Morality is held to include two distinct principles; moral obligation, or conduct towards[Pg 33] others, and conduct towards, or the debt we owe, ourselves. We are here concerned chiefly with the first; the second—those rules of conduct which concern only ourselves, are bound up with the purpose of existence, with the ultimate end. Moral obligation has arisen out of the necessity for co-ordination and system in our mutual5 relationships. Without a moral code, social life would become chaotic6 and impossible, comparable only to the state of Russia under mob rule in the year of grace 1918—a state immeasurably more degraded than that of Britain in the era B.C.; the early Briton like the modern Kafir, at any rate, gave vent7 to his predatory and murderous instincts, for the most part, outside his own little tribe. The imposition of some recognized rules of conduct, safeguarding the security of life and property, is as necessary to the community as the existence of a coinage for the negotiation9 of commercial bargains; in fact it is more so. The two are analogous11: the moral code must give effect to that first and universal principle of ethics12 expressed thus, "Do unto others as you would they should do unto you," which is only another way of saying, "You may expect others to treat you as you intend to treat them in similar circumstances." Hence the standardization13 of rules of conduct becomes a principle of Utility. Altruism14 has nothing whatsoever15 to do with it. Even indignation at the spectacle of acute suffering needlessly inflicted16 on animals, where considerations of reciprocal treatment on[Pg 34] the part of the animal do not apply, is correctly based on the offence such a "discordance17" causes to the ?sthetic sensibility of the cultivated, or the induced sympathetic discomfort18 of the many. In many natures the pain-suggesting spectacle, or even the mere19 thought of it, spontaneously evokes20 anger, which seeks satisfaction in the punishment of the author of its occurrence. The only rational or intellectual process involved in the resulting "moral judgment21" is, as a rule, confined to a realization22 of the pain-suggesting idea, and the direction of vengeful impulses against the offender23, while the consequences or ends of conduct in no way determine the judgment. The particular idiocy24 of the anti-vivisection agitation25 is obvious. We are here, of course, purposely considering, not actual and arbitrary morality, but the essentials upon which all moralities are based. We shall deal more fully26 as we proceed with those psychic27 and emotional factors which do, in fact, colour and distort all moral values. To return to our analogy—we may say then, that a conventional moral rule stands for the credit of national morality, much as a five-pound note stands for the credit of national wealth.
However wise a code of morality may be, it is necessarily artificial. It has grown up to suit the peculiar28 circumstances and demands of race, climate and time. The basic reason for its existence is too often encrusted and disguised by fears, superstitions29 and illusions, perpetual[Pg 35] creatures of the human mind; the essentials are often lost sight of or forgotten, and Truth is parodied30 as the principle that gave birth to the ecclesiastical chimera31 which forms the edifice32 of modern cults33. Is it surprising, then, that morality is garbed34 in the changing coat of a chameleon35? That what is held moral to-day is immoral36 to-morrow, and that what is held immoral here is moral elsewhere?
The second and deeper morality concerns ourselves only. It demands an answer to the eternal question: What is the Ultimate Good? One great imperative37 stands out pre-eminent: we must be true to ourselves. He who would seek the truth must himself be true. Without truth there is no creation, no progress. But before we can be true to ourselves, we must know ourselves; that is the problem we are considering—knowledge of the ego10.
Some men are content to supply synonyms38 for the Ideal—for Perfection, the goal of endeavour—imagining they are thereby39 showing the way. Others realize the first task must be to cleanse40 the way of the inadequacies and perversions41 which masquerade as the whole Truth, as the "word of God."
The Ultimate Good cannot be translated into the petty codes of human convenience, neither can it be deduced from the wanton phantoms42 of man's wild fancy, called religion, which, by attempting to expound43 everything, explains nothing.
[Pg 36]
What is religion? Is it the search for truth? Is it not an attempt to clothe our conception of the Infinite in terms finite?—the result being grotesque44, bearing no relation to existence, a lawless chimera, born of man's dread45 of the unknown, an amorphous46 fantasy fashioned out of the distorted visions of man's hopes and fears, modelled, amended47 and shaped in course of time in accordance with the postulate48 of man's nature—man the religious animal!
