The Origin of the Human Reason : being an Examination
of Recent Hypotheses Concerning It. By St. George Mivart, Ph.D., M.D., F.R.S. (Kagan Paul.)—This book marks another stage in the controversy between the author and Mr. Romanes upon the much- vexed question of the origin of human reason, which has given such abundant opportunities to both for the display of their dia- lectical powers. Mr. Romans has already pronounced a criticism
of Mr. Mivart's to be " feeble," and the latter now finds that his antagonist has been " led by a correspondent's cockatoo to step over the edge of an absurdity even more profound" than the " bathos " into which he had already fallen. Whether or not human reason is a thing sui generic, or a development from animal reason, will scarcely be proved by methods of this kind to the satisfaction either of men of science or theologians. Mr. Mivart's main position appears to be this : that our mental nature—he seems to separate soul, as a mere emotional entity which he alliteratively allows to " an amoeba, an ant, and an ape," from mind—may exist in a latent state independently of our bodies. It might therefore, we suppose, in an individual case, exist without the body ever having come into existence at all, and even developed or unfolded itself thus apart from matter, though other mental natures could have had no cognisance of it save under materialisation of itself and them. This is hardly to be called an explanation of mind at all ; the origin of mind must be as inexplicable as that of matter, an ultimate mystery which man can never hope to solve.
Previous page
