"In general, the violent Sensations of Pain or Uneasiness which accompany Hunger, Thirst, and the other private Appetites, or too great Fatigue of Mind as well as of Body, prevent the Individual from running to great Excesses in the Exercise of the higher Functions of the Mind, as too intense Thought in the Search of Truth, violent Application to Business of any kind, and different Degrees of Romantic Heroism."
— Fordyce, David (bap. 1711, d. 1751)
Place of Publication
London
Date
1748, 1754
Metaphor
"In general, the violent Sensations of Pain or Uneasiness which accompany Hunger, Thirst, and the other private Appetites, or too great Fatigue of Mind as well as of Body, prevent the Individual from running to great Excesses in the Exercise of the higher Functions of the Mind, as too intense Thought in the Search of Truth, violent Application to Business of any kind, and different Degrees of Romantic Heroism."
Metaphor in Context
It is evident therefore, that these two Classes of Affection, the Private and Public, are set one against the other, and designed to controul and limit each other's Influence, and thereby to produce a just Balance in the Whole.* In general, the violent Sensations of Pain or Uneasiness which accompany Hunger, Thirst, and the other private Appetites, or too great Fatigue of Mind as well as of Body, prevent the Individual from running to great Excesses in the Exercise of the higher Functions of the Mind, as too intense Thought in the Search of Truth, violent Application to Business of any kind, and different Degrees of Romantic Heroism. On the other hand, the finer Senses of Perception, and those generous Desires and Affections which are connected with them, the Love of Action, of Imitation, of Truth, Honour, Public Virtue, and the like, are wisely placed in the opposite Scale, in order to prevent us from sinking into the Dregs of the Animal Life, and debasing the Dignity of Man below the Condition of Brutes. So that by the mutual Reaction of those opposite Powers, the bad Effects are prevented that would naturally re- sult from their acting singly and apart, and the good Effects are pro- duced which each are severally formed to produce.
(p. 46)
(p. 46)
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" in Liberty Fund OLL
Citation
At least 14 entries in ESTC (1748, 1749, 1754, 1758, 1761, 1763, 1765, 1769, 1775, 1783, 1786, 1793). First available in Dodsley's Preceptor in 1748, published posthumously in 1754. The Elements also appeared as an article in Encyclopaedia Britannica. Thomas Kennedy notes in the introduction to his edition: "Few essays of eighteenth-century moral philosophy can be said to have circulated so widely."
See The Elements of Moral Philosophy. In Three Books. 1. Of Man, and His Connexions. Of Duty or Moral Obligation. - Various Hypotheses Final Causes of Our Moral Faculties of Perception and Affection. 2. The Principal Distinction of Duty or Virtue. Man's Duties to Himself. - To Society. - To God. 3. Of Practical Ethics, or the Culture of the Mind. Motives to Virtue from Personal Happiness. - From the Being and Providence of God. - From the Immortality of the Soul. The Result, or Conclusion. By the Late Rev. Mr. David Fordyce. Professor of Moral Philosophy, and Author of the Art of Preaching, Inscribed to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. (London: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley in Pallmall, 1754). <Link to ESTC>
See also The Preceptor: Containing a General Course of Education. Wherein the First Principles of Polite Learning Are Laid Down in a Way Most Suitable for Trying the Genius, and Advancing the Instruction of Youth. In Twelve Parts. Viz. I. On Reading, Speaking, and Writing Letters. II. On Geometry. III. On Geography and Astronomy. IV. On Chronology and History. V. On Rhetoric and Poetry. VI. On Drawing. VII. On Logic. VIII. On Natural History. IX. On Ethics, or Morality. X. On Trade and Commerce. XI. On Laws and Government. XII. On Human Life and Manners. Illustrated With Maps and Useful Cuts. 2 vols. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley, at Tully's-Head in Pall-Mall, 1748). <Link to ESTC> [The Preceptor was reprinted 1748, 1749, 1754, 1758, 1761-65, 1763, 1765, 1769, 1775, 1783, 1786, and 1793.]
Reading and searching The Elements of Moral Philosophy, in Three Books with A Brief Account of the Nature, Progress and Origin of Philosophy, ed. Thomas Kennedy (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2003). [The Liberty Fund text is based on the 1754 edition.] <Link to OLL>
See The Elements of Moral Philosophy. In Three Books. 1. Of Man, and His Connexions. Of Duty or Moral Obligation. - Various Hypotheses Final Causes of Our Moral Faculties of Perception and Affection. 2. The Principal Distinction of Duty or Virtue. Man's Duties to Himself. - To Society. - To God. 3. Of Practical Ethics, or the Culture of the Mind. Motives to Virtue from Personal Happiness. - From the Being and Providence of God. - From the Immortality of the Soul. The Result, or Conclusion. By the Late Rev. Mr. David Fordyce. Professor of Moral Philosophy, and Author of the Art of Preaching, Inscribed to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury. (London: Printed for R. and J. Dodsley in Pallmall, 1754). <Link to ESTC>
See also The Preceptor: Containing a General Course of Education. Wherein the First Principles of Polite Learning Are Laid Down in a Way Most Suitable for Trying the Genius, and Advancing the Instruction of Youth. In Twelve Parts. Viz. I. On Reading, Speaking, and Writing Letters. II. On Geometry. III. On Geography and Astronomy. IV. On Chronology and History. V. On Rhetoric and Poetry. VI. On Drawing. VII. On Logic. VIII. On Natural History. IX. On Ethics, or Morality. X. On Trade and Commerce. XI. On Laws and Government. XII. On Human Life and Manners. Illustrated With Maps and Useful Cuts. 2 vols. (London: Printed for R. Dodsley, at Tully's-Head in Pall-Mall, 1748). <Link to ESTC> [The Preceptor was reprinted 1748, 1749, 1754, 1758, 1761-65, 1763, 1765, 1769, 1775, 1783, 1786, and 1793.]
Reading and searching The Elements of Moral Philosophy, in Three Books with A Brief Account of the Nature, Progress and Origin of Philosophy, ed. Thomas Kennedy (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2003). [The Liberty Fund text is based on the 1754 edition.] <Link to OLL>
Theme
Dualism
Date of Entry
08/18/2005
Date of Review
10/10/2011