Science cannot give us the whole truth and admits it! "Absolute beginnings or origins are beyond the pale of science."[34] But religion professes49 to know and is disproved at every step. It is when Religion refuses to learn that she is harmful; because her values are false and her thought retrospective that she is inadequate50. It is not because the religions of the past and their legacies51 to-day cannot prove the Transcendent that they should be discarded, but because they attempt to prove it and turn the world into chaos52 in so doing. It is not only because, in the words of Huxley, "everywhere priests have broken the spirit of wisdom and tried to stop human progress by quotations53 from their Bibles or books of their Saints," that the old religion is outgrown54, but because it is daily growing more and more impotent.
Whether for good or evil the influence of religion on the conduct of men daily grows less. Religious fanaticism55 is gradually giving place to[Pg 37] secular57 and political fanaticism, whose votaries58 shriek59 in the name of Democracy, Socialism or other watchword of Utopia, ever attempting to impose new moral values bearing as little correspondence to reality as the old values. Neither can recent attempts to express the old religion in terms of modern thought revive that which is perishing of inanition. Huxley wrote thus of the attempt: "If the religion of the present differs from that of the past, it is because the theology of the present has become more scientific than that of the past, not because it has renounced60 idols61 of wood and idols of stone, but begins to see the necessity of breaking in pieces the idols built up of books and traditions, and fine-spun ecclesiastical cobwebs, and of cherishing the noblest and most human of man's emotions by worship, 'for the most part of the Silent Sort,' at the altar of the unknown and unknowable...."
We have no desire to follow in the wake of an unprovoked attack on the churches, our concern is the defence of a rational, against the imposition of an irrational62, code of morality.
But ethical63 systems are still built upon the fantastical dogmas of religious or political visionaries. "Ethics," say the former, "cannot be built securely upon anything less than the Religious Sanctions." The rules which govern the practical conduct of life must conform to "divine laws" which in their interpretation64 have passed through a metamorphosis as varied65 and dissimilar as the habits and customs which [Pg 38]distinguish the twentieth century from the second! Was it a sign of the security and infallibility of ethics founded on religious beliefs that Christian66 England as late as the beginning of the Eighteenth Century[35] sanctioned the execution and torture of harmless old women for the imaginary crime of witchcraft67? It must be remembered that the moral code of the period, enforced by the laws of the land, reflected contemporary religious thought. Lecky, referring to the causes upon which witchcraft depended, says:[36] "It resulted, not from accidental circumstances, individual eccentricities68, or even scientific ignorance, but from a general predisposition to see Satanic agency in life. It grew from, and it reflected, the prevailing69 modes of religious thought; and it declined only when those modes were weakened or destroyed." 5.
