Thought Culture Part 3

Abstraction is that faculty of the mind by which we abstract or "draw off," and then consider apart, the particular qualities, properties, or attributes of an object, and thus are able to consider _them_ as "things" or objects of thought. In order to form _concepts_ or general ideas, from our _percepts_ or particular ideas, we must consider and examine two common points or qualities which go to make up _differences and resemblances_. The special examination or consideration of these common points or qualities result in the exercise of Abstraction. In the process of Abstraction we mentally "draw away" a quality of an object and then consider it as a distinct object of thought. Thus in considering a flower we may _abstract_ its qualities of fragrance, color, shape, etc., and think of these as things independent of the flower itself from which they were derived. We think of _redness_, _fragrance_, etc., not only in connection with the particular flower but as _general qualities_. Thus the qualities of redness, sweetness, hardness, softness, etc., lead us to the abstract terms, _red_, _sweet_, _hard_, _soft_, _etc._ In the same way courage, cowardice, virtue, vice, love, hate, etc., are abstract terms. No one ever saw one of these things--they are known only in connection with objects, or else as "abstract terms" in the processes of Thought. They may be known as qualities, and expressed as predicates; or they may be considered as abstract things and expressed as nouns.

In the general process of Abstraction we first draw off and set aside all the qualities which are _not common_ to the general cla.s.s under consideration, for the concept or general idea must comprise only the qualities common to its cla.s.s. Thus in the case of the general idea of horse, size and color must be abstracted as non-essentials, for horses are of various colors and sizes. But on the other hand, there are certain qualities which _are common to all horses_, and these must be abstracted and used in making up the concept or general idea.

So, you see, in general Abstraction we form two cla.s.ses: (1) the unlike and not-general qualities; and (2) the like or common qualities. As Halleck says: "In the process of Abstraction, we draw our attention away from a ma.s.s of confusing details, unimportant at the time, and attend only to qualities common to the cla.s.s. Abstraction is little else than centering the power of attention on some qualities to the exclusion of others.... While we are forming concepts, we abstract or draw off certain qualities, either to leave them out of view or to consider them by themselves. Our dictionaries contain such words as purity, whiteness, sweetness, industry, courage, etc. No one ever touched, tasted, smelled, heard, or saw purity or courage. We do not, therefore, gain our knowledge of these through the senses. We have seen pure persons, pure snow, pure honey; we have breathed pure air, tasted pure coffee. From all these different objects we have abstracted the only like quality, the quality of being pure. We then say we have an idea of _purity_, and that idea is an abstract one. It exists only in the mind which formed it. No one ever saw _whiteness_. He may have seen white clouds, snow, cloth, blossoms, houses, paper, horses, but he never saw _whiteness_ by itself. He simply abstracted that quality from various white objects."

In Abstraction we may either (1) abstract a quality and set it aside and apart from the other qualities under consideration, as being non-essential and not necessary; or we may (2) abstract a quality and hold it in the mind as essential and necessary for the concept which we are forming. Likewise, we may abstract (1) all the qualities of an object _except one_, and set them aside that we may consider the _one_ quality by itself; or we may (2) abstract the one particular quality and consider it to the exclusion of all its a.s.sociated qualities. In all of these aspects we have the same underlying process of considering a quality apart from its object, and apart from its a.s.sociated qualities.

The mind more commonly operates in the direction of abstracting one quality and viewing it apart from object and a.s.sociated qualities.

The importance of correct powers of Abstraction is seen when we realize that all concepts or general ideas are but combinations of abstract qualities or ideas. As Halleck says: "The difference between an _abstract idea_ and a _concept_ is that a concept may consist of a bundle of abstract ideas. If the cla.s.s contains more than one common quality, so must the concept; it must contain as many of these abstracted qualities as are common to the cla.s.s. The concept of the cla.s.s _whale_ would embody a large number of such qualities." As Brooks says: "If we could not abstract, we could not _generalize_, for abstraction is a condition of generalization." The last-mentioned authority also cleverly states the idea as follows: "The products of Abstraction are _abstract ideas_, that is, ideas of qualities in the abstract. Such ideas are called _Abstracts_. Thus my idea of some particular color, or hardness, or softness, is an abstract. Abstract ideas have been wittily called 'the ghosts of departed qualities.' They may more appropriately be regarded as the spirits of which the objects from which they are derived are the bodies. In other words, they are, figuratively speaking, 'the disembodied spirits of material things.'"

