第41章

Thusbeliefnotonlydependsupon，butactuallyisassociation。’Itisnoteasy，’hesays，’totreatofmemory，belief，andjudgmentseparately。’72AsJ。S。Millnaturallyasks，’Howisitpossibletotreatofbeliefwithoutincludinginitmemoryandjudgment?’Memoryisacaseofbelief，andjudgmentan’actofbelief。’73ToJamesMill，however，itappearsthatasthesedifferentfunctionsallinvolveassociation，theymayberesolvedintovaryingapplicationsofthatuniversalpower。Memoryinvolves’anideaofmypresentself’andan’ideaofmypastself，’andtorememberisto’runovertheinterveningstatesofconsciousnesscalledupbyassociation。’74Beliefinvolvesassociationateverystep。Thebeliefinexternalobjectsis，as’allmenadmit……’whollyresolvableintoassociation。’75’Thatacausemeansandcanmeannothingtothehumanmindbutconstantantecedence’(andtherefore’inseparableassociation，’ashethinks)’isnolongerapointindispute。’76Association，itistrue，mayproducewrongaswellasrightbeliefs；rightbeliefswhen’inconformitywiththeconnectionsofthings，’77andwrongbeliefswhennotinconformity。Inbothcasesthebeliefisproducedby’custom，’though，happily，therightcustomisbyfarthecommonest。The’strengthoftheassociationfollowsthefrequency。’Thecrowflieseastaswellaswest；

butthestonealwaysfallsdownwards。78HenceIforman’inseparableassociation’correspondingtoabeliefingravitation，buthavenoparticularbeliefaboutthedirectionofacrow’sflight。

Thisgivesthedoctrineof’indissolubleassociation’——thepivotofthewholescheme——thedoctrine，saysJ。S。Mill，which，’ifitcanbeproved，isthegreatestofallthetriumphsoftheAssociationPhilosophy。’79TheyoungerMillalwaysinsisteduponthevastimportanceoftheprinciple；buthehereadmitsadifficulty。Inalongnote80uponJamesMill’schapteron’Belief，’conspicuousforhisusualcandour，heconfessestheinadequacyofhisfather’sview。Thecommentindicatesthepointofdivergenceandyetshowscuriouslythegroundcommontoboth。JamesMill’stheorystatesfactsinsomesenseundeniable。Our’ideas’cohereandcombinetoformatissue：animageryorseriesofpictureswhichformthecontentandaresomehowthegroundofourbeliefs。Theprocessofformationclearlyinvolves’association。’Thescentoftheroseisassociatedwiththecolour：bothwiththevisibleformandsoforth。Butisthisprocessthesamethingasbelieving，orhavewetoexplainthebeliefbysomementalactivitydifferentfrom，howevercloselyconnectedwith，theimagination，orinhisphrasethe’ideation’?HereJ。S。Millfindsadifficulty。Thestatement，’Ibelievethatthunderwillfollowlightning，’issomethingmorethanthestatement，’thesightsuggestsorcallsupthesound。’Thementalpictureconsideredbyitselfmaybedescribedasafact，withoutconsideringwhatbelief，orwhetheranybelief，isimplied。J。S。Millthereforemakesadistinctionintendedtoclearuphisfather’sconfusion。Thereisadifference，hesays，betweenremembering’arealfact’andrememberinga’thought。’81HeillustratesthisbythedifferencebetweentheideaofLafayetteandtheideaofFalstaff。Lafayettewasreal，andhadbeenseenbytherememberer。

Falstaffisafigmentwho，havingneverexisted，canneverhavebeenseen。

YettheideaofFalstaffmaybequiteasvividastheideaofLafayette。

What，then，isthedifferencebetweenthetwostatesofmind?One，saysJ。S。Mill，isabeliefabout’realfacts’；theotherabout’thoughts。’

This，heobserves，correspondstoJamesMill’sdistinctionbetweena’sensation’

andan’idea，’82adifferencewhichhehadadmittedtobe’primordial。’

Then，saysJ。S。Mill，wemayaswelladmitthatthereisan’element’

intheremembranceofarealfactnotimpliedintheremembranceofathoughtandnotdependentonanydifferenceinthe’ideas’themselves。It，too，maybetakenas’primordial，’orincapableoffurtheranalysis。ThisdoctrinebecomesimportantinsomeofMill’slogicalspeculations，83andisconnectedwithhiswholetheoryofbeliefinanexternalworld。

IthasanuncomfortablelikenesstoReid’s’common-sense’view，andeventothehated’intuitionism’；andMilldeservesthemorecreditforhiscandour。

Meanwhileitseemsclearthatthecriticismimpliesanimportantconfusion。Thelineofdistinctionisdrawninthewrongplace，Sofarasthesimple’imagination’isconcerned，theremaybenoquestionofbeliefordisbelief。ThepictureofFalstafforofLafayette，ahorseorace