The fact is, as most impartial70 students of psychology71 admit, that both religious and political ethics owe far more of their character to the "emotional cravings" combined with the interested propaganda current in the age, than to any real value they may possess from a utilitarian72 or, assuming the Divinity to be rational, from a Divine point of view. Ibsen has truly said that moral values are dependent on power-conditions; morals, politics and law are to a great extent shaped and propelled by might-conditions, by the fancied needs and interests of dominant73 classes;[Pg 39] but the greatest factor in power-condition is psychic; the greatest world-propellant, the ultima vires, is more mind than muscle; it is this great world force which I have spoken of as Cosmic Suggestion.[37] Too little may yet be known of this force to trace its means of transmission, but the reality of its existence can no longer be doubted. It has been described in the following way: there exists an effluence or force generated by, or resulting from, the molecular74 activity of each individual brain. These forces are constantly influencing the souls of men, encountering, overcoming, and repelling75 opposition76, and reacting upon the conscious intelligence of the authors of their generation; or they may unite themselves into groups and operate collectively, forming a psychic stream of power.[38]
The fact of this power must be received into the monistic system as part of the one great law. A purely77 materialistic78 monism cannot contain it. Though we postulate a single law with a dual56 aspect or duality within unity8, whatever hypothesis we assume will be of less importance than the discovery and co-ordination of the invariable laws of its operation. We accept the principle of "monism" not, I fancy, because we are compelled to do so by the logic79 of Haeckel, the great exponent80 of modern monism, or of his fellow-scientists, but because we are driven to do so without their help. The principle of oneness[Pg 40] and unity, alone, is capable of satisfying our intellect, our sense of order and logic. There cannot be conflicting truths; there cannot exist true systems which disprove each other; all knowledge is complementary; there cannot be true objective facts and equally true subjective81 ideals which contradict them; otherwise the world is chaos and there is no reality. But if we know anything we know that matter is real and thought is real, and the law of their inter-relationship is within the same reality. No commonplace of science is more widely known or more firmly established than the law of the conservation of energy or of the persistence82 of force and of matter, which Haeckel calls the law of substance. Can we be content to believe that no force exists that is not susceptible83 to physical analysis? Or does the first step towards the elucidation84 of the ultimate and unsolved riddle85 of existence, that is, the real character of substance or the cosmos86, lie (as we believe) in the direction of reconciling the metaphysical with the monistic system?
We seek no escape from the underlying87 principle of one universal law which determines all matter, life and energy; but our monism must comprise the psychic factor. For us this cannot be stated in physiological88 terms. Force cannot be regarded as a pure attribute of matter. Recent advances in psychological research appear to endorse89 this view. It is, in any case, less important to insist upon one particular hypothesis, when much, at the present stage of knowledge,[Pg 41] is insoluble, than to appreciate by observation and introspection the laws that appear to evolve from it.
Haeckel cannot conceive mind apart from matter or, conversely, protoplasm without mind (for him they develop concurrently); yet why should the fact that both are subject to the same cosmic law invalidate the idea of the persistency90 of an immaterial force, which may even under certain conditions, or metamorphoses, break the partnership91 with matter; provided that the unit of psychic force is in itself immaterial?[39] This psychic unit Haeckel terms psychoplasm, that is, the materialistic basis of mind in protoplasm. The laws of psychic phenomena92, however, only appear intelligible93 when we concede that the psychoplasm possesses an immaterial aspect which, at a certain stage of development, may persist as "force," even after the disintegration94 of matter into its chemical components95. On the other hand, it may, below a certain stage of development or intensity96, lose cohesion97 and dissipate; organic matter, however, is never[Pg 42] without it. The wonderful discoveries of recent psychological research, especially in the department of hypnotism, in the facts of memory and above all in the evidence lately forthcoming of the existence of telepathy, should encourage us to adopt a hypothesis which, to the materialistic philosopher, appears chimerical98.[40] A final decision of the ultimate problem remains99 at present unattainable, its discussion is therefore of necessity speculative100 in character. But the need for recognizing the existence of a psychic factor, whose phenomena cannot be reconciled on a materialistic basis, makes its inclusion in the cosmic system imperative. This need is the greater in view of the tendency amongst an ever-increasing class to relegate101 all psychic phenomena to the chaotic realms of emotional thought, resulting in the propagation of the wildest fanaticism under such titles as Spiritualism, Christian Science or Theosophism.
There are two modes of thought and they lead in opposite directions: emotional assumption and analytical102 investigation103; the two systems are illustrated104 by the world phenomenon of religious beliefs arising from a common source, and in their development splitting up, breaking away and variating, whilst all scientific knowledge unifies105 and becomes reconciled during its progress, all laws eventually resolving themselves into one. It is often said, and it is well to remember, that no system of human belief is without some[Pg 43] fact to sustain it. But when the great variety of antagonistic106 beliefs that have sprung from different conceptions of the same facts are taken into account, one must realize, as too few educationalists do, that the value of human opinions and beliefs depends far more on habits of mind and methods of assimilation than on the ultimate facts on which they are based, or the conviction with which they are held.
