New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-06-19
THE MIND OF MAN.
AN ELABORATE SERIES OF STUDIES IN
PSYCHOLOGY.

TIE L. IIN. M MIND Text Book of Psychology
3ol XIII 800. ID. Appleton & Co.
Mr. Sully himself would perhaps be surprised
II he were 10 review these volumes for the single
purpose Of computing the number Of times he has
used some such formula rs, this matter will be
more fully discussed in another place In the
earlier chapters Of the work the reader repeat
edly iinds an interesting theme broken OIL thus.
with hardly hint Of the place where the dis
cussion is resumed In fact the discussion never
is resumed under conditions exactly similar TO
those set forth the page where the author
stopped short with that unwclcOnc an rcv6ir.
1t Is natural to suspect that there must be some
defects in a method which interrupts what ought
TO be finished piece Of literary architecture with
these broken columns and capitals sticking fast
70 the archirave with visible means Of support
Possibly other psychologists adopt similar
method bat that would certainly he no proof OF
its pecessity, providing it could I've shown TO he
vicious in itsclf II one stables the work for
the purpose of detecting the popularity that has
made thcse interruptions convenient TO the author.
he will sosrer latter begin to conjecture that
Mr.. Sully thought ont his treatise in the same
way Tat Horne Toote saia Hume wrote his his
tory. as witches say their prsyers-bsclSward'
In the introductory ctap6,rs he shows the super
la<;vc, almost exclusive, value Of introspcetve
observation to psychology considered as a sc'ence
DISTINCT from physiology on the one hand and
philosophy the other. The uns Of tn'rospec-
tisn extend beyo.A the Individual for the reason
that in all comparative study Of minds the one
Investigating mind has only its own processes rs
o criterion by which to lodge Of what goes on In
other minds. whether they he those of human
beings or those OF animals. Only tire most pains
taking effort give even approximate accuracy
TO rhk inward study but tie fact that mind can
communicate with mind b. means OF Language
end that recorded observations in each case can
lie balanced by new observations in every other
case adds m experimental phase to what would
otherwise be elusive and perhaps ilusory. In
other words the facts, rcs, or supposed gathered
by introspcction a:c capable Of tgial and veliA-
cation.
II is plain that this process Starts with tAe
thinker or "lInower" end not with the machinery
OF thinking knowing man is no more i'm
mediately conscious of his brain snd his nervous
system thon lie is Of his liver o. his kidneys his
blood vessels Ire apparatus With which his con-
seriousness docs its work IS in fact, more obvious
TO others than it is 10 him. lie knows what he
is thinking about. They crn only guess tbs from
changes in his appearance from smiles and frowr
and gestures, from motions OF which he is un-
movement Of consciousness that produced them.
II they guess Alright, it is bceausc CONSEQUENCES
within them affected by his actions rprcdnces
with greater less vividncss copy of his mental
state. A man is not even conscious Of tie part
of his body in which his Consciousness resides.
He refers his sensations 10 Tire part Of the body
affected particularly to the organs Of special sense
and it seems to him that CONSCIOUSNESS is in all
parts of his physical stynctnre at ard the
time. 1t is only by secondary process that he
refers his impressions to the brain. So, just as
Mr.. Sully SAYS, "a sensation is something intFnsi
cally dssimilar TO any form Of physical move
ment, such as presumably axes place in the ner-
vous system. Consequently, psychical processes
came. b. included in and studied as part Of the
functional activities Of the bodily organism How
ever closely connected with these last they form
group of phenomena of quite special kind,
and needing separate study" Nevertheless he
begins his investigation with the so-caled physical
basis Of mental life, travelling from the unknown
or hypothetical to the known reversing the his
tory of development in the knowledge of mind
in order TO follow the tentative theories of thu
PSYCHOLOGISTS respecting the development of tl,c
race and the individual Doubtless other rwy-
biologists do the same. 1t will be time enough
for laymcn 70 accept this nrsettnr of human ey
perencc when the Psychologist has concusively
shown them what that unknown element of being
which is called life really is.
The outcome Of Mr. Sulys method is that he
brings up with jerk near the end Of his treatise
by asserting the organic unity of our conscious
experience" lf the aim and result Of his work
had been to prove this, the proposition would be
well enough at the end Of his work but he him
self is manifcsty aware that his manner Of treat
ing intellect, feeling and voliton tend effectively
IN thn,,, L.,
reunites them by saying that these three move
menfs Of mental life, though capable by an
artifce Of abstraction Of being traced out SEP
arately, are, as already limited, intimately con.
joined That is to say they are not three currents
Of change which run on side by side, but rather
different aspects of that one current which con-
stitutcs the flow Of consciousness But so COM
plctey has he been Influenced by his own divi-
sion OF the unity Of consciousness into three parts
that be goes on to talk of three pSychica fac
tors. each rs a primitive element asserting itself
TO come extent as o separate functional tendency
The actual concrete form of the mental life is
developed by the conjunction and ever-yaried
interaction of these psychical forces or tendcn-
ces.' Such theory Of mind destroys itself
II feeling, knowing and willing are aspects Of
consciousness they are not factors or forces or
tendencies: il they scparabe forces, the unity
OF consciousness which Mr. Suly asserts is a myth.
1t would seem that the discussion should really
have begun where it ended The main subject
of study in psychology is tic consciousness OF a
normal mature human being. The study CT the
phenomena Of infancy, OF pathological states, Of
animal life, arc worthless in themselves unless they
cast light on the action Of the human mind in
proper working ORDER help to q knowledge of
means by which disorder eau he prevented or
removed; or lead to the discovery Of means by
which tue control Of the mind over the machine
ut it's disposal be enlarged and perfected The
study Of the infantilc mind or of the animal mind
may be most deeply interesting. There are works