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Untitled Article
been tmiateUigible at a previous period , because the circumstances to whick tkey are applicable bad not the # arisen ,. , Such are all rules relating , to the conduct of men in the acquisition and diffusion " of knowledge . So l < pn ^ as science had no existence , as mankind were solely occupied with providing for their physical wants ,, or were coiu tirmally engaged m the rougher work of mutual depredation and hostility , the pursuit of knowledge as a distinct object could not have place , and ,
consequently , the virtu e * and vices connected with it were unknown . ' * In our days a different pasture of affairs presents itself . The acquisition of knowledge has become an object of immense interest and importance . The welfare o € society in a thousand ways is deeply implicated in the rectal cation of error and the discovery of troth . Hence new relations arise , new obligations are constituted , a career is opened in which me » toay display numerous virtues and vices , in which there are various things to shun and to
perform , and in which , therefore , we are called to discriminate and select . " It happens in this , as in many other matters , that the moral sentiments of mankind are tenacious of their accustomed course , and reluctant to take a new direction . ^ When men have been long habituated to look on any quality with approbation , they can scarcely divest themselves of the feeling , even though they discover the object no longer to deserve it ; and they are slow in bestowing * the same sentiment on qualities and actions by which it has not been familiarly excited . Thus the glare , which has so long dazzled the
human race with regard to warlike qualities and military achievements , still continues to bewiloer them , into an admiration of actions incalculably destructive to human happiness . Mankind have yet attained to no sound moral feeling oa the subject , and it will require the reiterated efforts of philosophers to work into their minds the proper sentiments with which the conqueror of nations should be regarded . A similar remark may be made in reference to the pursuit of truth . Men at present lamentably err in apportioning their moral approbation and disapprobation to the actions of those who are engaged in intellectual efforts . They frequently smile on conduct which is fundamentally vieious , and pour their indignation on such as ought to warm them into
admiration and applause . Nor are such mistakes to be wxrodered at . The morality of the subject , besides being comparatively new , involves some nice distinctions , which cannot fail to be ? generally overlooked or confounxletU till they have been clearly discriminated , and rendered plain and familiar by re ^ peated expositions . Jin . the following pages an attempt is made to ascertain and enforce the dutiesof man in a matter so closely interwoven with his welfare , as well as to point out the erroneous principles which have sometimes been substituted in their place . "—Pp . 1—6 .
Preparatory to the accomplishment of this object , the writer gives a rapid sketch of the various states of the mind in relation to the pursuit of truth . These states of mind are classed under the heads moral and intellectual ; the former comprehending our desires and emotions , the latter our opinions or modes of thinking , A simple and sincere desire to arrive at the truth , without any predilection in favour of any opinion * whatever , is the moral state of rnind most favourable to the success of inquiry . The next important requisite ( which can he attained but imperfectl y by the most impartial mind ) is ' a freedom from bias from feelings and emotions whicfh are associated with particular trains of thought . Could this freedom be attained , in
tfoe present state of the human mind , it would be by the sacrifice of rnore than could be gained—a consideration which shduTd be borne in mind , tftongh , as it does not belong to the author's argument * he may be readily excused for not noticing it . The intellectual state moat favourable for the attainment of truth is declared to be freedom from preconceived errors . The combination of these three requisites ought to be the object of every inquirer after abstract tooth .
Untitled Article
H 6 Essays oft the Pursuit of" Trufo *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1829, page 546, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2575/page/26/
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