第39章

Brownthusillustratesthegravitationofthe’common-sense’philosophytopureempiricism。HewasthelastinthegenuinelineofScottishcommon-sensephilosophers。WhenafterwhatmaybecalledtheunphilosophicalinterregnumwhichfollowedBrown’sdeath，Hamiltonbecameprofessor，theScottishtraditionwasblendedwiththeverydifferenttheoriesderivedfromKant。UponBrown’sversion，theScottishphilosophyhadvirtuallydeclareditselfbankrupt。Thesubstanceofhisteachingwasthatoftheveryschoolwhichhispredecessorshadattemptedtoconfute，carefullyasthefactmightbehiddenbydexterousrhetoricandmanipulationoftechnicalterms。HeagreeswithHume’spremises，andadoptsthemethodofCondillac，thiswasperceivedbyhismostremarkablehearer。CarlylewenttoEdinburghattheendof1809。Brown，’aneloquent，acutelittlegentleman，fullofenthusiasmaboutsimplesuggestions，relative，etc。，was’utterlyunprofitable’tohim，disspiriting，astheautumnwindsamongwitheredleaves。’41InSignsoftheTimes(1829)

CarlylegavehisviewoftheScottishphilosophygenerally。Theyhad，hesays，startedfromthe’mechanical’premisessuggestedbyHume。’theyletlooseinstinctasanindiscriminatorybandogtoguardthemagainst(his)

conclusions’；’theytuggedlustilyatthelogicalchainbywhichHumewassocoldlytowingthemandtheworldintobottomlessabyssesofAtheismandFatalism，Butthechainsomehowsnappedbetweenthem，andtheissuehasbeenthatnobodynowcaresabouteither——anymorethanaboutHartley’s，Darwin’s，orPriestley’scontemporaneousdoingsinEngland。’42Thejudgmentgoestotherootofthematter。ThemethodofReidinevitablyledtothisresult。Considerthephilosophyasbasedupon，ifnotidenticalwith，aninductivescienceofpsychology，andtheendisclear。Youmaystudyandanalysethephenomenaascarefullyasyouplease；andmay，astheScottishprofessorsdid，produce，ifnotascientificpsychology，yetamassofacuteprolegomenatoascience。Buttheanalysiscanonlyrevealtheactualcombinations，chemicalormechanical，ofthought，theultimateprincipleswhichtheteachersprofesstodiscoveraresimplyprovisional；

productsnotyetanalysed，butnotthereforeincapableofanalysis。Itwasverydesirabletopointthemout：aninsistenceupontheinsufficiencyofHume’sorCondillac’stheorieswasamostvaluableservice；butitwasvaluablepreciselybecauseeveryindicationofsuchanunresolvedelementwasachallengetothenextcomertoresolveitbycloseranalysis。Andthus，infact，theintuitions，whichhadplayedsogreatapartwithReid，comeinBrown’shandstobesoclearlylimitedtothematerialsgivenbysensationorexperiencethatanyshowof’philosophy，’meaninganindependenttheoryoftheuniverse，wasanillusorycombinationoffinephrases。43

II。JAMESMILL’S’ANALYSIS’

JamesMill’sAnalysisofthePhenomenaoftheHumanMindisontheonehandanexpositionoftheprinciplesimpliedinBentham’swritings，and，ontheotherhand，astatementofthepositionfromwhichtheyoungerMillstarted。J。S。

Milldiscussedthebookwithhisfatherduringitscomposition，andin1869hepublishedanewedition，withelaboratenotesbyhimself，GeorgeGrote，ProfessorBain，andAndrewFindlater，44thecommentaryisofgreatimportanceindefiningtherelationbetweenthetwosuccessorstothethroneofBentham。

Mill’sAnalysis，thoughnotwidelyread，madeadeepimpressionuponMill’sowndisciples。Itisterse，trenchant，anduncompromising。ItremindsusinpointofstyleoftheFrenchwriters，withwhomhesympathised，ratherthanoftheEnglishpredecessors，towhommuchofthesubstancewasowing。ThediscursiverhetoricofBrownorStewartisreplacedbygood，hard，sinewylogic。Thewriterisplainlyinearnest。Ifoverconfident，hehasnopettyvanity，andatleastbelieveseveryw