After mentioning the duality of subject and object, which is supposed
to constitute consciousness, he proceeds in italics: "EXPERIENCE, I
BELIEVE, HAS NO SUCH INNER DUPLICITY; AND THE SEPARATION OF IT INTO
CONSCIOUSNESS AND CONTENT COMES, NOT BY WAY OF SUBTRACTION, BUT BY WAY
OF ADDITION"(p. 9).
He illustrates his meaning by the analogy of paint as it appears in a
paint-shop and as it appears in a picture: in the one case it is just
"saleable matter," while in the other it "performs a spiritual function.
Just so, I maintain (he continues), does a given undivided portion
of experience, taken in one context of associates, play the part of a
knower, of a state of mind, of 'consciousness'; while in a different
context the same undivided bit of experience plays the part of a thing
known, of an objective 'content.' In a word, in one group it figures as
a thought, in another group as a thing"(pp. 9-10).
He does not believe in the supposed immediate certainty of thought. "Let
the case be what it may in others," he says, "I am as confident as I am
of anything that, in myself, the stream of thinking (which I recognize
emphatically as a phenomenon) is only a careless name for what, when
scrutinized, reveals itself to consist chiefly of the stream of my
breathing. The 'I think' which Kant said must be able to accompany all
my objects, is the 'I breathe' which actually does accompany them"(pp.
36-37).
The same view of "consciousness" is set forth in the succeeding essay,
"A World of Pure Experience" (ib., pp. 39-91). The use of the phrase
"pure experience" in both essays points to a lingering influence of
idealism. "Experience," like "consciousness," must be a product, not
part of the primary stuff of the world. It must be possible, if James is
right in his main contentions, that roughly the same stuff, differently
arranged, would not give rise to anything that could be called
"experience." This word has been dropped by the American realists, among
whom we may mention specially Professor R. B. Perry of Harvard and Mr.
Edwin B. Holt. The interests of this school are in general philosophy
and the philosophy of the sciences, rather than in psychology; they have
derived a strong impulsion from James, but have more interest than he
had in logic and mathematics and the abstract part of philosophy. They
speak of "neutral" entities as the stuff out of which both mind and
matter are constructed. Thus Holt says: "If the terms and propositions
of logic must be substantialized, they are all strictly of one
substance, for which perhaps the least dangerous name is neutral-stuff.
The relation of neutral-stuff to matter and mind we shall have presently
to consider at considerable length." *
* "The Concept of Consciousness" (Geo. Allen & Co., 1914),
p. 52.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account