Literature and Mind Week 1: Reason and Objectivity

 Is the association between the nerves and sensibility that came around during the second half of the 18th century in part due to the emotional and mental struggles faced by the various classes?

"...that mine was the middle State, or what might be called the upper Station of Low Life, which he had found by long Experience was the best State in the World, the most suited to human Happiness, not exposed to the Miseries and Hardships, the Labour and Sufferings of the mechanick Part of Mankind, and not embarrass'd with the Pride, Luxury, Ambition and Envy of the upper Part of Mankind. " (Robinson Crusoe, 5).

"The lower, plodding, labouring classes are spared these agonies. It was comforting for those living a cosseted life to be told by their medical advisors that their ailments were not due to character or spiritual weaknesses but to real physical causes" (Smith 21).

 In Smith's article, "Brain and Mind in the 'Long' Eighteenth Century," the author describes Haller's assertions that the nerves are connected to the concept of "sensibility," and how many believed that the upper classes had weaker nerves, which lead to "nervous disorders." The lower classes did not suffer from this delicacy, so they did not suffer the same kind of issues. In the quote from Robinson Crusoe shown above, the protagonist's father is trying to convince his son that the best thing for him to do would be to go into law or business so that he could be part of "the middle state." Although the quote is not talking directly about "nervous disorders," one can see that the "mechanick Part of Mankind" or the lower classes, have struggles that are related to the physical world they are in according to the father. On the other hand, the problems of the "upper Part of Mankind" are more related to the mind, such as pride, ambition, and envy. It seems that members of the lower class could struggle with problems like "pride," but the important message here is that "pride" is one of the worst and most powerful issues that the upper classes face. Keeping this in mind, the quote by Robinson's father seems to follow very closely to the theories about the upper classes having "weaker nervers" and being more prone to the "nervous disorders," even though the novel was written before these ideas were explicitly declared by scientists like Haller. Ideas like those given by Crusoe's father in the novel probably influenced the ideas of those studying nerves, since they were prevalent in the world they were living in, and objectivity had not come into play just yet.