The Will And Direct Passions on Superphysics

Liberty And Necessity

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The direct passions are the impressions arising immediately from:

good or evil
pain or pleasure.

Of this kind are:

desire and aversion
grief and joy
hope and fear.

The Will

The most remarkable of the immediate effect of pain and pleasure is the WILL.

Liberty And Necessity

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Different stations arise necessarily and uniformly from the necessary and uniform principles of human nature.

Men cannot:

live without society
be associated without government.

Government makes a distinction of property.

The Doctrine of Leadership

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

We may assign the 3 reasons for the prevalance of the doctrine of liberty, however absurd it may be in one sense, and unintelligible in any other.

After we have performed any action, it is difficult for us to persuade ourselves that:

we were governed by necessity
it was utterly impossible for us to have acted otherwise.

The idea of necessity seems to imply something of force, violence, and constraint we are not sensible of.

THE INFLUENCING MOTIVES OF THE WILL

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The combat of passion and reason is the most usual talk in philosophy and common life.

Reason is preferred.

Philosophers assert that men are virtuous if they conform to reason.

The Nature of Passion

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A passion is an:

original existence or
modification of existence.

It does not contain any representative quality which renders it a copy of any other existence or modification.

When I am angry, I actually have the passion.

The Causes Of The Violent Passions

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The causes and effects of the calm and violent passions is a subject of the nicest speculation in philosophy.

Passions do not influence the will in proportion to their violence, or the disorder they occasion in the temper;

The Effects Of Custom

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Custom and repetition has the biggest effect in:

increasing and reducing our passions
converting:
- pleasure into pain
- pain into pleasure

Custom has two original effects on the mind.

It bestows a facility in the performance of any action or the conception of any object.

The Influence Of The Imagination On The Passions

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

It is remarkable that:

the imagination and affections have close union together
nothing, which affects the imagination can be entirely indifferent to the affections.

Whenever our ideas of good or evil acquire a new vivacity, the passions:

Contiguity And Distance In Space And Time

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Our minds conceives everything contiguous to us in space or time with a peculiar force and vivacity because:

Space And Time

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Space consists of a number of co-existent parts disposed in a certain order. These can be immediately present to the sight or feeling.

Distance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thus, we have accounted for 3 phenomena which seem pretty remarkable.

Why distance weakens the conception and passion.
Why distance in time has a greater effect than that in space.
Why distance in past time has still a greater effect than that in future.

We must now consider 3 phenomena, which seem to be the reverse of these:

Opposition

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The imagination finds an opposition in its internal qualities and principles in running from low to high.

The soul seeks opposition when elevated with joy and courage.

It eagerly throws itself into any scene of thought or action where its courage meets matter to nourish and employ it.

The Direct Passions

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The direct and indirect passions are founded on pain and pleasure.

Good or evil only needs to be presented to produce any kind of affection.

Upon the removal of pain and pleasure, the following are immediately removed:

The Vibration of the Mind

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

With regard to the passions, the human mind is not like a wind-instrument which loses the sound after the breath ceases.

It rather resembles a stringed instrument.

After each stroke, the vibrations still retain some sound which gradually and insensibly decays.

Hope and Fear

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The hypothesis on hope and fear carries its own evidence along with it.

We shall be more concise in our proofs.

A few strong arguments are better than many weak ones.

Curiosity, Or The Love Of Truth

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

What is the origin of our quest for truth?

Truth is of 2 kinds, consisting in: