Just one final point re: "blindness of instinct": on books.google.com
there are several editions of a college textbook on Human Physiology
by Worthington Hooker that were published during 1855-1874
and in at least two of them there are sections on the "blindness of
instinct". In the 1859 edition there is a section on this though it
is not clearly marked off; see:
http://books.google.com/books?id=CjIQAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22blindness+of+instinct%22&q=instinct#v=snippet&q=instinct&f=false
In the 1874 edition, Hooker uses a paragraph heading to highlight
the point:
|407. Blindness of Instinct Exemplified
http://books.google.com/books?id=klYAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA301&dq=%22blindness+of+instinct%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fTKvUfiNI8Xe4APrkoHQBA&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22blindness%20of%20instinct%22&f=false
I don't know how popular this textbook was but given the multiple
editions, it seems likely that it was used in many colleges. This could
be interpreted as (a) it systematically presented this view of instinct
in physiology courses and (b) it reflected a popular viewpoint in
human biology.
Given that William James started his medical studies at Harvard in 1864,
one wonders if he used Hooker's text in any of his courses.
On a completely unrelated note #1: The James family was a NYC family
and William James was born in the hotel "Astor House" which back in 1842
was located across the street from City Hall and a block or so from what
was to become the World Trade Center. For more info see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_House
His brother Henry James was born "uptown" in 1843 at what is today
23 Washington Place -- the current site of NYU's Brown Building.
At the following website, we have a photo of the James home and at
the end of the block is a gothic architecture building which was the
building for NYU's undergraduate college; see:
http://urt.parsons.edu/urt/research/record/266
William and Henry's father, Henry James, Sr, actually rented out rooms
in the undergraduate college in 1841 (NYU has *always* been trying to
earn money to cover its costs -- its not just a recent thing ;-), and here
is a picture of what the college building looked like:
http://urt.parsons.edu/urt/research/record/267
On a completely unrelated note #2: Samuel Morse, now remembered
mainly as being the developer of the telegraph also lived in the
undergraduate
building and was a member of the NYU faculty. Here is a quote from
the NYU website on Morse:
|In 1835 he moved into NYU's new University Building, constructed
|in the then-fashionable neo-Gothic style at Washington Square East-on
|the site of the current Silver Center, the home of the Grey Art Gallery.
|He took the northwest tower as his studio, as well as six other rooms
|for himself and his students, who received both theoretical and practical
|instruction. As an unpaid faculty member, Morse collected fees for
|instruction directly from his students and was responsible for their
welfare.
|But, greatly disappointed by his failure to secure a commission to
|paint a mural in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., Morse
|soon drew back from the arts and turned his attention to the telegraph
|and to his groundbreaking research in photography, conducted in
|collaboration with NYU Professor of Chemistry John Draper. Although
|he no longer taught after 1841, Morse continued to be listed as Professor
|of the Literature of the Arts of Design until just before his death in
1872.
http://www.nyu.edu/greyart/information/Samuel_F_B__Morse/body_samuel_f_b__morse.html
Ah! The good old days when NYU didn't pay its professors and they
collected the tuition directly from students! How they are missed! ;-)
-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]
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