But optimism, prior to belief in a God, and as
the ground of that belief, seems one of the oddest of all speculative
delusions. Nothing, however, I believe, contributes more to keep up the
belief in the general mind of humanity than the feeling of its
desirableness, which, when clothed, as it very often is, in the form of an
argument, is a _naive_ expression of the tendency of the human mind to
believe whatever is agreeable to it. Positive value the argument of course
has none." For Mill's remarks on the version of the argument dealt with in
Sec. 5, see his "Three Essays," p. 204.
[2] The words "or not conceivable," are here used in the sense of "not
relatively conceivable," as explained in Chap. vi.
[3] For the full discussion from which the above is an extract, see _System
of Logic_, vol. i. pp. 409-426 (8th ed.). But, substituting "psychical" for
"volitional," see also, for some mitigation of the severity of the above
statement, the closing paragraphs of my supplementary essay on "Cosmic
Theism."
[4] Essay on Understanding--Existence of God.
[5] Locke, _loc. cit._
[6] See Appendix A.
[7] Viz., the constant association within experience of mind with certain
highly peculiar material forms; the constant proportion which is found to
subsist between the quantity of cerebral matter and the degree of
intellectual capacity--a proportion which may be clearly traced throughout
the ascending series of vertebrated animals, and which is very generally
manifested in individuals of the human species; the effects of cerebral
anaemia, anaesthetics, stimulants, narcotic poisons, and lesions of cerebral
substance.
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