CHAPTER CHAPTER VII.-continued Civil Service Mind-War Censorship Ineptitudes- The Question is bound up with that of Progress-How regarded by Practical Men-And Philosophers-C. H. Pearson says Poetry has reached its Limits-George Moore says Art will soon be dead-Pessimism and Age -Spencer, Ferrero, Lange doubt Progress-Doubts come after Fifty—And after a Close Study of History— Optimism of Idealists-Balfour on Decadence-Crooks, Wallace, and Carpenter-The Surprises of History- How Further Originality may be Impossible-Plato and Jesus Christ-The Drama and New Art Impulses— George Eliot at Twenty-Nine-Has Nature finished her PAGE The Thought-Movement will be Extensive and Inten- sive-Words that have lost their Boundaries-e.g. God, Life, Progress-Comprehensiveness as an Effort— Froebel and his Attempt to find Unities-Education and "Faculties "-East and West more neighbourly- Professor Dowden on Exclusiveness-Some Worn-out Antitheses-The War and Free Trade in Thought- -The Intensive Movement and Soul-Psychology, now a Popular Study-Great Thought-Movements travel Westwards-No Formula can hold Existence-A New CHAPTER II.—continued in their Influence on Originality-Intellect consumed SECTION VI PRAXIS SOME REFLECTIONS ON MENTAL ATTITUDES AND " Originality cannot be taught "-But even Poets PAGE 269 SECTION VI.-continued --- -- in Estheticism-Plato on Music-Work and Song- ORIGINALITY INTRODUCTION I THE reader of modern psychological literature is impressed by two facts: first, the skill, learning, and industry of the professional psychologist; next, the undue emphasis placed upon noetic processes. It is this second fact that is the more surprising to the private student; for to him mind is energy par excellence, therefore it is a mistake to give attention to its more static conditions rather than its fundamental dynamic qualities: it is unwise to spend money and labour on studying aspects of the knowing process when the mind's creative aspects are awaiting the first signs of serious attention on educative lines. In making such statements there is always a danger of being misunderstood, so we propose to offer evidence in support of our contention. Take, for example, the record of experimental psychology, from the first efforts of Fechner and Wundt up to the present moment. On what is most emphasis laid? Not on mental energetics, but on those processes which end in themselves, and have no direct or immediate importance in relation to practical life. It is just as if a motor engineer, lecturing to students, never dealt with a motor engine in action on the road, but confined his remarks to the intricacies of its mechanism, displayed whilst working in a fixed position. That we need to know the intricacies of the mental machine is obvious, and we are greatly indebted to laboratory psychologists for their skilful and often exhaustive work in this respect. But, after all, it is the mind in action on the great highroads of experience that matters most; psychology in the classroom should have a more living association with the psychology of the crowd, of the assembly, and of the individual in his struggles towards an ideal. To glance through the annual index of a modern psychological journal, published monthly or quarterly, is to be convinced that twothirds of the discussions are on matters of more or less speculative interest, the other third being given over to Volition, to Emotion, or to new developments. We do not presume to say what the proportional relationships should be, but all that is represented by the word Feeling should certainly have a much larger place than it has in the arguments and discussions of scholars. The usual answer to this contention is that only academic subjects can be dealt with by academic people in academic associations. That, no doubt, is the fact at the moment, but is it not time to change it? A society for the study of psychology ought not to be satisfied if it has simply compared opinions on debated issues old and new: it will need to do this, of course, but its work should transcend the passive mind and acquire the ability to offer practical guidance to all who want it, whatever their station in life. We never hear of a Professor of Psychology being sent for to assist a Cabinet Minister in estimating the effect of a new law on the public imagination, but we do hear of the professors of other sciences being consulted by the Government. Why this difference? Presumably, because the Cabinet Minister is his own psychologist, or else because psychology as we know it in text-book form has been almost entirely confined to exposition, to the comparative neglect of application. Of late years American psychologists have made a strong effort to realise their teaching in practice, notably W. Dill Scott and the late Hugo Münsterberg. But there is still room for much development work, and we are still in the atmosphere of the book instead of being in the presence of the man. II Before the war everybody went to Germany to study book psychology, for in that country it was alleged that the internal mechanism of the mind had been investigated with |