The Passions; Or, Mind and Matter

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1848. Excerpt: ... SECTION II. ON THE INFLUENCE OF PROGRESSIVE CIVILIZATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PASSIONS. Civilization may be defined the gradual development and improvement of the social condition and the intellectual faculties of man. It is not always that these improvements keep pace with each other in their progress. There are countries in which great intellectual powers may be observed, but in which the social condition of the community is far from being so advanced as other nations less gifted with mental superiority. In these cases, however, it will be generally found that these superior intellectual qualifications are confined to a few individuals; the masses remain in comparative ignorance. It may be the interest of these gifted persons to hold talent and power within their own grasp; their influence in society depending in many instances upon the stultified condition of the people. This was the case with the priesthood, from time immemorial, in many regions, where the arts and sciences were confined to the temple or the cloister: hence these privileged beings were looked upon by the vulgar as demi-gods. One man, possessing extraordinary powers, either as a lawgiver or as a conqueror, has often changed the character of a whole people, both as regards their physical and their moral condition; at other times, this work has been achieved by several individuals, interested or philanthropic as the case might be, to improve the state of society, according to their preconceived notions. It was chiefly in the form of government and in religious opinion that these revolutions were effected. Social improvement was not concerned in the impulse they communicated. It must, in fact, be the work of time, and does not depend so much upon intellectual superiority as on the progress of independence and t...