The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-02

J oh eci ions to terms which, for the -ak,
of convenience. are employed 20 d,sCri'c
theories or programmes, hut he holds that
for PURPOSES Of careful study they ought Zee
receive more adequate definition than II
usually given them.
a confusion Of though, seems to 'c in
dica,ed by the lax use Of the word ''indivit-
, ualism" and its corresponding adJ ecl i,"
Mos, Of the principal opochs 81 European
! history are spoken Of a. indiyiduali-tic on
one ground or another Nor does Nj Cooley
object 10 such a use Of the word. provided
the different meanings which i. carries are
! kept clearly in view, which. luU,Ncr II
seldom the case. II j. not denied that lie
decayng Roman Empire was iuaivdual-
istic, if a decline Of public sIirit and apov,ry-
man-for himself feeling and practice CON
! stitu;e individualsm Eyidcu. ~. the word
is used in quite differ, nt s,Ltc when the
feudal system il dcsCrit ed g- Individual
istic because of the relative ind, ~ ud,r,,
and isolation OF small political Lli'~. ON
~ other grounds, the revival of learning
the Renaissance and the Reformat ion are
commonly spoken Of as-cr, ions # in
! dividualisIn Then again, the seventeenth
, and eighteenth centuries, which Nore
sccptical and tranti ional, ere often ois-
tinguishcd a. indiviGuali-tic, While our
own time is pronounced by many persons
the most individualistic Of all. Our au' nor
II disposed to doubt whether word which
means so many things means any ing
| whatever, and he feels certain he' the an
tithesis, society rersus he individual il false
and hollow, whenever II l. used az a general
| or philosophical statement of human rcla-
tions. Whatever idea may he in the minds
, of those who set these words and their
derivatives over against each other, the
! notion conveyed is hat of two separate
entities or forces. our author submits hat
such a moi ion l., untrue to fact.
In another chapter the author propounds
reasons for holding that the current an
! tithesis between suggestion and choice il
| not as well grounded as il ought To toe.
/ The hypnotic subject who performs APP
parently meaningless actions at the word
Of the operator is said to IT, controlled by
suggestion. So, also, is one who catches
up tricks.of speech and action from other
people without meaning to. From such
instances the idea j. extended To embrace
any thought or act which is mentally simple,
and seems not to involve choice. For
example, the behavior Of people under
strong emotion is suggestive; crowds are
suggestible; habit is kind Of suggestion,
and so on. In our authors opinion, the
distinction between suggestion and choice
does not correspond to a sharp opposition
between separate or radically different
things, but IL rather a way of indicating
the lower and higher stages of a feeling.
What We call choice, or will, appears To Mr..
Cooley to he an ill-drtned area of more
strenuous mental activity within much
wider field of activity, similar in kind, but
less intense. 1t is not sharply divislbe
from the mass of involuntary thought
The distinction bel ween choice and sug-
gestion is here regarded one Of degree
rather than OF kind. The former term, a.
cont rasted with the latter, signitics, in it,
individual aspect, comparatively clabor-
ate process of mental org inization or syn
thesis, OF which We are reneo' lively aware.
which ID rendered necessary by com
plexty in the elements of our thought.
In it's social aspect-all. or nearly all our
choices relate IN one way or another to the
social environment-the term signifies an
organization Of comparatively complex
social relations. Precisely al the condi-
tons about Us and the ideas suggested
by those conditions become intricate are
we forced to think and TO choose. When
life is simple, thought and action are com
| IaTatlNrlN Hltclldllltdl, or, tS NiI. NN'ltl
puts it, the higher consciousness is not
aroused, the reflective will has little or
nothing to do, the captain stays below +,
and the inferior officers work the ship.
There j., in fine, 10 real separation be-
tween choice and suggestion, Any Choice
that the individual person can make Il a
synthesis of sugge stions, derived in one
way or another from the general life; il
lt., n "a,
dividual viii IL social, a. being both effect
and cause with reference to tie social or
ganism What our author means Lc illus
,ratss in this way; If buy II straw Lat, YOU
may look at my action separately a. my
individual choice, or az part Of a social de-
mand for straw hats or AZ indicating non
conformity to fashion Of wearing some
other sort Of hats, and 20 Oh. Tier" L. mo-
my.,ery about the matter; nothing q at
need puzzle anyone who il capable of per
! ceiving that u thing may look differently
from different siandpoluts, ill.," the post
( that was painted a different color GA each
| of it's four sides The objection TO the lupu-
/ lar view of choice or WILL a Wow derived
| chiefly from tradition, Is hot that 1t cAaE-
! gerates the importance of choice, but, nl~',
that il thinks of will only IN the individual
aspect, and does not grasp III" TACT that
choice is both cause and effect III th" general
life. and, secondly, that II CONNOLLY over
looks the importance OF involuntary forces,
or, at Last makes them separate from and
, autIthctiral to Choicc-as if the captain
were expected to work the ship all alor",
or in opposition to the crew, ln~tt ad Of using
them as subordinate agents. In iuutuotc
the author comedies that there may be-
some ser,se in which the old question 81 the