the combining lines is very apparent, induced Brentano to regard the
illusion which is observed in Figures 1-3 as due to the angles. In our
opinion he is mistaken. For the illusion actually takes place in α and
β; only it is quickly corrected with the help of the parallels, which,
as in ε, assist the imagination in making an exact comparison. When we
place α and β either at a sufficient distance, or are somehow prevented
from making use of the parallel lines, we shall have the same illusion
as appears in Figures 1, 2, 3. To prove this, we have but to bring the
figure α in a slanting position, as is shown in λ, and the illusion
is so strong that many will find it difficult to believe that λ is an
electrotyped duplicate of α.
The mooted illusions are not sense-illusions, but illusions of judgment;
and we believe that the explanation of these curious phenomena must be
sought in the elements which unconsciously enter into the make-up of our
judgments.
Lipps says that lines are felt to be movements. If a line is continued,
albeit with a slight declination, the motion appears “free and
victorious,” aspiring beyond itself; while, if confined in the corner
of an acute angle, it seems cut off and impeded. The victoriously
progressive motion is overestimated; the checked motion is underestimated.
Brentano, in order to meet Lipps’s objections, proposes a few additional
figures, of which we reproduce the most important ones in Fig. 10-14.
[Illustration: Fig. 10.]
[Illustration: Fig. 11.]
[Illustration: Fig. 12.]
[Illustration: Fig. 13.]
[Illustration: Fig. 14.]
It seems to us that the main part which the angles play in these or any
other similar figures, consists in leading our imagination astray. The
parallel lines which we attempt to construct for our comparison, switch
slightly off with an inclination toward the angles.
But that is not all; there are other elements that affect our judgment
at the very outset. In measuring a distance we do something, and in
looking at a diagram we think something. The diagram is suggestive of
some reality to which we compare it. All these ideas, be they conscious,
subconscious, or even unconscious, affect our judgment and are sometimes
apt to lead it astray.
In addition we have to mention two things, the influence of which upon
our verdict cannot be doubted; the one is the size of the entire figure,
the other the vacuity of the distance to be measured: both tend to make
the distance appear longer than it really is. To illustrate this, we add
the three Figures 15, 16, 17 which contain no angles and yet show the
same illusions.
[Illustration: Fig. 15.]
[Illustration: Fig. 16.]
[Illustration: Fig. 17.]
The distance between the points in Figure 17 appears longer than in
Figure 16, and in Figure 16 again longer than in Figure 15. The fact is,
that before starting on our measurement-journey, we have in Figure 17
already traversed a good distance after having noted the extraordinarily
lengthened boundary marks. The town _A_ may be exactly as far as the town
_B_, yet the journey to _A_ will appear longer, if I have to ride an hour
before I reach the station, while I may live opposite the terminus of the
railroad to _B_.
When our eyes glide down from one point to the other, we pass in one
case through an empty desert the dreariness of which is not interrupted.
We almost lose our way and become lonesome in its monotony. If our way,
however, is full of variations, we are pleasantly entertained and regard
our journey as so much shorter. The contrast is most obvious in figure
10. The time-illusions as to the swiftness of hours of work or amusement
and the slowness of moments of _ennui_ have become proverbial among all
nations. The more dreariness, the more marked is the lengthening of the
distance, while even a partial accompaniment shortens the traversed road.
κρς.
CONTENTS: Vol. V. Nos. 3 and 4.
THEORIE DES FARBENSEHENS. By _H. Ebbinghaus_.
UEBER DEN MUSKELSINN BEI BLINDEN. By _Paul Hocheisen_.
LITTERATURBERICHT. (Hamburg and Leipsic: Leopold Voss.)
VIERTELJAHRSSCHRIFT FÜR WISSENSCHAFTLICHE PHILOSOPHIE.
CONTENTS: Vol. XVII. No. 2.
EINIGES ZUR GRUNDLEGUNG DER SITTENLEHRE. (First Article.) By
_J. Petzoldt_.
KRITIK DER GRUNDANSCHAUUNGEN DER SOCIOLOGIE H. SPENCER’S. By
_P. Barth_.
WERTHTHEORIE UND ETHIK. (Second Article.) By _Chr. Ehrenfels_.
(Leipsic: O. R. Reisland.)
THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY.
CONTENTS: Vol. V. No. 3.
ON ERRORS OF OBSERVATION. By _Prof. James McKeen Cattell_.
MINOR STUDIES FROM THE PSYCHOLOGICAL LABORATORY OF CLARK
UNIVERSITY.
