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III THOUGHT AS THE INSTRUMENT OF KNOWLEDGE
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When I observe how a billiard ball, when struck, communicates its motion to another, I remain entirely1 without influence on the process before me. The direction and velocity2 of the motion of the second ball is determined3 by the direction and velocity of the first. As long as I remain a mere4 spectator, I can say nothing about the motion of the second ball until after it has happened. It is quite different when I begin to reflect on the content of my observations. The purpose of my reflection is to construct concepts of the process. I connect the concept of an elastic5 ball with certain other concepts of mechanics, and consider the special circumstances which obtain in the instance in question. I try, in other words, to add to the process which takes place without my interference, a second process which takes place in the conceptual sphere. This latter process is dependent on me. This is shown by the fact that I can rest content with the observation, and renounce6 all search for concepts if I have no [25]need of them. If, therefore, this need is present, then I am not content until I have established a definite connection among the concepts, ball, elasticity7, motion, impact, velocity, etc., so that they apply to the observed process in a definite way. As surely as the occurrence of the observed process is independent of me, so surely is the occurrence of the conceptual process dependent on me.

We shall have to consider later whether this activity of mine really proceeds from my own independent being, or whether those modern physiologists8 are right who say that we cannot think as we will, but that we must think exactly as the thoughts and thought-connections determine, which happen to be in our minds at any given moment. (Cp. Ziehen, Leitfaden der Physiologischen Psychologie, Jena, 1893, p. 171.) For the present we wish merely to establish the fact that we constantly feel obliged to seek for concepts and connections of concepts, which stand in definite relation to the objects and processes which are given independently of us. Whether this activity is really ours, or whether we are determined to it by an unalterable necessity, is a question which we need not decide at present. What is unquestionable is that the activity appears, in the first instance, to be ours. We know for certain that concepts are not given together with the objects to which they correspond. My being the agent in the conceptual process may be an illusion; but there is no [26]doubt that to immediate9 observation I appear to be active. Our present question is, what do we gain by supplementing a process with a conceptual counterpart?

There is a far-reaching difference between the ways in which, for me, the parts of a process are related to one another before, and after, the discovery of the corresponding concepts. Mere observation can trace the parts of a given process as they occur, but their connection remains10 obscure without the help of concepts. I observe the first billiard ball move towards the second in a certain direction and with a certain velocity. What will happen after the impact I cannot tell in advance. I can once more only watch it happen with my eyes. Suppose someone obstructs11 my view of the field where the process is happening, at the moment when the impact occurs, then, as mere spectator, I remain ignorant of what goes on. The situation is very different, if prior to the obstructing12 of my view I have discovered the concepts corresponding to the nexus13 of events. In that case I can say what occurs, even when I am no longer able to observe. There is nothing in a merely observed process or object to show its relation to other processes or objects. This relation becomes manifest only when observation is combined with thought.

Observation and thought are the two points of departure for all the spiritual striving of man, in so far as he is conscious of such striving. The workings of common sense, as well as the [27]most complicated scientific researches, rest on these two fundamental pillars of our minds. Philosophers have started from various ultimate antitheses14, Idea and Reality, Subject and Object, Appearance and Thing-in-itself, Ego15 and Non-Ego, Idea and Will, Concept and Matter, Force and Substance, the Conscious and the Unconscious. It is, however, easy to show that all these antitheses are subsequent to that between Observation and Thought, this being for man the most important.

Whatever principle we choose to lay down, we must either prove that somewhere we have observed it, or we must enunciate16 it in the form of a clear concept which can be re-thought by any other thinker. Every philosopher who sets out to discuss his fundamental principles, must express them in conceptual form and thus use thought. He therefore indirectly17 admits that his activity presupposes thought. We leave open here the question whether thought or something else is the chief factor in the development of the world. But it is at any rate clear that the philosopher can gain no knowledge of this development without thought. In the occurrence of phenomena18 thought may play a secondary part, but it is quite certain that it plays a chief part in the construction of a theory about them.

As regards observation, our need of it is due to our organisation19. Our thought about a horse and the object “horse” are two things [28]which for us have separate existences. The object is accessible to us only by means of observation. As little as we can construct a concept of a horse by mere staring at the animal, just as little are we able by mere thought to produce the corresponding object.

In time observation actually precedes thought. For we become familiar with thought itself in the first instance by observation. It was essentially20 a description of an observation when, at the beginning of this chapter, we gave an account of how thought is kindled21 by an objective process and transcends22 the merely given. Whatever enters the circle of our experiences becomes an object of apprehension24 to us first through observation. All contents of sensations, all perceptions, intuitions, feelings, acts of will, dreams and fancies, images, concepts, ideas, all illusions and hallucinations, are given to us through observation.

