Section J. 



ENTAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION. 



ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT, 



HENRY LAURIE, LL.D., 



Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy, University of Melbourne. 



MATERIALISM. 



There are waves of thought which have recurred again and again 

 in the history of the race. One of these is Materialism. When men 

 began to consider the world as a whole, and to ask if all things could 

 be explained by a single principle, it was inevitable that, among other 

 guesses, matter should suggest itself as such a principle. The material 

 world, with its varied changes, was ever present ; might it not be the 

 sole reality, of which our minds are merely parts or manifestations ? 

 The same thought repeats itself to-day. We recognise more than ever 

 the universal reign of law ; we have learned to regard the world as a 

 systematic unity ; and a mechanical theory of the universe, could it 

 be applied all round, would have the merit of simplicity. We dis- 

 tinguish, it is true, between mind and body ; but as the bodily organism 

 is built up of physical factors, and depends on a physical environment 

 for its continued existence, may not the mental facts of which we are 

 aware be the effects of changes in the nervous system '? We know 

 nothing of a mind, animal or human, save in conjunction with an 

 organism. The mental growth of the child is conditioned by the growth 

 and development of the bodily frame ; with the decay of our physical 

 strength the intellectual alertness of youthful vigor passes away ; when 

 the body lies pale in death there is no longer any trace of mental activity. 

 A healthy body favors a healthy mind. On the other hand, fatigue and 

 innutrition impair the memory and dull the imagination, and on all 

 sides accident and disease illustrate the mental results of bodily disorder. 

 Our minds as well as our bodies are modified by everything we eat and 

 drink. You may remember that on one occasion the Autocrat of the 

 Breakfast Table asked how much the world would give for the discovery 

 if someone would contrive a lever which would check the wheels of 

 thought or alter their rate of going. And the young fellow whom 

 they called John replied : " From half a dime to a dime, according to 

 the style of the place and the quality of the liquor." " You speak 

 trivially," said the Autocrat, " but not unwisely." 



The researches of science strengthen these data of every- day obser- 

 vation. Areas in the brain have been definitely mapped out as connected 

 with certain mental facts, and, though much remains to be accomplished 



