Chapter VI - VII Summary and Analysis

This section looks at David Hartley's diversion from Aristotle. He looks at the chain of association and feels that contemporaneity is the basis of the law of associations. If there is no interference from will, reason, or judgment, the most likely result is that the idea can imitate the order of the impressions or those that recall other impressions. This would result in delirium.

To examine this further, Coleridge uses an example of a young girl in Gottingen, Germany, who was ranting and raving from a fever. They were interested in things she was ranting about and where they came from. Coleridge concludes that the mind records every word it hears and pieces of this are played back during delirium. His conclusions came from the girl with the high fever.

Chapter VII continues the examination...