Unconscious Memory(Fiscle Part-3) - Samuel Butler (digital e reader TXT) 📗

Is Only Thus

That The Wonderful Tranquillity And Order Which We Observe Could Be

Attained.  What We Are To Think Concerning This Common Instinct Must

Be Reserved For Explanation Later On,  But The Possibility Of Its

Existence Is Already Evident,  Inasmuch {131b} As Each Individual Has

An Unconscious Insight Concerning The Plan Proposed To Itself By The

Community,  And Also Concerning The Means Immediately To Be Adopted

Through Concerted Action--Of Which,  However,  Only The Part Requiring

His Own Co-Operation Is Present In The Consciousness Of Each.  Thus,

For Example,  The Larva Of The Bee Itself Spins The Silky Chamber In

Which It Is To Become A Chrysalis,  But Other Bees Must Close It With

Its Lid Of Wax.  The Purpose Of There Being A Chamber In Which The

Larva Can Become A Chrysalis Must Be Present In The Minds Of Each Of

These Two Parties To The Transaction,  But Neither Of Them Acts Under

The Influence Of Conscious Will,  Except In Regard To His Own

Particular Department.  I Have Already Mentioned The Fact That The

Larva,  After Its Metamorphosis,  Must Be Freed From Its Cell By Other

Bees,  And Have Told How The Working-Bees In Autumn Kill The Drones,

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So That They May Not Have To Feed A Number Of Useless Mouths

Throughout The Winter,  And How They Only Spare Them When They Are

Wanted In Order To Fecundate A New Queen.  Furthermore,  The Working-

Bees Build Cells In Which The Eggs Laid By The Queen May Come To

Maturity,  And,  As A General Rule,  Make Just As Many Chambers As The

Queen Lays Eggs; They Make These,  Moreover,  In The Same Order As That

In Which The Queen Lays Her Eggs,  Namely,  First For The Working-Bees,

Then For The Drones,  And Lastly For The Queens.  In The Polity Of The

Bees,  The Working And The Sexual Capacities,  Which Were Once United,

Are Now Personified In Three Distinct Kinds Of Individual,  And These

Combine With An Inner,  Unconscious,  Spiritual Union,  So As To Form A

Single Body Politic,  As The Organs Of A Living Body Combine To Form

The Body Itself.

 

In This Chapter,  Therefore,  We Have Arrived At The Following

Conclusions:-

 

Instinct Is Not The Result Of Conscious Deliberation; {132} It Is Not

A Consequence Of Bodily Organisation; It Is Not A Mere Result Of A

Mechanism Which Lies In The Organisation Of The Brain; It Is Not The

Operation Of Dead Mechanism,  Glued On,  As It Were,  To The Soul,  And

Foreign To Its Inmost Essence; But It Is The Spontaneous Action Of

The Individual,  Springing From His Most Essential Nature And

Character.  The Purpose To Which Any Particular Kind Of Instinctive

Action Is Subservient Is Not The Purpose Of A Soul Standing Outside

The Individual And Near Akin To Providence--A Purpose Once For All

Thought Out,  And Now Become A Matter Of Necessity To The Individual,

So That He Can Act In No Other Way,  Though It Is Engrafted Into His

Nature From Without,  And Not Natural To It.  The Purpose Of The

Instinct Is In Each Individual Case Thought Out And Willed

Unconsciously By The Individual,  And Afterwards The Choice Of Means

Adapted To Each Particular Case Is Arrived At Unconsciously.  A

Knowledge Of The Purpose Is Often Absolutely Unattainable {133} By

Conscious Knowledge Through Sensual Perception.  Then Does The

Peculiarity Of The Unconscious Display Itself In The Clairvoyance Of

Which Consciousness Perceives Partly Only A Faint And Dull,  And

Partly,  As In The Case Of Man,  A More Or Less Definite Echo By Way Of

Sentiment,  Whereas The Instinctive Action Itself--The Carrying Out Of

The Means Necessary For The Achievement Of The Unconscious Purpose--

Falls Always More Clearly Within Consciousness,  Inasmuch As Due

Performance Of What Is Necessary Would Be Otherwise Impossible.

Finally,  The Clairvoyance Makes Itself Perceived In The Concerted

Action Of Several Individuals Combining To Carry Out A Common But

Unconscious Purpose.

 

Up To This Point We Have Encountered Clairvoyance As A Fact Which We

Observe But Cannot Explain,  And The Reader May Say That He Prefers To

Take His Stand Here,  And Be Content With Regarding Instinct Simply As

A Matter Of Fact,  The Explanation Of Which Is At Present Beyond Our

Reach.  Against This It Must Be Urged,  Firstly,  That Clairvoyance Is

Not Confined To Instinct,  But Is Found Also In Man; Secondly,  That

Clairvoyance Is By No Means Present In All Instincts,  And That

Therefore Our Experience Shows Us Clairvoyance And Instinct As Two

Distinct Things--Clairvoyance Being Of Great Use In Explaining

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Instinct,  But Instinct Serving Nothing To Explain Clairvoyance;

Thirdly And Lastly,  That The Clairvoyance Of The Individual Will Not

Continue To Be So Incomprehensible To Us,  But Will Be Perfectly Well

Explained In The Further Course Of Our Investigation,  While We Must

Give Up All Hope Of Explaining Instinct In Any Other Way.

