External Advantages And Disadvantages

Many other objects which produce pride or humility besides our inherent beauty or ugliness.

We feel a vanity from our:

• houses, gardens, equipages
• personal merit and accomplishments

These are external advantages which are far from our persons.

Yet they considerably influence the passions of people.

A beautiful fish in the ocean does not make us vain.

It must be in some way associated with us, as the idea of ourselves, to touch our pride.

The transition from “beautiful fish” to “mine” must be easy and natural.

The relation of resemblance operates on the mind in the same way as contiguity and causation, in conveying us from one idea to another.

• But it is remarkable that it is seldom a foundation of pride or humility.

Men sometimes show a vanity from resembling a great man in his looks or actions.

But this does not extend very far. Why not?

The good qualities of a great man are many.

We match each of such qualities with each of the qualities of the resembling man.

• These form a chain of several links to the great person.

This multitude of relations weakens the connection.

The mind perceives the mismatch between:

• the qualities of the great man and
• the qualities of the man who resembles him

Therefore, contiguity or causation between the thing that causes pride or humility is alone requisite to cause pride and humility.

These relations are qualities that conveys the imagination from one idea to another.

What effect can these relations have on the mind?

    <!-- ◦ How can they become so requisite to the production of the passions? -->

The association of ideas operates so imperceptibly.

• We discover it more by its effects than by any immediate feeling or perception.
• It produces no emotion.
• It creates no new impression.
• It only modifies those ideas which the mind had and could recall.

This is why an association of ideas, however necessary, is insufficient to give rise to any passion.

When the mind feels pride or humility on the appearance of a related object, there is an emotion or original impression produced by some other principle, besides the relation or transition of thought.

Is the emotion first produced by pride or humility itself, or some other impression related to it?

The relation of ideas, which is so requisite a circumstance to the production of pride or humility, would be entirely superfluous, were it not to: ◦ second a relation of affections ◦ facilitate the transition from one impression to another.

If nature immediately produced pride or humility, it would:

• be completed in itself
• require no further addition or increase from any other affection.

But supposing the first emotion to be only related to pride or humility, it is easily conceived to what purpose the relation of objects may serve

• and how the two different associations, of impressions and ideas, by uniting their forces, may assist each other’s operation.

This is the only way we can conceive this subject.

An easy transition of ideas which causes no emotion can never be necessary or useful to the passions.

• It is only useful by forwarding the transition between some related impressions.

The same object causes a greater or smaller degree of pride in proportion to: ▪ the increase or decrease of its qualities and ▪ the distance or nearness of the relation.

This is a clear argument for the transition of affections along the relation of ideas.

Since every change in the relation produces a proportional change in the passion.

Thus one part of the preceding system on the relations of ideas is a sufficient proof of the other part on the relations of impressions.

It is itself founded on experience that I will not waste time to further prove it.

This will appear more evidently in particular instances.

Men are vain of the beauty of their country, county, or parish.

Here, the idea of beauty plainly produces a pleasure.

This pleasure is related to pride. ▪ The object or cause of this pleasure is related to the self or the object of pride. ▪ By this double relation of impressions and ideas, a transition is made from the one impression to the other.