<영어로 읽는 고전 _ 사무엘 버틀러의 생명과 습관>
"생명과 습관(Life and Habit)"은 사무엘 버틀러(Samuel Butler)가 쓴 책으로 1878년에 처음 출판되었다. 이 책에서 버틀러는 진화, 유전, 습관에 대한 자신의 생각을 탐구하고 당시의 전통적인 이론, 특히 찰스 다윈(Charles Darwin)이 제시한 이론에 도전하고 있다.
“생명과 습관”의 중심 개념 중 하나는 버틀러의 '무의식적 기억' 또는 '무의식적 습관' 이론으로, 습득한 습관과 행동이 유전되어 세대를 거쳐 전달될 수 있다는 점이다. 버틀러는 유기체가 자연 선택을 통해 신체적 특성뿐만 아니라 행동과 발달에 영향을 미치는 정신적 습관이나 경향도 물려받는다고 제안하고 있다.
이 책은 생물학적, 문화적 진화를 형성하는 데 있어서 습관과 기억의 역할을 강조함으로써 다윈의 진화론을 비판하고 있다. 버틀러는 자연 선택이 진화적 변화의 일부 측면을 설명하지만, 시간이 지남에 따라 유기체를 형성하는 습관과 무의식적 과정의 영향을 간과한다고 주장한다.
"생명과 습관"은 심리학, 생물학 및 의식의 본질에 대한 버틀러의 광범위한 철학적 관심을 반영하고 있다. 유전과 습관에 대한 그의 탐구는 나중에 진화 생물학과 심리학의 발전을 예고하여 윌리엄 제임스(William James)와 지그문트 프로이트(Sigmund Freud)와 같은 사상가들에게 영향을 미쳤다.


"Life and Habit" is a book written by Samuel Butler and first published in 1878. In this book, Butler explores his ideas about evolution, heredity, and habit, and challenges the traditional theories of his time, especially those presented by Charles Darwin.
One of the central concepts of “Life and Habit” is Butler’s theory of ‘unconscious memory’ or ‘unconscious habit’, which states that acquired habits and behaviors can be inherited and passed down through generations. Butler proposes that through natural selection, organisms inherit not only physical characteristics but also mental habits or tendencies that influence behavior and development.
This book criticizes Darwin's theory of evolution by emphasizing the role of habits and memory in shaping biological and cultural evolution. Butler argues that natural selection explains some aspects of evolutionary change, but overlooks the influence of habits and unconscious processes that shape organisms over time.
"Life and Habit" reflects Butler's broader philosophical interests in psychology, biology, and the nature of consciousness. His explorations of heredity and habit foreshadowed later developments in evolutionary biology and psychology, influencing thinkers such as William James and Sigmund Freud.

Summary
It will be our business in the following chapters to consider whether the unconsciousness, or quasi-unconsciousness, with which we perform certain acquired actions, would seem to throw any light upon Embryology and inherited instincts, and otherwise to follow the train of thought which the class of actions above-mentioned would suggest; more especially in so far as they appear to bear upon the origin of species and the continuation of life by successive generations, whether in the animal or vegetable kingdoms.
In the outset, however, I would wish most distinctly to disclaim for these pages the smallest pretension to scientific value, originality, or even to accuracy of more than a very rough and ready kind?for unless a matter be true enough to stand a good deal of misrepresentation, its truth is not of a very robust order, and the blame will rather lie with its own delicacy if it be crushed, than with the carelessness of the crusher.

Contents

I. ON CERTAIN ACQUIRED HABITS
II. CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS KNOWERS?THE LAW AND GRACE
III. APPLICATION OF FOREGOING CHAPTERS TO CERTAIN HABITS ACQUIRED AFTER BIRTH WHICH ARE COMMONLY CONSIDERED INSTINCTIVE
IV. APPLICATION OF THE FOREGOING PRINCIPLES TO ACTIONS AND HABITS ACQUIRED BEFORE BIRTH
V. PERSONAL IDENTITY
VI. PERSONAL IDENTITY?(continued)
VII. OUR SUBORDINATE PERSONALITIES
VIII. APPLICATION OF THE FOREGOING CHAPTERS?THE ASSIMILATION OF OUTSIDE MATTER
IX. ON THE ABEYANCE OF MEMORY
X. WHAT WE SHOULD EXPECT TO FIND IF DIFFERENTIATIONS OF STRUCTURE AND INSTINCT ARE MAINLY DUE TO MEMORY
XI. INSTINCT AS INHERITED MEMORY
XII. INSTINCTS OF NEUTER INSECTS
XIII. LAMARCK AND MR. DARWIN
XIV. MR. MIVART AND MR. DARWIN
XV. CONCLUDING REMARKS