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- ELEMENTS OF THE PHILOSOPHY
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- chap 2
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- of the principle or law of
sympathetic imitation.
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- SECTION FIRST
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- Of our Propensity to this Species
of Imitation.
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- The subject of Language leads, by a natural
transition, to that of Imitation; a principle of
human nature to which children owe their first
acquisitions in the art of speech; and which, in
every period of life, exerts a very powerful
influence over our accent, mode of
pronunciation, and forms of expression. It is
not, however, solely, or even chiefly on this
account, that I introduce the subject of
Imitation here. The view which I mean to take of
it relates principally to some other phenomena
of our constitution, which, though equally
important, have been hitherto much lees attended
to by philosophers. The phenomena, indeed, which
I first mentioned, are matter of daily
experience, and force themselves on the notice
of the most careless observer.
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- In ranking imitation among the original
principles or ultimate facts in our
constitution, it is, I presume, scarcely
necessary for me to observe, that I do not use
that term exactly in the popular sense in which
it is commonly understood. I do not suppose, for
example, that it is in consequence of any
instinctive or mysterious process, that a
painter or author forms his taste in painting or
in writing, on the models exhibited by his
predecessors; for all this may obviously be
resolved, in the most satisfactory manner, into
more simple and general laws. The Imitation of
which I am here to treat, and which I have
distinguished by the title of Sympathetic, is
that chiefIy which depends on the mimical powers
connected with our bodily frame; and which, in
certain combinations of circumstances, seems to
result, with little intervention of our will,
from a sympathy between the bodily organizations
of different individuals. Of various particulars
connected with this class of phenomena,
philosophy, I suspect, will never be able to
give a complete explanation.
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- In general, it may be remarked, that
whenever we see, in the countenance of another
individual, any sudden change of features; more
especially, such a change as is expressive of
any particular passion or emotion; our own
countenance has a tendency to assimilate itself
to his. Every man is sensible of ths when he
looks at a person under the influence of
laughter, or in a deep melancholy. Something,
too, of the same kind, takes place in that spasm
of the muscles of the jaw, which we experience
in yawning; an action which is well known to be
frequently excited by the contagious power of
example. Even when we conceive in solitude,
the external expression of any passion, the
effect of the conception is visible in our own
appearance. This is a fact of which every person
must be conscious, who attends, in his own case,
to the result of the experiment; and it is a
circumstance which has been often remarked with
respect to historical painters, when in the act
of transferring to the canvass the glowing
pictures of a creative imagination.
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- 1f this general fact be admitted, it will
enable us to account for a phenomenon, which,
although overlooked by most men from its
familiarity, cannot fail to suggest an
interesting subject of speculation to those who
reflect on the circumstances with due attention.
What I allude to is, that a mimic, without
consulting a mirror, know by a sort of
consciousness or internal feeling, the moment
when he has hit upon the resemblance he wishes
to exhibit. This phenomenon (which has always
appeared to me an extremely curious and
important one) seems to be altogether
inexplicable, unless we suppose, that, when the
muscles of the mimic's face are so modified as
to produce the desired combination of features,
he is conscious, in some degree, of the same
feeling or sensation which he had, when he first
became acquainted with tue original appearance
which he has been attempting to copy.
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- Nor is it the visible appearance alone of
others, that we have a disposition to imitate.
We copy instinctively the voices of our
companions, their tones, their accents, and
their modes of pronunciation. Hence that general
similarity in point of air and manner,
observable in all who associate habitually
together, and which every man acquires in a
greater or less degree; a similarity unheeded,
perhaps, by those who witness it daily, and
whose attention, accordingly, is more forcibly
called to the nicer shades by which individuals
are discriminated from each other; but which
catches the eye of every stranger with
incomparably greater force than the specific
peculiarities which, to a closer observer, mark
the endless varieties of human character.
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- The influence of this principle of imitation
on the outward appearance is much more extensive
than we are commonly disposed to suspect. It
operates, indeed, chiefly on the air and
movements, without producing any very striking
effect on the material form in its quiescent
state. So difficult, however, is it to abstract
this form from its habitual accompaniments, that
the members of the same community, by being
accustomed to associate from their infancy in
the intercourse of private life, appear, to a
careless observer, to bear a much closer
resemblance to each other than they do in
reality; while, on the other hand, the physical
diversities which are .eharacteristical of
different nations, are, in his estimation,
proportionably magnified.
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- The important effects of the same principle,
when considered in relation to our moral
constitution, will afterwards appear. At
present, I shall only remark, that the
reflection which Shakapeare puts into the mouth
of Falstaff, with respect to the manners of
Justice Shallow and his attendants, and which
Sir John expresses with all the precision of a
philosophical observer, and all the dignity of a
moralist, may be extended to the most serious
concerns of human life. "It is a wonderful thing
"to see the semblable coherence of his men's
spirits and his: they, by observing of him, do
bear themselves like foolish justices; he, by
convening with them, isturned into a
justice-like serving-man. Their spirits are so
married in conjunction, with the participation
of society, that they flock together in concert,
like so many wild geese. is certain, that either
wise bearing or ignorant carriage is caught, as
men take diseases, one of another; therefore let
men take heed to their company."
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In
Buffon. Natural History, there is
a passage from which one would be apt to
conclude, at first sight, that he had in view
the distinction between the two different kinds
of imitation which I have here attempted to
point out; and that what he calls l'imitation
machinale corresponde exactly to what I have
called Sympathetic imitation. On a more
attentive examination, however, it will be found
that by this phrase he means nothing more than
the cause which gives rise to the uniformity in
the operations of instinct among animal of the
same species; a cause which, according to
Buffon, consist, merely in the uniformity of
their organization; and which, therefore, can
with no propriety be denominated Imitatian,
without departing entirely from all the common
meanings of that word.
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- "D'ailleurs Il faut distinguer deux sortes
d'imitation, l'une réfléchie et
sentie, et l'autre machinale et sans intention;
la première acquise, et la seconde, pour
ainsi dire, innée; l'une n'est que le
résultat de l'instinct commun
répandu dans l'espèce
entière, et ne consiste que dans la
similitude des mouvemens et des
opérations de chaque individu, qui tous
semblent être induits ou contraints
à faire les mêmes choses; plus ils
sont stupides, plus cette imitation
tracèe dans l'espèce est parfaite
: un mouton ne fait et ne fera jamais que ce
qu'ont fait et font tous les autres moutons: la
première cellule d'une abeille ressemble
à la dernière; l'espèce
entière n'a pas plus d'intelligence qu'un
seul individu, et c'est en cela que consiste la
différence de l'esprit et l'instinct;
ainsi l'imitation naturelle n'est dans chaque
espèce qu'un résultat de
similitude, une nécessité d'autant
moins intelligente et plus aveugle qu'elle est
plus également repartie; l'autre
imitation qu'on doit regarder comme
artificielle, ne peut ni se répartir, ni
se communiquer à l'espèce; elle
n'appartient qu'à l'individu qui la
reçoit, qui la possède sans
pouvoir la donner; le perroquet le mieux
instruit ne transmettra pas le talent de la
parole à ses petits."
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- Buffon, Histoire
Naturelle
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