darwin and modern science-第173章

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This　predominance　and　priority　of　ritual　over　definite　creed　was　first　forced　upon　our　notice　by　the　study　of　savages；　but　it　promptly　and　happily　joined　hands　with　modern　psychology。　　Popular　belief　says；　I　think；　therefore　I　act；　modern　scientific　psychology　says；　I　act　（or　rather；　REact　to　outside　stimulus）；　and　so　I　come　to　think。　　Thus　there　is　set　going　a　recurrent　series：　　act　and　thought　become　in　their　turn　stimuli　to　fresh　acts　and　thoughts。　　In　examining　religion　as　envisaged　to…day　it　would　therefore　be　more　correct　to　begin　with　the　practice　of　religion；　i。e。　ritual；　and　then　pass　to　its　theory；　theology　or　mythology。　　But　it　will　be　more　convenient　to　adopt　the　reverse　method。　　The　theoretical　content　of　religion　is　to　those　of　us　who　are　Protestants　far　more　familiar　and　we　shall　thus　proceed　from　the　known　to　the　comparatively　unknown。

I　shall　avoid　all　attempt　at　rigid　definition。　　The　problem　before　the　modern　investigator　is；　not　to　determine　the　essence　and　definition　of　religion　but　to　inquire　how　religious　phenomena；　religious　ideas　and　practices　arose。　　Now　the　theoretical　content　of　religion；　the　domain　of　theology　or　mythology；　is　broadly　familiar　to　all。　　It　is　the　world　of　the　unseen；　the　supersensuous；　it　is　the　world　of　what　we　call　the　soul　and　the　supposed　objects　of　the　soul's　perception；　sprites；　demons；　ghosts　and　gods。　　How　did　this　world　grow　up？

We　turn　to　our　savages。　　Intelligent　missionaries　of　bygone　days　used　to　ply　savages　with　questions　such　as　these：　　Had　they　any　belief　in　God？　　Did　they　believe　in　the　immortality　of　the　soul？　　Taking　their　own　clear…cut　conceptions；　discriminated　by　a　developed　terminology；　these　missionaries　tried　to　translate　them　into　languages　that　had　neither　the　words　nor　the　thoughts；　only　a　vague；　inchoate；　tangled　substratum；　out　of　which　these　thoughts　and　words　later　differentiated　themselves。　　Let　us　examine　this　substratum。

Nowadays　we　popularly　distinguish　between　objective　and　subjective；　and　further；　we　regard　the　two　worlds　as　in　some　sense　opposed。　　To　the　objective　world　we　commonly　attribute　some　reality　independent　of　consciousness；　while　we　think　of　the　subjective　as　dependent　for　its　existence　on　the　mind。　　The　objective　world　consists　of　perceptible　things；　or　of　the　ultimate　constituents　to　which　matter　is　reduced　by　physical　speculation。　　The　subjective　world　is　the　world　of　beliefs；　hallucinations；　dreams；　abstract　ideas；　imaginations　and　the　like。　　Psychology　of　course　knows　that　the　objective　and　subjective　worlds　are　interdependent；　inextricably　intertwined；　but　for　practical　purposes　the　distinction　is　convenient。

But　primitive　man　has　not　yet　drawn　the　distinction　between　objective　and　subjective。　　Nay；　more；　it　is　foreign　to　almost　the　whole　of　ancient　philosophy。　　Plato's　Ideas　（I　owe　this　psychological　analysis　of　the　elements　of　the　primitive　supersensuous　world　mainly　to　Dr　Beck；　〃Erkenntnisstheorie　des　primitiven　Denkens〃；　see　page　498；　note　1。）；　his　Goodness；　Truth；　Beauty；　his　class…names；　horse；　table；　are　it　is　true　dematerialised　as　far　as　possible；　but　they　have　outside　existence；　apart　from　the　mind　of　the　thinker；　they　have　in　some　shadowy　way　spatial　extension。　　Yet　ancient　philosophies　and　primitive　man　alike　needed　and　possessed　for　practical　purposes　a　distinction　which　served　as　well　as　our　subjective　and　objective。　　To　the　primitive　savage　all　his　thoughts；　every　object　of　which　he　was　conscious；　whether　by　perception　or　conception；　had　reality；　that　is；　it　had　existence　outside　himself；　but　it　might　have　reality　of　various　kinds　or　different　degrees。

It　is　not　hard　to　see　how　this　would　happen。　　A　man's　senses　may　mislead　him。　　He　sees　the　reflection　of　a　bird　in　a　pond。　　To　his　eyes　it　is　a　real　bird。　　He　touches　it；　HE　PUTS　IT　TO　THE　TOUCH；　and　to　his　touch　it　is　not　a　bird　at　all。　　It　is　real　then；　but　surely　not　quite　so　real　as　a　bird　that　you　can　touch。　　Again；　he　sees　smoke。　　It　is　real　to　his　eyes。　　He　tries　to　grasp　it；　it　vanishes。　　The　wind　touches　him；　but　he　cannot　see　it；　which　makes　him　feel　uncanny。　　The　most　real　thing　is　that　which　affects　most　senses　and　especially　what　affects　the　sense　of　touch。　　Apparently　touch　is　the　deepest　down；　most　primitive；　of　senses。　　The　rest　are　specialisations　and　complications。　　Primitive　man　has　no　formal　rubric　〃optical　delusion；〃　but　he　learns　practically　to　distinguish　between　things　that　affect　only　one　sense　and　things　that　affect　two　or　moreif　he　did　not　he　would　not　survive。　　But　both　classes　of　things　are　real　to　him。　　Percipi　est　esse。

