New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-06-19

| This dominating unity can Dear OILY wv" ic-
latons 10 its environmeat-thaS OF being ac'eu
upon by it, and in turn Of acting upon ~ ana
these two aspects Of it's own nature are never
| separated in fact, nor are they even sepafaoe IN
thought without resultant error in logic. such
as il is here conceived that Mr. Sully has made.
; No sentipnt creature can feel without voiltion'
nor win without feeling nor can any selfcenscious
CREATURE know without both feeling and willing.
The author calls attention to the scmi-acdvc pine
ponena involved in cegnition. Would 1t not
be better to describe the act OF knowing as that
IN which consciousness II evenly balanced with lis
environment, 30 that the mutual interaetion OBJ
scurcs the active and passive aspects OF conscious
ness? man in deep thought is unconscious OF
his body. vet not 81 unconscious but that he VIII
stop walking in order to fix his thought more
clearly II will readily he conceded that con-
seriousness cxcrts itself with varying degrees OF
vividnes But il one dcscends with the bolo-
gis,s to creatures in which are 70 lie found only
the primal passions" of love ana
hunger, he will find something that
answers TO his own lowest men'ai
operations The amoehn knows enough TO AVOID
! salt The jclly-ish sinks down in the water
| when struck at with an oar. II one speaks OF o
smb-conscious act he should not imply an act to-
tally beyond consciousness any more thun in speak
a
altogether devoid of acid n man ruhs or
scratches his head when he has pulling problem
TO solve there ia reason to suppose that he is not
| unconscious how his hard thinking has affected
the nerves Of the scalp n one starts violently at
the sudden discharge Of gun, II IL no proof that
the reflex action wholly out of Consciousness,
] because il takes ONE an apprcialc time 10 form
ulatc HIS knowledge ef what has happened.
II is only in approaching the phenomena Of self
consciousness that a wide gap seems to open bc-
tween the lower and higher aspects Of mind.
| Those persons whsNe memory reaches back into
childhood can sometimes wildly recall a moment
of alertncss like sudden awakening for Il mo-
ment IRON sleep. and can 500 little figure when
they know to I've their in whom The fall
consciousness of personal identity is not yct
aroused Afterward follows another awakening
when the child has obtained mastery more or
less complete OVER the prononns J. me- AMI mine
From that moment II is distinctly he that feels,
that knows and that wills. Only when he comes
TO books does he discover that his thinking was
m act Of intellect and his voltion an act Of will,
as if thesc any energies apart from the
one fact that makes him a person.
Except as convenient figures Of speech, such
phrases as "interaction Of feeling and intellect
or "intcracti0n OF intellect and feeling with coma
ton" are from this point Of view TO be rejected
II they help any one to understand that his con
seriousness hos a very complex machine 70 control.
that IS we'll but is he gets The notion that his
consciousness il like Ccrherus three gentlemen a
once he will find that the error works OUT in
curolls ways both in thought and IN morals; as
I'm the case O! man 81 ccrius who could hc
named, who seems to himself two persons, ono
good the other bad; the latter, hc AYERS. having
the upper hand large part OF tie time. lMt
with this indispensable conception of unity upper
most it is easy 70 accept what Mr. Sully says OF
processes THAT the development Of feeling ard
deation are parts Of ono total process If mental
growth has been a.rsdy implied Tho ihra Of mn
intellectual life without any tnGc Of feeling. and
Of All emotional lie unsupported by presentations
are l,oth fictions. II is evident t,,nt we havr
here TO DO with growth pari raSen Of twn
concurrent factors each Of which IS affected ly,
and in its turn affects tie other. In dealing
with tie development Of conation II was pointed
ont that this is throughout conditioned Wy The
growth of ideation and emotion. This dependence
is clearly recognized in the common order Of psv-
Geological exposition, and still moro plainly in the
tendency Of certain systems Of Psychology TO treat
vclition as not coordinate in respect % funda-
mental character with presentation and feeling.
but as a secondary and dcrivative psychcal phe-
nomenon This lost view VIC have rcprdiatcd on
the ground that tie primitive element in volition.
active consciousness. is quite as distinct and indie
pendent as the other two factors At the same
time it IL manifest that the expansion Of this active
germ into what We mean by n strong and capable
will implies at once the deepening and widening
Of our feelings and the establishment Of tlc higher
sphere Of ntcllcctionr That is 10 say, every Of
fort of Consciousness in normal organism cnarGcs
the control over that organism and serves also to
develop the organism itself This is true whether
Consciousness I've a spiritual fact OF the result Of
| unnumbercd and unidentified physical forces. for
il reveals itself to introspccion tie SANE what
| ever he its canSe. In the present condition Of
scientific speculation 10 origins In thc whole do
main Of life, the unity OF the dinccntiating force
within the individual which makes him what other
| individuals are not and cannot lie, becomes the
measure Of every fact in human nature. The idea
| OF this unity has pcrmancncy which no scientific
| demonstration can have for the reason that II 10
repeated with ifc9iving emphasis in tic cype-
| ricnce OF every self-conscous being. An theories
! that seem 20 obscure it must he scrutinized If
they contradict it, they will bc rejected for the
plain reason that human nature oal!nOt be set over
| against itself
| Ausion has been made to the frequent refer
| cnccs in early portions Of the work 10 what il to
he explained later This IS the only literary blcn
| fish Of any note throughout The exposition is
! wonderfully clear and readable While carrying
along his own discussion OF the themes IL large
type, the author manages by means of paragraphs
intcrserSe; in smaller type 70 give compact re-
view of the opinions that have been advocated
early and late upon each topic, SO that one las,
IL not q history Of psychology, at least fair sub
stitute for one in addition TO The authors own
treatment Of the matter.