Observations on Man
Encyclopedia
David Hartley (philosopher)
David Hartley was an English philosopher and founder of the Associationist school of psychology. -Early life and education:...
major work. Published in two parts in 1749 by Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson was an 18th-century English writer and printer. He is best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded , Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady and The History of Sir Charles Grandison...
, it puts forth Hartley's principal theories: the doctrine of vibrations and the doctrine of associations. The first part of the text deals with the frame of the human body and mind, and their mutual connections and influences, the second with the duty and expectations of mankind.
Intellectual background
Hartley's physical theory was drawn from certain speculations as to nervous action which Isaac NewtonIsaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
had published in his Principia (1687). Elements of Hartley's psychological theory were suggested by other writers, such as John Gay
John Gay (philosopher)
John Gay , a cousin of the poet John Gay, was an English philosopher, biblical scholar and Church of England clergyman. The greatest happiness principle, Gay supposed, represented a middle ground between the egoism of Hobbes and Hutcheson's moral sense theory.-Education:Gay was educated at...
. For example, "in Hartley's theory, emotion is a fluid like electricity or water"—it flows from one experience to the next, a concept he called transference and lifted from the writings of Gay. Although Hartley acknowledges that Gay "put me upon considering the power of association" in relation to transference, he developed a different theory of association
Association of Ideas
Association of Ideas, or Mental association, is a term used principally in the history of philosophy and of psychology to refer to explanations about the conditions under which representations arise in consciousness, and also for a principle put forward by an important historical school of thinkers...
from Gay′s.
Hartley's theories
Like John LockeJohn Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, Hartley asserted that, prior to sensation, the human mind is a tabula rasa
Tabula rasa
Tabula rasa is the epistemological theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. Generally proponents of the tabula rasa thesis favour the "nurture" side of the nature versus nurture debate, when it comes to aspects...
. Beginning with simple sensations, the mind eventually forms advanced states of consciousness. Hartley sought to explain, not only the phenomena of memory, which others had similarly explained before him, but also the phenomena of emotion, of reasoning, and of voluntary and involuntary action.
Doctrine of vibrations
Hartley believed that sensation is the result of vibrations of the minute particles of the medullaMedulla oblongata
The medulla oblongata is the lower half of the brainstem. In discussions of neurology and similar contexts where no ambiguity will result, it is often referred to as simply the medulla...
ry substance of the nerves, made possible by a subtle, elastic ether
Aether (classical element)
According to ancient and medieval science aether , also spelled æther or ether, is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere.-Mythological origins:...
that was rare in the interstices of solid bodies and in their close neighbourhood. Pleasure was the result of moderate vibrations and pain of violent vibrations, sometimes so violent that they broke the continuity of the nerves. These vibrations left behind a tendency to fainter vibrations or "vibratiuncles" of a similar kind in the brain, which corresponded to "ideas of sensation." This accounted for memory.
Doctrine of association
According to Hartley's theory, the brain produces associations in two ways: 1) external stimuli produce vibrations; and 2) the heat and movement of its own arteries produce vibrations. The nature of these vibrations is determined by each person's past experiences and by the circumstances of the moment, which cause one or another tendency to prevail. Sensations which are frequently associated together become associated with the ideas corresponding to those sensations, sometimes so intimately that they form what appears to be a new simple idea.Free will
Starting from a detailed account of the senses, Hartley tried to show how, by the above laws, all the emotions may be explained. He argues that pure, disinterested sentiment exists, while at the same time declaring it to have grown out of self-regarding feelings. Voluntary action is explained as the result of a firm connection between a motion and a sensation or "idea," and, on the physical side, between an "ideal" and a motory vibration. Therefore in the free willFree will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
controversy Hartley took his place as a determinist. It was only with reluctance, and when his speculations were nearly complete, that he came to a conclusion on this subject in accordance with his theory.