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Untitled Article
course different opinions to be farmed . National circumstances occasion national , and individual circumstances individual peculiarities of thinking . How then , if belief is perfectly independent of the will , shall we account for the fact , that the same events or
the same arguments produce different effects on different minds ? Different conclusions from the same arguments originate either in that defect of language , in consequence of which the terms employed do not convey to every mind the same ideas , or in those circumstances which occasion other
idea 3 besides those actually expressed , ( and different ideas in the case of different individuals , ) to present themselves to the understanding : to which we may add such circumstances as , when the original arguments or
consequent suggestions are numerous and complicated , have a tendency to fix th £ attention of different persons on different parts , and thereby occasion different considerations to remain ultimately in view .
Section VI . is a continuation of the same subject , as far as regards €€ the feelings and passions of mankind . " Here the author describes and explains the peculiar influence possessed by the
sensitive over the intellectual part of our nature . The effects of arguments partly depend upon states of feeling . The attribute of drawing and fixing the attention belongs in a remarkable degree to all strong emotions :
" Fear , for example , may so concentrate our thoughts on some particular features of our situation , may so absorb our attention , that we may overlook all other circumstances , and be led to conclusions which would be instantly rejected by a dispassionate understanding . " While the mind is in this state of
excitement , it has a sort of elective attraction ( if we may borrow an illustration from chemical science ) for some ideas to the neglect of all others . It singles out from the number presented to it those which are connected with the prevailing emotion , while the rest are overlooked and forgotten . In examining any
question , it may really comprehend ail the arguments submitted to it ; but , at the conclusion of the review , those only are retained which have been illuminated by the predominant passion ; and since opinions , as we have seen , are the result of « ie considerations which have been attended to and are in-sight , not of » uch
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as have been overlooked and have vanish * ed , it is those by which the judgment will be determined , " —Pp . 53 , 54 . The author next examines the justness of the common saying , * ' quod volumus facile credimus , " " we
readily believe what is agreeable to our wishes $ " on which he remarks , that , like many other maxims current in the world , it points at a truth without much precision . Wishes , he contends ,
are totally inoperative till they are transformed into hope . If , instead of having a ground for hope , we have a reason for fear , our apprehension disposes us , in the same way , to believe the reverse of what we wish .
Perhaps , the Essayist has not in this part of the argument sufficiently adverted to the natural tendency of wishes to form themselves into hopes * and thus into opinions . The Roman poet appears to us to describe the true philosophy of the human mind :
Quaeque cupit , sperat ; suaque ilium oracula fallunt . The influence of general opinion and some of the most striking effects of eloquence are explained by the author ou the principle of the partiality of attention which they tend to create . Emotions are shewn to have
less room to operate in proportion to the perspicuity of our views . With regard to the major part of mankind , traditionary prejudices and early associations have a predominant influence , imparting a tincture to every subject * and leaving traces in every conclusion .
i he author proceeds to the practical part of his subject iu Section VII ., which is entitled , " On Belief and Opinions as Objects of Moral Approbation and Disapprobation , Rewards
and Punishments . " It follows , of course , that if opinions be involuntary they cannot involve either merit or demerit . The nature of an opinion cannot make it criminal . Praise or
blame may , however , be justly attached to the manner in which an inquiry is prosecuted . But the consideratioa of opinions , as reprehensible in so far as they are the result of unfair investigation , can scarcely be rendered a useful or practical principle ; for opinions furnish no criterion of the
fairness or unfairness ok investigation , since the most opposite results , tjie most contrary opinions , may ensue
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* t ¦ Review . O —Essay 8 on the Formation and Publication of pinions . & $ 5
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1822, page 555, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2516/page/35/
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