But thought as an object of observation differs essentially from all other objects. The observation of a table, or a tree, occurs in me as soon as those objects appear within the horizon of my field of consciousness. Yet I do not, at the same time, observe my thought about these things. I observe the table, but I carry on a process of thought about the table without at the same moment observing this thought-process. I must first take up a standpoint outside of my own activity, if I want to observe my thought about the table, as well as [29]the table. Whereas the observation of things and processes, and the thinking about them, are everyday occurrences making up the continuous current of my life, the observation of the thought-process itself is an exceptional attitude to adopt. This fact must be taken into account, when we come to determine the relations of thought as an object of observation to all other objects. We must be quite clear about the fact that, in observing the thought-processes, we are applying to them a method which is our normal attitude in the study of all other objects in the world, but which in the ordinary course of that study is usually not applied25 to thought itself.

Someone might object that what I have said about thinking applies equally to feeling and to all other mental activities. Thus it is said that when, e.g., I have a feeling of pleasure, the feeling is kindled by the object, but it is this object I observe, not the feeling of pleasure. This objection, however, is based on an error. Pleasure does not stand at all in the same relation to its object as the concept constructed by thought. I am conscious, in the most positive way, that the concept of a thing is formed through my activity; whereas a feeling of pleasure is produced in me by an object in a way similar to that in which, e.g., a change is caused in an object by a stone which falls on it. For observation, a pleasure is given in exactly the same way as the event which causes it. The same is not true of [30]concepts. I can ask why an event arouses in me a feeling of pleasure. But I certainly cannot ask why an occurrence causes in me a certain number of concepts. The question would be simply meaningless. In thinking about an occurrence, I am not concerned with it as an effect on me. I learn nothing about myself from knowing the concepts which correspond to the observed change caused in a pane26 of glass by a stone thrown against it. But I do learn something about myself when I know the feeling which a certain occurrence arouses in me. When I say of an object which I perceive, “this is a rose,” I say absolutely nothing about myself; but when I say of the same thing that “it causes a feeling of pleasure in me,” I characterise not only the rose, but also myself in my relation to the rose.

There can, therefore, be no question of putting thought and feeling on a level as objects of observation. And the same could easily be shown of other activities of the human mind. Unlike thought, they must be classed with any other observed objects or events. The peculiar27 nature of thought lies just in this, that it is an activity which is directed solely28 on the observed object and not on the thinking subject. This is apparent even from the way in which we express our thoughts about an object, as distinct from our feelings or acts of will. When I see an object and recognise it as a table, I do not as a rule say, “I am thinking of a table,” but, “this is a [31]table.” On the other hand, I do say, “I am pleased with the table.” In the former case, I am not at all interested in stating that I have entered into a relation with the table; whereas, in the second case, it is just this relation which matters. In saying, “I am thinking of a table,” I adopt the exceptional point of view characterised above, in which something is made the object of observation which is always present in our mental activity, without being itself normally an observed object.

The peculiar nature of thought consists just in this, that the thinker forgets his thinking while actually engaged in it. It is not thinking which occupies his attention, but rather the object of thought which he observes.

The first point, then, to notice about thought is that it is the unobserved element in our ordinary mental life.

The reason why we do not notice the thinking which goes on in our ordinary mental life is no other than this, that it is our own activity. Whatever I do not myself produce appears in my field of consciousness as an object; I contrast it with myself as something the existence of which is independent of me. It forces itself upon me. I must accept it as the presupposition of my thinking. As long as I think about the object, I am absorbed in it, my attention is turned on it. To be thus absorbed in the object is just to contemplate29 it by thought. I attend, not to my activity, but to its object. In other words, whilst I am thinking I pay no [32]heed to my thinking which is of my own making, but only to the object of my thinking which is not of my making.

I am, moreover, in exactly the same position when I adopt the exceptional point of view and think of my own thought-processes. I can never observe my present thought, I can only make my past experiences of thought-processes subsequently the objects of fresh thoughts. If I wanted to watch my present thought, I should have to split myself into two persons, one to think, the other to observe this thinking. But this is impossible. I can only accomplish it in two separate acts. The observed thought-processes are never those in which I am actually engaged but others. Whether, for this purpose, I make observations on my own former thoughts, or follow the thought-processes of another person, or finally, as in the example of the motions of the billiard balls, assume an imaginary thought-process, is immaterial.

There are two things which are incompatible30 with one another: productive activity and the theoretical contemplation of that activity. This is recognised even in the First Book of Moses. It represents God as creating the world in the first six days, and only after its completion is any contemplation of the world possible: “And God saw everything that he had made and, behold31, it was very good.” The same applies to our thinking. It must be there first, if we would observe it. [33]

The reason why it is impossible to observe the thought-process in its actual occurrence at any given moment, is the same as that which makes it possible for us to know it more immediately and more intimately than any other process in the world. Just because it is our own creation do we know the characteristic features of its course, the manner in which the process, in detail, takes place. What in the other spheres of observation we can discover only indirectly, viz., the relevant objective nexus and the relations of the individual objects, that is known to us immediately in the case of thought. I do not know off-hand why, for perception, thunder follows lightning, but I know immediately, from the content of the two concepts, why my thought connects the concept of thunder with that of lightning. It does not matter for my argument whether my concepts of thunder and lightning are correct. The connection between the concepts I have is clear to me, and that through the very concepts themselves.