 

The Conception We Have Thus Arrived At Enables Us To Regard Instinct

As The Innermost Kernel,  So To Speak,  Of Every Living Being.  That

This Is Actually The Case Is Shown By The Instincts Of Self-

Preservation And Of The Continuation Of The Species Which We Observe

Throughout Creation,  And By The Heroic Self-Abandonment With Which

The Individual Will Sacrifice Welfare,  And Even Life,  At The Bidding

Of Instinct.  We See This When We Think Of The Caterpillar,  And How

She Repairs Her Cocoon Until She Yields To Exhaustion; Of The Bird,

And How She Will Lay Herself To Death; Of The Disquiet And Grief

Displayed By All Migratory Animals If They Are Prevented From

Migrating.  A Captive Cuckoo Will Always Die At The Approach Of

Winter Through Despair At Being Unable To Fly Away; So Will The

Vineyard Snail If It Is Hindered Of Its Winter Sleep.  The Weakest

Mother Will Encounter An Enemy Far Surpassing Her In Strength,  And

Suffer Death Cheerfully For Her Offspring's Sake.  Every Year We See

Fresh Cases Of People Who Have Been Unfortunate Going Mad Or

Committing Suicide.  Women Who Have Survived The Caesarian Operation

Allow Themselves So Little To Be Deterred From Further Childbearing

Through Fear Of This Frightful And Generally Fatal Operation,  That

They Will Undergo It No Less Than Three Times.  Can We Suppose That

What So Closely Resembles Demoniacal Possession Can Have Come About

Through Something Engrafted On To The Soul As A Mechanism Foreign To

Its Inner Nature,  {135} Or Through Conscious Deliberation Which

Adheres Always To A Bare Egoism,  And Is Utterly Incapable Of Such

Self-Sacrifice For The Sake Of Offspring As Is Displayed By The

Procreative And Maternal Instincts?

 

We Have Now,  Finally,  To Consider How It Arises That The Instincts Of

Any Animal Species Are So Similar Within The Limits Of That Species--

A Circumstance Which Has Not A Little Contributed To The Engrafted-

Mechanism Theory.  But It Is Plain That Like Causes Will Be Followed

By Like Effects; And This Should Afford Sufficient Explanation.  The

Bodily Mechanism,  For Example,  Of All The Individuals Of A Species Is

Alike; So Again Are Their Capabilities And The Outcomes Of Their

Conscious Intelligence--Though This,  Indeed,  Is Not The Case With

Man,  Nor In Some Measure Even With The Highest Animals; And It Is

Through This Want Of Uniformity That There Is Such A Thing As

Individuality.  The External Conditions Of All The Individuals Of A

Species Are Also Tolerably Similar,  And When They Differ Essentially,

The Instincts Are Likewise Different--A Fact In Support Of Which No

Examples Are Necessary.  From Like Conditions Of Mind And Body (And

This Includes Like Predispositions Of Brain And Ganglia) And Like

Exterior Circumstances,  Like Desires Will Follow As A Necessary

Logical Consequence.  Again,  From Like Desires And Like Inward And

Outward Circumstances,  A Like Choice Of Means--That Is To Say,  Like

Instincts--Must Ensue.  These Last Two Steps Would Not Be Conceded

Without Restriction If The Question Were One Involving Conscious

Deliberation,  But As These Logical Consequences Are Supposed To

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Follow From The Unconscious,  Which Takes The Right Step Unfailingly

Without Vacillation Or Delay So Long As The Premises Are Similar,  The

Ensuing Desires And The Instincts To Adopt The Means For Their

Gratification Will Be Similar Also.

 

Thus The View Which We Have Taken Concerning Instinct Explains The

Very Last Point Which It May Be Thought Worth While To Bring Forward

In Support Of The Opinions Of Our Opponents.

 

I Will Conclude This Chapter With The Words Of Schelling:

"Thoughtful Minds Will Hold The Phenomena Of Animal Instinct To

Belong To The Most Important Of All Phenomena,  And To Be The True

Touchstone Of A Durable Philosophy."

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Remarks Upon Von Hartmann's Position In Regard To Instinct.

 

Uncertain How Far The Foregoing Chapter Is Not Better Left Without

Comment Of Any Kind,  I Nevertheless Think That Some Of My Readers May

Be Helped By The Following Extracts From The Notes I Took While

Translating.  I Will Give Them As They Come,  Without Throwing Them

Into Connected Form.

 

 

 

 

 

Von Hartmann Defines Instinct As Action Done With A Purpose,  But

Without Consciousness Of Purpose.

 

The Building Of Her Nest By A Bird Is An Instinctive Action; It Is

Done With A Purpose,  But It Is Arbitrary To Say That The Bird Has No

Knowledge Of That Purpose.  Some Hold That Birds When They Are

Building Their Nest Know As Well That They Mean To Bring Up A Family

In It As A Young Married Couple Do When They Build Themselves A

House.  This Is The Conclusion Which Would Be Come To By A Plain

Person On A Prima Facie View Of The Facts,  And Von Hartmann Shows No

Reason For Modifying It.