The cultivation of the faculty of Abstraction depends very materially, in the first place, upon the exercise of Attention and Perception. Mill holds that Abstraction is primarily a result of Attention. Others hold that it is merely the mental process by which the attention is directed exclusively to the consideration of one of several qualities, properties, attributes, parts, etc. Hamilton says: "Attention and Abstraction then are only the same process viewed in different relations. They are, as it were, the positive and negative poles of the same act." The cultivation of Attention is really a part of the process of the cultivation of the faculty of Abstraction. Unless the Attention be directed toward the object and its qualities we will be unable to perceive, set aside, and separately consider the abstract quality contained within it. In this process, as indeed in all other mental processes, Attention is a prerequisite. Therefore, here, as in many other places, we say to you: "Begin by cultivating Attention."

Moreover, the cultivation of the faculty of Abstraction depends materially upon the cultivation of Perception. Not only must we _sense_ the existence of the various qualities in an object, but we must also _perceive_ them in consciousness, just as we perceive the object itself.

In fact, the perception of the object is merely a perception of its various qualities, attributes and properties, for the object itself is merely a composite of these abstract things, at least so far as its perception in consciousness is concerned. Try to think of _a horse_, without considering its qualities, attributes and properties, and the result is merely _an abstract horse_--something which belongs to the realm of unreality. Try to think of _a rose_ without considering its color, odor, shape, size, response to touch, etc., and you have simply _an ideal rose_ which when a.n.a.lyzed is seen to be a _nothing_. Take away the qualities, properties and attributes of anything, and you have left _merely a name_, or else a transcendental, idealistic, something apart from our world of sense knowledge. Thus it follows that in order to _know_ the qualities of a thing in order to cla.s.sify it, or to form a general idea of it, we _must_ use the Perception in order to interpret or translate the sense-impressions we have received regarding them.

Consequently the greater our power of Perception the greater must be the possibility of our power of Abstraction.

Beyond the cultivation, use and exercise of the Attention and the Perception, there are but few practical methods for cultivating the faculty of Abstraction. Of course, _exercise_ of the faculty will develop it; and _the furnishing of material for its activities_ will give it the "nourishment" of which we have spoken elsewhere. Practice in distinguishing the various qualities, attributes and properties of objects will give a valuable training to the faculty.

Let the student take any object and endeavor to a.n.a.lyze it into its abstract qualities, etc. Let him try to discover qualities hidden from first sight. Let him make a list of these qualities, and write them down; then try to add to the list. Two or more students engaging in a friendly rivalry will stimulate the efforts of each other. In children the exercise may be treated as a game. _a.n.a.lysis of objects into their component qualities, attributes and qualities--the effort to extract as many adjectives applicable to the object_--this is the first step. The second step consists in _transforming these adjectives into their corresponding nouns_. As for instance, in a rose we perceive the _qualities_ which we call "redness," "fragrance," etc. We speak of the rose as being "red" or "fragrant"--then we think of "redness," or "fragrance" as abstract qualities, or things, which we express as nouns.

Exercise and practice along these lines will tend to cultivate the faculty of Abstraction. By knowing qualities, we know the things possessing them.

CHAPTER IX.

a.s.sOCIATION OF IDEAS

Having formed general ideas, or Concepts, it is important that we a.s.sociate them with other general ideas. In order to fully _understand_ a general idea we must know its a.s.sociations and relations. The greater the known a.s.sociations or relations of an idea, the greater is our degree of understanding of that idea. If we simply know many thousands of separated general ideas, without also knowing their a.s.sociations and relations, we are in almost as difficult a position as if we merely knew thousands of individual percepts without being able to cla.s.sify them in general concepts. It is necessary to develop the faculty of a.s.sociating ideas into groups, according to their relations, just as we group particular ideas in cla.s.ses. The difference, however, is that these group-ideas do not form cla.s.ses of a genus, but depend solely upon a.s.sociations of several kinds, as we shall see in a moment.

Halleck says: "All ideas have certain definite a.s.sociations with other ideas, and they come up in groups. There is always an a.s.sociation between our ideas, although there are cases when we cannot trace it....