This transparent32 clearness in the observation of our thought-processes is quite independent of our knowledge of the physiological33 basis of thought. I am speaking here of thought in the sense in which it is the object of our observation of our own mental activity. For this purpose it is quite irrelevant34 how one material process in my brain causes or influences another, whilst I am carrying on a process of thought. What I observe, in [34]studying a thought-process, is, not what process in my brain connects the concept of thunder with that of lightning, but what is my reason for bringing these two concepts into a definite relation. Introspection shows that, in linking thought with thought, I am guided by their content, not by the material processes in the brain. This remark would be quite superfluous35 in a less materialistic36 age than ours. To-day, however, when there are people who believe that, when we know what matter is, we shall know also how it thinks, it is necessary to affirm the possibility of speaking of thought without trespassing37 on the domain38 of brain physiology39. Many people to-day find it difficult to grasp the concept of thought in its purity. Anyone who challenges the account of thought which I have given here, by quoting Cabanis’ statement that “the brain secretes40 thoughts as the liver does gall41 or the spittle-glands spittle, etc.” simply does not know of what I am talking. He attempts to discover thought by the same method of mere observation which we apply to the other objects that make up the world. But he cannot find it in this way, because, as I have shown, it eludes42 just this ordinary observation. Whoever cannot transcend23 Materialism43 lacks the ability to throw himself into the exceptional attitude I have described, in which he becomes conscious of what in all other mental activity remains unconscious. It is as useless to discuss thought with one who is not willing to adopt [35]this attitude, as it would be to discuss colour with a blind man. Let him not imagine, however, that we regard physiological processes as thought. He fails to explain thought, because he is not even aware that it is there.

For every one, however, who has the ability to observe thought, and with good will every normal man has this ability, this observation is the most important he can make. For he observes something which he himself produces. He is not confronted by what is to begin with a strange object, but by his own activity. He knows how that which he observes has come to be. He perceives clearly its connections and relations. He gains a firm point from which he can, with well-founded hopes, seek an explanation of the other phenomena of the world.

The feeling that he had found such a firm foundation, induced the father of modern philosophy, Descartes, to base the whole of human knowledge on the principle, “I think, therefore I am.” All other things, all other processes, are independent of me. Whether they be truth, or illusion, or dream, I know not. There is only one thing of which I am absolutely certain, for I myself am the author of its indubitable existence; and that is my thought. Whatever other origin it may have in addition, whether it come from God or from elsewhere, of one thing I am sure, that it exists in the sense that I myself produce it. Descartes had, to begin with, no justification44 [36]for reading any other meaning into his principle. All he had a right to assert was that, in apprehending45 myself as thinking, I apprehend46 myself, within the world-system, in that activity which is most uniquely characteristic of me. What the added words “therefore I am” are intended to mean has been much debated. They can have a meaning on one condition only. The simplest assertion I can make of a thing is, that it is, that it exists. What kind of existence, in detail, it has, can in no case be determined on the spot, as soon as the thing enters within the horizon of my experience. Each object must be studied in its relations to others, before we can determine the sense in which we can speak of its existence. An experienced process may be a complex of percepts, or it may be a dream, an hallucination, etc. In short, I cannot say in what sense it exists. I can never read off the kind of existence from the process itself, for I can discover it only when I consider the process in its relation to other things. But this, again, yields me no knowledge beyond just its relation to other things. My inquiry47 touches firm ground only when I find an object, the reason of the existence of which I can gather from itself. Such an object I am myself in so far as I think, for I qualify my existence by the determinate and self-contained content of my thought-activity. From here I can go on to ask whether other things exist in the same or in some other sense. [37]

When thought is made an object of observation, something which usually escapes our attention is added to the other observed contents of the world. But the usual manner of observation, such as is employed also for other objects, is in no way altered. We add to the number of objects of observation, but not to the number of methods. When we are observing other things, there enters among the world-processes—among which I now include observation—one process which is overlooked. There is present something different from every other kind of process, something which is not taken into account. But when I make an object of my own thinking, there is no such neglected element present. For what lurks48 now in the background is just thought itself over again. The object of observation is qualitatively49 identical with the activity directed upon it. This is another characteristic feature of thought-processes. When we make them objects of observation, we are not compelled to do so with the help of something qualitatively different, but can remain within the realm of thought.

When I weave a tissue of thoughts round an independently given object, I transcend my observation, and the question then arises, What right have I to do this? Why do I not passively let the object impress itself on me? How is it possible for my thought to be relevantly related to the object? These are questions which every one must put to himself [38]who reflects on his own thought-processes. But all these questions lapse50 when we think about thought itself. We then add nothing to our thought that is foreign to it, and therefore have no need to justify51 any such addition.

