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  XXXV. 
  — 
  Observations 
  on 
  the 
  Speculations 
  of 
  Dr 
  Brown 
  and 
  other 
  recent 
  Met 
  a- 
  

   physicians, 
  regarding 
  the 
  Exercise 
  of 
  the 
  Senses. 
  By 
  Professor 
  W. 
  P. 
  Alison. 
  

  

  (Read 
  7th 
  and 
  21st 
  February 
  1853.) 
  

  

  In 
  offering 
  to 
  this 
  Society 
  a 
  few 
  remarks 
  which 
  have 
  occurred 
  to 
  me 
  on 
  this 
  

   fundamental 
  department 
  of 
  Mental 
  Physiology, 
  I 
  beg 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  place 
  to 
  explain, 
  

   that 
  my 
  reason 
  for 
  doing 
  so 
  is 
  merely 
  this, 
  that 
  in 
  consequence 
  of 
  certain 
  un- 
  

   guarded 
  expressions, 
  and, 
  as 
  I 
  think, 
  hasty 
  reflections, 
  the 
  opinions 
  of 
  Dr 
  Brown, 
  

   and 
  likewise 
  of 
  Sir 
  James 
  Mackintosh, 
  and 
  of 
  Lord 
  Jeffrey, 
  and 
  other 
  more 
  

   recent 
  writers 
  on 
  this 
  subject, 
  have 
  been 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  irreconcileably 
  at 
  variance 
  

   with 
  those 
  of 
  Dr 
  Reid 
  and 
  Mr 
  Stewart 
  ; 
  i. 
  e., 
  with 
  those 
  which 
  are 
  usually 
  called 
  

   the 
  leading 
  doctrines, 
  or 
  essential 
  characteristics, 
  of 
  the 
  Scotch 
  School 
  of 
  Meta- 
  

   physics, 
  in 
  this 
  fundamental 
  department 
  of 
  the 
  science. 
  And 
  when 
  such 
  difference 
  

   of 
  opinion 
  is 
  believed 
  to 
  exist 
  among 
  men 
  of 
  generally 
  acknowledged 
  talent, 
  who 
  

   have 
  studied 
  this 
  subject, 
  and 
  nothing 
  like 
  an 
  experimentum 
  crucis 
  can 
  be 
  pointed 
  

   out, 
  to 
  compel 
  us 
  to 
  adopt 
  one 
  opinion 
  and 
  reject 
  another, 
  — 
  the 
  natural 
  inference 
  

   is, 
  that 
  there 
  is 
  something 
  in 
  the 
  study 
  itself, 
  which 
  renders 
  it 
  unfit 
  for 
  scientific 
  

   inquiry, 
  — 
  that 
  what 
  is 
  called 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  Mental 
  Faculties 
  granted 
  to 
  our 
  

   species 
  is, 
  in 
  fact, 
  only 
  a 
  record 
  of 
  the 
  vacillations 
  of 
  human 
  fancy 
  and 
  ingenuity, 
  

   in 
  the 
  invention 
  and 
  demolition 
  of 
  hypotheses, 
  — 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  subject 
  is 
  one 
  on 
  

   which 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  vain 
  for 
  our 
  minds 
  to 
  dwell, 
  with 
  any 
  hope 
  of 
  applying 
  the 
  principles 
  

   of 
  Inductive 
  Science, 
  and 
  acquiring 
  any 
  insight 
  into 
  the 
  laws 
  of 
  Nature, 
  regulating 
  

   the 
  phenomena 
  presented 
  by 
  the 
  last 
  and 
  greatest 
  of 
  her 
  works, 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  

   which 
  is 
  the 
  object 
  and 
  the 
  reward 
  of 
  all 
  other 
  scientific 
  inquiries. 
  

  

  When, 
  for 
  example, 
  we 
  find 
  it 
  stated 
  by 
  Dr 
  Brown, 
  that 
  on 
  the 
  first 
  and 
  most 
  

   fundamental 
  of 
  all 
  inquiries 
  regarding 
  the 
  human 
  mind, 
  — 
  that 
  into 
  the 
  belief 
  which 
  

   attends 
  the 
  exercise 
  of 
  the 
  Senses, 
  — 
  the 
  creed 
  of 
  the 
  sceptic, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  orthodox 
  

   philosopher 
  of 
  Dr 
  Reid's 
  School, 
  consists, 
  in 
  fact, 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  two 
  propositions, 
  — 
  

   "and 
  that 
  what 
  appeared 
  to 
  Dr 
  Reid 
  and 
  Mr 
  Stewart 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  overthrow 
  of 
  a 
  great 
  

   system 
  of 
  scepticism 
  on 
  this 
  subject, 
  was 
  nothing 
  more 
  than 
  the 
  proof 
  that 
  certain 
  

   phrases 
  are 
  metaphorical, 
  which 
  were 
  intended 
  by 
  their 
  authors 
  to 
  be 
  understood 
  

   only 
  as 
  metaphors 
  ;" 
  — 
  {Lectures, 
  vol. 
  i., 
  p. 
  584) 
  ; 
  when 
  we 
  find 
  this 
  statement 
  of 
  

   Dr 
  Brown's 
  regarded 
  by 
  Sir 
  James 
  Mackintosh 
  as 
  so 
  just 
  and 
  important, 
  that 
  

   he 
  says, 
  " 
  the 
  whole 
  intellectual 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  philosophy 
  of 
  Brown 
  is 
  an 
  open 
  re- 
  

   volt 
  against 
  the 
  authority 
  of 
  Reid 
  ; 
  — 
  Mr 
  Stewart 
  had 
  dissented 
  from 
  the 
  language 
  

   of 
  Reid, 
  and 
  departed 
  from 
  his 
  opinions.on 
  several 
  secondary 
  theories 
  ; 
  Dr 
  Brown 
  

   rejected 
  them 
  entirely,— 
  very 
  justly 
  considering 
  the 
  claim 
  of 
  Reid 
  to 
  the 
  merit 
  of 
  

   detecting 
  the 
  universal 
  delusion, 
  which 
  had 
  betrayed 
  philosophers 
  into 
  the 
  belief 
  

   that 
  Ideas, 
  which 
  were 
  the 
  sole 
  object 
  of 
  knowledge, 
  had 
  a 
  separate 
  existence, 
  as 
  

  

  VOL. 
  XX. 
  PART 
  IV. 
  6 
  Z 
  

  

  