THE MIND OF MAN

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 75, 29 March 1926, Page 3

THE MIND OF MAN

PSYCHOLOGY AND PHILO-

SOPHY

WELLINGTON ASSOCIATION

SIR ROBERT STOUT'S ADDRESS.

The annual general meeting of the Wellington local branch of the Australasian Association of Psychology and Philosophy was held at Victoria University College on Friday. Owing to the bad night and other causes the attendance of members was small.

The annual report showed that the local branch had a membership of fifty. During 1925 four meetings were held, at which papers dealing with various aspects of Psychology and Philosophy were read and discussed. The attendance at these meetings was good, and considerable interest in the work of the association was shown.

The election of officers resulted in the following being elected to hold office during 1926:—President, Sir Robert Stout; vice-presidents, Professor T. A. Hunter, Dr. A. G. Paterson, the Rev. Dr. James Gibb, Mr. P. Fraser, M.P., and Mr. W: H. Gould, M.A.; secretarytreasurer, Dr. I. L. G. Sutherland; committee, Misses F. Roberts and O. Sheppard and Messrs. C. A. Batt, E. K. Lomas, M.Sc, and R. F. Fortune, M.A. Sir Robert Stout was unable to be present to deliver his presidential address on "Philosophy and Common Life," but it was readl by the secretary. It was announced that the next meeting of the society would be held towards the end of April, when Dr. Sutherland would give an illustrated lecture on "The Psychology of Propaganda."

Membership of the society is open to all who are interested in Philosophy, Psychology, or Social Science and their applications.

Sir Robert Stout's address was entitled "Philosophy and Common Life."

In opening this session I think one might spend a short time in considering why such a Bociety has,been founded (he wrote). If it is true that the proper study of mankind is man, we need no apology for the founding of such a society amongst us. It is founded for the study of man, and it is par excellence an association for that purpose. "Life," it has well been said, is the greatest thing in the Universe, and the most marvellous. And what is man but the highest and most glorious embodiment of Life. The words of our greatest English poet must occur to us. Ho said:

What a piece of work vis a man. How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a godi The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals.

And this head and crown of Lifo has duties and functions to perform. He is, so far as we at present know, the only, self-conscious living thing. Again, we

may go to Shakespeare ■ to; detail his duties. He said: "Whatis a man? If his.chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed!' A beast no more, . '. . ..-.'■ Sure He that made us with such large discourse Looking before and after, gftve us not That capability and god-like reason To fast in us unused?" We admire the worker, whether he uses his hands or brains, or both, or even if he merely directs a machine; and do we not honour the man of science who spends his days and nights in research though his object be the life or a fly? or the chemical qualities of a mineral? But what is such research . compared with the acquiring of< knowledge of a man's life or capacities? Man's life is the highest, and his deeds are the noblest, and should we: riot then try and acquire knowledge of the highest life in the universe? We. have to investigate this' life under , many heads or divisions. Sometimes we use one general term and call all consideration of his life "philosophy." This term-is used to include psychology,.a discourse about the soul, or spirit, or mind of man. Then we have logic, the rules of reason; morals, the relations of individuals one to another.. There is also the history of philosopsy which. gives in detail to us the various: ideas regarding the exercise of man's mental life. The very mention; of what is included under the term "philosophy" explains why it is that philosophy ia looked upon as the most exalted study,,arid philosophers are considered the great men of the earth. It is neither the military heroes nor the scientific experts that we call the great ones of the earth.. The names of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and other thinkers head the list of the great men of Greece. And have we not heard of Spinoza, Hobbes, Hegel, Fichte, Kant, Bacon, Hume, Bain, Spencer, Mill, Liebnetz, Descartes, and hundreds more? Even in the last twenty years who are.they who may be said to lead the people in the highest issues of life? Are they not the writers of philosophy? We have works from Haldane, Sorley, M'Taggart, Stout, J. M. Robertson, Lindsay, Broad, Taylor, Bergson, Variseo, Gentile, Mackenzie, Muirhead, Ward, Russell, etc., etc. These are the intellectual leaders. They are the thinkers. It is true their thoughts differ. Amongst philosophers we. have still idealists, realists, new realists, etc. But they are thinkers. Their time is taken up in thinking on the issues of life. And the civilisation of a people or a nation is gauged by the number of thinkers the people or nation produces. This, is well illustrated in a 'lecture recently- delivered by a learned Japanese—Yasuke Tsurumi, M.A., of Tokio Imperial University. He was dealing with "What New Japan is Thinking," and ho said amongst other things the following:— "Now some people, Americans and Europeans, are very kind in paying compliments to us. They say that the history of Japan is remarkable—that in 60 years Japan civilised her country, and became' one of the great powers of the world. But that compliment, if not used very carefully, is double-edged, if not left-handed—be-cause in 60 years we have fought three international wars, and come out with a little success; we have industrialised our country, introduced telephones and telegraphs, railways; battleships, airplanes, and we are considered to be one of the great civilised countries. And if you measure the standard of civilisation by the number of guns, airplanes, br factory chimneys—yes, Japan has advanaced in 50 years. If you measure civilisation by the number of wars, or the amount of accumulated wealth—yes, Japan has advanced. But if the measure of real civilisation is to be the standard of intellectual life— attainment ..in the, field of religion, ethics and the arts—what has the socalled modem age achieved in 50 years? Have we produced one single artist who can stand on an equal footing with the great painters of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries? Not one. Have we produced one single philosopher that can stand with the great philosophers of the seventeenth icentury? None whatever. Have we produced in sixty years one outstanding religious figure that can win the admiration of the whole nation, as those great religious figures of. the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries did?' None whatever. If civilisation is to be measured by the spiritual and artistic development of the nation's gift and genius, the 60 years of the occidentalisation of Japan has not been a very great record to be proud of—except in two things."

These are "the spread of education" and "constitutional government."

By what tost then, is our civilisation to be ascertained? Will it not be what thinkers have we produced? If our people do not think, what will avail our material property? Wealth "is not enough, nor health. Is this not shown in that old Hebrew melody wherein it was said '' God gave them their request but sent leanness into their souls"? -We cannot expect a great nation to be created if it has not produced a great people. And if we are to have civilised life our population must be trained to think. Amusements will not satisfy the soul thirsting for knowledge. We must have thinkers. Philosophy must be the basis of our culture. What indeed, is the basis of our social life but ethics, a branch of philosophy. Are we acquainting ourselves with ethics, do we k«ow its history? This is not a mere question of intellectual gymnastics. It is a pressing practical question for on its answer, do we fit ourselves to play the part of civilised beings. And what numerous problems we have toysolve if our civilisation is to go forward, and we are to be an enlightened people. Order in the community must be maintained, violation of the laws of our social life must be prevented and those who from physical, mental or moral weakness-show their unfitiitss for the highest, social'life must be trained and reformed. . And the foundation on which we must build is ethics. We must treat our citizens as thinking beings, and we must train them through such associations as we have founded to think and again to think. That is our only; hope of a successful civilisation. We are. therefore members-of a practical society with its aim defined and its mission essential for our nation's progress and happiness.