Schelling says: “To know Nature means to create Nature.” If we take these words of the daring philosopher of Nature literally52, we shall have to renounce for ever all hope of gaining knowledge of Nature. For Nature after all exists, and if we have to create it over again, we must know the principles according to which it has originated in the first instance. We should have to borrow from Nature as it exists the conditions of existence for the Nature which we are about to create. But this borrowing, which would have to precede the creating, would be a knowing of Nature, and would be this even if after the borrowing no creation at all were attempted. The only kind of Nature which it would be possible to create without previous knowledge, would be a Nature different from the existing one.

What is impossible with Nature, viz., creation prior to knowledge, that we accomplish in the act of thought. Were we to refrain from thinking until we had first gained knowledge of it, we should never think at all. We must resolutely54 think straight ahead, and then afterwards by introspective analysis gain knowledge of our own processes. Thus we ourselves create the thought-processes which we then make objects of observation. The existence [39]of all other objects is provided for us without any activity on our part.

My contention55 that we must think before we can make thought an object of knowledge, might easily be countered by the apparently56 equally valid57 contention that we cannot wait with digesting until we have first observed the process of digestion58. This objection would be similar to that brought by Pascal against Descartes, when he asserted we might also say “I walk, therefore I am.” Certainly I must digest resolutely and not wait until I have studied the physiological process of digestion. But I could only compare this with the analysis of thought if, after digestion, I set myself not to analyse it by thought, but to eat and digest it. It is not without reason that, while digestion cannot become the object of digestion, thought can very well become the object of thought.

This then is indisputable, that in thinking we have got hold of one bit of the world-process which requires our presence if anything is to happen. And that is the very point that matters. The very reason why things seem so puzzling is just that I play no part in their production. They are simply given to me, whereas I know how thought is produced. Hence there can be no more fundamental starting-point than thought from which to regard all world-processes.

I should like still to mention a widely current error which prevails with regard to thought. [40]It is often said that thought, in its real nature, is never experienced. The thought-processes which connect our perceptions with one another, and weave about them a network of concepts, are not at all the same as those which our analysis afterwards extracts from the objects of perception, in order to make them the object of study. What we have unconsciously woven into things is, so we are told, something widely different from what subsequent analysis recovers out of them.

Those who hold this view do not see that it is impossible to escape from thought. I cannot get outside thought when I want to observe it. We should never forget that the distinction between thought which goes on unconsciously and thought which is consciously analysed, is a purely59 external one and irrelevant to our discussion. I do not in any way alter a thing by making it an object of thought. I can well imagine that a being with quite different sense-organs, and with a differently constructed intelligence, would have a very different idea of a horse from mine, but I cannot think that my own thought becomes different because I make it an object of knowledge. I myself observe my own processes. We are not talking here of how my thought-processes appear to an intelligence different from mine, but how they appear to me. In any case, the idea which another mind forms of my thought cannot be truer than the one which I form myself. Only if the thought-processes [41]were not my own, but the activity of a being quite different from me, could I maintain that, notwithstanding my forming a definite idea of these thought-processes, their real nature was beyond my comprehension.

So far, there is not the slightest reason why I should regard my thought from any other point of view than my own. I contemplate the rest of the world by means of thought. How should I make of my thought an exception?

I think I have given sufficient reasons for making thought the starting-point for my theory of the world. When Archimedes had discovered the lever, he thought he could lift the whole cosmos60 out of its hinges, if only he could find a point of support for his instrument. He needed a point which was self-supporting. In thought we have a principle which is self-subsisting. Let us try, therefore, to understand the world starting with thought as our basis. Thought can be grasped by thought. The question is whether by thought we can also grasp something other than thought.

I have so far spoken of thought without taking any account of its vehicle, the human consciousness. Most present-day philosophers would object that, before there can be thought, there must be consciousness. Hence we ought to start, not from thought, but from consciousness. There is no thought, they say without consciousness. In reply I would [42]urge that, in order to clear up the relation between thought and consciousness, I must think about it. Hence I presuppose thought. One might, it is true, retort that, though a philosopher who wishes to understand consciousness, naturally makes use of thought, and so far presupposes it, in the ordinary course of life thought arises within consciousness and therefore presupposes that. Were this answer given to the world-creator, when he was about to create thought, it would, without doubt, be to the point. Thought cannot, of course, come into being before consciousness. The philosopher, however, is not concerned with the creation of the world, but with the understanding of it. Hence he is in search of the starting-point, not for creation, but for the understanding of the world. It seems to me very strange that philosophers are reproached for troubling themselves, above all, about the correctness of their principles, instead of turning straight to the objects which they seek to understand. The world-creator had above all to know how to find a vehicle for thought; the philosopher must seek a firm basis for the understanding of what is given. What does it help us to start with consciousness and make it an object of thought, if we have not first inquired how far it is possible at all to gain any knowledge of things by thought?

