7 and 8. That the sense of pleasure and pain is the sole spring of action, and self-interest the source and centre of all our affections.
9. That the mind acts from a mechanical or physical necessity, over which it has no controul, and consequently is not a moral or accountable agent.—The manner of reasoning upon this last question is the only circumstance of importance in which Hobbes differs decidedly from modern writers.
10. That there is no difference in the natural capacities of men, the mind being originally passive to all impressions alike, and becoming whatever it is from circumstances.
Except the first, all of these positions are either denied or doubtfully admitted by Mr. Locke. It is, however, his admission of the first principle, which has opened a door directly or indirectly to all the rest. The system of Kant is a formal and elaborate antithesis to that which bears the name of Locke, and it is built on ‘the sublime restriction (as Madame de Staël expresses it) added by Leibnitz to the well-known axiom nihil in intellectu quod non prius in sensu—NISI INTELLECTUS IPSE.’
It is in the manner of proving this restriction, and of explaining this word, the intellect, that the whole question depends, and to this I shall devote another letter.
An English Metaphysician.
THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED
| The Morning Chronicle.] | [Feb. 17, 1814. |
The principle that all the ideas, operations, and faculties of the mind may be traced to, and ultimately accounted for, from simple sensation, is all that remains of Mr. Locke’s celebrated Essay, and that to which it owes its present rank among philosophical productions. His various attempts to modify this principle, or reconcile it to common notions have been gradually exploded, and have given place, one by one, to the more severe and logical deductions of Hobbes from the same general principle. Mr. Locke took the faculties of the mind as he found them in himself and others, and instead of levelling the structure, was contented to place it on a new foundation. By this compromise with prudence and candour, he prepared the way for the introduction of the principle, which being once established, very soon overturned all the trite opinions, and vulgar prejudices, which had been improperly associated with it. There was in fact, no place for them in the new system. I confess it strikes some degree of awe into the mind, and makes it feel, that fame, even the best, is not a substantial thing, but the uncertain shadow of real excellence, when we reflect that the immortal renown, which attends the name of Locke as the great luminary of the age in which he lived, is but a dim and borrowed lustre from the writings of one, whom he himself calls, and who has been universally considered as ‘a justly decried author.’ The sentence of the poet is as applicable here as it ever was—
‘Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil,