友情提示:如果本网页打开太慢或显示不完整,请尝试鼠标右键“刷新”本网页!阅读过程发现任何错误请告诉我们,谢谢!! 报告错误
九色书籍 返回本书目录 我的书架 我的书签 TXT全本下载 进入书吧 加入书签

darwin and modern science-第134章

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!



 voluntarily performed for a definite object;namely; to escape some danger; to relieve some distress; or to gratify some desire。〃  (Ibid。 pages 373; 374。)

〃Our second principle is that of antithesis。  The habit of voluntarily performing opposite movements under opposite impulses has become firmly established in us by the practice of our whole lives。  Hence; if certain actions have been regularly performed; in accordance with our first principle; under a certain frame of mind; there will be a strong and involuntary tendency to the performance of directly opposite actions; whether or not these are of any use; under the excitement of an opposite frame of mind。〃  (〃Expression of the Emotions〃; page 368。)  This principle of antithesis has not been widely accepted。  Nor is Darwin's own position easy to grasp。

〃Our third principle;〃 he says (Ibid。 page 369。); 〃is the direct action of the excited nervous system on the body; independently of the will; and independently; in large part; of habit。  Experience shows that nerve…force is generated and set free whenever the cerebro…spinal system is excited。  The direction which this nerve…force follows is necessarily determined by the lines of connection between the nerve…cells; with each other and with various parts of the body。〃

Lack of space prevents our following up the details of Darwin's treatment of expression。  Whether we accept or do not accept his three principles of explanation we must regard his work as a masterpiece of descriptive analysis; packed full of observations possessing lasting value。  For a further development of the subject it is essential that the instinctive factors in expression should be more fully distinguished from those which are individually acquireda difficult taskand that the instinctive factors should be rediscussed in the light of modern doctrines of heredity; with a view to determining whether Lamarckian inheritance; on which Darwin so largely relied; is necessary for an interpretation of the facts。

The whole subject as Darwin realised is very complex。  Even the term 〃expression〃 has a certain amount of ambiguity。  When the emotion is in full flood the animal fights; flees; or faints。  Is this full…tide effect to be regarded as expression; or are we to restrict the term to the premonitory or residual effectsthe bared canine when the fighting mood is being roused; the ruffled fur when reminiscent representations of the object inducing anger cross the mind?  Broadly considered both should be included。  The activity of premonitory expression as a means of communication was recognised by Darwin; he might; perhaps; have emphasised it more strongly in dealing with the lower animals。  Man so largely relies on a special means of communication; that of language; that he sometimes fails to realise that for animals with their keen powers of perception; and dependent as they are on such means of communication; the more strictly biological means of expression are full of subtle suggestiveness。  Many modes of expression; otherwise useless; are signs of behaviour that may be anticipated;signs which stimulate the appropriate attitude of response。  This would not; however; serve to account for the utility of the organic accompanimentsheart…affection; respiratory changes; vaso…motor effects and so forth; together with heightened muscular tone;on all of which Darwin lays stress (〃Expression of the Emotions〃; pages 65 ff。) under his third principle。  The biological value of all this is; however; of great importance; though Darwin was hardly in a position to take it fully into account。

Having regard to the instinctive and hereditary factors of emotional expression we may ask whether Darwin's third principle does not alone suffice as an explanation。  Whether we admit or reject Lamarckian inheritance it would appear that all hereditary expression must be due to pre…established connections within the central nervous system and to a transmitted provision for coordinated response under the appropriate stimulation。  If this be so; Darwin's first and second principles are subordinate and ancillary to the third; an expression; so far as it is instinctive or hereditary; being 〃the direct result of the constitution of the nervous system。〃

Darwin accepted the emotions themselves as hereditary or acquired states of mind and devoted his attention to their expression。  But these emotions themselves are genetic products and as such dependent on organic conditions。  It remained; therefore; for psychologists who accepted evolution and sought to build on biological foundations to trace the genesis of these modes of animal and human experience。  The subject has been independently developed by Professors Lange and James (Cf。 William James; 〃Principles of Psychology〃; Vol。 II。 Chap。 XXV; London; 1890。); and some modification of their view is regarded by many evolutionists as affording the best explanation of the facts。  We must fix our attention on the lower emotions; such as anger or fear; and on their first occurrence in the life of the individual organism。  It is a matter of observation that if a group of young birds which have been hatched in an incubator are frightened by an appropriate presentation; auditory or visual; they instinctively respond in special ways。  If we speak of this response as the expression; we find that there are many factors。  There are certain visible modes of behaviour; crouching at once; scattering and then crouching; remaining motionless; the braced muscles sustaining an attitude of arrest; and so forth。  There are also certain visceral or organic effects; such as affections of the heart and respiration。  These can be readily observed by taking the young bird in the hand。  Other effects cannot be readily observed; vaso…motor changes; affections of the alimentary canal; the skin and so forth。  Now the essence of the James…Lange view; as applied to these congenital effects; is that though we are justified in speaking of them as effects of the stimulation; we are not justified; without further evidence; in speaking of them as effects of the emotional state。  May it not rather be that the emotion as a primary mode of experience is the concomitant of the net result of the organic situationthe initial presentation; the instinctive mode of behaviour; the visceral disturbances?  According to this interpretation the primary tissue of experience of the emotional order; felt as an unanalysed complex; is generated by the stimulation of the sensorium by afferent or incoming physiological impulses from the special senses; from the organs concerned in the responsive behaviour; from the viscera and vaso…motor system。

Some psychologists; however; contend that the emotional experience is generated in the sensorium prior to; and not subsequent to; the behaviour… response and the visceral disturbances。  It is a direct and not an indirect outcome of the presentation to the special senses。  Be this as it may; there is a growing tendency to bring into the closest possible relation; or even to identify; instinct and emotion in their primary genesis。  The central core of all such interpretations is that instinctive behaviour and experience; its emotional accompaniments; and its expression; are but different aspects of the outcome of the same organic occurrences。  Such emotions are; therefore; only a distinguishable aspect of the primary tissue of experience and exhibit a like differentiation。  Here again a biological foundation is laid for a psychological doctrine of the mental development of the individual。

The intimate relation between emotion as a psychological mode of experience and expression as a group of organic conditions has an important bearing on biological interpretation。  The emotion; as the psychological accompaniment of orderly disturbances in the central nervous system profoundly influences behaviour and often renders it more vigorous and more effective。  The utility of the emotions in the struggle for existence can; therefore; scarcely be over…estimated。  Just as keenness of perception has survival… value; just as it is obviously subject to variation; just as it must be enhanced under natural selection; whether individually acquired increments are inherited or not; and just as its value lies not only in this or that special perceptive act but in its importance for life as a whole; so the vigorous effectiveness of activity has survival…value; it is subject to variation; it must be enhanced under natural selection; and its importance lies not only in particular modes of behaviour but in its value for life as a whole。  If emotion and its expression as a congenital endowment are but different aspects of the same biological occurrence; and if this is a powerful supplement to vigour effectiveness and persistency of behaviour; it must on Darwin's principles be subject to natural selection。

If we include under the expression of the emotions not only the premonitory symptoms of the initial phases of the organic and mental state; not only the signs or conditions of half…tide emotion; but the full…tide manifestation of an emotion which dominates the situation; we are naturally led on to the consideration of many of the phenomena which are discussed under the head of sexu
返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0
未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!
温馨提示: 温看小说的同时发表评论,说出自己的看法和其它小伙伴们分享也不错哦!发表书评还可以获得积分和经验奖励,认真写原创书评 被采纳为精评可以获得大量金币、积分和经验奖励哦!