Even when we find no a.s.sociation between our ideas, we may be sure that it exists.... An idea, then, never appears in consciousness unless there is a definite reason why this idea should appear in preference to others." Brooks says: "One idea or feeling in the mind calls up some other idea or feeling with which it is in some way related. Our ideas seem, as it were, to be tied together by the invisible thread of a.s.sociation, so that as one comes out of unconsciousness, it draws another with it. Thoughts seem to exist somewhat in cl.u.s.ters like the grapes of a bunch, so that in bringing out one, we bring the entire cl.u.s.ter with it. The law of a.s.sociation is thus the tie, the thread, the golden link by which our thoughts are united in an act of reproduction."

The majority of writers confine their consideration of a.s.sociation of Ideas to its relation to Memory. It is true that the Laws of a.s.sociation play an important part in Memory Culture, but a.s.sociation of Ideas also form an important part of the general subject of Thought-Culture, and especially in the phase of the latter devoted to the development of the Understanding. The best authorities agree upon this idea and state it positively. Ribot says: "The most fundamental law which regulates psychological phenomena is the Law of a.s.sociation. In its comprehensive character it is comparable to the law of attraction in the physical world." Mill says: "That which the law of gravitation is to astronomy, that which the elementary properties of the tissues are to physiology, the Law of a.s.sociation of Ideas is to psychology."

There are two general principles, or laws, operative in the processes of a.s.sociation of Ideas, known as (1) a.s.sociation by Contiguity; and (2) a.s.sociation by Similarity, respectively.

a.s.sociation by Contiguity manifests particularly in the processes of memory. In its two phases of (1) Contiguity of Time; and (2) Contiguity of s.p.a.ce, respectively, it brings together before the field of consciousness ideas a.s.sociated with each by reason of their time or s.p.a.ce relations. Thus, if we remember a certain thing, we find it easy to remember things which occurred immediately before, or immediately after that particular thing. Verbal memory depends largely upon the contiguity of time, as for instance, our ability to repeat a poem, or pa.s.sage from a book, if we can recall the first words thereof. Children often possess this form of memory to a surprising degree; and adults with only a limited degree of understanding may repeat freely long extracts from speeches they have heard, or even arbitrary jumbles of words. Visual memory depends largely upon contiguity of s.p.a.ce, as for instance our ability to recall the details of scenes, when starting from a given point. In both of these forms of a.s.sociation by contiguity the mental operation is akin to that of unwinding a ball of yarn, the ideas, thus a.s.sociated in the sequence of time or place, following each other into the field of consciousness. a.s.sociation by Contiguity, while important in itself, properly belongs to the general subject of Memory, and as we have considered it in the volume of this series devoted to the last mentioned subject, we shall not speak of it further here.

a.s.sociation by Similarity, however, possesses a special interest to students of the particular subject of the culture of the Understanding.

If we were compelled to rely upon the a.s.sociation of contiguity for our understanding of things, we would understand a thing merely in its relations to that which went before or came after it; or by the things which were near it in s.p.a.ce--we would have to unwind the mental ball of time and s.p.a.ce relations in order to bring into consciousness the a.s.sociated relations of anything. The a.s.sociation of Similarity, however, remedies this defect, and gives us a higher and broader a.s.sociation. Speaking of a.s.sociation of Similarity, Kay says: "It is of the utmost importance to us in forming a judgment of things, or in determining upon a particular line of conduct, to be able to bring together before the mind a number of instances of a _similar_ kind, recent or long past, which may aid us in coming to a right determination. Thus, we may judge of the nature or quality of an article, and obtain light and leading in regard to any subject that may be before us. In this way we arrange and cla.s.sify and reason by induction. _This is known as rational or philosophical a.s.sociation._"

Halleck says: "An eminent philosopher has said that man is completely at the mercy of the a.s.sociation of his ideas. Every new object is seen in the light of its a.s.sociated ideas.... It is not the business of the psychologist to state what power the a.s.sociation of ideas _ought_ to have. It is for him to ascertain what power it _does_ have. When we think of the bigotry of past ages, of the stake for the martyr and the stoning of witches, we can realize the force of Prof. Ziehen's statement: 'We cannot think as we _will_, but we _must_ think as just those a.s.sociations which happen to be present prescribe.' While this is not literally true, it may serve to emphasize a deflecting factor which is usually underestimated."

