; no matter what may be their author's



neurological type。  It should be no otherwise with religious



opinions。  Their value can only be ascertained by spiritual



judgments directly passed upon them; judgments based on our own



immediate feeling primarily; and secondarily on what we can



ascertain of their experiential relations to our moral needs and



to the rest of what we hold as true。







Immediate luminousness; in short; philosophical reasonableness;



and moral helpfulness are the only available criteria。 Saint



Teresa might have had the nervous system of the placidest cow;



and it would not now save her theology; if the trial of the



theology by these other tests should show it to be contemptible。 



And conversely if her theology can stand these other tests; it



will make no difference how hysterical or nervously off her



balance Saint Teresa may have been when she was with us here



below。







You see that at bottom we are thrown back upon the general



principles by which the empirical philosophy has always contended



that we must be guided in our search for truth。  Dogmatic



philosophies have sought for tests for truth which might dispense



us from appealing to the future。 Some direct mark; by noting



which we can be protected immediately and absolutely; now and



forever; against all mistakesuch has been the darling dream of



philosophic dogmatists。  It is clear that the ORIGIN of the truth



would be an admirable criterion of this sort; if only the various



origins could be discriminated from one another from this 



point of view; and the history of dogmatic opinion shows that



origin has always been a favorite test。  Origin in immediate



intuition; origin in pontifical authority; origin in supernatural



revelation; as by vision; hearing; or unaccountable impression;



origin in direct possession by a higher spirit; expressing itself



in prophecy and warning; origin in automatic utterance



generallythese origins have been stock warrants for the truth



of one opinion after another which we find represented in



religious history。  The medical materialists are therefore only



so many belated dogmatists; neatly turning the tables on their



predecessors by using the criterion of origin in a destructive



instead of an accreditive way。







They are effective with their talk of pathological origin only so



long as supernatural origin is pleaded by the other side; and



nothing but the argument from origin is under discussion。  But



the argument from origin has seldom been used alone; for it is



too obviously insufficient。  Dr。 Maudsley is perhaps the



cleverest of the rebutters of supernatural religion on grounds of



origin。  Yet he finds himself forced to write:







〃What right have we to believe Nature under any obligation to do



her work by means of complete minds only?  She m

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