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John Bascom - Creator of Science of Mind - progenitor of New Thought

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John Bascom's

Science of Mind

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Introduction - Intellect - Mental Science's Divisions - Intellect's Divisions and Perceptions - The Understanding - The Reason - The Dynamics of the Intellect - Physical Feelings - Intellectual Feelings - Spiritual Feelings - Dynamics of Feelings - The Will - The Nervous System - Nervous System of Man - Executive Volition - Primary Volition, or Choice - Dynamics of the Will and the Mind - The Relations of the Systems Here Offered to Prevalent Forms of Philosophy - Index - Contents -


clearly form the intention, 'I mean to steal that bone, if its owner turns his back and gives me a fair chance,' as if he said it to himself in good English. He can draw a complex syllogism, when applying to exigencies the results of past experience, and can determine 'that smoking water must be hot, and I shall take good care not to put my foot into it; ' that is to say, 'water that smokes is hot: hot water hurts: this water is hot: ergo it will hurt my foot,'" page 414.

While making no objection to the spirit of the passage, we regard its philosophical implications as all wrong. Keen perception and quick association by an active, retentive memory offer a complete explanation of the facts involved, and of kindred ones, without supposing the presence of a single act of judgment, of one thoughtful junction of premises and conclusions; nor the recognition of any general idea or general principle. The fear of the master is present, and the desire of the bone; withdraw the first, and the last comes into unobstructed operation. The sight of steam and a delicate sense of heat, associated with pain under exposure, apply as direct a restraint to action as the shutting of a valve to the ingress of water. The difference between the two cases lies in the fact, that in one instance, the restraining power appears in, and works through, consciousness, and in the other it does not.

That association is sufficient to explain the apparently thoughtful action of brutes, is seen, in the first place, in the way in which their sagacious tricks are acquired. A cow learns to open a gate; but how? First, by accidentally or impatiently rubbing her head and horns against it, and thus loosening the latch. This process, repeated once or twice, establishes a connection between the act and its results, and later, when she wishes to be free, she worries the gate open. A change of fastening relieves the difficulty, not because the new method of reaching the latch is

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