ON THE DISCRIMINATION OF GROUPS OF RAPID CLICKS. By _Thaddeus
L. Bolton_.
STATISTICS OF DREAMS. By _Mary Whiton Calkins_.
ON THE PRESSURE SENSE OF THE DRUM OF THE EAR AND “FACIAL
VISION.” By _F. B. Dresslar_.
ON REACTION-TIMES WHEN THE STIMULUS IS APPLIED TO THE REACTING
HAND. By _J. F. Reigart and Edmund C. Sanford_.
EXPERIMENTS UPON PHYSIOLOGICAL MEMORY BY MEANS OF THE
INTERFERENCE OF ASSOCIATIONS. By _John A. Bergström_.
A NEW INSTRUMENT FOR WEBER’S LAW; WITH INDICATIONS OF A LAW OF
SENSE MEMORY. By _James H. Leuba_.
A NEW PENDULUM CHRONOGRAPH. By _Edmund C. Sanford, Ph. D._
LABORATORY COURSE IN PHYSIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY. (Fourth Paper.)
By _Edmund C. Sanford, Ph. D._ (Worcester, Mass.: J. H. Orpha.)
THE PHILOSOPHICAL REVIEW.
CONTENTS: Vol. II. No. 3.
GERMAN KANTIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY. By _Dr. Erich Adickes_.
THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF NEO-KANTISM. By _Prof. Andrew Seth_.
MENTAL MEASUREMENT. By _Prof. J. McK. Cattell_.
BOOK REVIEWS. (Boston, New York, Chicago: Ginn & CO.)
REVUE PHILOSOPHIQUE.
CONTENTS: Vol. XVIII. No. 5.
PSYCHOLOGIE DU MUSICIEN. 1. L’EVOLUTION DES APTITUDES
MUSICALES. By _L. Dauriac_.
LA SOCIABILITÉ ET LA MORALE CHEZ LES ANIMAUX. By _Houssay_.
SUR LES IDÉES GÉNÉRALES. By _Marchesini_.
QUESTIONNAIRE SUR L’AUDITION COLORÉE, FIGURÉE ET ILLUMINÉE. By
_Gruber_.
L’ATTENTION ET LES IMAGES. By _F. Paulhan_.
UNE ILLUSION D’OPTIQUE. By _B. Bourdon_.
SCIENCE ET SOCIALISME. _G. Sorel_.
ANALYSES ET COMPTES RENDUS. (Paris: Félix Alcan.)
CONTENTS: Vol. XVIII. No. 6.
LA NOUVELLE THÉORIE DE L’HÉRÉDITÉ DE WEISMANN. By _Y. Delage_.
UN CALCULATEUR DU TYPE VISUEL. By _J.-M. Charcot and A. Binet_.
PSYCHOLOGIE DU MUSICIEN.—II. L’OREILLE MUSICALE. By _L.
Dauriac_.
REVUE DE MÉTAPHYSIQUE ET DE MORALE.
CONTENTS: Vol. I. No. 2.
LE MOUVEMENT ET LES ARGUMENTS DE ZÉNON D’ÉLÉE. By _G. Noël_.
LE PROBLÈME MORAL DANS LA PHILOSOPHIE DE SPINOZA. By _V.
Delbos_.
LE CONCEPT DU NOMBRE CHEZ LES PYTHAGORICIENS. By _G. Milhaud_.
LE DIALOGUE DANS L’ENSEIGNEMENT DE LA PHILOSOPHIE. By _C.
Mélinand_. (Paris: Librairie Hachette et Cie.)
CONTENTS: Vol. I. No. 3.
LES PRÉTENDUS SOPHISMES DE ZÉNON D’ÉLÉE. By _V. Brochard_.
SPIR ET SA DOCTRINE. By _A. Penjon_.
ESSAI SUR LE CARACTÈRE GÉNÉRAL DE LA CONNAISSANCE. By _G.
Remacle_.
PHILOSOPHISCHES JAHRBUCH.
CONTENTS: Vol. VI. No. 2.
BEGRIFF DER PHILOSOPHIE. By _Uebinger_.
DIE OBJECTIVITÄT UND DIE SICHERHEIT DES ERKENNENS. By
_Isenkrahe_.
DER BEGRIFF DES “WARREN.” (Concluded.) By _Franz Schmid_.
DER GRUNDPLAN DER MENSCHLICHEN WISSENSCHAFT. By _Bahlmann, S.
J._
HANDSCHRIFTLICHES ZU DEN WERKEN DES ALANUS. By _Bäumker_.
(Fulda, 1893.)