"'Tis generally in favour of the Senses that the Passions are exerted; these are alarm'd and rise in arms, when our Pleasures are in danger."
— Forbes of Pitsligo, Alexander Forbes, Lord (1678-1762)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Osborn and T. Longman
Date
1734
Metaphor
"'Tis generally in favour of the Senses that the Passions are exerted; these are alarm'd and rise in arms, when our Pleasures are in danger."
Metaphor in Context
LUCINUS
'Tis generally in favour of the Senses that the Passions are exerted; these are alarm'd and rise in arms, when our Pleasures are in danger. It belongs to the Understanding to regulate the Passions or Affections; or, in other words, to keep the Pleasures in order: for it cannot alter our Sensations or Feelings. And if it be said that the Understanding, which is but passive it self, like the bodily Eye, cannot be called the Leader of the rest of the Faculties; it must be granted, that (strictly speaking) it is rather the Light than the Guide: for if we consider it in the three Operations mention'd by the Logicians, 'tis still but one Light operating in three different manners. The governing Power therefore must be something of Life, Force, and Activity, which sets all the other Faculties at work; and tho' the Will is a more vital Principle than the Understanding and the Memory, the Spirit may be consider'd as somewhat superiour to the Will it self, since the same Person may have a very different Will at different times. Sometimes the Will is manageable, sometimes obstinate; a Man will not so much as hearken: What is it that makes him reflect and yield? Sometimes the Persuasion is address'd to the Understanding, sometimes to the Heart; and Intreaty commonly prevails more than Reasoning. The Memory is only applied to as a Register.
(pp. 98-9)
'Tis generally in favour of the Senses that the Passions are exerted; these are alarm'd and rise in arms, when our Pleasures are in danger. It belongs to the Understanding to regulate the Passions or Affections; or, in other words, to keep the Pleasures in order: for it cannot alter our Sensations or Feelings. And if it be said that the Understanding, which is but passive it self, like the bodily Eye, cannot be called the Leader of the rest of the Faculties; it must be granted, that (strictly speaking) it is rather the Light than the Guide: for if we consider it in the three Operations mention'd by the Logicians, 'tis still but one Light operating in three different manners. The governing Power therefore must be something of Life, Force, and Activity, which sets all the other Faculties at work; and tho' the Will is a more vital Principle than the Understanding and the Memory, the Spirit may be consider'd as somewhat superiour to the Will it self, since the same Person may have a very different Will at different times. Sometimes the Will is manageable, sometimes obstinate; a Man will not so much as hearken: What is it that makes him reflect and yield? Sometimes the Persuasion is address'd to the Understanding, sometimes to the Heart; and Intreaty commonly prevails more than Reasoning. The Memory is only applied to as a Register.
(pp. 98-9)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
Three entries in ESTC (1734, 1762, 1763).
See Essays Moral and Philosophical, on Several Subjects: Viz. A View of the Human Faculties. (London: Printed for J. Osborn and T. Longman, 1734). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
See Essays Moral and Philosophical, on Several Subjects: Viz. A View of the Human Faculties. (London: Printed for J. Osborn and T. Longman, 1734). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Date of Entry
08/18/2013
