家族の伝統
貴族社会においては,いや,個人の栄達(高い地位を得ること)を許すすべての社会において,家族は,ある重要な個人に関して(と関連して)歴史的に連結した(結びついた)一つの印になっている。観察によれば,ダーウィンという名前の人々は,幼児期にスヌークス(snook あかんべー)と改名された場合よりも,すぐれた科学においてよい仕事をする(科学的業績を挙げる)ということを示しているように思われる。もし仮に,姓が男性ではなく,女性を通じて伝わったとしても(注:If = even if),この種の影響は,今とまったく同じように強いだろう,と思われる。このような場合に,遺伝と環境の役割をそれぞれ振り分ける(割り当てる)ことはとても不可能であるが,ゴールトンとその弟子たちが遺伝のせいにしている現象において,家族の伝統は非常に重要な役割を演じている,と私は固く信じている。 家族の伝統の影響の一例として,サミュエル・バトラーに無意識的記憶の学説を創案させ,新ラマルク派の遺伝理論を擁護させたと言われている理由を挙げてもよい。その理由というのは,家族的因縁から(from family reason),彼はチャールズ・ダーウィンに反対しなければならない,と感じたということである。彼の祖父は,(どうやら)ダーウィンの祖父と喧嘩をし,彼の父はダーウィンの父と喧嘩をしたので,彼(バトラー)もダーウィンと喧嘩をしなければならなかったのである。こういう次第で,ショーの『メトセラ(メトシェラ)』(Methuselah)があのようであるのは(is what it is),ダーウィンもバトラーも,短気な祖父を持っていたという事実によるのである。 |
Chapter XIII: Family at present day, n.14From the point of view of the young child, the important thing about parents is that from them the child gets an affection not given to anyone else except his brothers and sisters. This is partly good and partly bad. I propose to consider the psychological effects of the family upon children in the next chapter. I shall therefore say no more about it at the present moment than that it is clearly a very important element in character formation, and that children brought up away from parents may be expected to differ considerably, whether for better or for worse, from normal children.In an aristocratic society, or indeed in any society permitting of personal eminence, the family is, in regard to certain important individuals, a mark connected with historical continuity. Observation seems to show that people whose name is Darwin do better work in science than they would do if their name had been changed to Snooks in infancy. I conceive that if surnames descended through the female instead of the male, effects of this kind would be exactly as strong as they are now. It is quite impossible to apportion the shares of heredity and environment respectively in such cases, but I am quite convinced that family tradition plays a very considerable part in the phenomena which Galton and his disciples attribute to heredity. One might give as an example of the influence of family tradition the reason said to have caused Samuel Butler to invent his doctrine of unconscious memory and to advocate a neo-Lamarckian theory of heredity. The reason was that for family reasons he felt it necessary to disagree with Charles Darwin. His grandfather (it seems) quarrelled with Darwin's grandfather, his father with his father, so he must quarrel with him. Thus Shaw's Methuselah is what it is, owing to the fact that Darwin and Butler had ill-tempered grandfathers. |