There are many people so ignorant of human nature and psychological fact that they imagine the truth of a statement may be demonstrated by the credulity with which it has been received, forgetting that faith fills the void of ignorance where scepticism is reserved for new ideas.
So long as education comprises the inculcation of beliefs founded on emotional assumption (it should be clear to any one who thinks on the subject that few beliefs outside the analytical and exact sciences are logically reasoned out from fundamental principles) and the facile repetition of archaisms is appraised107 as intellectual thought; in short, so long as our methods are retrospective rather than critical, emotion and fanaticism will triumph over reason.
点击收听单词发音
1 deity | |
n.神,神性;被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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2 underlie | |
v.位于...之下,成为...的基础 | |
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3 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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4 superstition | |
n.迷信,迷信行为 | |
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5 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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6 chaotic | |
adj.混沌的,一片混乱的,一团糟的 | |
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7 vent | |
n.通风口,排放口;开衩;vt.表达,发泄 | |
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8 unity | |
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调 | |
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9 negotiation | |
n.谈判,协商 | |
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10 ego | |
n.自我,自己,自尊 | |
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11 analogous | |
adj.相似的;类似的 | |
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12 ethics | |
n.伦理学;伦理观,道德标准 | |
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13 standardization | |
n.标准化 | |
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14 altruism | |
n.利他主义,不自私 | |
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15 whatsoever | |
adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
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16 inflicted | |
把…强加给,使承受,遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17 discordance | |
n.不调和,不和,不一致性;不整合;假整合 | |
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18 discomfort | |
n.不舒服,不安,难过,困难,不方便 | |
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19 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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20 evokes | |
产生,引起,唤起( evoke的第三人称单数 ) | |
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21 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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22 realization | |
n.实现;认识到,深刻了解 | |
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23 offender | |
n.冒犯者,违反者,犯罪者 | |
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24 idiocy | |
n.愚蠢 | |
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25 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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26 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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27 psychic | |
n.对超自然力敏感的人;adj.有超自然力的 | |
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28 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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29 superstitions | |
迷信,迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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30 parodied | |
v.滑稽地模仿,拙劣地模仿( parody的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31 chimera | |
n.神话怪物;梦幻 | |
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32 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
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33 cults | |
n.迷信( cult的名词复数 );狂热的崇拜;(有极端宗教信仰的)异教团体 | |
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34 garbed | |
v.(尤指某类人穿的特定)服装,衣服,制服( garb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35 chameleon | |
n.变色龙,蜥蜴;善变之人 | |
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36 immoral | |
adj.不道德的,淫荡的,荒淫的,有伤风化的 | |
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37 imperative | |
n.命令,需要;规则;祈使语气;adj.强制的;紧急的 | |
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38 synonyms | |
同义词( synonym的名词复数 ) | |
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39 thereby | |
adv.因此,从而 | |
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40 cleanse | |
vt.使清洁,使纯洁,清洗 | |
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41 perversions | |
n.歪曲( perversion的名词复数 );变坏;变态心理 | |
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42 phantoms | |
n.鬼怪,幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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43 expound | |
v.详述;解释;阐述 | |
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44 grotesque | |
adj.怪诞的,丑陋的;n.怪诞的图案,怪人(物) | |
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45 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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46 amorphous | |
adj.无定形的 | |
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47 Amended | |
adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词 | |
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48 postulate | |
n.假定,基本条件;vt.要求,假定 | |
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49 professes | |
声称( profess的第三人称单数 ); 宣称; 公开表明; 信奉 | |
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50 inadequate | |
adj.(for,to)不充足的,不适当的 | |
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51 legacies | |
n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 );遗留之物;遗留问题;后遗症 | |