So　far；　primitive　man　has　made　a　real　observation；　there　are　things　that　appeal　to　one　sense　only。　　But　very　soon　creeps　in　confusion　fraught　with　disaster。　　He　passes　naturally　enough；　being　economical　of　any　mental　effort；　from　what　he　really　sees　but　cannot　feel　to　what　he　thinks　he　sees；　and　gives　to　it　the　same　secondary　reality。　　He　has　dreams；　visions；　hallucinations；　nightmares。　　He　dreams　that　an　enemy　is　beating　him；　and　he　wakes　rubbing　his　head。　　Then　further　he　remembers　things；　that　is；　for　him；　he　sees　them。　　A　great　chief　died　the　other　day　and　they　buried　him；　but　he　sees　him　still　in　his　mind；　sees　him　in　his　war…paint；　splendid；　victorious。　　So　the　image　of　the　past　goes　together　with　his　dreams　and　visions　to　the　making　of　this　other　less　real；　but　still　real　world；　his　other…world　of　the　supersensuous；　the　supernatural；　a　world；　the　outside　existence　of　which；　independent　of　himself；　he　never　questions。

And；　naturally　enough；　the　future　joins　the　past　in　this　supersensuous　world。　　He　can　hope；　he　can　imagine；　he　can　prophesy。　　And　again　the　images　of　his　hope　are　real；　he　sees　them　with　that　mind's　eye　which　as　yet　he　has　not　distinguished　from　his　bodily　eye。　　And　so　the　supersensuous　world　grows　and　grows　big　with　the　invisible　present；　and　big　also　with　the　past　and　the　future；　crowded　with　the　ghosts　of　the　dead　and　shadowed　with　oracles　and　portents。　　It　is　this　supersensuous；　supernatural　world　which　is　the　eternity；　the　other…world；　of　primitive　religion；　not　an　endlessness　of　time；　but　a　state　removed　from　full　sensuous　reality；　a　world　in　which　anything　and　everything　may　happen；　a　world　peopled　by　demonic　ancestors　and　liable　to　a　splendid　vagueness；　to　a　〃once　upon　a　time…ness〃　denied　to　the　present。　　It　not　unfrequently　happens　that　people　who　know　that　the　world　nowadays　obeys　fixed　laws　have　no　difficulty　in　believing　that　six　thousand　years　ago　man　was　made　direct　from　a　lump　of　clay；　and　woman　was　made　from　one　of　man's　superfluous　ribs。

The　fashioning　of　the　supersensuous　world　comes　out　very　clearly　in　primitive　man's　views　about　the　soul　and　life　after　death。　　Herbert　Spencer　noted　long　ago　the　influence　of　dreams　in　forming　a　belief　in　immortality；　but　being　very　rational　himself；　he　extended　to　primitive　man　a　quite　alien　quality　of　rationality。　　Herbert　Spencer　argued　that　when　a　savage　has　a　dream　he　seeks　to　account　for　it；　and　in　so　doing　invents　a　spirit　world。　　The　mistake　here　lies　in　the　〃seeks　to　account　for　it。〃　　（Primitive　man；　as　Dr　Beck　observes；　is　not　impelled　by　an　Erkenntnisstrieb。　　Dr　Beck　says　he　has　counted　upwards　of　30　of　these　mythological　Triebe　（tendencies）　with　which　primitive　man　has　been　endowed。）　　Man　is　at　first　too　busy　LIVING　to　have　any　time　for　disinterested　THINKING。　　He　dreams　a　dream　and　it　is　real　for　him。　　He　does　not　seek　to　account　for　it　any　more　than　for　his　hands　and　feet。　　He　cannot　distinguish　between　a　CONception　and　a　PERception；　that　is　all。　　He　remembers　his　ancestors　or　they　appear　to　him　in　a　dream；　therefore　they　are　alive　still；　but　only　as　a　rule　to　about　the　third　generation。　　Then　he　remembers　them　no　more　and　they　cease　to　be。

Next　as　regards　his　own　soul。　　He　feels　something　within　him；　his　life…　power；　his　will　to　live；　his　power　to　act；　his　personalitywhatever　we　like　to　call　it。　　He　cannot　touch　this　thing　that　is　himself；　but　it　is　real。　　His　friend　too　is　alive　and　one　day　he　is　dead；　he　cannot　move；　he　cannot　act。　　Well；　something　has　gone　that　was　his　friend's　self。　　He　has　stopped　breathing。　　Was　it　his　breath？　or　he　is　bleeding；　is　it　his　blood？　　This　life…power　IS　something；　does　it　live　in