We must first consider thought quite impartially61 without relation to a thinking subject or to an object of thought. For subject and object [43]are both concepts constructed by thought. There is no denying that thought must be understood before anything else can be understood. Whoever denies this, fails to realise that man is not the first link in the chain of creation but the last. Hence, in order to explain the world by means of concepts, we cannot start from the elements of existence which came first in time, but we must begin with those which are nearest and most intimately connected with us. We cannot, with a leap, transport ourselves to the beginning of the world, in order to begin our analysis there, but we must start from the present and see whether we cannot advance from the later to the earlier. As long as Geology fabled62 fantastic revolutions to account for the present state of the earth, it groped in darkness. It was only when it began to study the processes at present at work on the earth, and from these to argue back to the past, that it gained a firm foundation. As long as Philosophy assumes all sorts of principles, such as atom, motion, matter, will, the unconscious, it will hang in the air. The philosopher can reach his goal only if he adopts that which is last in time as first in his theory. This absolutely last in the world-process is thought.

There are people who say it is impossible to ascertain63 with certainty whether thought is right or wrong, and that, so far, our starting-point is a doubtful one. It would be just as intelligent to raise doubts as to whether a [44]tree is in itself right or wrong. Thought is a fact, and it is meaningless to speak of the truth or falsity of a fact. I can, at most, be in doubt as to whether thought is rightly employed, just as I can doubt whether a certain tree supplies wood adapted to the making of this or that useful object. It is just the purpose of this book to show how far the application of thought to the world is right or wrong. I can understand anyone doubting whether, by means of thought, we can gain any knowledge of the world, but it is unintelligible64 to me how anyone can doubt that thought in itself is right.
[Contents]
Addition to the Revised Edition (1918).

In the preceding discussion I have pointed65 out the importance of the difference between thinking and all other activities of mind. This difference is a fact which is patent to genuinely unprejudiced observation. An observer who does not try to see the facts without preconception will be tempted53 to bring against my argumentation such objections as these: When I think about a rose, there is involved nothing more than a relation of my “I” to the rose, just as when I feel the beauty of the rose. There subsists66 a relation between “I” and object in thinking precisely67 as there does, e.g., in feeling or perceiving. Those who urge this objection fail to bear in mind that it is only in the activity of thinking that the “I,” [45]or Ego, knows itself to be identical, right into all the ramifications68 of the activity, with that which does the thinking. Of no other activity of mind can we say the same. For example, in a feeling of pleasure it is easy for a really careful observer to discriminate69 between the extent to which the Ego knows itself to be identical with what is active in the feeling, and the extent to which there is something passive in the Ego, so that the pleasure is merely something which happens to the Ego. The same applies to the other mental activities. The main thing is not to confuse the “having of images” with the elaboration of ideas by thinking. Images may appear in the mind dream-wise, like vague intimations. But this is not thinking. True, someone might now urge: If this is what you mean by “thinking,” then your thinking contains willing, and you have to do, not with mere thinking, but with the will to think. However, this would justify us only in saying: Genuine thinking must always be willed thinking. But this is quite irrelevant to the characterisation of thinking as this has been given in the preceding discussion. Let it be granted that the nature of thinking necessarily implies its being willed, the point which matters is that nothing is willed which, in being carried out, fails to appear to the Ego as an activity completely its own and under its own supervision70. Indeed, we must say that thinking appears to the observer as through and through willed, [46]precisely because of its nature as above defined. If we genuinely try to master all the facts which are relevant to a judgment71 about the nature of thinking, we cannot fail to observe that, as a mental activity, thinking has the unique character which is here in question.

