hume - of-735, książki, Philosphy
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[TABLE NOT SHOWN][TABLE NOT SHOWN]Copyright 1995, James Fieser (jfieser@utm.edu). See end note fordetails on copyright and editing conventions. This is a working draft;please report errors.[1]Editor's note: "Of the Delicacy of Taste and Passion" appeared in 1741in Volume one of Hume's Essays, Moral and Political. The text filehere is based on the 1777 edition of Hume's Essays and Treatises onSeveral Subjects. Spelling and punctuation have not been modernized.---------------------------------------------------------------------Of the Delicacy of Taste and PassionSOME People are subject to a certain delicacy of passion,which makes them extremely sensible to all the accidents oflife, and gives them a lively joy upon every prosperous event,as well as a piercing grief, when they meet with misfortunesand adversity. Favours and good offices easily engage theirfriendship; while the smallest injury provokes theirresentment. Any honour or mark of distinction elevates themabove measure; but they are as sensibly touched with contempt.People of this character have, no doubt, more livelyenjoyments, as well as more pungent sorrows, than men of cooland sedate tempers: But, I believe, when every thing isbalanced, there is no one, who would not rather be of thelatter character, were he entirely master of his owndisposition. Good or ill fortune is very little at ourdisposal: And when a person, that has this sensibility oftemper, meets with any misfortune, his sorrow or resentmenttakes entire possession of him, and deprives him of all relishin the common occurrences of life; the right enjoyment ofwhich forms the chief part of our happiness. Great pleasuresare much less frequent than great pains; so that a sensibletemper must meet with fewer trials in the former way than inthe latter. Not to mention, that men of such lively passionsare apt to be transported beyond all bounds of prudence anddiscretion, and to take false steps in the conduct of life,which are often irretrievable.There is a delicacy of taste observable in some men, whichvery much resembles this delicacy of passion, and produces thesame sensibility to beauty and deformity of every kind, asthat does to prosperity and adversity, obligations andinjuries. When you present a poem or a picture to a manpossessed of this talent, the delicacy of his feeling makeshim be sensibly touched with every part of it; nor are themasterly strokes perceived with more exquisite relish andsatisfaction, than the negligences or absurdities with disgustand uneasiness. A polite and judicious conversation affordshim the highest entertainment; rudeness or impertinence is asgreat a punishment to him. In short, delicacy of taste has thesame effect as delicacy of passion: It enlarges the sphereboth of our happiness and misery, and makes us sensible topains as well as pleasures, which escape the rest of mankind.I believe, however, every one will agree with me, that,notwithstanding this resemblance, delicacy of taste is as muchto be desired and cultivated as delicacy of passion is to belamented, and to be remedied, if possible. The good or illaccidents of life are very little at our disposal; but we arepretty much masters what books we shall read, what diversionswe shall partake of, and what company we shall keep.Philosophers have endeavoured to render happiness entirelyindependent of every thing external. That degree of perfectionis impossible to be attained: But every wise man willendeavour to place his happiness on such objects chiefly asdepend upon himself: and that is not to be attained so much byany other means as by this delicacy of sentiment. When a manis possessed of that talent, he is more happy by what pleaseshis taste, than by what gratifies his appetites, and receivesmore enjoyment from a poem or a piece of reasoning than themost expensive luxury can afford.Whatever connexion there may be originally between these twospecies of delicacy, I am persuaded, that nothing is so properto cure us of this delicacy of passion, as the cultivating ofthat higher and more refined taste, which enables us to judgeof the characters of men, of compositions of genius, and ofthe productions of the nobler arts. A greater or less relishfor those obvious beauties, which strike the senses, dependsentirely upon the greater or less sensibility of the temper:But with regard to the sciences and liberal arts, a fine tasteis, in some measure, the same with strong sense, or at leastdepends so much upon it, that they are inseparable. In orderto judge aright of a composition of genius, there are so manyviews to be taken in, so many circumstances to be compared,and such a knowledge of human nature requisite, that no man,who is not possessed of the soundest judgment, will ever makea tolerable critic in such performances. And this is a newreason for cultivating a relish in the liberal arts. Ourjudgment will strengthen by this exercise: We shall formjuster notions of life: Many things, which please or afflictothers, will appear to us too frivolous to engage ourattention: And we shall lose by degrees that sensibility anddelicacy of passion, which is so incommodious.But perhaps I have gone too far in saying, that a cultivatedtaste for the polite arts extinguishes the passions, andrenders us indifferent to those objects, which are so fondlypursued by the rest of mankind. On farther reflection, I find,that it rather improves our sensibility for all the tender andagreeable passions; at the same time that it renders the mindincapable of the rougher and more boisterous emotions.Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes,Emollit mores, nec sinit isse feros.For this, I think there may be assigned two very naturalreasons. In the first place, nothing is so improving to thetemper as the study of the beauties, either of poetry,eloquence, music, or painting. They give a certain elegance ofsentiment to which the rest of mankind are strangers. Theemotions which they excite are soft and tender. They draw offthe mind from the hurry of business and interest; cherishreflection; dispose to tranquillity; and produce an agreeablemelancholy, which, of all dispositions of the mind, is thebest suited to love and friendship.In the second place, a delicacy of taste is favourable to loveand friendship, by confining our choice to few people, andmaking us indifferent to the company and conversation of thegreater part of men. You will seldom find, that mere men ofthe world, whatever strong sense they may be endowed with, arevery nice in distinguishing characters, or in marking thoseinsensible differences and gradations, which make one manpreferable to another. Any one, that has competent sense, issufficient for their entertainment: They talk to him, of theirpleasure and affairs, with the same frankness that they wouldto another; and finding many, who are fit to supply his place,they never feel any vacancy or want in his absence. But tomake use of the allusion of a celebrated French[2] author, thejudgment may be compared to a clock or watch, where the mostordinary machine is sufficient to tell the hours; but the mostelaborate alone can point out the minutes and seconds, anddistinguish the smallest differences of time. One that haswell digested his knowledge both of books and men, has littleenjoyment but in the company of a few select companions. Hefeels too sensibly, how much all the rest of mankind fallshort of the notions which he has entertained. And, hisaffections being thus confined within a narrow circle, nowonder he carries them further, than if they were more generaland undistinguished. The gaiety and frolic of a bottlecompanion improves with him into a solid friendship: And theardours of a youthful appetite become an elegant passion.[TABLE NOT SHOWN][1][COPYRIGHT: (c) 1995, James Fieser (jfieser@utm.edu), allrights reserved. 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