Civilisation : Its Cause and Cure 



dual, feeling precedes thinking — as the body 

 precedes the clothes. In history, the Rousseau 

 precedes the Voltaire. There is, I believe, a 

 physiological parallel ; for behind the brain and 

 determining its action stands the great sympathetic 

 nerve — the organ of the emotions. In fact here 

 the brain appears as distinctly transitional. It 

 stands between the nerves of sense on the one 

 hand and the great sympathetic on the other. 



Change the feeling in an individual, and his whole 

 method of thinking will be revolutionised ; change 

 the axiom or primary sensation in a science, and 

 the whole structure will have to be re-created. 

 The current Political Economy is founded on the 

 axiom of individual greed ; but let a nev/ axiomatic 

 emotion spring up (as of justice or fair play 

 instead of unlimited grab), and the base of the 

 science will be altered, and will necessitate a new 

 construction. 



So when people argue (on politics, morality, art, 

 etc.) it will generally be found that they differ at 

 the base ; they go out, perhaps quite unconsciously, 

 from different axioms and hence they cannot agree. 

 Occasionally of course a strict examination will 

 show that, while agreeing at the base, one of them 

 has made a false step in deduction ; in that case 

 his thought does not represent his primary feeing, 

 and when this is pointed out he is forced to alter 

 it. But more often it is found that the difference 

 lies deep down at a point beyond the reach of 

 reason ; and they disagree to the end. In this 

 case neither is right and neither is wrong. 



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