Alexander Bain

Quotes

• “Instinct is untaught ability.”
• “Disinterestedness is as great a puzzle and paradox as ever. Indeed, strictly speaking, it is a species of irrationality, or insanity, as regards the individual’s self; a contradiction of the most essential nature of a sentient being, which is to move to pleasure and from pain”
• “The arguments for the two substances - mind and body - have, we believe, entirely lost their validity; they are no longer compatible with ascertained science and clear thinking. One substance with two sets of attributes, two sides (a physical and a mental), a double-faced unity, would appear to comply with all the exigencies of the case.”
• “Those that can readily master the difficulties of Mathematics find a considerable charm in the study, sometimes amounting to fascination. This is far from universal; but the subject contains elements of strong interest of a kind that constitutes the pleasures of knowledge. The marvellous devices for solving problems elate the mind with the feeling of intellectual power; and the innumerable constructions of the science leave us lost in wonder.”
• “The method of arithmetical teaching]] is perhaps the best understood of any of the methods concerned with elementary studies.”
• “He that could teach mathematics well, would not be a bad teacher in any of the rest [physics, chemistry, biology, psychology] unless by the accident of total inaptitude for experimental illustration; while the mere experimentalist is likely to fall into the error of missing the essential condition of science as reasoned truth; not to speak of the danger of making the instruction an affair of sensation, glitter, or pyrotechnic show.”

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Key facts

Born

( 1818-06-11 ) 11 June 1818, Aberdeen , Scotland

Died

18 September 1903 (1903-09-18) (aged 85), Aberdeen , Scotland

Education

Marischal College ( MA (Hons) )

Known for

The Senses and the Intellect The Emotions and the Will Mental and Moral Science Education as a Science Mind

Fields

Moral philosophy Philosophy of mind Psychology Logic Linguistics Education

Institutions

University of Aberdeen University of London University of Glasgow Anderson's University Marischal College

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Wikidata facts

Image

AlexanderBain001.jpg

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