Locke says: "The connection in our minds of ideas, in themselves loose and independent of one another, has such an influence, and is of so great force, to set us awry in our actions, as well moral as natural, pa.s.sions, reasonings, and notions themselves, that, perhaps, there is not any one thing that deserves more to be looked after." Stewart says: "The bulk of mankind, being but little accustomed to reflect and to generalize, a.s.sociate their ideas chiefly according to their more obvious relations, and above all to the casual relations arising from contiguity in time and place; whereas, in the mind of a philosopher ideas are commonly a.s.sociated according to those relations which are brought to light in consequence of particular efforts of attention, such as the relations of cause and effect, or of premises and conclusion.

Hence, it must necessarily happen that when he has occasion to apply to use his acquired knowledge, time and reflection will be requisite to enable him to recollect it."

This a.s.sociation by Similarity, or the "rational and philosophical a.s.sociation of ideas," may be developed and cultivated by a little care and work. The first principle is that of _learning the true relations of an idea_--its various logical a.s.sociations. Perhaps the easiest and best method is that adopted and practiced by Socrates, the old Greek philosopher, often called "the Socratic method"--the Method of Questioning. By questioning oneself, or others, regarding a thing, the mind of the person answering tends to unfold its stores of information, and to make new and true a.s.sociations. Kays says: "Socrates, Plato, and others among the ancients and some moderns, have been masters of this art. The principle of asking questions and obtaining answers to them may be said to characterize all intellectual effort.... The great thing is to ask the right questions, and to obtain the right answers." Meiklejohn says: "This art of questioning possessed by Dr. Hodgson was something wonderful and unique, and was to the minds of most of his pupils a truly obstetric art. He told them little or nothing, but showed them how to find out for themselves. 'The Socratic method,' he said, 'is the true one, especially with the young.'"

But this questioning must be done logically, and orderly, and not in a haphazard way. As Fitch says: "In proposing questions it is very necessary to keep in view the importance of arranging them in the exact order in which the subject would naturally develop itself in the mind of a logical and systematic thinker." A number of systems have been formulated by different writers on the subject, all of which have much merit. The following System of a.n.a.lysis, designed for the use of students desiring to acquire correct a.s.sociations, was given in the volume of this series, ent.i.tled "Memory," and is reproduced here because it is peculiarly adapted to the cultivation and development of the faculty of discovering and forming correct a.s.sociations and relations between ideas:

SYSTEM OF a.n.a.lYSIS

When you wish to discover what you really _know_ regarding a thing, ask yourself the following questions about it, examining each point in detail, and endeavoring to bring before the mind _your full knowledge_ regarding that particular point. Fill in the deficiencies by reading some good work of reference, an encyclopedia for instance; or consulting a good dictionary, or both:

I. Where did it come from, or originate?

II. What caused it?

III. What history or record has it?

IV. What are its attributes, qualities or characteristics?

V. What things can I most readily a.s.sociate with it? What is it most like?

VI. What is it good for--how may it be used--what can I do with it?

VII. What does it prove--what can be deduced from it?

VIII. What are its natural results--what happens because of it?

IX. What is its future; and its natural or probable end or finish?

X. What do I think of it, on the whole--what are my general impressions regarding it?

XI. What do I know about it, in the way of general information?

XII. What have I heard about it, and from whom, and when?

The following "Query Table," from the same volume, may be found useful in the same direction. It is simpler and less complicated than the system given above. It has well been called a "Magic Key of Knowledge,"

and it opens many a mental door:

QUERY TABLE

Ask yourself the following questions regarding the thing under consideration. It will draw out many bits of information and a.s.sociated knowledge in your mind:

I. What?

II. Whence?

III. Where?

IV. When?

V. How?

VI. Why?

VII. Whither?

Remember, always, that the greater the number of a.s.sociated and related ideas that you are able to group around a concept, the richer, fuller and truer does that concept become to you. The concept is a _general idea_, and its attributes of "generality" depend upon the a.s.sociated facts and ideas related to it. The greater the number of the view points from which a concept may be examined and considered, the greater is the degree of knowledge concerning that concept. It is held that everything in the universe is related to every other thing, so that if we knew _all_ the a.s.sociated ideas and facts concerning a thing, we would not only know that particular thing _absolutely_, but would, besides, know _everything_ in the universe. The chain of a.s.sociation is infinite in extent.