A reader of whose powers the author of this book has a very high opinion, has objected that it is impossible to speak about thinking as we are here doing, because the supposed observation of active thinking is nothing but an illusion. In reality, what is observed is only the results of an unconscious activity which lies at the basis of thinking. It is only because, and just because, this unconscious activity escapes observation, that the deceptive72 appearance of the self-existence of the observed thinking arises, just as when an illumination by means of a rapid succession of electric sparks makes us believe that we see a movement. This objection, likewise, rests solely on an inaccurate73 view of the facts. The objection ignores that it is the Ego itself which, identical with the thinking, observes from within its own activity. The Ego would have to stand outside the thinking in order to suffer the sort of deception74 which is caused by an illumination with a rapid succession of electric sparks. One might say rather that to indulge in such an analogy is to deceive oneself wilfully75, just as if someone, seeing a moving light, were obstinately76 to affirm that it is being freshly lit by an unknown hand at every point where [47]it appears. No, whoever is bent77 on seeing in thought anything else than an activity produced—and observable by—the Ego has first to shut his eyes to the plain facts that are there for the looking, in order then to invent a hypothetical activity as the basis of thinking. If he does not wilfully blind himself, he must recognise that all these “hypothetical additions” to thinking take him away from its real nature. Unprejudiced observation shows that nothing is to be counted as belonging to the nature of thinking except what is found in thinking itself. It is impossible to discover the cause of thinking by going outside the realm of thought.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
2 velocity rLYzx     
n.速度,速率
参考例句:
  • Einstein's theory links energy with mass and velocity of light.爱因斯坦的理论把能量同质量和光速联系起来。
  • The velocity of light is about 300000 kilometres per second.光速约为每秒300000公里。
3 determined duszmP     
adj.坚定的;有决心的
参考例句:
  • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
  • He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
4 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
5 elastic Tjbzq     
n.橡皮圈,松紧带;adj.有弹性的;灵活的
参考例句:
  • Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
  • These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。
6 renounce 8BNzi     
v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系
参考例句:
  • She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。
  • It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。
7 elasticity 8jlzp     
n.弹性,伸缩力
参考例句:
  • The skin eventually loses its elasticity.皮肤最终会失去弹性。
  • Every sort of spring has a definite elasticity.每一种弹簧都有一定的弹性。
8 physiologists c2a885ea249ea80fd0b5bfd528aedac0     
n.生理学者( physiologist的名词复数 );生理学( physiology的名词复数 );生理机能
参考例句:
  • Quite unexpectedly, vertebrate physiologists and microbial biochemists had found a common ground. 出乎意外,脊椎动物生理学家和微生物生化学家找到了共同阵地。 来自辞典例句
  • Physiologists are interested in the workings of the human body. 生理学家对人体的功能感兴趣。 来自辞典例句
9 immediate aapxh     
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的
参考例句:
  • His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
  • We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。
10 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
11 obstructs 2417bdaaf73a3f20b8586b2869692c21     
阻塞( obstruct的第三人称单数 ); 堵塞; 阻碍; 阻止
参考例句:
  • The cirrhotic process obstructs the intrahepatic portion of the portal venous system. 肝硬化使门脉系统的肝内部分受阻。
  • A device or means that obstructs, blocks, or plugs up. 堵塞的方法:阻碍,阻挠或堵塞的工具或途径。
12 obstructing 34d98df4530e378b11391bdaa73cf7b5     
阻塞( obstruct的现在分词 ); 堵塞; 阻碍; 阻止
参考例句:
  • You can't park here, you're obstructing my driveway. 你不能在这里停车,你挡住了我家的车道。
  • He was charged for obstructing the highway. 他因阻碍交通而受控告。
13 nexus vvHyq     
n.联系;关系
参考例句:
  • Shared ambition is the vital nexus between them.共同的志向是把他们联结在一起的重要纽带。
  • Either way,the nexus between the consumer and consumer prices is important.无论那个方面,消费者与消费价格之间的关系是至关重要的。
14 antitheses aacf2d477bae116d10b8b4177fc07717     
n.对照,对立的,对比法;对立( antithesis的名词复数 );对立面;对照;对偶
参考例句:
  • There are many antitheses in this poem. 这首诗里含有大量的流水对。 来自互联网
  • Method: The test was performed by grouping antitheses. 方法:采用分组对照的方式进行试验。 来自互联网
15 ego 7jtzw     
n.自我,自己,自尊
参考例句:
  • He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
  • She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。
16 enunciate jovxd     
v.发音;(清楚地)表达
参考例句:
  • Actors learn how to enunciate clearly in the theatrical college.演员在戏剧学院学习怎样清晰地发音。
  • He is always willing to enunciate his opinions on the subject of politics.他总是愿意对政治问题发表意见。
17 indirectly a8UxR     
adv.间接地,不直接了当地
参考例句:
  • I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
  • They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人,他们进行了间接接触。
18 phenomena 8N9xp     
n.现象
参考例句:
  • Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
  • The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系,如果存在着任何联系的话。
19 organisation organisation     
n.组织,安排,团体,有机休
参考例句:
  • The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
  • His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。
20 essentially nntxw     
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上
参考例句:
  • Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
  • She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。
21 kindled d35b7382b991feaaaa3e8ddbbcca9c46     
(使某物)燃烧,着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 ); 激起(感情等); 发亮,放光
