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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



this thing to which so terrible — or 

 mayhap so imposing or so attractive — 

 a name is given ? Let us not stop at 

 the name ; let us get at the facts." 



Now, one of the most appalling terms 

 — to some — of modern philosophical 

 discussion is " materialism." To others 

 — a much smaller number — it stands 

 for the only true scientific gospel. We 

 think, therefore, that we shall be ren- 

 dering a useful service if we try to 

 show, and succeed in showing, as we 

 think we can, that there are two kinds 

 of materialism — one a healthy kind 

 which has an unshakable foundation in 

 Nature, and which no one need dread 

 to accept; the other an unhealthy 

 kind that fortunately has no foundation 

 anywhere, but exists as a wholly ille- 

 gitimate construction in the minds of 

 those who cherish it. 



What matter is we know not, and do 

 not need to know. We know how our 

 minds are impressed when we speak of 

 matter; we know, in other words, 

 what kind of consciousness we have 

 when matter is an object of thought or 

 feeling. In the same way, without 

 knowing what mind is, we know what 

 we are conscious of when we think of 

 mind. Now, if there is anything in 

 this world we are sure of, it is that 

 mental manifestations are governed by 

 physical conditions. It is needless to 

 go over the familiar arguments, when 

 any one who disputes the general posi- 

 tion is found talking to a drunken man 

 just as he would to a sober one, or to a 

 delirious patient just as he would to a 

 person in sound health — in other words, 

 taking no account of the physical con- 

 ditions which have confused the mental 

 operations of either unfortunate — then 

 we shall believe that he means what he 

 says ; only, we may then have to con- 

 clude that he is either drunk or deliri- 

 ous himself. Further, we know that 

 mental constitutions, like bodily ones, 

 are inherited. We expect children to 

 resemble their parents in character as 

 well as in person. We expect to find, 



and do in general find, certain broad 

 national characteristics in people of a 

 certain race. We look for enterprise 

 and tenacity in the Anglo-Saxon stock; 

 we look for a predominant emotional- 

 ism in the Celtic; we look for ready 

 submission to power in Eastern races ; 

 we look for alternate restlessness and 

 indolence in our Indian tribes. All this 

 simply means that mind manifests it- 

 self under quite as definite forms as any 

 of the phenomena of the physical uni- 

 verse, and that we know where to look 

 for each variety. Again, mental powers 

 and aptitudes depend to a considerable 

 extent on education and upon the op- 

 portunities that life brings with it. 

 We do not expect, in matters intellectual 

 any more than in matters agricultural, 

 to reap where we have not sown, or to 

 gather where we have not strewed. 

 The experience of that ancient saint 

 who woke one fine morning, and found 

 himself in full possession of half a dozen 

 languages of which the day before he 

 knew not a word, is not repeated in 

 modern times. Nowadays, we have to 

 learn before we know. 



The dependence, therefore, of mind, 

 or at least of its manifestations — and 

 of nothing else do we know anything — 

 on physical or material conditions may 

 be taken as an incontrovertible fact. 

 If, therefore, the term " materialism " 

 had been confined, as it might have 

 been, to the expression of this fact, 

 would there have been anything terri- 

 ble in it ? To use Comte's illustration, 

 would any one think it a dangerous con- 

 cession to make to admit that he could 

 not work out intellectual problems to 

 advantage standing on his head ? Surely 

 the materialism which teaches a man 

 that, if he would exercise his mind to 

 advantage he must eat moderately, and 

 in general economize his physical pow- 

 ers, is not a very deadly doctrine. Yet 

 that doctrine might very aptly and 

 properly be called materialism ; just as 

 we call spiritualism the converse doc- 

 trine that, if a man wants a piano or 



