Chap. XII. ] Plnlosophjjoft/te Ilinmn Mind. 18D 



tation had much diminished, and they were adopt- 

 ed by comparatively few in any part of the philo- 

 sophical w^orld. ^ 



Contemporary with ^^^olfe was the celebrated 

 George Ernest Stahl, professor of medicine in the 

 university of Halle, lie was distingni-^^hed not so 

 much by any new doctrine concerning the nature 

 and powers of the mind (for it is even uncertain 

 w4iat were the opinions which he held on this sub- 

 ject), as by entertaining the singula;- idea that the 

 soul presides over, and governs, the M'hole eco- 

 nomy of the body, both in health and disease. 

 To the will he referred all the vital functions, and 

 contended that if there be instances in which v\x 

 will an etfect, without being able to make it an 

 object of attention, it is possible that what we call 

 vital and involuntary motions may be the conse- 

 quences of our own thought and volition. He 

 supposed that the influence of the soul is extended 

 to every part of the system by means of the nerves; 

 and that, wlien their action is impeded or derang- 

 ed, disease is the unavoidable consequence. These 

 opinions of Stahl were adopted, particularly by a 

 number of medical pliilosophers in different parts 

 of Europe • but at the close of the century there 

 were few or none who professed an adherence to 

 them. 



Among the great theorists in pneumatology 

 which belong to this period, the celebrated Dr. 

 Hartley also holds a conspicuous jjUice"*. The 

 two grand principles on which his whole system 



* Dr. David Hartley was born in Yorkshire, August 30, 1/05, 

 and died at Batli, August 28, 1757. His great work, the Obscr^ 

 vations on Man, was published in 1/49. He was educated With a 



