The Constitution of Man Considered in Relation to the Natural Laws (Abridged, Paperback, Abridged edition)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1851. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... step in knowledge, and prompted them to advance toward a much higher condition than that which they at first occupied. CHAPTER VIII. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 1. Has man really advanced in happiness in proportion to his increase in knowledge? is. the second question. We are apt to entertain erroneous notions of the pleasures enjoyed in past ages. Fabulists have represented them as peaceful, innocent, and -gay; but if we look narrowly into the conditions of the savage and bnrbarian of the present day, and recollect that these are the states of all individuals before the acquisition of scientific knowledge, we shall not much or long regret the pretended diminution of enjoyment by civilization. 2. It ought to be kept constantly in remembrance, that man is a social being, and that the precept " love thy neighbor as thyself" is imprinted in his constitution. That is to say, so much of the happiness of each individual depends on the habits, practices, and opinions of the society in which he lives, that he can not reap the full benefits of his own advancement, until similar principles have been embraced and realized in practice by his fellow-men. This renders it his interest, as it is his duty, to communicate his knowledge to them, and to carry them forward in the career of improvement. 3. At this moment there are thousands of persons who feel their enjoyments, physical, moral, and intellectual, impaired and abridged by the mass of ignorance and prejudice which every where surrounds them. They are men living before 1. What is the second question which has puzzled philosophers? What was the happiness of the ancients when compared with modern comforts? Has there been an increase or decrease of enjoyment? 2. How should we consider man? What is stamped on his nature...