What part did the emotions play in Hartley’s philosophy?
David Hartley was an English philosopher and also practiced as a physician. He offered physiological explanation for the association of ideas in terms of mechanics. He explained in his law of association how voluntary behavior can develop from involuntary behavior. His two major influences were Locke and Newton. He took into account the law of contiguity, synchronous and successive.
Hartley’s goal was to synthesize the conception of Newton about nerve transmission with versions of empiricism. He rejected Descartes concept about nerves that they are hollow. However, he accepts the Newton’s concept that nerves are solid and that sensory experience causes vibrations in nerves. Newton called these vibrations as impressions. These impressions reach the brain and causes vibrations, resulting in sensations.
He correlated all mental activities, such as thoughts, emotions and perceptions with the neurophysiological activity. He found that complex ideas are generated spontaneously by the process of association. He explained that neurological processes are responsible for the generation and raise of our perception, emotions and thoughts. He also explained how the vibrations in the brain cause different emotions in humans.
In his moral philosophy, he called the emotions as electric charges that jump object or thought to another. Like Newton, he believed that sensation is the result of vibrations in the minute substances present in the nerves. These vibrations depend on the previous experiences. He also concluded from his findings that pleasure is the result of moderate vibrations and pain is the result of excessive vibrations.