Summary of “Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development”
After reading the entire work, I settled in and re-examined the section titled Early Sentiments. A very brief summary of this section would read, nurture can explain behavior within differing people groups. Behavior can also differ within the classes of people that make up the larger groups. But nurture has very little influence on the differences between individuals of the same class. Galton relies on Darwin’s ideas to explain the individual differences including the idea that, “Conscience is now known to be partly transmitted by inheritance in the way and under the conditions clearly explained by Mr. Darwin.” (Galton, 1907)
Galton’s definition of the word “religion” in this writing is quite fascinating,
“The word religion may fairly be applied to any group of sentiments or persuasions that are strong enough to bind us to do that which we intellectually may acknowledge to be our duty, and the possession of some form of religion in this larger sense of the word is of the utmost importance to moral stability. The sentiments must be strong enough to make us ashamed at the mere thought of committing, and distressed during the act of committing any untruth, or any uncharitable act, or of neglecting what we feel to be right, in order to indulge in laziness or gratify some passing desire.” (Galton, 1907)
Following this section, Galton introduces examples of how animals are conditioned to learn behaviors that seem to be passed down from generation to generation. He also briefly states his position on inherited behaviors with examples consisting of children of criminals. Galton seems to be all over the map in this short portion of the larger writing. He does land close to lucidity when discussing Dante’s writings and referring to paintings from the same time.
He suggests that,
“Revenge and torture had been so commonly practised by rulers that they seemed to be appropriate attributes of every high authority, and the artists of those days saw no incongruity in supposing that a supremely powerful master, however beneficent he might be, would make the freest use of them.” (Galton, 1907)
I believe he could have been making reference to Giotto’s Last Judgment owing to the gruesom way Giotto depicts hell in this painting.
Galton’s emphasis in Early Sentiments revolves around nurture being the source of religious thoughts, terror, aversion, and, “in giving a fallacious sense of their being natural instincts.” (Galton, 1907)
Reaction to “Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development”
At first glance what Galton says seems to be reasonable. On some levels it probably is reasonable, but like most of the people influenced by Darwin, his reasonable arguments take ideas in untenable directions.
Galton’s definition of religion does not just end with the utilitarian view; he continues to make the following claim about the content of the religious belief, “it seems reasonable to believe that the particular dogma is comparatively of little importance.” (Galton, 1907)
This statement is very interesting when one considers what he is saying is that as long as someone is taught religion, it does not matter what is taught. The main issue is that content makes all the difference. I will try to briefly explain my thoughts.
The Bible provides us with an interesting discussion between Pontius Pilate and Jesus. Chapter eighteen in John’s Gospel tells of how Jesus is brought to Pilate because the high priests wanted him executed given that Jesus claimed to be equal with God. The conversation between Jesus and Pilate closes with this exchange,
“ 33Therefore Pilate entered again into the Praetorium, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?"
34Jesus answered, "Are you saying this on your own initiative, or did others tell you about Me?"
35Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You to me; what have You done?"
36Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."
37Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."
38Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?"
(NASB 1995)
Jesus’ answer is restrained and bold. The most basic of all problems that we, as finite created beings, face is exposed in this short exchange. What we find here in this passage is that there is no scarcity of truth for us to know, but more often people fall short because of the insincerity of their search. Jesus teaches that truth proceeds from the inside out, or put another way, intent is prior to content.
Does dogma matter? According to Jesus, it makes all the difference in the world.
Bibliography
Galton, F. (1907). Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Devlopment. Retrieved 3 2, 2010, from Gutenberg Project: http://gutenburg.net/1/1/5/6/11562
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
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