第6章 決定論 n.15 - 意志という観念は曖昧
さらに,「意志(will)」という観念(概念)は非常に曖昧なものであり,おそらく,科学的心理学からは姿を消すであろう概念である,ということも述べておくべきであろう。我々の行為の大部分は意志(による)行為であるように感じられるものが先行しない(ものによって先行されない)。(また)事前の決定がなければ単純なこともやることができないというのは,精神的な病の一形態である。例えば,我々ある地点まで歩いてゆくことを決心し,それから,もし我々道を知っていれば,到着するまで(注:until we arrive proceeds of itself/proceeds :収益=結果),一方の足を他方の足の前におく(という動作)を繰り返してゆくかも知れません。(即ち)「意志」が関係すると思われる(注:felt to involve "will":「意志」を伴っている/を含んでいると思われる)のは,最初の決心だけである。熟慮の後決める時には,2つあるいはそれ以上の可能性が我々の心の中にあり,どちらも多少とも魅力的,もしかするとどちらも多少とも不快なものである(repulsive)かも知れない。そうして最後には,一方が最も魅力的である(attractive 感じが良い;人を引きつける)ことがわかり,他方を圧倒したのである。内省によって意欲(の存在)を発見しようとする時,人は筋肉の緊張感や,時には「私はこれをしよう(I will do this.)」という強調構文(emphatic sentence)を見つける。しかし,私個人としては(for one),自分自身の中に「意志」と呼べるような何らかの特殊な精神現象を見つけ出すことはできない。 |
Chapter 6: Determinism, n.15It is said that introspection makes us immediately aware of free will. In so far as this is taken in a sense which precludes causation, it is a mere mistake. What we know is that, when we have made a choice, we could have chosen otherwise - if we had wanted to do so. But we cannot know by mere introspection whether there were or were not causes of our wanting to do what we did. In the case of actions which are very rational, we may know their causes. When we take legal or medical or financial advice and act upon it, we know that the advice is the cause of our action. But in general the causes of acts are not to be discovered by introspection ; they are to be discovered, like those of other events, by observing their antecedents and discovering some law of sequence.It should be said, further, that the notion of "will" is very obscure, and is probably one which would disappear from a scientific psychology. Most of our actions are not preceded by anything that feels like an act of will ; it is a form of mental disease to be unable to do simple things without a previous decision. We may, for instance, decide to walk to a certain place, and then, if we know the way, the putting of one foot before another until we arrive proceeds of itself. It is only the original decision that is felt to involve "will." When we decide after deliberation, two or more possibilities have been in our minds, each more or less attractive, and perhaps also each more or less repulsive ; in the end, one has proved the most attractive, and has overpowered the others. When one tries to discover volition by introspection, one finds a sense of muscular tenseness, and sometimes an emphatic sentence : "I will do this." But I, for one, cannot find in myself any specific kind of mental occurrence that I could call "will." |