This gives us, so far, only those particulars which constitute one thing
at one time. This set of particulars may be called a "momentary
thing." To define that series of "momentary things" that constitute
the successive states of one thing is a problem involving the laws of
dynamics. These give the laws governing the changes of aspects from
one time to a slightly later time, with the same sort of differential
approximation to exactness as we obtained for spatially neighbouring
aspects through the laws of perspective. Thus a momentary thing is a set
of particulars, while a thing (which may be identified with the whole
history of the thing) is a series of such sets of particulars.
The particulars in one set are collected together by the laws of
perspective; the successive sets are collected together by the laws
of dynamics. This is the view of the world which is appropriate to
traditional physics.
The definition of a "momentary thing" involves problems concerning time,
since the particulars constituting a momentary thing will not be all
simultaneous, but will travel outward from the thing with the velocity
of light (in case the thing is in vacuo). There are complications
connected with relativity, but for our present purpose they are not
vital, and I shall ignore them.
Instead of first collecting together all the particulars constituting
a momentary thing, and then forming the series of successive sets,
we might have first collected together a series of successive aspects
related by the laws of dynamics, and then have formed the set of such
series related by the laws of perspective. To illustrate by the case of
an actor on the stage: our first plan was to collect together all the
aspects which he presents to different spectators at one time, and then
to form the series of such sets. Our second plan is first to collect
together all the aspects which he presents successively to a given
spectator, and then to do the same thing for the other spectators, thus
forming a set of series instead of a series of sets. The first plan
tells us what he does; the second the impressions he produces. This
second way of classifying particulars is one which obviously has more
relevance to psychology than the other. It is partly by this second
method of classification that we obtain definitions of one "experience"
or "biography" or "person." This method of classification is also
essential to the definition of sensations and images, as I shall
endeavour to prove later on. But we must first amplify the definition of
perspectives and biographies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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