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52 chaos | |
n.混乱,无秩序 | |
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53 quotations | |
n.引用( quotation的名词复数 );[商业]行情(报告);(货物或股票的)市价;时价 | |
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54 outgrown | |
长[发展] 得超过(某物)的范围( outgrow的过去分词 ); 长[发展]得不能再要(某物); 长得比…快; 生长速度超过 | |
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55 fanaticism | |
n.狂热,盲信 | |
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56 dual | |
adj.双的;二重的,二元的 | |
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57 secular | |
n.牧师,凡人;adj.世俗的,现世的,不朽的 | |
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58 votaries | |
n.信徒( votary的名词复数 );追随者;(天主教)修士;修女 | |
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59 shriek | |
v./n.尖叫,叫喊 | |
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60 renounced | |
v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 );宣布放弃;宣布与…决裂;宣布摒弃 | |
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61 idols | |
偶像( idol的名词复数 ); 受崇拜的人或物; 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物; 神像 | |
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62 irrational | |
adj.无理性的,失去理性的 | |
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63 ethical | |
adj.伦理的,道德的,合乎道德的 | |
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64 interpretation | |
n.解释,说明,描述;艺术处理 | |
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65 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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66 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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67 witchcraft | |
n.魔法,巫术 | |
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68 eccentricities | |
n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 );反常;怪癖 | |
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69 prevailing | |
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的 | |
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70 impartial | |
adj.(in,to)公正的,无偏见的 | |
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71 psychology | |
n.心理,心理学,心理状态 | |
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72 utilitarian | |
adj.实用的,功利的 | |
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73 dominant | |
adj.支配的,统治的;占优势的;显性的;n.主因,要素,主要的人(或物);显性基因 | |
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74 molecular | |
adj.分子的;克分子的 | |
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75 repelling | |
v.击退( repel的现在分词 );使厌恶;排斥;推开 | |
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76 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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77 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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78 materialistic | |
a.唯物主义的,物质享乐主义的 | |
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79 logic | |
n.逻辑(学);逻辑性 | |
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80 exponent | |
n.倡导者,拥护者;代表人物;指数,幂 | |
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81 subjective | |
a.主观(上)的,个人的 | |
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82 persistence | |
n.坚持,持续,存留 | |
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83 susceptible | |
adj.过敏的,敏感的;易动感情的,易受感动的 | |
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84 elucidation | |
n.说明,阐明 | |
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85 riddle | |
n.谜,谜语,粗筛;vt.解谜,给…出谜,筛,检查,鉴定,非难,充满于;vi.出谜 | |
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86 cosmos | |
n.宇宙;秩序,和谐 | |
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87 underlying | |
adj.在下面的,含蓄的,潜在的 | |
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88 physiological | |
adj.生理学的,生理学上的 | |
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89 endorse | |
vt.(支票、汇票等)背书,背署;批注;同意 | |
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90 persistency | |
n. 坚持(余辉, 时间常数) | |
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91 partnership | |
n.合作关系,伙伴关系 | |
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92 phenomena | |
n.现象 | |
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93 intelligible | |
adj.可理解的,明白易懂的,清楚的 | |
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94 disintegration | |
n.分散,解体 | |
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95 components | |
(机器、设备等的)构成要素,零件,成分; 成分( component的名词复数 ); [物理化学]组分; [数学]分量; (混合物的)组成部分 | |
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96 intensity | |
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度 | |
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97 cohesion | |
n.团结,凝结力 | |
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98 chimerical | |
adj.荒诞不经的,梦幻的 | |
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99 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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100 speculative | |
adj.思索性的,暝想性的,推理的 | |
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101 relegate | |
v.使降级,流放,移交,委任 | |
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102 analytical | |
adj.分析的;用分析法的 | |
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103 investigation | |
n.调查,调查研究 | |
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104 illustrated | |
adj. 有插图的,列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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105 unifies | |
使联合( unify的第三人称单数 ); 使相同; 使一致; 统一 | |
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106 antagonistic | |
adj.敌对的 | |
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107 appraised | |
v.估价( appraise的过去式和过去分词 );估计;估量;评价 | |
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