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第26章

the foundations of personality-第26章

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lue in promulgating the ideas of those too busy or unfitted for this task; and he has been the chief agent in the unification of groups。 The danger that lies in words as the symbols of thought lies in the fact pointed out by Francis Bacon'1' (and in our day by Wundt and Jung) that words have been coined by the mass of people and have come to mean very definitely the relations between things as conceived by the ignorant majority; so that when the philosopher or scientist seeks to use them; he finds himself hampered by the false beliefs inherent in the word and by the lack of precision in the current use of words。 Moreover; words are also a means of stirring up emotions; hate; love; passion; and become weapons in a struggle for power and therefore obscure intelligence。 '1' This is Bacon's 〃Idols of the Market Place。〃

Words; themselves; arise in our social relations; for the solitary human would never speak; and the thought we think of as peculiarly our own is intensely social。 Indeed; as Cooley pointed out; our thought is usually in a dialogue form with an auditor who listens and whose applause we desire and whose arguments we meet。 In children; who think aloud; this trend is obvious; for they say; 〃you; I; no; yes; I mustn't; you mustn't;〃 and terms of dialogue and social intercourse appear constantly。 Thought and words offer us the basis of definite internal conflict: one part of us says to the other; 〃You must not do that;〃 and the other answers; 〃What shall I do?〃 Desire may run along smoothly without distinct; internal verbal thought until it runs into inhibition which becomes at once distinctly verbal in its; 〃No! You musn't!〃 But desire obstructed also becomes verbal and we hear within us; 〃I will!〃 We live secure in the belief that our thoughts are our own and cannot be 〃read〃 by others。 Yet in our intercourse we seek to read the thoughts of othersthe real thoughtsrecognizing that just as we do not express ourselves either accurately or honestly; so may the other be limited or disingenuous。 Whenever there occurs a feeling of inferiority; the face is averted so the thoughts may not be read; and it is very common for people mentally diseased to believe that their thoughts are being read and published。 Indeed; the connection between thoughts and the personality may be severed and the patient mistakes as an outside voice his own thoughts。 A large part of ancient and modern belief and superstition hinges on the feeling of power in thought and therefore in words。 Thought CAUSES things as any other power does。 Think something hard; use the appropriate word; and presto;what you desire is done。 〃Faith moves mountains;〃 and the kindred beliefs of the magic in words have plunged the world into abysses of superstition。 Thought is powerful; words are powerful; if combined with the appropriate action; and in their indirect effects。 All our triumphs are thought and word products; so; too; are our defeats。 It is not profitable for us at this stage to study the types of intelligence in greater detail。 In the larger aspects of intelligence we must regard it as intimately blended with emotions; mood; instincts; and in its control of them is a measurement of character。 We may ask what is the range of memory; what is the capacity for choosing; how good is the planning ability; how active is the organizing ability; what is the type of associations that predominate and how active is the stream of thought? What is the skill of the individual? How well does he use words and to what end does he use them? Intelligence deals with the variables of life; leaving to instinct the basic reactions; but it is in these variables that intelligence meets situations that of themselves would end disastrously for the individual。 Not a line; so far; on Will。 What of the will; basic force in character and center of a controversy that will never end? Has man a free will? does his choice of action and thought come from a power within himself? Is there a uniting will; operating in our actions; a something of an integral indivisible kind; which is non…material yet which controls matter? Taking the free…will idea at its face value leads us nowhere in our study of character。 If character in its totality is organic; so is will; and it therefore resides in the tissues of our organism and is subject to its laws。 In some mental diseases the central disturbance is in the will; as Kraepelin postulates in the disease known as Dementia Praecox。 The power of choice and the power of acting according to choice disappear gradually; leaving the individual inert and apathetic。 The will may alter its directions in disease (or rather be altered) so that BECAUSE of a tumor mass in the brain; or a clot of blood; or the extirpation of his testicles; he chooses and acts on different principles than ever before in his life。 Or you get a man drunk; introduce into his organism the soluble narcotic alcohol; and you change his will in the sense that he chooses to be foolish or immoral or brutal; and acts accordingly。 When from Philip drunk we appeal to Philip sober; we acknowledge that the two Philips are different and will different things。 And the will of the child is not the will of the adult; nor is that the will of the old man。 If will is organic it cannot be free; but is conditioned by health; glandular activity; tissue chemistry; age; social setting; education; intelligence。 Moreover; behind each choice and each act are motives set up by the whole past of the individual; set up by heredity and training; by the will of our ancestors and our contemporaries。 Logically and psychologically; we cannot agree that a free agent has any conditions; and if it has any conditions; it cannot in any phase be free。 To set up an argument for free will one has to appeal to the consciousness or have a deep religious motive。 But even the ecclesiastical psychologists and even so strong a believer in free will as Munsterberg take the stand that we may have two points of view; oneas religiously mindedthat there is a free will; and the otheras scientiststhat will is determined in its operations by causes that reach back in an endless chain。 The power to choose and the power to act may be heightened by advice and admonitions。 In this sense we may properly tell a man to use his will; and we may seek to introduce into him motives that will fortify his resolution; remove or increase his inhibitions; make clearer his choice。 But that will is an entity; existing by itself and pulling at levers of conduct without itself being organic; need not be entertained by any serious…minded student of his kind。 Is there a unit; will? A will power? I can see no good evidence for this belief except the generalizing trend of human thought and the fallacy that raises abstractions into realities。 Napoleon had a strong will in regard to his battles and a weak one regarding women。 Pitt was a determined statesman but could not resist the lure of drink。 Socrates found no difficulty in dying for his beliefs; but asked not to be tempted by a beautiful youth。 Francis Bacon took all knowledge to be his province; and his will was equal to the task; but he found the desire for riches too great for him。 In reality; man is a mosaic of wills; and the will of each instinct; each desire; each purpose; is the intensity of that instinct; desire or purpose。 In each of us there is a clash of wills; as the trends in our character oppose one another。 The united self harmonizes its purposes and wills into as nearly one as possible; the disunited self is standing unsteadily astride two or more horses。 We all know that it is easy for us to accomplish certain things and difficult to make up our minds to do others。 Like and dislike; facility or difficulty are part of each purpose and enter into each will as parts。 Such a view does not commit one to fatalism; at least in conduct。 Desiring to accomplish something or desiring to avoid doing something; both of which are usually considered as part of willing; we must seek to find motives and influences that will help us。 We must realize that each choice; each act; changes the world for us and every one else and seek to harmonize our choice and acts with the purposes we regard as our best。 If we seek to influence other

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