参考例句:
  • We watched as the fire slowly kindled. 我们看着火慢慢地燃烧起来。
  • The teacher's praise kindled a spark of hope inside her. 老师的赞扬激起了她内心的希望。
22 transcends dfa28a18c43373ca174d5387d99aafdf     
超出或超越(经验、信念、描写能力等)的范围( transcend的第三人称单数 ); 优于或胜过…
参考例句:
  • The chemical dilution technique transcends most of the difficulties. 化学稀释法能克服大部分困难。
  • The genius of Shakespeare transcends that of all other English poets. 莎士比亚的才华胜过所有的其他英国诗人。
23 transcend qJbzC     
vt.超出,超越(理性等)的范围
参考例句:
  • We can't transcend the limitations of the ego.我们无法超越自我的局限性。
  • Everyone knows that the speed of airplanes transcend that of ships.人人都知道飞机的速度快于轮船的速度。
24 apprehension bNayw     
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑
参考例句:
  • There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑,于是她越来越担心。
  • She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。
25 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
参考例句:
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
26 pane OKKxJ     
n.窗格玻璃,长方块
参考例句:
  • He broke this pane of glass.他打破了这块窗玻璃。
  • Their breath bloomed the frosty pane.他们呼出的水气,在冰冷的窗玻璃上形成一层雾。
27 peculiar cinyo     
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
参考例句:
  • He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
  • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
28 solely FwGwe     
adv.仅仅,唯一地
参考例句:
  • Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
  • The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。
29 contemplate PaXyl     
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视
参考例句:
  • The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了,真不堪细想。
  • The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。
30 incompatible y8oxu     
adj.不相容的,不协调的,不相配的
参考例句:
  • His plan is incompatible with my intent.他的计划与我的意图不相符。
  • Speed and safety are not necessarily incompatible.速度和安全未必不相容。
31 behold jQKy9     
v.看,注视,看到
参考例句:
  • The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
  • The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。
32 transparent Smhwx     
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的
参考例句:
  • The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明,可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
  • The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。
33 physiological aAvyK     
adj.生理学的,生理学上的
参考例句:
  • He bought a physiological book.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
  • Every individual has a physiological requirement for each nutrient.每个人对每种营养成分都有一种生理上的需要。
34 irrelevant ZkGy6     
adj.不恰当的,无关系的,不相干的
参考例句:
  • That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
  • A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上,一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。
35 superfluous EU6zf     
adj.过多的,过剩的,多余的
参考例句:
  • She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
  • That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。
36 materialistic 954c43f6cb5583221bd94f051078bc25     
a.唯物主义的,物质享乐主义的
参考例句:
  • She made him both soft and materialistic. 她把他变成女性化而又实际化。
  • Materialistic dialectics is an important part of constituting Marxism. 唯物辩证法是马克思主义的重要组成部分。
37 trespassing a72d55f5288c3d37c1e7833e78593f83     
[法]非法入侵
参考例句:
  • He told me I was trespassing on private land. 他说我在擅闯私人土地。
  • Don't come trespassing on my land again. 别再闯入我的地界了。
38 domain ys8xC     
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围
参考例句:
  • This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
  • This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。
39 physiology uAfyL     
n.生理学,生理机能
参考例句:
  • He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
  • He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。
40 secretes b951c7cca7237b8e550dc03599b78b6f     
v.(尤指动物或植物器官)分泌( secrete的第三人称单数 );隐匿,隐藏
参考例句:
  • The pineal gland secretes melanin during times of relaxation and visualization. 松果体在放松时分泌黑色素是明白无误的。 来自互联网
  • For example, the archegonium (female organ) of the moss Funaria secretes sucrose. 例如藓类颈卵器(雌性器官)分泌蔗糖。 来自互联网
41 gall jhXxC     
v.使烦恼,使焦躁,难堪;n.磨难
参考例句:
  • It galled him to have to ask for a loan.必须向人借钱使他感到难堪。
  • No gall,no glory.没有磨难,何来荣耀。
42 eludes 493c2abd8bd3082d879dba5916662c90     
v.(尤指机敏地)避开( elude的第三人称单数 );逃避;躲避;使达不到
参考例句:
  • His name eludes me for the moment. 他的名字我一时想不起来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • But philosophers seek a special sort of knowledge that eludes exact definition. 但是,哲学家所追求的是一种难以精确定义的特殊知识。 来自哲学部分
43 materialism aBCxF     
n.[哲]唯物主义,唯物论;物质至上
参考例句:
  • Idealism is opposite to materialism.唯心论和唯物论是对立的。
  • Crass materialism causes people to forget spiritual values.极端唯物主义使人忘掉精神价值。
44 justification x32xQ     
n.正当的理由;辩解的理由
参考例句:
  • There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
  • In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。
45 apprehending a2f3cf89539c7b4eb7b3550a6768432c     
逮捕,拘押( apprehend的现在分词 ); 理解
参考例句:
  • China has not been totally unsuccessful apprehending corruption suspects. 在逮捕腐化分子方面,中国并非毫无进展。
  • Apprehending violence is not an easy task. 惧怕暴力不是一件容易的事。
46 apprehend zvqzq     
vt.理解,领悟,逮捕,拘捕,忧虑
参考例句:
  • I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
  • Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。
47 inquiry nbgzF     
n.打听,询问,调查,查问
参考例句:
  • Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
  • The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。
48 lurks 469cde53259c49b0ab6b04dd03bf0b7a     
n.潜在,潜伏;(lurk的复数形式)vi.潜伏,埋伏(lurk的第三人称单数形式)
参考例句:
  • Behind his cool exterior lurks a reckless and frustrated person. 在冷酷的外表背后,他是一个鲁莽又不得志的人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Good fortune lies within Bad, Bad fortune lurks within good. 福兮祸所倚,祸兮福所伏。 来自互联网
49 qualitatively 5ca9292f7a0c1ddbef340e3c76a7c17b     
质量上
参考例句:
  • In other words, you are to analyze them quantitatively and qualitatively. 换句话说,你们要对它们进行量和质的分析。
  • Electric charge may be detected qualitatively by sprinkling or blowing indicating powders. 静电荷可以用撒布指示粉剂的方法,予以探测。
50 lapse t2lxL     
n.过失,流逝,失效,抛弃信仰,间隔;vi.堕落,停止,失效,流逝;vt.使失效
参考例句:
  • The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
  • I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。
51 justify j3DxR     
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护
参考例句:
  • He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
  • Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗?
52 literally 28Wzv     
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实
参考例句:
  • He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
  • Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候,她不走到真正要昏厥了,决不肯坐下来。
53 tempted b0182e969d369add1b9ce2353d3c6ad6     
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词)
参考例句:
  • I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚,但还是没开口。
  • I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。
54 resolutely WW2xh     
adj.坚决地,果断地
参考例句:
  • He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
  • He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难,而是抱怨自己运气不佳。
55 contention oZ5yd     
n.争论,争辩,论战;论点,主张
参考例句:
  • The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
  • The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道,争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。
56 apparently tMmyQ     
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎
参考例句:
  • An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽,豁然开朗。
  • He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。
57 valid eiCwm     
adj.有确实根据的;有效的;正当的,合法的
参考例句:
  • His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
  • Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗?
58 digestion il6zj     
n.消化,吸收
参考例句:
  • This kind of tea acts as an aid to digestion.这种茶可助消化。
  • This food is easy of digestion.这食物容易消化。
59 purely 8Sqxf     
adv.纯粹地,完全地
参考例句:
  • I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
  • This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。
60 cosmos pn2yT     
n.宇宙;秩序,和谐
参考例句:
  • Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
  • Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗?
61 impartially lqbzdy     
adv.公平地,无私地
参考例句:
  • Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
  • We hope that they're going to administer justice impartially. 我们希望他们能主持正义,不偏不倚。
62 fabled wt7zCV     
adj.寓言中的,虚构的
参考例句:
  • For the first week he never actually saw the fabled Jack. 第一周他实际上从没见到传说中的杰克。
  • Aphrodite, the Greek goddness of love, is fabled to have been born of the foam of the sea. 希腊爱神阿美罗狄蒂据说是诞生于海浪泡沫之中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
63 ascertain WNVyN     
vt.发现,确定,查明,弄清
参考例句:
  • It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
  • We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。
64 unintelligible sfuz2V     
adj.无法了解的,难解的,莫明其妙的
参考例句:
  • If a computer is given unintelligible data, it returns unintelligible results.如果计算机得到的是难以理解的数据,它给出的也将是难以理解的结果。
  • The terms were unintelligible to ordinary folk.这些术语一般人是不懂的。
65 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
66 subsists 256a862ff189725c560f521eddab1f11     
v.(靠很少的钱或食物)维持生活,生存下去( subsist的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • This plant subsists in water holes only during the rainy season. 这种植物只有雨季在水坑里出现。 来自辞典例句
  • The hinge is that the enterprise subsists on suiting the development of data communication. 适应数据通信的发展是通信企业生存的关键。 来自互联网
67 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地
参考例句:
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
68 ramifications 45f4d7d5a0d59c5d453474d22bf296ae     
n.结果,后果( ramification的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
  • What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢? 来自《简明英汉词典》
69 discriminate NuhxX     
v.区别,辨别,区分;有区别地对待
参考例句:
  • You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
  • They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。
70 supervision hr6wv     
n.监督,管理
参考例句:
  • The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
  • The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。
71 judgment e3xxC     
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见
参考例句:
  • The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
  • He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。
72 deceptive CnMzO     
adj.骗人的,造成假象的,靠不住的
参考例句:
  • His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
  • The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单,其实不然。
73 inaccurate D9qx7     
adj.错误的,不正确的,不准确的
参考例句:
  • The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确,而且夸大其词。
  • She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。
74 deception vnWzO     
n.欺骗,欺诈;骗局,诡计
参考例句:
  • He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
  • He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。
75 wilfully dc475b177a1ec0b8bb110b1cc04cad7f     
adv.任性固执地;蓄意地
参考例句:
  • Don't wilfully cling to your reckless course. 不要一意孤行。 来自辞典例句
  • These missionaries even wilfully extended the extraterritoriality to Chinese converts and interfered in Chinese judicial authority. 这些传教士还肆意将"治外法权"延伸至中国信徒,干涉司法。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
76 obstinately imVzvU     
ad.固执地,顽固地
参考例句:
  • He obstinately asserted that he had done the right thing. 他硬说他做得对。
  • Unemployment figures are remaining obstinately high. 失业数字仍然顽固地居高不下。
77 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。


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